By Stephanie Bruzzese
18/11/2002
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/notebooks/0,39050488,39001600p,00.htm

Editors' note: In the Asia Pacific Region, the 2800 model is packaged as the Presario 2822. This regional model sports a 32MB ATI Radeon 7500 graphics processor, 256MB of memory, 14.1 inch screen and a lower-clocked 1.7GHz Intel Pentium 4-M processor instead of 2.2GHz. The 2822 also comes pre-loaded with Microsoft's Windows XP Home operating system.

HP's new laptop, the Compaq Presario 2800, straddles the line between being a thin-and-light and a desktop replacement. Like most thin-and-lights, this two-spindle notebook includes just one swappable media bay that supports storage devices such as DVD/CD-RW and floppy drives. Yet the Presario 2800's big, 15-inch display brings its size and weight close to desktop-replacement levels. HP takes advantage of the extra room by stuffing the system full of top components, including a 2.2GHz mobile Pentium 4-M processor and ATI's Radeon 9000 graphics chip. These pleasing parts didn't disappoint CNET Labs, either; they cranked on our tests but didn't prematurely drain the laptop of its battery life.

Design
Like most thin-and-lights, the Presario 2800 sports a two-spindle design. But its big, 15-inch display jacks up the case dimensions to 35 by 328 by 268 mm and the base weight to 2.62kg. Whereas other thin-and-lights such as the Gateway 450 and the Dell Latitude C640 weigh only about 2.2kg, the Presario 2800's travel weight climbs to a shoulder-straining 3.4kg with its AC adapter.

Nonetheless, the Presario 2800's case is a beauty. Most of it consists of silver magnesium alloy, which is fast becoming a common material in notebook construction, but the deep wrist rest is covered with a charcoal-colored, rubberized material that we love for its silky feel. Centered in the wrist rest are the same touchpad, dual mouse buttons, and unique circular-scroll button found in other Presarios such as the 1500. This setup is fine, aside from the annoyingly loud mouse-button clicks. Thankfully, the touchpad itself includes noiseless software controls for simulating left- and right-mouse clicks. We're not crazy about the shiny silver film that rims the touchpad, however, since it might crack and peel over time. This same film surrounds the power, volume up/down, and four application quick-launch buttons located above the keyboard.

The keyboard itself is wide enough, but as on the Presario 1500, its keys clatter a bit too much for our tastes. The Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys lie in a line along the board's right side, which may prove tedious to those who often switch between notebook and desktop keyboards that usually have those keys clustered in the upper-right corner. We're happy to see that HP separated the inverted-T cursor pad from the rest of the keys; this will prevent you from sending your cursor flying up the screen when your pinkie accidentally hits the up arrow.

The Presario 2800's edges are lined with a glut of ports, slots, and bays. The left edge contains headphone and microphone jacks, one Type II PC Card slot, and a swappable drive bay that houses the included DVD/CD-RW or floppy drives. The rear edge features 56K modem and Ethernet jacks, as well as an IrDA port. It also includes parallel, VGA, S-Video out, and two USB 2.0 ports, all of which lie beneath a plastic port cover with a rubber hinge that should hold up better than a flimsy plastic hinge. The right edge is consumed by the battery and the hard drive. Finally, the front edge offers two JBL Pro speakers that emit better-than-average laptop sound.

There's one more port where you'd least expect it--in the top lid. The unique MultiPort originated in Compaq's corporate Evo laptops and has now made its way into the consumer-oriented Presarios. The port accommodates optional 802.11b (Wi-Fi) or Bluetooth cards (S$225, US$129 and S$175, US$99, respectively), then covers the card with silver plastic that blends in with the rest of the lid. HP makes installing these modules easy, too, by including a tiny Phillips screwdriver to fit the equally minuscule screws. You can conveniently swap these modules with any Evo or Presario that features the MultiPort.

Features
Looking to configure a Presario 2800 dream machine by picking every part? You're out of luck. HP neither offers a configurable version of this system, nor does it sell this notebook on its Web site. The only way to get a Presario 2800 is to buy a preconfigured model from a retail outlet.

Our review model, the Presario 2810N, came loaded to the hilt. It included Intel's fastest mobile processor to date, the 2.2GHz Pentium 4-M; 512MB of smoking 266MHz DDR memory; a big 60GB hard drive spinning at a rapid 5,400rpm; and the newest iteration of ATI's Mobility Radeon chip, the 9000, with 64MB of dedicated DDR video RAM. These specs creamed the thin-and-light competition in CNET Labs' benchmarks, and they held their own against gargantuan desktop replacements with scorching desktop CPUs (see our performance tests for more details).

(Note: The Presario 2822 available in many parts of Asia-Pacific has a 14.1-inch display). The Presario 2810N also includes a 15-inch display with a native 1,600x1,200 resolution. Together, this screen and the 2810N's fast components make the system simply awesome for watching glitch-free DVD movies, playing games with crystal-clear detail, or even doing complex graphics-design work. However, the fine resolution also reduces text to nearly unreadable sizes and increases the price considerably. Other Presario 2800 models include cheaper 14.1-inch displays with larger native resolutions.

Our evaluation system arrived with DVD/CD-RW and floppy drives, both of which fit inside the Presario's single swappable bay. Surprisingly, the 2800 doesn't support DVD+RW, the hot-off-the-press technology that allows you to burn (and reburn) DVDs. But HP reps claim they'll have plenty to say about this new technology in the coming months. The Presario 2800 also doesn't offer FireWire ports, but its two superspeedy USB 2.0 ports more than make up for the omission.

All versions of the Presario 2800 come with the Windows XP Professional operating system. Each configuration also includes Norton AntiVirus; Microsoft's Encarta and Money 2002; preloaded versions of RealOne and WinDVD players; and Microsoft's pared-down office suite, Works 6.0. While this limited software suite is usually acceptable in lower-priced laptops, it's hard to swallow in a notebook that costs more than three grand.

Performance and Battery Life
Compaq's Presario 2810T scored well in CNET Labs' tests, thanks to its impressive 2.2GHz Pentium 4-M, 512MB of DDR SDRAM, and 5,400rpm hard drive. Still, the 2810T edged out the speedy Dell Latitude C640, with its less powerful specs, by only 5 points in our MobileMark2002 test. The Presario 2810T easily surpassed the Gateway 450SX4, which is configured similarly to the Latitude C640, besting it by nearly 40 points.

The Compaq Presario 2810N impressed us with its battery life, lasting more than 3 hours in our tests. But we weren't surprised, given its healthy 14.4V, 4,400mAh battery. The Dell Latitude C640, which has a similar, 14.8V, 4,460mAh cell, lasted just 6 minutes longer, while the Gateway 450SX4's smaller, 11.1V, 3,800mAh battery produced a much lower score.

Service And Support
While a warranty of one year is acceptable on cheaper models, we're disappointed that the expensive Presario 2810N we reviewed doesn't ship with more standard coverage. You can likely increase the terms of your plan when you buy the notebook, but the length, the price, and the service provider will vary, depending on the retail outlet where you purchase the system.

Note: In Asia-Pacific, the Presario 2822 comes with the standard one-year international warranty but technical phone support is only available from Mondays to Fridays, between 8.30am and 6pm.

HP attempts to balance the short warranty with a veritable library of supporting documentation. The Presario 2800 comes with a simple, color setup poster that instructs you how to plug in and turn on the laptop. It also includes a Getting Started guide that takes you through the system's hardware and software features. Hard-copy and CD-based guides to installing and using MultiPort modules come with notebooks that include this option. HP also bundles the extensive, general user guide on CD.

Along with the rest of the Compaq Web site, the company's support pages have migrated to the HP site. HP has retained the helpful Ask Compaq portion of these pages, which allows you to search for information on troublesome parts. You can still access Compaq's Customer communities to tap other users for info, but you won't get much help at all from the very short list of FAQs.