This post has been long overdue, despite being mobile from two weeks ago, much of my time has been consumed by my non-blogging activities and tasks. Anyways, here it is. Here’s the reason why I changed my mind about getting myself the highly-anticipated Asus Eee PC 900, I blogged about it before, but now I am blogging on this machine:

Compaq Presario C765TU NOTEBOOK

It’s technical specs:

Processor Intel® Celeron 550 (2.0GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Chipset Mobile Intel 965
Operating System Free DOS
Graphics Intel® X3100 Graphics
Video Memory up to 358MB Shared
Display Panel 15.4-inch WXGA High-Definition** Widescreen Display
Standard Memory 1GB
Memory Slots 2 slots, 1 in use, 1 available
Hard Drive 120GB
Optical Drive Super Multi 8X DVD±RW with Double Layer Support
Networking/Wireless High speed 56K modem, integrated 10/100 LAN, 802.11 a/b/g WLAN
External Card Expansion ExpressCard slot/54 slot (supports both 34 and 54 form factors)
Media card Integrated 5-in-1 digital memory reader slot (xD, SD, MMC, Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO)
I/O Ports Built-in 350K webcam, RJ-45, headphone, microphone jack, Omni-directional microphones (2), AC adapter, S-video out, Kensington lock, VGA, USB 2.0 (3), Rj-11
Battery 6-cell Li-ion
Power 65W AC adapter
Approximate Weight 2.45kg (5.39lbs)

I bought this from Asianic store in SM City Dasmarinas. The price of Php27,000 means that Windows Vista Basic Edition is pre-installed, but I did not want Windows Vista yet so the technicians gave me a unit that came with the Free DOS pre-installed instead. That brought the price down to nearly Php25k and I was sold on it. That’s right, for the suggested retail price of an Asus Eee PC 900, you could take home this well-spec’d notebook and get more bang for your buck.

From Vista to XP

Since I did not waste my money choose Vista to be the OS of my new laptop I decided to install Windows XP Professional instead. Microsoft may have closed the curtains on Windows XP but compared to what Vista is today, I’d go for XP any time of the day if the choice was limited to the two. Sure Vista has some nice eye candy and a few new features, but I’m after reliability and good enough platform to run the applications I use to get things done. I’ve heard enough compatibility complaints from a good friend of mine whose Acer laptop runs on Vista Premium but constantly wishes to go back to XP.

Sticking with Windows XP led to a small drawback. The technicians told me that the Compaq c765tu was built for Vista, and so the hardware drivers were optimized to work on Vista. Of course the laptop could also run Windows XP but the drivers available provide limited features. For example, the hotkeys that control the volume of the built-in speakers do not function with the drivers for Windows XP. The I/O jacks for the headset and microphone also do not work under Windows XP. A little annoying but these are little inconveniences I could live with as long as I do not suffer the problems that come with using Vista. You could visit One Small Voice who has written a very good post on how to install Windows XP drivers for the Compaq Presario c765TU notebook.

I almost settled on installing Ubuntu 8.04 on my Compaq c756tu because unlike in XP, every component and feature of the laptop functioned and was supported by Ubuntu out-of-the-box. (A testimony on how Ubuntu is becoming better and better with each new version.) Except for one thing, the Atheros AR5006X Wireless Network Adapter which I badly needed because what good is a laptop nowadays if it had no wireless connectivity right? So here, this laptop which I bought with 3 months of my TLA earnings now runs on Windows XP Professional. To date, I am one happy mobile blogger.

How does it perform?

Even though it’s run by a Celeron 550 processor, it’s 2.0Ghz gives it decent processing power. It’s 1GB of RAM adds to this notebook’s good performance. I finally get to enjoy DVD-quality videos thanks to its 15.4-inch WXGA High-Definition Widescreen Display which gives out bright and vibrant colors. If watching movies on this notebook is a wonderful viewing experience, I can’t wait to install Call of Duty 3 or 4 to relive my glorious gaming days.

Blogging or writing is an enjoyable experience on the c765TU thanks to its smooth and responsive keyboard. The touchpad is at the center of the hand rest slightly to the right below the spacebar. The scroll areas are clearly marked and a neat feature is the ability to turn on/off the touchpad which prevents accidental cursor movements when using the keyboard or in my case, using regular optical mice to save me from painful hand-strains.

Connectivity-wise, the c756TU has the basic points of getting connected. 3 USB 2.0 ports, Integrated 5-in-1 digital memory reader slot (xD, SD, MMC, Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO), RJ-45 Ethernet port, headphone, microphone jack, Omni-directional microphones (2), AC adapter, S-video out, Kensington lock, VGA, Rj-11 telephone jack for the built-in dial-up modem and of course its 802.11 a/b/g WLAN.

Battery life is quite good, on a full charge it lasts 2 hours of heavy usage with the full wireless internet browsing, image processing on Photoshop and listening to my mp3 collection via WinAmp. Sound quality is good thanks to its Altec Lansing speakers situated on top of the keyboard. Light usage like word processing and creating presentations would extend the operation time to 3 hours.

It’s a bit heavy at 2.45kg (5.39lbs) but compact enough to fit in my backpack. It may not be utlra-portable but it sure does provide a stable and quite powerful mobile computing platform. At an affordable price tag and built by HP-Compaq, no wonder the Asianic technicians told me that it’s one their best-selling models to date.

I foresee a good, long and happy relationship between me and my new Compaq Presario c765TU Notebook. Now it’s time to save up on my very first dSLR.

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Tags: Compaq, computers, notebook, Presario c765tu, productivity, Ubuntu, Windows