home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
- Path: sparky!uunet!iphase!news
- From: tbarker@curly.Iphase.COM (Ted Barker)
- Subject: Compaq LTE/Lite 25c Review (long)
- Message-ID: <TBARKER.92Jul23191204@curly.Iphase.COM>
- Sender: news@iphase.uucp
- Reply-To: tbarker@iphase.com
- Organization: Interphase Corp., Dallas, Texas
- Distribution: comp
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 00:11:55 GMT
- Lines: 112
-
-
- Review of Compaq LTE/Lite 25c; 7/23/92
-
- We purchased the Compaq LTE/Lite 25c notebook computer approximately 2
- weeks ago at Computer City, Tandy's new computer super store. The
- following are the specifications on it.
-
-
- 640x480x256 color active matrix TFT screen; 8.4 in diag. 5.1x6.35 in. SHARP
- LOOKING!
- 386sl 25 MHz w/64 KB external cache
- 4MB RAM expandable to 8, 12, or 20 MB using 4, 8, or 16 MB expansion card
- 84 MB HD (120 optional)
- built-in trackball on the right side of the screen with the buttons on the
- back side or exterior of the screen.
- Optional internal 9600bps modem (lot$) or 24/96 faxmodem
- External video, parallel, serial, numeric keypad, and PS/2 keyboard/mouse ports
- External expansion port
- Inverted "T" cursor keys, 10+2 function keys dedicated PgUp, PgDn, Home,
- and End keys, embedded numeric keypad
- 8.5 x 11 x 2 inches exterior
- 6.5 lbs (I believe) w/ battery
- NiMH battery (smartpak) 2.5 hrs in DOS, 2 hrs in Win3.1 w/ power
- management. Less without PwrMgmt. 1.3 lbs, 2.2Ah
- Small, light power supply; 1.4x3.3x5.3 in, 0.8 lbs
- DOS 5 and Win3.1
-
- Included in the list of possible options are:
- CD-ROM - external
- 80/120 or 60 MB external tape drive or 3.5 or 5.25 " floppy drive
- Desktop expansion base for use with or without an external monitor &
- keyboard
- Automobile adapter
- 2-battery battery charger
-
-
- The machine is quite fast, particularly the video. Ghosting and cursor
- submarining do not occur on this machine. The screen is quite bright and
- the colors look very good on it. (None of the "washed out" look of passive
- matrix.) It has a 6-bit DAC, so apparently cannot display a real 256
- colors, but does a very good job of emulating them (fooled me). I believe
- that the external video connector will provide a full 256 "real" colors in
- 640x480. I was not able to confirm it, but I believe that the external
- port will support 800x600x16. The much better readability of this screen
- makes up considerably for it's smaller size. The viewing angle is
- extremely wide, almost that of a CRT. The screen is a little difficult to
- see in bright sunlight, but I guess just about any screen will be that way.
- (Until now, I never really tried to compute while commuting.) The disk
- performance is quite respectable also.
-
- The trackball is mounted on the lid of the machine, next to the right side
- of the screen. It is about 3/8in. diameter and is mounted about the right
- height to rest your hand on the surface supporting the machine, and twiddle
- it with your thumb. The buttons are located on the outside of the lid, so
- that all of the trackball action is performed by your thumb, forefinger,
- and middle finger, in a semi-clasped fashion. Since the lid can be moved
- to just about any angle, the trackball can end up at the most comfortable
- angle quite easily. The screen actually seems to have richer colors as the
- screen is pushed further back and down (lid open).
-
- The keyboard has short travel keys and emulates the layout of the IBM 101.
- I like the feel, as does my wife. Both are touch-typists. The PgUp, PgDn,
- Home, and End keys are small and at the top of the keyboard away from the
- inverted "T" cursor keys (small also). The "F" keys are small and the F11
- and F12 keys require Fn+F1 and Fn+F2 respectively. There is only one Ctrl
- key. The other can be emulated by pressing Fn+Ctrl. There are 2 Alt keys.
-
- The battery slides in from the front and is VERY easy to remove and replace.
- It charges in about an hour if machine is not running, 1.5-2 if running.
- Machine has "auxiliary battery" for changing batteries. The power
- management features are quite extensive. A "gas guage" accurate within 10
- minutes can be displayed with a two keystrokes. Power conservation schemes
- can be changed with three other keystrokes. Two more keystrokes will swap
- from internal to external displays. A keyboard/mouse lock can be enabled
- with two more strokes.
-
- The suspend button will shut down all devices and hold the contents of
- memory. The system can be configured to enable "hibernation" which dumps
- the contents of memory and processor to disk and powers off the machine.
- When the machine is powered on, it automagically loads all of the contents
- of memory back up, and puts you back exactly where you left off.
- Hibernation can be instigated by pressing the Fn+Suspend or if the machine
- is in suspend for a user-defined period, it will automatically enter
- hibernation and power off. Also if hibernation is enabled, and the battery
- reaches a certain low-power level, the machine will automatically hibernate
- until AC or charged battery is applied.
-
- The complaints that I have are: the battery life is short, and cost is high
- (penalties for active matrix screen); the machine seems to freeze for about
- 20-30 seconds (mouse cursor still moves) after clicking on the "open file"
- button in Word 4 Win ver 2.0a. The latter problem seems to occur whether
- under battery power or AC, and whether the disk is spun down or not. In
- fact if the disk is spun down, it will not start spinning up until that
- 20-30 seconds have expired. This is an intermittent problem, so it is only
- a nuisance. Posted message on Compuserve Compaq forum last night, but have
- not heard back yet.
-
- Price: $4699 at Computer City; $4999 for 120MB drive version
- expansion base: $800-900
- NiMH battery: $185
- NiCad battery: $130 approx.
- Additional charger: $125 approx
-
- Check out the First Looks section of the August PC mag for their opinion of
- it.
-
-
- --
- ------
- Ted Barker All Standard disClaimers Apply
- Interphase Corp.
- Internet: tbarker@iphase.com CompuServe: 71042.2533
-