beckman@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Peter Beckman) (03/30/91)
I test drove IBM's new SX notebook, the PS/2 L40SX. Here are my first impressions: First, the facts: (prices and options listed at the bottom) - 20 MHz 386SX, 2Meg RAM - expand. to 18MB, 60Meg HD, 1.44M floppy, Ports: Serial, Parallel, Ext. VGA, Mouse, Ext. keypad, Ext. AT Bus connector. 7.7lbs with battery. - LCD 10" screen, cold fluorescent sidelit, 32 shades. - Nice suspend/resume feature. close the top, and when you re-open, you are back to where you left off. You can even suspend, change batteries, and resume. - LCD status icons: Temperature, Carrier Detect, Speaker, Battery, Humidity. - Auto power management, tries to detect your usage, and adjust. - Auto switching 110/220V adapter, 15VDC output, not too heavy. First GOOD impressions: ---------------------- - Fantastic keyboard. Definitely the best thing about the machine. The keys do not travel far, but have a firm tactile response. Most importantly, the keys are in the right position. It is almost like a PS/2 keyboard. No hunting for the ESC, or HOME keys, or some special "FUNCTION" key. VERY VERY nice. No learning curve. - Auto Resume is very handy. - 60 Meg drive is 19ms, and big enough to use easily, without compressing files everywhere. - Black leather carrying bag is standard, comes with the machine. (see below). - Sturdy design, nice feel. First BAD impressions: --------------------- - The LCD screen was OK, but nothing great. It suffered the "vertical ghosting" that most LCDs have, and was crisp, but not too bright. With the brightness turned up all the way, I still needed to draw the blinds behind the desk. Usable, but not surprising. I think if one played with the palette, and used black on white, it might be better. Not really bad, just average. - The screen did not flip all the way back, so one could slide it under a monitor stand, for desktop use. This is a SERIOUS mistake. The only way to make use of the ext. VGA port, is to use an external keyboard too (or position the monitor to the side of laptop.. not a nice way to work). - The battery "fuel gauge" LCD icon has only THREE dots. Rechargeable shavers have about 10 dots. What can you tell from 3 dots? If they were going to make a fuel gauge, make it helpful! - The AC adapter/charger ONLY trickle charges, If you need a quick charge of your battery, you must buy an option. - A little heavy compared to other SX notebooks. - IBM includes an external numeric keypad. Why???? Of all things to include, wouldn't a mouse or IBM's "Trackpoint" make the machine a whole lot more usable? I think almost everyone needs a pointing device more than a numeric keypad. - The SLIM black leather bag is too small for the power supply and cord. ONLY the notebook BARELY fits inside. Why??? The computer also does not have a handle. If you use the leather bag, you still have to find a bag or briefcase for the AC power adapter, cord, and mouse. Why not give us a Cordura or cloth bag that fits the other essentials? It just doesn't make sense. The bag is practically useless. !!! PRICES & OPTIONS !!! ------------------------------- Computer List Price: $5995 Educational Price: $3597 Well, we all know the place the real $ is made is on options. And IBM makes no changes to this policy. An extra 2 Meg of memory has a list price of $899. That is about $450 PER MEGABYTE!!!! The "educational" price is $539, or about $270 PER MEGABYTE. Adding memory in larger (4 & 8) megabyte increments is no cheaper per megabyte. Those prices are just plain outrageous. Street price for Toshiba & AST memory is about $150/MB. IBM's 8 Meg expansion lists for $3,595!!!! For two dollars more, you could purchase a whole new machine at the educational price of $3597. Ok, enough about the overpriced memory. Quick Charger: $219 Ed. Price: $131 Internal FAX/Modem: $659 Ed. Price: $395 Trackpoint: $159 Ed. Price: $95 Deluxe carrying bag: $199 Ed Price: $119 *** FINAL COMMENTS *** --------------------- At $3597 for the Educational Price, it is not a bad computer. But the interesting thing to watch will be the market. With the list price still cheaper that Compaq's 60MB laptop, there may be some price cuts. May people are predicting much lower SX notebook prices this summer. It will be interesting to see what happens.