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Rating: 
Summary: Great Laptop
Review: For the price this laptop is superb! I too have had some of the difficulties the first guy had (locking up when hot docked). And the fact that it does not come with a floppy is not a bonus (you can get a floppy that uses the cd or dvd port on the docking station thought). But this unit is very cool. I have only used business grade laptops (IBM and Toshiba) in the past and this one performs just as well and it comes with many more useful features (CDRW and DVD).I was looking for a home laptop for about a year and was about ready to pluck down [money] for what I wanted, and then this came along, I'm so glad I couldn't make up my mind. (and by the way, just to even the tables a little bit; I love the pointing stick. I will not buy a laptop if it has a track ball or mouse pad.)
Rating: 
Summary: BEWARE warranty expires --> problems start
Review: I bought this computer in January 2002 and it worked well for about a year. About 3 months ago it began experiencing software problems and as of now I have had to reinstall the OS twice and have lost all of the information in the HD in the process. The computer periodically decides it will not recognize the expansion base or the drives or both and I have had to use the reset button on both the computer and the base on a number of ocassions.
In more general terms: the expansion base turned out to be very impractical and I mostly use the computer without the drives or with a USB port Floppy drive. It is good for use with MS office if that is all you do, but if you do any sort of modeling requiring some moderate computation then it is definitely not the computer for you. If you do a lot of typing beware of the 95%-sized keyboard. The resolution and quality of the image of the monitor is excellent, probably the best feature of the computer.
HP support is good for really inexperienced users but can be very frustrating for people who know about computers.
Take home message: This is wonderful for people on the go who will use this product for about a year and then replace it with a new one --> expensive palmtop
Rating:
Summary: Unbeatable deal
Review: The major selling point for me was the docking station. The only thing you have to plug directly into the laptop is a modem line. The undocking mechanism can be finicky, but this thing is highly portable. It comes with Windows XP, which has been nothing but smooth and easy. I'm not up on the latest Microsoft bashing (although I usually agree on principle); however, XP has made plug and play very easy. I haven't had any of the driver problems I've heard from other people. The only thing that was a pain to install was my Zip drive. (Make sure you have a Zip disk in the drive.) If you need a floppy drive, you need to buy an external one, because the unit doesn't include one. It's got a DVD-ROM and a CD-RW, both of which work very smoothly. You can also buy extension batteries, which will increase battery time from about 2 hours to about 7 (or so I've read); note that this add-on battery goes into the docking station, not the laptop -- as such I can't see much use for it. I also bought a USB hub, which has made things much easier. The prices I've seen quoted ... are slightly higher than what I paid, but this puppy is well worth that. If you want a light, portable, solid laptop, I can't recommend this one highly enough. *** UPDATE: After two months of using this computer, I am still very happy with it. All the positives still apply, though for a completeness' sake I should point out three things that bug me. The zu1175 has a pointing stick, if that impacts your decision. This one is comparatively hassle free, but there's no getting away from that cursor drift from time to time. Personally, I feel that as annoying as the stick can be, it's certainly no worse than a touchpad. Second, the arrow and text edit keys are in a slightly awkward configuration, and they are smaller than the other keys (except the F keys). They definitely slow down one's typing, especially the edit keys. Third, sometimes boots can be funny. I have had the machine freeze up, and when I manually restart, it just shows an HP logo and doesn't move on to the BIOS. It works fine on the second restart. That's about it. Those are all very minor hassles for an overall great machine. I try to keep the files defragmented and run scandisk every once in a while, and it's a well integrated and terrific functioning system.
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE warranty expires --> problems start
Review: This machine is great. I have had to ask for a replacement expansion bay b/c the Polk Audio speakers were not working properly and it was sent immediately and works fine. Once I also had to do a hard reset but that was also not a problem.
All of this considering I upgraded to XP Pro and put on much software is fantastic! People just won't believe me when I say I love my HP. Then they try it out and love it also. I have had only business notebooks from Dell and Compaq prior to purchasing this for the home. I am extremely impressed. The P3 700 is great, the DVD and CDR work great, the display is great, and the keyboard w/ joystick are great. My experience with support was great as well. If you don't try this machine before dropping [money]+ you're doing yourself a disservice. You can find a match from another manufacturer but you'll pay much more.
It is your money.
Cheers!
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous value at an affordable price --HP ZU1175
Review: This machine is great. I have had to ask for a replacement expansion bay b/c the Polk Audio speakers were not working properly and it was sent immediately and works fine. Once I also had to do a hard reset but that was also not a problem.
All of this considering I upgraded to XP Pro and put on much software is fantastic! People just won't believe me when I say I love my HP. Then they try it out and love it also. I have had only business notebooks from Dell and Compaq prior to purchasing this for the home. I am extremely impressed. The P3 700 is great, the DVD and CDR work great, the display is great, and the keyboard w/ joystick are great. My experience with support was great as well. If you don't try this machine before dropping [money]+ you're doing yourself a disservice. You can find a match from another manufacturer but you'll pay much more.
It is your money.
Cheers!
Rating:
Summary: A Refreshing Change of Pace...
Review: With Hewlett Packards recent buyout of Compaq and the sluggish US economy, I had concerns when purchasing this unit. Once I got this puppy out of the box, let me just say, I was simply amazed. The 700mhz Pentium III outperforms my 1.5ghz Pentium 4 on it's best day and the design (cosmetic and functional) is superb. Definitely the best notebook I've ever gotten my grubby little hands on. Practicallity and Performance all rolled up in a tidy compact (3.5lb) package. You can find other notebooks with some of the same features, but HP went for broke as this thing comes with a Network Port, CD-RW, DVD, Firewire Ports, USB ports, 56K modem, Polk Audio, LCD display for clock and cd functions... I could go on all night as the bundled software isn't to be scoffed at either. Excellent, excellent and might I add... excellent product. The name isn't fitting though, something this perfect should have more than a couple of letters and 4 numbers, so I have renamed it "MASTER" as it owns me and my respect. So in a sluggish economy with a (let's be honest) lack luster company with horrible support (thank god I've never needed them) ol' Hewlett Packard pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this one because I was ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE OF ONE THING before I went to purchase my new laptop; NO HP! The only reason I gave it a glance was the "Thinkpadesque" Finger Mouse Control instead of a Mouse Pad (which I adhore). Hats off HP, you've finally impressed me. Now I must be off to build a shrine to HP and get my ZU1175 tattoo... okay, maybe no tattoo or shrine, but I do want to get off this desktop to go use my ZU.
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