A Home tool used for business

Author's Rating:

Pros: It still has a serial port.

Cons: No floppy drive.

The Bottom Line: 
Ease of use, Speed, Flexibility. If it's spec. fits your needs, it will not disappoint.

Author's Review
At the beginning of the year my company decided to update the laptops in our Electrical Engineering department. We required four units, and had to work within a certain Specifications. Desknotes were out as we require onboard batteries. We require to connect to PLC systems frequently, so an RS-232 serial port was a must have. In addition to this company policy meant they had to be branded, store purchased locally, and under $1500 each.
For years we had been using Toshiba Satellites, but found the newer examples of these to be unreliable, and nobody liked the "nub" pointing device. So it was time for a change!
Using these as search criteria, led us to a choice of one. The Presario 2105US. So the decision was made, and four were purchased.

These notebooks have an Athlon 1800XP processor operating @1.52GHz; 512Mb DDR SDRAM operating @266MHz (448Mb available running Windows XP pro); a 40Gb HDD, 14.1" XGA TFT screen; 1xParallel, 1xserial, 2xUSB, Ethernet LAN, S-Video, VGA, & PS2 ports; 56k V.92 Modem:a 24X8X8 DVD/CDR-R/W combo drive; 2xPCMCIA slots; full multimedia capability; A Synaptics touchpad, and come with Windows XP home edition installed.

While they were ready to go out of the box, we first upgraded the operating system to XP Pro, loaded MSoffice, and then onto loading all the software applications necessary for our work. All of these loaded simply, and quickly, with no problems apparent.
The units came supplied with a basic version of the "Roxio Easy CD Creator" software for the burner. Definitely a feature I liked, as this is the application I use at home, and in my experience (of around six applications) the best of CD burning software.

We have now been using these units for four months, with two of the units being used by Field Service Engineers, and two by Programmers. The Field machines are travelling almost constantly, frequently being used in "less than ideal" computing conditions in our customer's plant's and have never let us down. With the guys being away from home and alone, the onboard DVD is proving an entertainment bonus, allowing them to rent movies, rather than being stuck with whatever TV channels the Hotels see fit to provide.
The two programmers travel less frequently, but both have replaced their desktops with these units. While one has retained his 19" monitor, the other(myself) has completely switched to this machine.
The 14" flat display is equivalent to a 16" monitor, so although I lose a little vision I find the display clearer and more exact, requiring smaller fonts, etc.to regain those losses. I can still use CAD easily and find that not having to switch displays when I move from my desk to a machine on the shop floor saves time adjusting. Obviously I had to construct a stand to bring the display to eye level when in desktop use, but not a problem for an engineering company! This has freed up a tower, monitor, and UPS for use elsewhere in the company, and given me onboard sound.
With the addition of a USB keyboard and pointing device (I have trackball, my colleague a mouse), we can directly connect to the LAN (Windows 2000 Pro based)and having the CD burners has helped with our customer support activities. For smaller information transfer the lack of a floppy drive is inconvenient, and we have purchased two USB floppy drives, but with only two USB ports having a keyboard and trackball already connected makes the use of this inconvenient.....Okay, so I know I could use the PS2 port for one of my devices, but find their reactions better when used in USB, plus the PS2 port is juxtaposed with the DVD/CDR-R/W drawer, so the adaptor interferes with opening/closing. Minor things I know, but......
While we have had an occasional operating problems, these have almost all been Windows based, minor, and easily cured.

Overall, these units have had to interface with a large variety of devices, in a variety of conditions, some very adverse, and have proven resilient and reliable. They are well liked by all who use them, and represent excellent value for money.