Compaq Armada 1530D - Old but cheap as chips

Advantages: cheap to buy used, robust
Disadvantages: Heavy, slow, small hard drive

...The compaq Armada 1530D laptops have been out about 5 or 6 years now, first entering the market back in 1998, so its worth considering this throughout my review; this laptop is nothing compared with todays machines. I bought the laptop used about one year ago, I needed a simple machine for word processing at home, and decided it would be nice to socialise whil working (now I can sit in front of the telly with the family while I do my work) At £200 it was a bargain, the truth is they are even cheaper on ebay now, I've seen them go as little as £100. But of course, your not going to get an amazing machine for under £200. These laptops really are basic and have minimum specs. The speed is just 16MB RAM, which is minute compared with the speeds of 512MB RAM in the latest laptops. The harddrive is less than 2GB in size, incredibly...

gusgusrule 17.04.2004 · Read review
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Review of Compaq Armada 1530

Sailing with my Armada

Advantages: light & inexpensive
Disadvantages: a mouse with a mind of its own

...I've owned my Compaq Armada 7400 for nearly a year now. I bought it second hand off ebay because I needed a computer that was portable and light with a decent amount of grunt (and that wasn't too expensive) to take with me when traveling overseas. (They are currently selling for about £150 – 200 on ebay – obviously prices vary depending on the optional extras and the competition!) The specs of my system are: 400 MHz Pentium II 128 MB RAM 10 GB Hard Drive DVD-ROM Drive Internal 56K modem In addition to the above I purchased an Ethernet card for home networking as this did not come standard with the machine. The computer I bought didn't come with a Floppy Drive either (although you can get them with floppy drive built in) and I have considered getting one since as I don't have a desk top computer to download...

ShoeLace 20.04.2003 · Read review
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Review of Compaq Armada 7400

COMPAQ ARMADA! I see no ships

Advantages: Light weight tiny Laptop
Disadvantages: As it 2 or 3 years old a bit slow

...We bought the Compaq Armada M300 as a Christmas present for our 13 year old daughter, mainly for 2 reasons, to run Microsoft Encarta to enable her to do her HOMEWORK! And to run the Sims, she?d been asking for this for about 2 years and we were loathed to load it on the family?s computer for fear that nobody else would get a look in! The Computer, we found on E-Bay for £145 plus £18 postage, we were not particularly looking for a Compaq, but rather any Laptop that had a processor that met the Sims minimum requirement ( that being PII 300). The Compaq far surpassed that! And so we went ahead and made the purchase via Paypal on Sunday night and much to our delight it arrive at 7.30am on Tuesday morning. The only problem, now was that the standard Compaq Armada comes without any external Drives and so we set about finding a CD...

grahamdavidcook 12.01.2005 · Read review
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Review of Compaq Armada M300

Olympus E500

Advantages: Superb quality Photo's
Disadvantages: Increased noise at high ISO's

...I've owned an Olympus E500 for two years now and can only say good things about it! I've found it takes superb photos at a very high quality. It sits comfortably in the hand, and has a nice weight to it, something which can be lacking in some of the other models on the market. The only slight draw back is the level of noise when shooting at high ISO's, typically above 500. However this isn't an issue most of the time. The level of available lenses and accessories is more than adequate for the typical user. The interface on the camera is logical and easy to navigate. I recently took it travelling with me on a gap year, and looking through my photos on getting home I felt like I was back in all the places I'd visited! A very good camera capable of taking superb quality photos! A very good choice!...

thomarnold 25.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of Olympus E-500

E-500 - Pro Digital SLR at budget price

Advantages: Great features, sensor cleaning, sexy looks, great lcd viewer, dual card memory
Disadvantages: limited choice of lenses (currently)

...I bought the E-500 as a replacement for my previous Fuji S9600. I used to work as a professional photographer years ago and wanted the flexibility of better lenses than the normal fixed lens digital cameras without paying top price for the Nikon or Canon cameras that it seems everyone has. In addition, I always loved the crispness of the Olympus lenses. This camera is a great \'do-it-all\' machine. It\'s simple to use, it has some great features which are easy to find and it looks sexy. The images it produces are sharp and usually have great colour rendition. A good point is that it has two different memory card holders using exactly the same type of cards as the Fuji meaning it is a good step up for Fuji owners who don\'t want to have to buy replacement memory cards. I have it with the 17.5-45mm and the 40-150mm lenses and also...

fightgear 11.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Olympus E-500

I will never buy a Compaq again

Advantages: Inexpensive compared to similar spec'd machines
Disadvantages: Trackball mouse inefficient and not easy to use, build quality terrible, heavy with provided battery

...Having purchased my Compaq Armada 110s based mostly on budgetary constraints, I suppose I have to blame it on myself that this machine disappoints. I have owned the Armada for a year and a half now, and have experienced many problems both hardware- and software-related. To dismiss the software complaints, my laptop came installed with Windows Millenium, to which I have had to add several patches to make the machine work consistently. Compaq support people were reasonably helpful about these problems, although utlimately a self-help approach was the rule (they directed me to downloads on the web to try to fix the problems myself, and blamed it on the Microsoft software). The main problem in this department was to do with the display adapters, meaning that my screen repeatedly shut down for no apparent reason. Having 'fixed' this...

dreganbacon 10.02.2003 · Read review
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Review of Compaq Armada 110

Olympus E500 Digital SLR camera

Advantages: Light weight, good range of functions, dust reduction system.
Disadvantages: Only just adequate in low light conditions.

...I bought this camera around 18 months ago and have found it to be reliable so far. The 'dust shake' mechanism that activates when you switch it on helps prevent dust build-up on the sensor which has to be a major plus point. This is my first digital slr although I am familiar with film slr cameras and, also, basic compact digital cameras. I found that the transition to more advanced digital photography relatively simple with the E500. The E500 is fairly light to carry but not so light that it impinges on the ingegrity of the camera. The photographer is in control of complexity of use:from fully manual to automatic with useful priority modes in between. There are also 'scene' modes......effictively automatic settings which are tailored to very particular situations eg.'Night and Portrait' and 'Beach or snow'. I have also found...

Moongazinghare 16.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Olympus E-500

Fuji's Mindblowing E500 Cam

Advantages: Beautiful, vivid photos. Excellent zoom feature. Great aesthetics. Compact.
Disadvantages: Does eat up battery power.

...Fujifilm have long represented quality in the photography industry, in recent times they have diversified into the digital camera age. With several models for the casual amateur photographer, right upto the seasoned professional. Usually, their cameras are of an excellent standard, possessing a high aesthetic value and specifications for the money you pay. The Finepix E500 is certainly no exception. Thus, Its small wonder Fuji are so popular in a market like photography, which is full to the brim with competition, consumers tend to demand only the finest in cameras. The Finepix E500 is part of Fujis "sophisticated" range of cameras, one of five established catagories in the firms catalogue of digital cameras. My Finepix E500 cost £158.99 from my nearby technology and computer fair, a decent price when compared to its RRP (£199...

Credance100 21.03.2005 · Read review
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Review of Fujifilm FinePix E500

Armada 1750

Advantages: Built like a brick! Great Screen! AND THOSE SPEAKERS!
Disadvantages: Old and slow, but this is to be expected for this prehistoric beast.

......

Jonsta999 31.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Compaq Armada 1750

Compaq Presario V4000 - not a beauty contest winner

Advantages: Good value for money (decent specs at a strong price) and good after-sales support
Disadvantages: Bad-looking, unreliable at times

...I guess it is safe to say the design will never win any awards. It looks chunky and the color combination (all silver inside and matt black on the outside) doesn't look very appealing. The buttons on the touch-pad feel rubbery and offer a good touch, but it attracts dirt, is nearly impossible to clean. Ditto for the silver finish too...starts to rub off after a few months and ends looking ancient. The specs are decent and well worth the price - but my personal experience with all hp/compaq products (I've had 3 hp/compaq laptops to date) is that they all have a problem with the motherboard. Not sure if this is a generic problem with all hp/compaq products...or maybe I'm just plain unlucky. Of course, their after-sales support is quite good, but it doesn't feel nice taking a barely-three-months-old laptop for repair. Better to spend...

TruthSeekr 23.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of HP Compaq Presario V4000 series