Compaq Presario 2100Z

WHAT'S HOT: Inexpensive, well-equipped, and fun to use--that describes the Presario 2100Z to a T. This budget notebook costs only $1024, a great price for any notebook, but especially for one that includes a combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive and Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition.

No boring black for this consumer portable: The tricolor case includes a matte-silver lid and a gray and black lower casing; bright blue and orange status lights help its appearance as well. The keyboard is easy to navigate, and includes five shortcut buttons you can program to launch files or your favorite Web sites. Two extra features for cursor control enhance the touchpad's capabilities: A deactivation button prevents you from accidentally repositioning the cursor while typing, and a partitioned vertical scrolling area lets you quickly page through documents.

WHAT'S NOT: The hard drive could be easier to remove; its retaining screws are hidden beneath rubber covers on the front of the notebook. There's no wireless capability, although such a feature is becoming increasingly common in other notebooks.

WHAT ELSE: The 1.53-GHz Athlon 4 XP-M 1800+-equipped 2100Z is a dandy performer, pulling down a strong PC WorldBench 4 score of 102 and lasting just over three hours on one battery charge. You can check remaining battery life without turning the notebook on, thanks to a power gauge on the battery pack itself. This midsize Presario weighs 7 pounds, not including its AC adapter. It has no floppy drive, but does cater to legacy users with serial, parallel, and PS/2 connections. A connection on the bottom lets you add an extra-cost docking station--handy if you want to use the notebook as your primary computer. The 2100Z also supplies TV-out and FireWire ports.

The stereo speakers sound only so-so, but the notebook comes with a nice set of volume buttons just around the left front corner. These controls and the optical drive's eject button are bright white instead of the case's color, so they really stand out. While the hard drive is a bit tricky to remove, the 2100Z's memory sockets are easy to reach beneath the screw securing a bottom panel.

The documentation is above average overall, and includes printed getting-started guides, supplemented by a comprehensive Acrobat manual on CD.

UPSHOT: The Compaq Presario 2100Z has a lot to offer for such an inexpensive notebook. The performance is good, and it offers the most commonly requested features, with the exception of wireless capability.

SUMMARY

Compaq Presario 2100Z $