Review of HP Compaq nc8230

Introduction to HP Compaq nc8230:

The HP recently announced nc8230 notebook specially for bussiness users. The different bussiness users have different demands and HP Ususlly take care of all these demands. The HP nc8230 fullfills both needs portability with big screen. Either way HP has an assorted array of business notebooks for your pleasure.

Build and Design :

HP Compaq nc8230

The notebook has a more robust look and good design making it best for bussiness users. The space around the touchpad is really smooth give a good felling of rest to wrists and it heats up to a comfortable level making it nice to lay your hands on. Its really descriptive by using various logos which makes users learn to use various ports. The notebook weights 2750 gram with an included 400 gram battery but excluding its 500 gram power supply. Its resolution are 35.5 cm wide, 26.0 cm deep and 3.5 cm tall.

Specifications

  • Processor :2133 MHz Mobile Intel Centrino M 770
  • RAM :512 MB DDR RAM
  • Harddrive :80 GB HD – 5400 RPM
  • Optical Drive : DVD/CD-RW
  • Graphics Chip :ATi Radeon X600 with 64 MB dedicated RAM
  • Display :15.4” WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
  • Network Interface: V.90 modem, 10/100/1000 Mbit Ethernet, IEEE 1394
  • FireWire, 802.11 b/g WLAN
  • Battery :Li-Ion
  • Operating System :Windows XP Pro
  • Pointing Device : Touchpad w/ scroll-wheel & Pointing Stick
  • Weight :2.75 kg
  • Price : USD $2555

Screen

The screen of HP Compaq nc8230 is 15.4” WXGA display with a resolution of 1680x1050. The screen is really big better to see movies and use for graphics. There are hot keys used to adjust the brightness of screen. But the hotkeys don’t go from brighter to darker but only from bright to dark in smaller incremental steps.

Keyboard & Hotkeys

HP Compaq nc8230 Build
keyboard

The keyboard also has a good keystroke and the typing is very pleasant making it better than that of the average notebook keyboard.
At the top there are different hotkeys. The first series consists of a button for the HP Info software along with a button for turning on and off the wireless LAN and a button for the HP Presentation setup. Then there are two LEDs showing whether Caps Lock and num lock are activated or not. In the right side there are two butons to adjust the volume of speakers.
The pack of Home, End, Page Up and Page Down buttons along with some other ones are found in the upper right corner of the keyboard making them a little harder to reach. This gives some inconvienence to users.

Views from different sides:

HP Compaq nc8230 Top View
top view

HP Compaq nc8230 front side view
front side view

HP Compaq nc8230 right side view
right side view

Various Ports Available

1 Extern monitor port
1 S-Video Out
1 Kensington Lock
3 USB 2.0 ports
2-in-1 Card Reader
1 RJ-11 jack
1 RJ-45 jack
1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
1 Line-In jack
1 Line-Out jack
1 DC-in jack
1 32 bit Type II PC Card slot

Beginning from the front on the right side are the two jacks for headphone and microphone followed by two USB 2.0 ports. After that comes the DVD drive and finally an ancient serial port for the pour souls that haven’t converted to USB yet. Overall the placement of the various ports and plugs are fine though it wouldn’t hurt by using some of the front of the notebook too.

Performance & Battery Life

The overall performance of the Compaq nc8230 is quite good in office and business applications. Its processing speed is really quite admirable.
Then comes the aspect of battery backup. It can work approx 3 hrs unplugged when user work on browser and view DVD but when it is used for business application the battery life is a little bit low.

When the battery life is compared to other notebooks the following results came out:
(in minutes)
Asus V3----------------------------------- 253
Vega M30---------------------------250
Abook 36000TXi--------------------183
HP Compaq nc8230--------------167
LG LW60 Express-----------154
Acer Ferrari 4000---------137
Genex M570A---------128

In the above chart the ranks are given . Bigger rank is better. And it can be concluded that nc8230 have better battery backup as compared to LG LW60 Express, Acer Ferrari 4000 and Genex M570A.

Conclusion

This is a good choice for bussiness users.The keyboard is really comfortable to work on. The descriptive logos seems good for ports. The performance is generally very good in both 2D and 3D applications making it fine for business and office applications as well as a suitable gaming platform.

The battery is able to sustain itself for many working hours and you can even enjoy Lord of the Rings length movies on its big 15.4” widescreen monitor. To sum things up we’re dealing with one of the finer notebooks on the market that even comes with a three-year warranty period.

Pros:

  • 3-year warranty
  • Good 2D and 3D performance
  • Long battery life
  • optional TPM security
  • great keyboard

Cons:

  • A bit noisy at times
  • Dim display;
  • lacks fingerprint reader.

Go and Book it from here HP Compaq nc8230