HP nx7300 Review
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Description: Broadcom BCM440x 10-100 Ethernet Drivers for HP Compaq nx7300 This package contains the Ethernet drivers to enable the Broadcom BCM440x 10-100 Ethernet LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) network device in the listed notebook models and operating systems. On Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based distributions, there’s an “Additional Drivers” tool. Open the dash, search for “Additional Drivers,” and launch it. It will detect which proprietary drivers you can install for your hardware and allow you to install them. Linux Mint has a “Driver Manager” tool that works similarly.
by Mladen Djordjevic, Serbia
HP nx7300 running Kubuntu Linux (view large image)
The HP Compaq nx7300 represents the latest available notebook in the HP nx series. The nx7300 is a Core 2 Duo budget laptop with a 15.4” widescreen display. Although it doesn’t offer anything out of the ordinary, design simplicity and solid build quality make it a formidable contender in the sub $1,100 price range. Obviously, HP with this models targets students and small businesses with a tight budget. Configurations vary greatly, you can get anything from a Celeron M up to a Core 2 Duo T7200 processor.
The configuration of the reviewed HP nx7300 is as follows:
Reasons for buying:
I was looking for a reliable laptop, mainly for software development. It needed to have a good price-to-value ratio and good connectivity options. This is my second laptop, as I was previously the proud owner of a Dell e1505. In my decision process I also considered the Toshiba M100-221, Acer 5633 and Asus F3T. The Acer had poor battery life, the Asus an AMD processor I didn’t want and the Toshiba was too small at 14.1”.
Where and How Purchased:
This laptop was bought at the local computer store for 950 Euros + 120 Euros for a 1GB memory upgrade. It has a 1-year limited warranty. I think I got a good deal, because in Serbia online shopping is still in an early phase of development, so internet coupons and discounts are in the very, very distant future. In the U.S. and certain other countries it can be purchased from HP.com online.
Build & Design:
HP nx7300 running Windows (view large image)
The design is very similar to other laptops in the nx series. It will not win any beauty pageants, or turn the heads of your classmates. It is very simple and modest (personally, I like this kind of design). The entire laptop is black, except the lid cover, which is a dark gray. There are speakers situated on both sides of the keyboard, so they don’t ruin your typing experience. The main exhaust is on the left side so the hot air won’t bother you when you use an external USB mouse (if you are right handed that is). Overall, the HP engineers did a god job with the functionality and practical implementation in designing the laptop. The nx7300 is very thin and light considering its screen size. Don’t let its size fool you though, the build quality is great, a big step forward from my previous Dell e1505. It is made of sturdy, solid plastic, and it gives a feeling of sturdiness. The LCD is well protected and doesn’t ripple when the lid is firmly pressed. The hinges seem sturdy and well damped.
HP nx7300 lid (view large image)
Screen:
(view large image)
The HP nx7300 has a 15.4” WXGA (1280×800) BrightView screen. I didn’t expect too much from the screen, so I was very surprised by how bright it was. The colors are very crisp and vivid. However, I was a little bit disappointed with viewing angles. The horizontal viewing angle is acceptable, but the vertical angles are very poor. Even with a small augmentation of angle the colors distort really fast.
The resolution of 1280×800 is more convenient for a 14.1” display, the sweet spot for 15.4” is 1440×900 in my opinion.
The Screen has light leakage all over the place, but surprisingly this is unnoticeable when I am doing regular work and can only really be seen on an all black background. The glossy display is ideal for indoor use when watching movies on it, but it is practically useless for outdoors or places with a strong light source behind you due to the amount of reflection.
Speakers:
The speakers are acceptable for everyday use. This is no multimedia notebook, so don’t expect too much out of them. The sound is crisp, but lacks volume. I use an external Logitech X230 speaker set when watching DVD’s.
Processor and Performance:
Although this laptop is equipped with a basic 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor it is very fast due to the 2 GB of RAM (667 MHZ) on board. It is noticeably faster than my desktop Athlon XP2000+ system. So far I haven’t managed to give it a task that takes a long time to process. However, in my line of work you don’t have any CPU intensive applications. Provided the hard disk spins at 5400 rpm, with 2GB of RAM and a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo you’ll have good overall performance.
Benchmarks:
PCMark05 System Results Comparison
PCMark05 tests the system performance as a whole:
Super Pi Comparison Results
Super Pi forces the processor to calculate Pi to 2 million digits of accuracy and gives an idea of the processor speed and performance:
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Heat and Noise:
This is a very quiet laptop. Apart from startup fan noise, you will rarely have the opportunity to hear it. All the heat dissipates on the bottom side of laptop, so your hands won’t be sweaty as you type. It doesn’t get too hot so it’s comfortable to use it on your lap. The only thing that generates some noise is the DVD-RW drive. Although it is not the loudest drive on the market, it can be a little bit annoying.
Keyboard and Touchpad:
(view large image)
The keyboard is a key feature for this laptop. It is very solid and has quick response time. In a word it is “fantastic”. Every key provides firm feedback and feels individual, so there is no flex at all. There are 4 extra buttons on the keyboard (Wireless/Bluetooth switch, Mute, Volume up and Volume down). The Enter button is double sized, which is a good thing, however I would like to see the left Shift button to be a little bit wider. The touchpad is ok for basic use and the mouse buttons below it are made of rubber which is a cool thing. Overall the keyboard and touchpad experience is quite impressive.
Input and Output Ports:
The nx7300 has a standard business palette of ports:
The nx7300 unfortunately lacks a memory card reader.
Front view of nx7300 (view large image) Left side view of nx7300 (view large image) Right side view of nx7300 (view large image) Rear view of nx7300 (view large image)
Wireless:
The included Intel 3945 Pro wireless card works without any problems in both Windows and Linux.
Battery :
The HP nx7300 has a 6-cell (43Wh) high capacity battery which gives it about 3h 45min in word processing tasks with low brightness. If you want to watch DVD’s it will give you approximately 2 hours.
Operating System and Software:
You can order the nx7300 with Free Dos, Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional. Mine came with Windows XP Home edition. The included software consisted of 30-days of Norton Antivirus, Intervideo WinDVD, and a bunch of HP security software. HP doesn’t provide you with recovery disks, but there is a provided application that allows you to burn them. I haven’t managed to test all of the supplied programs, because I prefer the Linux Kubuntu OS over Windows, and use it as my default system.
Customer Support:
I haven’t had a chance to use customer support. The laptop comes with a 1 year limited warranty. You can buy an HP care pack that extends your warranty for one more year.
Conclusion:
If you are a student looking for a reliable, sturdy laptop for things such as software development or just word processing or if you have a tight budget and don’t want to bother about Linux compatibility, then look no further, the HP nx7300 will provide you the best bang for the buck. However, be prepared to say goodbye to your gaming collection, because there are slim chances you’ll playing any of them. In that case you may want to look for some notebook with a dedicated graphic card solution.
Pros:
Cons:
See the bottom of this post. It was written for 9.10 Karmic but apparently still works in 12.04 Precise.
Apparently Intel has decided that people using Ubuntu (and Linux in general) on laptops with an Intel wireless card simply must know when data is being transferred over the connection. To that end, Intel wifi cards constantly blink the LED whenever data is being transferred. I think every other wireless card on the planet just has a solid LED light to indicate the wireless is on (or off, using the physical switch), but not Intel cards. Personally I find the constantly blinking lights pretty annoying.
There’s no easy-to-find setting to change the LED to always-on. But there is a solution: create a little script to change the LED to solid whenever you connect to a new wireless network. It’s pretty easy to do, too. Here we go:
That’s it! Next time you connect to a network, your wifi LED should remain solid. This works in 9.10 Karmic. And next time you find yourself cursing the guys at Intel, just remember: at least you don’t have a Broadcom card!
2010-07-21 Update!
As of kernel 2.6.34 this solution no longer works for me. However, commenter DM has suggested an alternative that does seem to work again.
Run the following command to create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf with a setting to disable the light:
echo 'echo 'options iwlcore led_mode=1' >> /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf' | sudo bash
Restart your laptop after running that command. This different solution should work if the above solution doesn’t.
2012-11-25 Update!
Commenter silli suggests an alternate solution for 12.04 Precise that’s similar to DM’s solution:
echo 'echo 'options iwlwifi led_mode=1' >> /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf' | sudo bash
This has been reported to work on 12.04 Precise. Make sure to restart your laptop after running that code!
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