I've had my Presario V2000 for about three weeks now, and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about the system. First, my specs:
1.6Ghz Dothan
2X256mb pc2700 ram
60gb hard drive
CDRW Drive
Brightview
6 cell battery
... and the rest
First I'd like to talk about the build quality. Overall, the V2000 feels like a solid machine. Although its case is thoroughly composed of plastic, the machine still feels sturdy durable. The black part of the outside case, however, can easily get smudged, which is surprising to me since it is plastic. Also, sometimes I can hear the creaking of plastic when I open or close the LCD, but it's not as bad as the creaking I get from my Dell Inspiron. One of the best features of the system is its fantastic keyboard. While there is a little bit of flexing on the outlying keys, for the most part the keyboard is extremely sturdy, and typing is not a problem at all. My only gripe is that the delete key is placed in the upper right corner, which is a drawback because I frequently use it. The orange and blue lights of the power button, WIFI button, and LCD display on the front of the case contrast nicely with the silver interior. The system is fairly light at around 5.3lbs, which makes it easy for me to slip it into my backpack and carry it around all day.
For daily tasks such as word processing, internet, email, etc. this system performs admirably. However, the hard drive seems to be a little slow, as cutting and pasting large files (>700mb) takes more time than I would like. This is probably due to the fact that I chose the free 4200rpm hard drive. Perhaps it would be wise to invest in a faster one. Since this machine only has an Intel Integrated Graphics Chipset, games are not its greatest strength. But older games such as Warcraft III and Quake III work fine with great framerates. I haven't tried any of the newer games, but I wouldn't expect them to work well. The included CDRW drive is pretty much the standard that you would expect from a laptop.
Battery life is modest at about 3:00 with LCD at half and WIFI on. Turning WIFI off and lowering the brightness of the LCD will increase this to around 4:00.
WIFI works great, and it picks up signals much better than my PCMCIA card ever could.
The Brightview screen is, in my humble opinion, worth the extra 75 dollars. Colors seem much more vivid, and the contrast between black and white is more enhanced. The LCD isn't the greatest though, as it seems to have poor viewing angles, especially vertically. But DVDs still look great, so long as you are the only one watching them.
The speakers are pretty much standard. While they are capable of being loud, they lack a deeper range, resulting in somewhat canned audio. But on the brightside, the headphone jack is placed on the front, so higher fidelity is but a plug away.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with this machine. It is quick for everyday use, and is still capable of providing some entertainment every now and then. Keep in mind though that this definitely isn't a gamer's laptop. In any case, I would give this machine my thumbs up. :thumbsup: