HP notebooks

[feklee]

There is about a zero possibility of that. They are not going to offer more than one keyboard style for US, etc.

Then there is about zero possibility for me ever buying the X60 or X60s, if the AltGr key on the German keyboard did indeed shrink. Also, I certainly wouldn't recommend the machine to customers, all using German keyboards (*none* of them, BTW, ever complained about a missing Windows key). Seems like we have to rely on the X40 and X41 as ultraportable machines. I assume that they will remain available for quite some time. And if nothing changes for the better -> No subnote anymore, but T-series with 14.1", or, perhaps, similarly sized machines from HP (their keyboard should now be on par with that of Thinkpads - guess why?).

The only thing that keeps me tied to IBM is the very good Trackpoint with three buttons, but HP also does offer such a device and I've been told that it's also quite good, though it's missing features such as negative inertia. Some of the HPs even do have the three "mouse" buttons.

[christopher_wolf]

I haven't been significantly impressed by HP's latest offerings; especially not their keyboards. I still think that the OmniBooks were the best that HP did; the latest HP laptop I had was hot, noisy, and had a nasty keyboard. Unfortuanately, when I checked out some other HP models...They had the same keyboard they had been using for a few years and it had some rather lackluster tactile feedback. I took apart that HP laptop of mine and discovered that they had a generic baseplate for it; even with a stencil for a Trackpoint like device was on it. Some of the advertised extra features either didn't work or weren't of much use. I still have an HP Omnibook from way back and it does better than my latest HP laptop. A shame since I really liked the Omnibooks.

[JaneL]

I haven't been significantly impressed by HP's latest offerings; especially not their keyboards.

I recently retired, and my new job is at a company that uses HP as their sole vendor. My current work notebook is an HP nc6220 that I've had since early December. I had a T40 at my previous job and also have one at home.

There is a world of difference in the keyboards. The HP keyboard is stiff and unresponsive, and the pointing stick is still difficult to control after a month of tweaking. One example of the problems I have with it is that I consistently mis-key my network password. Since I'm using the same password that I used on a T40 at the previous job with no problem, I don't think it's just me not being able to type.

[rjm1135]

Nonny,

Keyboard aside - what is your overall impression of the nc6220. With new models coming out soon, these are beginning to pop up (in Aus anyway) heavily reduced (up to $800 off). Similarly the nc8230 (up to $1000 off).

Cheers,
Rob.

[JaneL]

Keyboard aside - what is your overall impression of the nc6220. With new models coming out soon, these are beginning to pop up (in Aus anyway) heavily reduced (up to $800 off). Similarly the nc8230 (up to $1000 off).

Screen is bright and clear, construction is solid, speaker sound is so-so, overall unit feels heavier than the T40. It's not something I would have chosen for myself, and I used to be a fan of the Compaq business line of notebooks.

[rjm1135]

Thanks.

Rob.