No longer "laptops",
Notebook computers are most often used on a desktop, fold down tray
table or the kitchen table.
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2
Compaq's
Evo N1-15v is made "BTO" for the e/SMB market.
Tech Lab Staff Review,
written by Chuck Brown
December 11, 2002
You can also BTO this model with Athlon’s all the way up to the 2000+ (~1.8GHz). If your intended use is that of a typical business man, the 1400+ is more than adequate. But if you’ve got to do some very video/graphics intensive presentations, it wouldn’t hurt to go for a faster Athlon. What will hold you back is the almost inadequate 16 MB’s of shared video RAM, which is fortunately DDR (Double Data Rate) at least.
This base model Evo N1015v only has is a Teac CD-224E 24x CD ROM, a growingly worthless floppy drive and a 20 GB HDD. You can also order a DVD, CDRW or DVD/CDRW Combo drive, and a HDD up to 60 GB but that will also drive up the price.
Compaq has taken a rather unorthodox approach to embedding an 802.11b WiFi radio (optional) in these similar looking Evo and Presario notebooks. Instead of installing the 802.11b device somewhere in the bottom half of the notebook, attached to the motherboard; it is instead a module that attached to the outside top (LCD) cover and must be ordered to come with the unit.
My guess is that they’ve done this for two reasons. One, is to make it easier to install it here stateside and offer it as a BTO option. Two, since it is an option I doubt that there is any antenna in the top lid (like an iBook or IBM T-30), so placing it on the top also improve the WiFi range. In our tests with an Airport II Base Station, we got slightly better than average indoors range, or 192 feet through two internal commercial sheet-rock walls.
Our two complaints about the Evo N1015v are that there are no high speed ports, neither Firewire or USB 2.0. The other is Compaq’s insistence in only providing a single Type-II PC Card slot, something they have been doing for as long as I can remember and the only notebook provider that does.
An
annoyance, is the oddly shaped sort of elliptical rather than rectangular
built-in mouse Touchpad. Because of this odd shape, it can’t have
an edge finger tip "scroll" area, as most HP Pavilions and Omnibooks
have. The Touchpad is also a bit too small; just my preferences. Some
reviews elsewhere have complained about the relationship of the two mouse
buttons and the scroll button, it’s something you’ll get use
to.
One word of caution and that is HP/Compaq computer groups telephone technical support, it is still terrible. Going through the "it you have a... press 2" maze may take you anything from 5 to 8 minutes, we were left on hold initially for over 15 minutes, then another 12 minutes when the tech couldn't answer our "test problems. Online total time took 52 minutes, including being forwarded to the wrong tech support person.
If your HP/Compaq ever breaks, they will be very prompt though getting a service box out to you via Airborne Express the next day, and they will usually quote a 5 to 7 day turn-around to get the repaired computer back to you. A little long in our mind.
Our test
unit worked and ran flawlessly, just to be clear. The service "test"
was only a hypothetical one to review response, ease of access and time,
something very important to an "SMB" and individual purchaser.
"..worth
a very close look by prospective buyers, especially over those never heard
of "House Brands" from the regional computer chain stores...."
The
bottom line:
This notebook, meant for the SMB and Enterprise market, is definitely
worth a very close look by prospective buyers, especially over those never
heard of "House Brands" from the regional computer chain stores
like PC Club or Microcenter. And, if you not a small businessman, lie
when you buy it.
|
This is also good choice for a budget strapped student or web surfer not wanting a desktop, but in both cases we’d recommend the following upgrades in your "BTO." Our Tech Lab gives the Compaq Evo N1015v a Four Thumbs-up rating. (maximum rating is five out of five) You can view the full test system specification here. |
 |
- Go for the 14.1-inch TFT instead of the standard 13.3-inch
- CDRW instead of just the base CD-ROM
- At least another 128 MB of RAM, 384 MB more is even better.
- The 802.11b Multi-port, if you ever need access a WLAN
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