The laptop features MSI’s EDS ergonomic keyboard that comprises of a curved surface and curved keys. The keys are noted to be 51% larger when pitted against other standard laptop keypads. It claimed to ease the load on the wrists and fingers for a comfortable typing experience. This latest offering sports energy saving capabilities. It comprises of MSI’s proprietary ECO Engine technology as well. This allows customers to adjust the mode of operations and extend the laptop battery life of the notebook through the ECO power management function.
By the time you read this the ProBook should come with a Windows 7 upgrade option, but our test unit technically came with Vista Business. We say technically, because the default configuration comes with the downgrade to Windows XP Professional pre-installed. If you’re not a fan of Vista — and we could be churlish and say that nobody is — that’s a solid time saver, but if you required Vista it could be a touch annoying. It also features HP(Compaq Presario 2500 battery)’s Disk Sanitizer software for secure file deletion and the usual trial AV software that virtually any notebook seems to come with whether you ask for it or not — in the ProBook’s case it’s McAfee Total Protection.
Microphone and headphone jacks are at the HP’s front edge, along with the infrared receiver for its multimedia remote control—a cute gadget barely bigger than a Halloween miniature candy bar, it hides in the notebook’s ExpressCard/34 slot. As an alternative to Windows Media Center, the dv3-2150us comes with HP(HP Pavilion dv8000 battery) MediaSmart software reminiscent of the company’s TouchSmart desktop suite for perusing photos, DVDs, music, and videos. (The notebook also comes with HP’s usual set of game, online-service, and marketing-offer crapware, as well as Norton Security 2009 with 60 days of updates.)
Minimalist to a fault, the only button or control on the keyboard tray (aside from the keyboard and touch pad) is a small, square power button–no media controls or Wi-Fi switches. The keyboard itself is a bit of a throwback to traditional tapered-style keys; we’re much more used to seeing wide, flat keys these days, even on Dell(Dell Inspiron E1505 battery) systems. The indented touch pad has a subtle surface texture that lets your finger glide easily, and is accompanied by two pleasingly large mouse buttons. Unlike some other budget Dells we’ve seen in the past, there’s no fingerprint reader or even a Web cam (something usually found on systems in this price range).
Flip open the lid and the quality continues inside. Although the screen measures 10.2in, the large bezel means that the lid is just over 12in diagonally. It has the effect of making the display look slightly smaller, Dell Latitude 131L battery,but the extra room means that there’s room for a decent keyboard.
This total is then divided by six (for Maine) since I will get, probably, six hours of sun a day on average, bringing the number to 340. Since the equipment has built-in inefficiencies, I add another 50 percent, bringing the number to 510 watts of needed solar capacity.
Aside from the rugged features, this laptop has been equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor, featuring a low-power 1.4GHz clock speed, 800MHz FSB and 3MB L2 cache. The processor has been combined with 1GB of DDR2 memory, which is expandable to 3GB, for those looking to upgrade their system’s performance. There’s a 120GB hard disk drive too, which can also be upgraded to 250GB,ThinkPad T61p battery, while the integrated Intel graphics can provide the laptop’s 13.3-inch LED backlit display with support for a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. Overall, this looks like another ultraportable laptop that can also offer the end-user some rugged features.