good value

It has served me well the few weeks I have had it now. The wi-fi is keeping me connected as I'm typing this from a hotel room. The processor is nice and fast. There are four high-speed USB connections. The unit is solidly built (perhaps a mite heavy).



My only criticisms are as follows:



The screen resolution doesn't look quite as sharp as on my desktop monitor. I'd say maybe 85% as sharp so it's usually barely noticeable. The other thing is that the soundcard doesn't have all the mixer capabilities you might expect to find in a desktop. I don't know if this is common in laptops and I sort of stumbled upon the issue. But I got around it by purchasing an external mixer from the Guitar Center.



I initially intended it only as a travel companion but have since begun using it in my recording studio (with Cakewalk Music Creator). Oh and to play SimCity (which doesn't work on Vista!) All in all I am quite satisfied with it.



The seller shipped it out immediately and it arrived by FedEx or UPS (I forget which) in a matter of days (two or three as I recall -- it was quick).More detail ...

Non-transerrable XP License

I bought one of these laptops two months ago. It has been working just fine. Today Microsoft told me that the license is not valid. It has a valid certificate of authenticity on the back but does not have a second "refurbished" CoA. When I look at the internal System Properties/General tab it says "XP Corporate" which means it was covered under a volume/site license which can not be transferred or sold. I will probably have to buy a fresh copy of XP ($150) and re-install.



Before I made the order I checked to see that the advertisement specified "Genuine Windows XP". I also checked the CoA when it arrived. When the Microsoft updater offered to run "Genuine Advantage" to check the authenticity I confidently thought "sure go right ahead." Now every time I restart I get a big message that says I am a victim of software piracy. I expect the operating system will eventually simply stop running.More detail ...