Editor's note: The configurations available in Australia may vary, please check with your local distributor for more info.
Design
The HP Compaq's new series of business laptops sports a slate-gray scratch-resistant magnesium-alloy protecting the display which marks an improvement over the somewhat fragile plastic surfaces of the previous generation. This 15-inch mainstream notebook measures 329 x 267 x 30.3 (at front) mm and weighs 2.72kg. Image-wise, we were only comfortable with the brightest display setting as the panel appeared pretty dim otherwise. The lid is fitted with two solid latches to lock the screen and a good hinge to match.
The slight gradient causing the difference in thickness at the front (30.3mm) and the rear (36.8mm) is meant to provide a more comfortable user experience when typing. The well-spaced keys deliver decent tactile feedback though they are a tad shallow in depth. Lining the top of the keyboard is a plethora of seven buttons for quick launch, power, Wi-Fi activation and volume control. The touchpad and two responsive rubber-like mouse buttons lie below the keys.
Features
Our unit came fitted with one of the higher-end configurations available for the nx6120, boasting a Pentium M processor 760 (2.0GHz), 512MB RAM and a fair-sized 60GB hard drive. Though discrete graphics would have been good, we weren't really expecting its inclusion due to the laptop's low price and so it proves with the integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. The optical drive is non-removable and supports the standard DVD/CD-RW combo.
For the amount you pay, the connectivity options you get on this machine are pretty impressive. For networking, you have 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN, Gigabit Ethernet, a 56K modem and Bluetooth capability. You get the standard FireWire, S-video out and VGA-out slots, but note that a generous dose of four USB 2.0 and two PCMCIA slots are provided. You even get the rarely seen parallel and serial ports and a very useful 6-in-1 card reader at the front edge.
The HP Protect Tools security suite comes with the new HP Compaq business range. To give an idea of what this application does, the user has the choice to configure boot options, disable several ports and set passwords.
Performance
Once again we used our handy benchmarking software, MobileMark 2002, to gauge performance and battery life. Our test unit was admittedly not too impressive considering its fast 2.0GHz chip and 512MB RAM, getting 195 marks for performance. This is quite mediocre considering that other notebooks with similar configurations get scores of at least 230. However, do note that the nx6120 differs from our test unit, fitted with an inferior Processor 730 (1.6GHz) and 256MB RAM. Battery life was clocked at 188 minutes (3 hours 8 minutes) below the average 200 to 250 minutes by other mainstream and thin-and-light notebooks.
Packaged with Windows XP Professional Edition, the nx6120 comes installed with software such as HP ProtectTools to manage security and Norton AntiVirus 2005. You have an option to burn CDs on the external drive either by using Sonic RecordNow!. DVD playback in Windows OS is managed by InterVideo's WinDVD.
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Igor_otsky
25/02/2008, 06:19 PM
rating
5/10
Screen turns black 6/10 of the time. screen turns white while watching movies 8/10 of the time. tried reinstalling video driver but to no avail.
Pros: sturdy
Cons: video is unreliable.
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mylord
08/09/2007, 10:56 PM
rating
2/10
very bad components. I have only problems with this laptop.
Pros: high performance due to Turion 64 bit
Cons: hhd crachs
only 1 year garantie --> this explains anything
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skeletorsambora
23/08/2007, 01:28 PM
rating
5/10
I've had a bunch of problems with mine. Taken in for repairs many times because Windows wouldn't start, the screen kept going white, and the sound didn't work.
Pros: It's a great computer when it works
Cons: Too many repairs
Hard drive problems
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goose7219
27/05/2007, 08:15 PM
rating
6/10
had heaps of probs with the hard drive failing the touch pad left button stoped working , batterys are dead and the ac power plug pin broke on board but when running it is great fast system im looking for another on email me at goose7219@yahoo.com.au aust only
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cjjj
07/04/2007, 01:19 AM
rating
10/10
The battery still manages 4 hrs of life after a years-worth of abuse/use(using 'Laptop' settings). Great SD/XD/MMS card reader slot. Plenty of connectivity slots, light and durable.
Pros: Light
Resolution
IR port
Connectivity
Cons: none
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liamorama
26/11/2006, 01:27 PM
rating
3/10
Poor Service and Quality - Would Not recomend HP
I own the nx6120's brother, the nx6125. It is built on the same chassis but has slightly different hardware, and since buying it have had nothing but trouble. About 3 months in, a line of pixels on the screen died. I had to send it back to HP, who did replace the screen. About 4 months later, i started getting a non system disk or disk error. Sent it back to HP, who didn't fix the problem, and replaced my 80gb hdd with a 60gb one! had to send it back again, and they have still not had it returned to me. The whole ordeal so far has left me without my computer for the last 6 weeks. really bad customer service.
Pros: Clean Design
Relatively inexpensive
Feels pretty solid
Cons: Screen is flimsy
Un reliable - lots of hardware failure
EXTREMELY poor customer service from HP.
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HP boy
31/10/2006, 04:10 PM
rating
7/10
"Desktop" Laptop
Good desktop replacement.
Pros: This is one hell of a sturdy laptop. I dropped it on the ground one time but didn't show any hardware damages. Connectivity is good too. You get 4 usb ports, wireless lan, modem and a card reader. LCD looks good and tough, the keyboard has a nice feel and the pointer works well too.
Cons: The problem with this notebook is the battery. After a few weeks from purchasing this notebook, the battery dramatically dropped to only 15 min of useful life. Maybe the reason why HP added a secondary battery bay.
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MADDY_FUNK
18/10/2006, 02:45 AM
rating
8/10
nt bad afterall JUST LUK AT D PRICE???
HP HAS GT GUD NO. OF PORTS BT MAINTAINING THE IMAGE IT HAS COME UP TO THE MARKS
Pros: ITS GR8 CONNECTIVITY,ND PROFESSIONAL LUK
Cons: THE SPEED IS NT THAT GUD
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laptopboy
06/09/2006, 06:18 PM
rating
8/10
love it works well
Pros: To get the screen brighter in battery mode:
1. Make sure computer is on Battery Power.
2. Hold down the 'blue' FN button, on the bottom left hand side.
3. Hold down the "F10" button until screen gets brighter.
Note, the screen dims automatically whilst on battery, to conserve battery life, but once you make this manual change, it will always stay bright
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melcredo
25/08/2006, 12:07 AM
rating
7/10
Good desktop replacement
i recommend this laptop
Pros: it has many slots like the card reader and has a lot of usb ports in it.
Cons: it is dimmer when in battery mode but it is ok when in ac power.
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