Doesn't come with installation discs, I've had issues with WLAN
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
When I finally decided to swap my bulky, faulty PC for a sleek new laptop, I made it my mission to find a decent model that didn't cost the Earth. As all the high street entry-level laptops I looked at came with £399 price tags and generally left something to be desired, I decided to look online and came across this little beauty.
The HP Compaq NX6325 set me back £397 at shoplaptop.co.uk (plus delivery and a smart Belkin carrying case). Although prices seem to have fallen in the 4 months since I bought it, I think this is good value for money and technical stats-wise one of the best laptops you can buy for under £400.
Don't necessarily let the "Business" bit in the title put you off - this is a brilliant computer for personal use as well, and is a cut above what most retailers offer in a similar price range. I have been using it for a while now for a combination of ordinary word-processing and more demanding digital image editng and I'm very happy with its performance.
The first thing you notice is obviously the physical appearance. The NX6325 has a 15" TFT monitor, and on mine I haven't noticed a single dark "missing pixel." The full-sized keyboard is slightly rough to the touch, but feels good when typing and the keystrokes aren't as loud as my conventional one. Although I'm not a huge fan of touchpad mouse control, this one redeems itself somewhat by having a scroll area on the right hand side, distinguished by the ladder-like lines. The response is good, so I only need a light touch for single and double clicks and thereby don't feel I'm ruining the touchpad. For precise work, though, it's worth investing in a USB mouse (the laptop doesn't have a PS/2 port for older mice).
Most of the front of the unit is taken up by the loudspeakers, which aren't bad considering their size. Headphones will always give better audio quality, but the inbuilt loudspeakers are perfectly acceptable. There's an audio jack on the side, as well as 3 USB ports (a couple more would have been nice, but that's still space for a wireless keyboard and mouse, plus plug-in broadband modem), 7-in-1 memory card reader, a DVD+/-RW drive, charging socket (obviously), and a couple of other sundries.
A somewhat more uncommon feature is a fingerprint reader for secure log-on. As I rarely take my laptop out of the house, I haven't really used this much, but it's always nice to have for added security, especially if you were to use the machine for business.
As a standard, the laptop comes with Windows XP Professional. This was one of the things that swayed me towards this model as I can't stand the Home edition. There are times where using a Limited User account makes sense, eg for browsing the internet (on a Limited User account you can't make changes to the Windows registry, so rogue software can't install itself), and the Professional edition allows you to customise which programs can be used on the Limited User accounts. This is particularly useful as a number of programs won't run properly on Limited User accounts otherwise and you then have to mess around with shared folders, switching accounts etc. AAARGH!! Rant over, the laptop is Vista ready so it should be easy, if not cheap, to upgrade.
In terms of connectivity, the Compaq NX6325 comes with an ethernet connection and wireless LAN. The only way in which I can fault it is that I can't connect to wireless internet. I'm sure that this can be rectified, but as I have access to a shared computer for broadband and wireless internet is less secure than wired it's not a huge priority. I must remember to get it fixed before the warranty runs out, though!
The processor speed is a decent 1.8GHz, but booting up and shutting down can be quite time-consuming. My other half sometimes makes the mistake of closing the lid before the laptop has shut down properly, which results in it hibernating and I then have to wait for it to finish shutting down and then switch it on again before I can use it. Apart from that, performance and number-crunching is speedy. The laptop easily handles my image editing, even when I'm working with large files.
Speaking of large files, the hard drive has a 60GB capacity. This is partitioned into two separate drives, the smaller of which is about 11GB and is used for a back-up of the original set-up on the computer. When you first use the laptop, you're prompted to create a back-up on either CD (11 discs) or DVD (2 discs), so once you have these discs stored somewhere safe you can technically delete the contents of the back-up drive and use it for your own files.
I must admit I'm slightly concerned that the laptop didn't come with any installation discs. In my experience it's a leap of faith not to have an original Windows disc as where computers are concerned I'm Sod's Law in person...as are most people I know, come to think about it. I can only pray and touch wood that I'll never need more than my back-up disc!
The machine weighs approx 3 kilos, and is small and light enough to be easily carried around. Battery life is quite good, I can get about 3 to 3 and a half hours of continuous use from fully charged depending on what I use it for. Charging takes about two hours, even when I'm working on the laptop at the same time. I expect that this will eventually deteriorate, as always with rechargable batteries.
Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase and feel it's money well spent. My WLAN problems have made me lower my rating to 4 stars, but on the assumption it's not a recurring fault I would happily recommend the HP Compaq NX6325 to anybody looking for a budget laptop that performs to a high standard.
More details
Memory / capacity
Good
Ease of use
Easy
Range of Extra Features
Good
Instruction manual
Satisfactory
Manufacturer Support
Satisfactory
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