PowerPro P 11:12

Anyone ever gotten their mitts on one of these?

 

I have, as have several of our customers.

What would you like to know?

 

Of course

Still friends?

 

Just looking for general impressions...

Is it quiet? Does it get hot sitting on one's lap (just doing light word-processing/web-browsing, assuming the T5450 cpu)? How sturdy does it feel (keyboard flex, etc)? How big/bulky is the power-brick? Looking for a friend, who travels a lot, and wants something that will hold up well.

 

The barebones is Compal, which is excellent build quality, with virtually no flex.

It is quiet because it does not need a lot of fan action to keep cool, and as long as the user doesn't block the air intake vent on the bottom while using it on their lap it is quite comfortable on the lap. Of course the best way to use a laptop on the lap is with a lap tray of some sort...even a TV Tray will work just fine.

The AC Adapter is only 65Watt so it is small when compared to the 15.4" or 17" AC Adapters.

I would rate this 12.1" model at least a 9/10 when compared to anything else on the market.

 

Thank you for the information, Donald!

 

Or a tempered glass cutting board, like I use.

 

As it turns out, my mom wants one! It's arriving here Friday (gonna transfer all her email and assorted files from her old pc), any one want to see a mini-review? I'll have the whole weekend to play with it...

 

Sure, but why stop at a mini review and not do a full blown one? With pictures and all?

 

Couple of reasons:

1) Cuz I'm lazy!
and
2) wprime and the like are so terribly overdone, if you know the cpu model, and hard-disk rpm, you're not going to see much appreciable differences amongst most laptop brands.

So mainly what I was thinking was:

* screen comparisons (I have access to 4 other laptops[1], I'll take lots of pics - anyone want to volunteer to host them for me?)
* keyboard and touchpad comparisons (admittedly, this will be quite subjective)
* sound quality
* overall build comments (flex, easily scratched, etc)

Anything else?

[1] the others are:
a) Compal IFL-90 1680x1050, T7300
b) Thinkpad G40 1400x1000, p4 3GHz [omg it's the SLOWEST one]
c) Compaq sumthin', 1280x800, mobile celeron 1.4
d) Acer Aspire sumthin', 1280x800, 32-bit amd sempron

 

well, some quick initial impressions...

12.1" laptops are a whole lot more portable than 15.4" laptops with fancy gpu's.
The T5550 cpu (1.83GHz, 2MB L1) is plenty fast.
Wish I would have put a 7200 rpm disk in *my* computer, it's noticeable.
I really like the keyboard, I was worried it might be too small, but took me no time to get used to it, and there is absolutely NO flex in it at all, I miss having dedicated Home/End/PgUp/PgDn tho.
The touchpad is very nice, same surface (just recessed) as the rest of the case, I usually hate touchpads, this is the first one I've liked.
Wireless reception is great, all throughout the house and backyard.
Overall build seems very sturdy.

So far, just two things are bugging me (it's not actually going to be *my* computer):
1) Ick, it's got a glossy screen.
2) Something is running one of the cpu core's at full speed, but only after the laptop comes out of standby. TaskManager isn't helping me -- says 'System' is using 25-45% cpu.

Actually, there's a third thing bugging me:
3) My wife - she's been eyeing the JFT00 rather enviously.

 

What about the battery life?

 

Battery life seems great... It was running pretty hard (downloading and installing software, transferring files, importing old mail, etc) for at least 60 minutes, and window's claimed the battery was still at 80%. It was about this time, when I noticed the standby/cpu-usage problem, and switched to plugged in. Anyone know if there's a 'SmartBattery' type utility suitable for this computer? I'll give it a DVD-movie-playing test on battery and report back later.

Also, it looks like my standby/cpu usage problem is handled with a BIOS fix, which I aim to try shortly.

 

From a full charge, I booted up on battery, started a DVD movie (Pirates of Caribbean - At World's End [per request of my nephew], who agreed to monitor things for me). About 5 minutes in, I remembered to turn off the wireless nic, and switched the power settings to always-on.

After 2 hours, 11 minutes, the 10% battery warning beep came on.

 

pretty good.

 

I took some pictures, but they didn't turn out so hot. I don't intend putting in much more effort on this (I write software, reviews not so much). If anyone's got any special requests for info or a specific test, I'll try to oblige, the laptop leaves my hands on Monday...

- - - -

PowerPro 11:12 User mini-Review

[Introduction]

The PowerPro 11:12 is built from the 12.1" screen Compal JFT00, and sold by PowerNotebooks.com



[Reasons for Buying]

My mom has been considering a notebook for quite some time, but was leery of buying something too big or heavy, or too expensive. I had warned her about the pains of traveling with a notebook (gets heavy, you have to keep a close eye on it, you worry about it while it's in the car or hotel room, etc), but she finally got tired of transcribing her handwritten notes back onto her computer when she got back home, and asked me to recommend a laptop for her. The Powernotebooks 11:12 model was an easy choice -- good options, excellent support, no Vista necessary, 3 year warranty, and the perfect size.


Specifications:
I configured the laptop with these choices:
Core2Duo T5550 (1.83GHz, 2MB L1 cache)
2GB DDR-667, 1 SODIMM
120 GB 7200 rpm disk
DVD+/-RW optical drive
Intel 802.11 a/g/n
WindowsXP

At just under 4 and a half pounds, it was very portable, as well as comfortable on the lap.



[Build and Design]
Typical hard plastic shell, has almost no flex at all -- just the back panel of the screen had slight movement (the display did not dimple or deform as other displays I've tested do).


[Touchpad and Keyboard]
The touchpad area is not a seperate piece like most laptops, instead, it's just a recessed area, contiguous with the rest of the case. I usually hate touchpads and use an external mouse whenever possible, but I really like this one. The clicker buttons were fine. Likewise, the keyboard was great, no flex anywhere, and while the keys are a little smaller than on a 15" laptop, I had no trouble getting used to it. It should be noted that there is no dedicated home/end/pgup/pgdn keys, they are accessed by pressing the [Fn] key, and one of the arrows.


[Screen]
Your basic 1280x800 glossy screen. 10 brightness levels, controlled via [Fn] key functions. The middle brightness seemed perfect for indoor use in my office. I hate glossy screens, but it was okay if you make sure there's no direct light hitting the screen. No dead pixels that I could spot. Horizontal and vertical viewing angles were good, didn't have a protractor handy to measure, but I'd estimate about 60 degrees horizontally. Vertically, probably about 45 degrees before text became unreadable, but light reflecting off the white keyboard and body made glare a problem before fade-out did. Of course, you're not going to fit many people around a 12" screen in the first place.


[Speakers]
The speakers were okay for the basics of hearing Windows sounds. Music sounded pretty lousy, and I could never make it approach anything that might be called 'loud'. Sound out of the headphones was very good.


[Processor and Performance]
I am a firm believer that the same Core2Duo cpu in one computer is going to perform just about identically in any other computer. The T5550, at 1.83 GHz, isn't the fastest mobile cpu out there, but it never kept me waiting. Knowing that there is only an integrated X3100 gpu, I didn't bother trying any games, beyond some flash/java ones, which ran fine. I believe that this laptop only accepts Merom and Santa Rosa cpu's, so the latest and greatest Penryn cpus are not an option. The 7200rpm hard disk is noticeably faster than 5400 rpm one in my IFL90, guess I shouldn't have cut that corner back when I bought mine!


[Heat and Noise]
When just typing something in OpenOffice, or browsing the web, or even perusing through my mom's gigabytes of email, the laptop was whisper quiet, and did not get hot at all. But once something started using a lot of cpu, the fan ramped up and was noticeable, though I wouldn't call it loud. It still stayed very cool all over. The optical drive was not audible when playing a dvd movie. When ripping cds or dvds, it gets pretty loud.


[Battery]
Compal rates the battery at about 2.5 hours. I was able to boot from battery, startup windows, and play a dvd for 2 hours, 11 minutes, before windows warned me that the battery was down to 10% left. The battery sticks out from the back maybe a half-inch. Didn't bother me at all when it was sitting on my lap, and for me, it makes the laptop easier to pick up and carry it. With the wireless on, and just browsing webpages, I was able to get 2 hours, 40 minutes, before the 10% battery warning sounded.


[Ports]
3 USB 2.0 ports, 2 on left side, 1 on right
External VGA port
Express Card 34/54 slot
Microphone and headphone jacks
SD/MMC card reader


[Webcam]
Standard no-frills webcam, worked fine for a test Skype video-conference.



[Conclusion]
12" laptops, with solid build quality, no Vista required, a three year warranty, and the great service and support that a vendor like Powernotebooks provides, are hard to find, especially for a price under $1200. I even got to use tech-support, and got a prompt response on a Saturday morning, from someone who clearly read my complaint and responded with a WinXP hotfix that he thought might help. As it turns out, it didn't help directly, but it did get me to thinking it must be a BIOS problem, and sure enough, it was. I am certain mom will be very pleased, though glad Powernotebooks offers a 15 day trial, in which it can be returned for refund if she just can't stand it.


[pros]
sturdy frame, tight hinge, virtually no flex anywhere but the back screen panel (and I had to press harder than I wanted to).
nice bright screen.
good viewing angles on screen.
runs cool and quiet.
decent battery life.
very nice keyboard and touchpad.
wide range of options when ordering.


[cons]
matte screen not available as option.
no dedicated home/end/pgup/pgdn keys.
built-in speakers are poor.
shipped with an old version of the BIOS, which caused a problem w/ cpu use being high when coming out of standby mode (now fixed with BIOS update!).
now my wife wants one to replace her craptacular old Acer Aspire that is falling apart.