The good: Very low starting price; includes key security features; has a large display for such a lightweight model; three-year warranty.

The bad: A bit heavier than comparable models; lacks a touch pad and a scroll button; fewer ports and connections than competitive models.

The bottom line: Though it lacks the latest components, the low-price HP Compaq nc2400 strikes an appealing balance between features and portability for basic mobile users.

Read full review of the HP Compaq Business Notebook nc2400 »

By Michelle Thatcher
May 11, 2006

The Compaq nc2400, HP's newest corporate ultraportable, is not the lightest laptop on the market, but it strikes an appealing balance between features and portability for a lower price than competitive models. Though it weighs less than 1kg, it has a larger display than most other sub 1.5kg models, as well as a comfortable keyboard and an optical drive. Best of all, the nc2400, with a starting price of US$1,599 (S$2495.64), costs less than competitive models, such as the S$3,988 Fujitsu LifeBook P7120 and the S$3,599 ThinkPad X60s. At such a low price, the system won't give you the latest dual-core processors or a lot of high-end features, but you will get solid mobile performance and enough battery life to keep you productive on the road.

Editors' note : The nc2400 can now be configured with the latest Core 2 Duo processor. Kindly check with your local distributor regarding availability.

Design
The nc2400's staid black-and-gray case measures 282.3mm wide, 212.8mm deep, and 24.8mm thick at the front (30.5mm thick at the back), making it a bit larger than the ThinkPad X60s and much larger than the Fujitsu LifeBook P7120. Though the nc2400 base configuration weighs 1.29kg, our test unit, configured with a six-cell battery, weighed 1.63kg, placing it on the heavier end of the ultraportable spectrum. Still, even with its small, 0.36kg AC adapter, the nc2400 is light enough for regular travel.

Unlike the ThinkPad X60s, which has a standard-aspect display, the nc2400 features a 12.1-inch widescreen display with a 1,280 x 800 native resolution. We prefer the wider screen not only because it fits more comfortably on a tray table, but also because it provides sufficient screen real estate for working with multiple windows open side by side. The LifeBook P7120's wide-aspect screen offers the same resolution but is significantly smaller, measuring 10.6 inches diagonally.

The nc2400 avoids the curse of most ultraportables: Its ample keyboard makes for very comfortable typing, and only a few nonessential keys (for example, Esc, F keys, and Page Up/Down keys) are noticeably reduced in size. Notably, the nc2400 lacks a trackpad, but it does include a ThinkPad-like textured pointing stick for navigation and two rubberized mouse buttons; we wish there was also a scroll button to make paging through documents and Web pages easier. To the lower left of the keyboard, there's a fingerprint reader, while above the keyboard are a few shortcut buttons (a quick-launch key for the HP info center, a wireless on/off button, and quick-launch presentation button), as well as volume controls.

Features
The nc2400 provides the bare minimum of ports and connections for the average business user. There are VGA, four-pin FireWire, and two USB 2.0 ports, as well as headphone and microphone jacks. The laptop includes a slot for Type I and II PC Cards, though not the latest ExpressCards. In addition to the fingerprint reader, the nc2400 features a Trusted Platform Module to keep data secure. Connectivity options include modem, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Compared to its more expensive competitors, the nc2400 comes up a bit short: the ThinkPad X60s and the LifeBook P7120 each include one more USB port and a media card reader; the LifeBook P7120 also has an S-Video-out port. The nc2400 does have a critical component that the ThinkPad X60s lacks: A built-in optical drive (ours was a CD-RW/DVD-ROM). A docking station adds an S-Video port and four more USB ports to the nc2400.

Performance And Battery Life
Priced at US$1,599 (S$2495.64), our HP Compaq nc2400 review unit featured a 1.2GHz ultra-low-voltage Intel Core Solo processor; 512MB of midrange 533MHz RAM; a small 40GB, 4,200rpm hard drive; and integrated Intel graphics. Unsurprisingly, the nc2400 scored right in line with the previous generation of Pentium M-based portables, including the S$3,988 LifeBook P7120 and the S$3,999 Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP, on CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks. However, the nc2400's performance was nowhere near that of the Core Duo-based ThinkPad X60s. The moral? While the nc2400 will prove adequate for standard business tasks such as email, word processing, and spreadsheet applications, users who need more processing power for number crunching or multitasking should look to the ThinkPad X60s.



Likewise, the nc2400's 6 hours 6 minutes of battery life falls between that of the LifeBook P7120 (5 hours 48 minutes) and the Sony Vaio VGN-TX17GP (6 hours 36 minutes); the ThinkPad X60s's much larger battery outlasted all three laptops, running past the 8-hour mark.



Service And Support
The nc2400 notebook has a three-year local warranty. At HP's support Web site, laptop owners can download the latest drivers and manuals. In the event of a simple malfunction, the company offers an online knowledge database and support forum for troubleshooting. Further diagnosis or repair can be made at the service center, though the owner has to bring the notebook there. Telephone support is available during normal working hours and for current or potential customers who are not sure which HP notebook is right for you, a dedicated number is available for assistance in purchase selection.

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