Compaq Armada E500

WHAT'S HOT: The best-equipped notebook Compaq sells, the Armada E500 boasts Intel's top notebook processor, two modular bays, a 15-inch screen that supports 1400-by-1050 resolution, and convenient shortcut buttons. Because both the floppy and optical drives are removable, you can reconfigure the E500 in several different ways with extra-cost add-ins. For example, the notebook can hold as many as three batteries at once for up to nine hours of outlet-free computing, according to Compaq (we didn't test that claim, but we did get an impressive four hours out of a single battery). Each extra battery costs $184. Alternatively, if you don't need the extra battery life or internal drives, you can plug both bays with included hollow travel bezels and lower the notebook's weight from over 8 pounds (including AC adapter) to about 6.5 pounds, which makes it light for its class. Other bay options include a 4X/4X/20X CD-RW drive ($399), SuperDisk LS-120 drive ($199), or second hard drive (up to 12 GB for $399). Compaq's lighter-weight corporate notebook, the Armada M700, can use the same devices, so companies can save money by sharing notebook modules. The E500's four shortcut buttons--for launching favorite applications, files, or Web sites--also are a helpful extra for multiple users. You can save an unlimited number of shortcut sets under different names, such as "Dave's project," and switch among them using the notebook's Easy Access utility.

WHAT'S NOT: Though most users won't notice the difference, the E500 lagged the average of PIII-850/700 notebooks we've tested running Windows 2000 Professional by 3 percent. It earned a PC WorldBench 2000 score of 157, compared with the average score of 162.

WHAT ELSE: The industrial-looking E500 is neither the handsomest nor the most traditionally designed corporate notebook we've seen. With its boxy profile, plain keyboard, large, bulbous screen latch, and vented back panel, the E500 looks more like a ruggedized laptop. Most of the ports are crammed on the right side and the back, with the left side of the notebook left oddly bare. But overall, it appears to be a well-built, capable machine. It allows easy access to both drives and memory (to free the hard drive, just remove one screw on the bottom of the notebook). DVD movies looked sharp and bright on our test machine, and music CDs sounded clear and adequately loud for a notebook. The volume toggle on the front of the notebook works smoothly and quickly. A composite video-out port lets the notebook use a TV screen as an external display, and pop-out tilt feet add typing comfort. Compaq includes utilities for managing the E500 across a network. Documentation covers the basics; you also get ergonomics advice in a separate Comfort and Safety Guide, and a Getting Started and Troubleshooting manual. In late October, Compaq recalled 55,000 batteries from E500 and V300 customers after one notebook overheated and smoked. (We didn't notice any problems with our test machine.) To see if you qualify for a battery replacement, go to http://www.compaqordercenter.com/sbrp/cl.asp.

BEST USE: The decked-out Armada E500 would make a reasonable choice for companies looking for a fuller-featured notebook to complement the thin-and-light Armada M700. However, both these notebooks are expensive compared with similarly equipped competitors, such as NEC's LXi and SXi lines. The E500's only unique advantages are its three-battery capacity and multiple-scheme shortcut buttons.

SUMMARY

Compaq Armada E500 PC WorldBench 2000 score of 157, Pentium III-850/700, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 2000 Professional, 15-inch active-matrix screen, ATI Rage Mobility Pro with 8MB of SDRAM, 20GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, touchpad pointing device, built-in V.90 modem and network interface, 8.2-pound weight (including AC adapter and phone cord), 1-year parts and labor warranty; free, 24-hour toll-free tech support. $3799 800/345-1518 www.compaq.com