LG P1 store hands-on preview

Hi everyone!

This is my first post around here after a long learning process following the site. Logging in from Barcelona (Spain), I recently had the chance to meet a LG P1 laptop in person at a local store of german Mediamarkt, one of Europe’s major electronics retailers. I’m not a fan of any laptop brand, in particular because I haven’t owned one yet, but to end up considering an LG machine was certainly not on my priority list. The particulars of the thing were:

- 15.4 WXGA glare with grey casing
- T2300 1.66ghz Intel Core Duo with 2mb of L2 cache running on a 667 mhz FSB
- 1024 mb of DDR2 RAM clocked at 667 mhz
- ATI X1400 integrated graphics card with 128mb of dedicated video memory
- 80 gb hard drive (presumably 54000rpm SATA, not confirmed)
- DVD super multi drive
- Intel Pro/Wireless 2945ABG & Bluetooth (with EDR)
- Finger print reader

You can find the rest of the details on the PDF brochure at:
http://www.lge.com/products/mobile/...pdf&filename=P1 Express Dual_Item Catalog.pdf

The price of this puppy was 1499 Euro (2083$ CA, 1798$ US), not an impressive deal by international standards. Nonetheless, not too bad taking into account that the machine offers a customary 2 year European warranty and that the Spanish notebook market is not yet as mature as those of Germany, UK or France (although it currently has one of the strongest growths in Europe). Trivia: 35% of all notebooks sold in Spain are Acer.

Although I am an old desktop veteran, my experience with laptops is very limited, so don’t take my impressions of this encounter as final; I’m just sharing them for those awaiting some information on the machine. First off, the thing has an elegant look. It has a reasonably slim profile with rounded curves, doesn’t boast an excess of bright media buttons all over it, and actually appears as a machine someone could get some work done with. This is the first check in my book.

The screen. Glare from the lights in the store was obvious, but it nonetheless seemed to be bright and have good viewing angles. I checked for ripples pushing with my fingers on the lid from behind and they could certainly appear, but the amount of pressure required was higher than with other nearby notebooks and didn’t make me feel too uncomfortable about it. The lid on the expo unit wasn’t very stiff, and a particularity about this notebook is that it has no latch. That’s right, the screen doesn’t attach to the base when you close it, so it just… folds. I’m not very sure what to make of this, as I believe most notebooks must have a latch for a reason, but that’s what the powers to be decided on here.

The keyboard is an extended version, featuring a numeric keypad on the right side. This is a novelty for a 15.4 inch widescreen notebook, and after observing and typing on it I believe LG has applied an interesting design improvement here. I wouldn’t be surprised if other manufacturers follow in the future. The keyboard didn’t exhibit any serious flex and didn’t feel excessively squeezed either; my only complain is that the depth of the keys when pressed seemed too short, although I am not used to laptop keyboards so I cannot really compare. The trackpad worked as expected and its buttons didn’t feel ‘clicky’.

The casing seemed to be made of a hard plastic and didn’t exhibit any flex when toyed around with in store. The base was very sturdy and the machine seemed to be well built and felt light. Port location seemed reasonable except for the USB ports; only three, of which two are packed together in parallel. That is, in a general scenario and depending on your devices, you may only be able to plug in two at once without using a USB hub.

Another novelty LG has introduced with this machine is liquid cooling. I was told it is implemented by induction alone, so it should imply no moving mechanical parts (although this should be confirmed). The efficiency of the solution needs to be checked with some intensive gaming, although it holds promise to be silent and cool if done well. I noticed the machine has a vent at the back, but don’t recall any on the bottom side. In my opinion, this is another interesting novelty. The power adapter is also reasonably small and light.

As you might guess, I liked this machine. I reserved a unit on the spot and I am currently considering purchasing it for a test run. Although the specs of this particular model are not impressive, it seems a good balance of processing power for general computing and battery life. After all, I don’t expect to be doing any intensive calculations or playing much games on it (except for those rare ‘let’s see what the game industry is up to’ evenings). With this amount of RAM and this GPU, it will certainly run Vista down the road. It’s just a shame it lacks AMD64 compatibility, which almost warranties it will not have a long and healthy senior life as those old Pentium III notebooks. But who said new generations are always better off?


Rasterian

 

Awsome!!! thanks for the nice mini review

can you quickly do this for me?
Like give me what you would possibly rate this stuff, and use some sort of explantion.

Im rating this according to what i read from you:

Screen 8/10 - nice viewing angles and brightness, but glares and low res.
Lid Build Quality 6.5/10 - average quality, with rippling if pressed hard enough.
Chasis Build Quality 7/10 - average quality, and feels like normal plastic, (do you feel the laptop to be plastiky? and little flex.
Keyboard Quality 8/10 - average quality, little flex, short key throws, and great innovations with the numpad
Performance for Price Value 6/10 - offers a relatively thin and light notebook with decent graphic power, but slighly pricey, but 2 years warranty.
Heat 9/10 - you mentioned some kind of internal cooling system, whereby there may not be any fans...(who knows), but the darn thing feels cool
Noise 9/10 - no fans means no noise, still needa test out gaming to see for sure.
Batterylife ?/10 - no info at the moment, I've spoken with a canadian rep and he said he got any where from 4-4.5 hours on it... (BS i think LOL) so we will wait and see about that.
Overall Appeal 8/10 - **** !!! i want my hands one of these babies especially with this internal cooling system in which they didn't *boast about??*

Thanks you so much for the info!! you are the one who finaly saved me from goign insane lol, cos i really wanted to know this stuff . Good Job!

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

thats cool.. now i am getting more anxious ... **** it.. i want mine to arrive now!!

 

Rasterian, nice review - very helpful. Just wondering if you could verify the screen resolution. You mentioned it was WXGA (1280x 800), but the PDF brochure you link to has WXGA+ (1440 x 900) as the lowest possible configuration. Thanks. -p

 

I'm glad you found it useful. It's curious there doesn't seem to be much interest around here on LG notebooks, particularly on a novel model like this one.

I'm attaching a picture of the retailer's offer, just to quench your thirst for more information!

I really don't have much to add, as I checked out the thing in 15 minutes during the retailer's rush hour.

Peesai, I cannot confirm the resolution as I do not have the machine in front of me, but the references I recall from the retailer point to WXGA 1280*800.

MysticGolem, although under a 15 minutes constraint, I agree with your marks. You got it right! But I would mention:

Chassis Build Quality 8/10 - It is plastic, but well built with a nice feeling to it.

Heat & Noise ?/10 - This is the mystery for now. I have read in an interview with LG Spain that all their new laptops integrate this exclusive feature, a proprietary 'liquid cooling technology which renders fans unnecessary and eliminates background noises during operation'. You can see it is also mentioned in the ad. Nonetheless, I cannot judge its efficiency. And I am still not totally convinced it doesn't incorporate a mechanical pump in the liquid circuit, which could be a source of complications (and less proven than air cooling).

Overall Appeal - Sexy!


Cheers,

 

hmm ic interesting... this new cooling thing, seems like the cooling system is some sort of new cooling method it may be liquid cooling it may not be... but doesn't the P1 have 2 cooling vents, one on the back and something wierd looking on the left...

When you have vent... it usually means it has fans...but not sure 100%

Whenever you get time to go back to the store, hopefully you can find more info regarding the cooling system and battery life


Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

i'm skeptical about the liquid cooling but hey all power to them!

 

I came across this laptop as I was searching for a Samsung x60, I was not too fond of this when compared to the Samsung, but would put it ahead of the A7 from Toshiba. Reason being is I felt that the lighter weight and slim profile of the Samsung + 3 years warranty was enough for me to buy the more expensive Samsing. I was actually searching for the s1 express but only saw this one at the shops, but a few observations i noticed, the machine was on for approximately 10 hours assuming they turned it on in the morning, running off power with only a screen saver running, the machine was running quite cool, and unlike many laptops the touchpad was quite cool. The keyboard looked abit weird with the inclusion of the numpad, and the keys were not as high a quality as the Samsung, but alot better than the Toshiba. It did have a very plasticky look to it, and didn't feel as well built as it could. The screen was very nice, as good as the Asus screens, also better than the Toshiba. The LG in Australia only comes with the one year warranty, which is a shame, if it came with the 2 years as like in Europe, then it would definetly make my choice alot harder.

 

The truth is, I am having second thoughts about purchasing this P1. I have a unit reserved at a dealer for another two weeks; it’s tempting to pick it up and give it a test run under the 15 day return policy.

But overall, and although I am new to this market, I believe it is a bad time to buy a laptop as a mid/long term investment. The specifications of this machine are very nice, and almost all manufacturers have similar models on the market, but I am not sure I am happy without 64 bits compatibility. After all, dual core is a nice multitasking addition for what is out there now, but 64 bits is a potentially disruptive technology. And these laptops are not particularly cheap, nor can they be updated (realistically).

LG’s warranty is the other issue. I am sure they would honor their local warranty, but I still have no confirmation these machines have international coverage the first year (and I know for certain I am going to be over in the US the next academic year). And LG isn’t a major player in the notebook market; have they assigned the necessary resources to provide a competitive service? Or do laptops arrive to the service center and queue in the same line as fridges and microwaves?

I am considering the alternative of waiting until August. Turion X2s and cheaper Yonah machines, paired with more models on the market and retailers’ low season discounts all seem very tempting.


Rasterian

 

Ok ic rasterian ic what your saying. If you do have a 15 day return period, that's good.

REgarding 64bit, yes your right, in theory we all should wait for merom.
BUT, look at this from another point of view. You buy the LG P1 now, 2.0ghz Yonah is 32 bit.

Most people here can agree when 64 bit Vista comes out, there will be nothing else that's 64 bit for a while... roughly 6 moths to 3 years, before even everything becomes 64 bit. Within those 3 years if you feel your laptop has fallen behind technology in terms of software and stuff..because of 64 bit.

Buy a Merom 2.0ghz... roughly 350$ Canadian.. i think... but over teh course of 3 years the Merom will drop in price... don't know how much.

With regards to waiting longer to see what other companies can turn out in terms of Yonah based notebooks...i've looked at other brands, it pretty grim, the ASUS A6ja and when it comes to Canada it the ASUS Z96 which is a Built On Model, and i roughly calculated, if it had the same specs as the P1 it would roughly be the same price + or - $100 But this is my estimate.. no one has any clue rite now.

Now regarding Honouring warranty internationaly with LG 3 years warranty, trust me.. CALL THEM LOL, 1888 54 226232 (1888 LG Canada). You might be lucky and you will get someone smart, or unlucky and get someone dumb, but keep asking is there anyone else i can talk to to further help me. Open 9am-8:30pm Mon-Friday I think. So make the call or several lol.

Regarding current notebooks, There's the Acer 8204, Macbook Pro, Toshiba, LG P1, ASUS A6ja for european countries, Samsung X60 for European Countries. So in terms of choice... there's not much now.. and in the future it doesn't look like many 15.4" are gonna be released... but we will have to wait and see. Unfortunately rite now we have little choice.

Regarding the Turion 2X, there aer 2 ways to tackle this... wait for people to say how good it is, so far we see that it provide subpar performance..but no one is for sure. And rite now the data regarding this is bad. So none of us know whether it would have as much or more power than Yonah or even Merom, also we don't know how much power it will consume.

Secondly, if you look at the Trend of AMD processor laptops.. its terrible, there's seems to be like 1 notebook released every 6 months with AMD in it. And when a good AMD notebook comes out, there are immediate disadvantages with them because of older technology in it. Rite now the Turion, doesn't support DDR2.

We know the Turion 2X will support DDR2, but still if you look at the roadmaps for several brands there are few Turion 2X notebooks going to be released. Lets just say in the Summer there will only be 3 15.4" notebooks on the market. Chances are 1 or 2 of them you may not like beacuse of the brand, and the others may not have a dedicated video card...(which has happened to the Turion notebooks) So lets see how the Turion 2X plays out.

So by the time we all wait for a good Turion 2X to come, the Merom is rite around the corner and we all know all brands will be releasing several Merom notebooks and just like now, we are gonna be roughly buying those.

All in all, that's how i think the future is going to play out, but who knows, i could be totaly wrong.

I am also not telling you that you should buy the P1, but lets see how things play out for it in terms of what you need. The Warranty being internationaly honoured.

I personaly am still goign to wait for it to coem to Futureshop and check it out myself, but i have a bad feeling this laptop will onyl get 2.5 hours of battery life... which is not good... im hopeing for 3.5 and then tweak it untill it gets 4 hours.

So we will havta see on that. Worse comes to Worse i can buy the Lg P1 from Future shop, do a full review on it.. if it sux, return it.. then all you would know about it. If its good, then I will push for it.

So lets wait roughly 1 week ok guys?

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Hi MysticGolem, thanks for your thoughts.

I agree on many of your points. As an economist, let me put it this way; there’s too much uncertainty in the notebook market at this point. And I’m not much of a risk taker myself!

I do believe the Turion X2 will fare better than the original Turions. Both ATI and NVidia are going to supply decent chipsets, and manufacturers as HP will probably adopt it on their AMD line. Personally, I’ve had an excellent experience with NVidia chipsets and AMD processors for the last years. And although with double core & 64 bit support these new Turions won’t be low-range offerings, it is possible that manufacturers may keep NVidia’s and ATI’s integrated chipset graphics on their laptops initially. This would compete well with Intel’s GMA, but not with animal’s like the X1400.

We do have the Asus A6JA around here. The only thing I dislike about it is the chassis; it doesn’t compare well with other slim offerings from Asus (V6, W3), but those are yet on their way and also quite expensive. That’s the advantage of the P1 right now. Asus does have a good global warranty, through.

For now let’s wait and see what information arises on the LG units. I am going to contact them this week and inquire about the warranty coverage.

Cheers,


Rasterian

 

yah, i know what you mean.

I agree the Turion 2X will do much better than the Turion. There will definately be an increase in performance.

I don't know much about AMD combined with ATI or Nvidia.

All i know is right now i would like an ATI X1600 GPU in my 15.4", which will achieve roughly 4000 3dMarks05. Also the technology in ATI GPUs is better than the Nvidia Go 7xxxx Series...but the future for Nvidia shows they are coming out with some nice technology, but no clue when that stuff comes out.
The X1400 is an ok GPU... gets roughly 2000 3dMark05...meaning its half the power of the X1600.

i agree the A6ja chasis is just Fugly, and yes the W3 and V6 series have a beautiful chasis.

and definately lets wait and see what happens.

LG P1 note:
Few comments saying it runs cool
Few comments saying its screen is good, nice brightness and wide viewing angles
Few comments saying it feels and looks plastiky
Controversial batterylife, S1 has 2 hours?? meaning the P1 would be the same, but others say roughly 2.5 hours, and the Lg person i talked to said 4-4.5 hours.
Good Performance for the Dollar

That's about all i know so far.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Okay, so I have had mine for a day right now and I will go over a few quick things:

1. In Canada at least, the 3 year warranty is an international warranty.
2. The screen looks great and has very wide viewing angles. There is a tiny bit of light leakage, but you have to really look for it when the screen is completely black.
3. The 3D performance is fine, but don't expect 7900/1900 level graphics here. I started to run 3DMark05, but got tired of waiting for it to complete. However, the program did identify that the X1600 has 256MB dedicated. Given the screen is only a WXGA, this level of performance shouldn't be a problem for most people.
4. The machine looks very nice. The blue paint has metallic fleck in it that makes it a really nice colour. However, the lid isn't as solid as I would like. If you lift the screen from one side (i.e. with one hand), there is considerable flex to it. In addition, there is no latch.
5. The keypads feel very shallow compared to a desktop keyboard. This isn't a big deal for me as I just hook up my old USB keyboard when I am at my desk.
6. It is extremely quiet and very cool running.
7. While I didn't time it, I'm sure the battery lasted around 3 hours in combined desktop apps and gaming (COD2).
8. The speakers are okay, but lack bass. Then again, what do you expect from a laptop? A 10" subwoofer with 100 watt dedicated amp?
9. I really like the fingerprint reader. Its a very slick little addition to the system.
10. The DVD does occassionally make a lot of noise and can vibrate the system quite a bit. However, this doesn't seem to be a consistent problem (i.e. it may be just the specific disk wasn't completely balanced).

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend it to someone else.

 

rockym20 where did you buy it? price?? Link.

If you were to rate these aspects outta 10 and give reasons

- Screen Quality
- Lid Quality
- Chasis Quality
- Keyboard Quality
- Touchpad Quality
- Ports & Layout
- Heat Dissipation
- Sound Noise
- BatteryLife
- Overall Appeal
- Total > With explanations

Thanks, for your info so far...it is very helpful!

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

rockym20,
One question; does your P1 laptop have a sticker on it somewhere stating 'international warranty'?

I was told by LG Spain that laptops with international warranty (which should be most of the P1s in official channels) should exchibit such a sticker.

Thanks,

 

international warranty eh? now i am confused... i called LG Canada to ask if their warranties are international and they just called me back and said that ONLY the LM models have international warranties...

 

It has been confirmed in a spanish forum that the P1 over here has international coverage the first year. The second year is European warranty only.

Cheers,

 

Is S1 more durable by any chance? It cannot be just color to justify the price difference of ~$300!?

 

Well I'm ordering S1 from notebook-shop.de and it has the following specs:
-Intel Core Duo T2500 (2 MB, 2,0 GHz, 667 MHz FSB)
-1024MB (2x 512MB) 667MHz
-ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256MB max.512MB
-15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
-100GB SATA-HDD (5400rpm) 8mb

In my opinion this seems to be a Monster.

 

15.4" WSXGA+ !
Boy, this rocks. I think this is the ultimate machine at this moment.

What is the price of this monster?
And do you know if warranty can be valid in Canada if laptop purchased in Germany

 

Whats the big difference between the WXGA and the WSGXA+ I dont even get what it means! Somebody help me :S

 

Display resolutions

(scroll down for chart)

 

Ohhh I get it now. Thx

 

see, its things like that the upset me....we're only getting 1280x800 screen res on the S1 in Australia

and the P1 doesn't even come with the choice of the X1400, the only option is the Intel 950 or whatever it is.

 

The price is 1809€ and that would be 2 480,46 CAD. There is written "2 years pickup and return guarantee" but i don't know whether it's international or what. I haven't seen any "more ultimate notebook" than this one

 

Why don't you order it from Germany then?

 

Tonni,
It seems these machines generally have an international warranty for the first year (I wrote 'generally' because I was told on the LG hotline to always confirm this with your dealer).

In some countries they may offer warranty extension plans, but they seem to be local and not international.

Cheers,

 

That's what the guy at notebook-shop.de mailed me regarding warranty:

LG offers a warranty in each country as my contact at LG told me.

So you can feel free to go to a LG Service Point in Finland or send it to us.

 

The T1, P1 and M1 all looks pretty stylish.

How well do they perfom on heavy-duty programs / games?
i.e. High-end games, 3D rendering, Electronic music production, Audio mixing / recording / mastering, etc.

 

on the P1's, don't update your sound drivers, keep the factory ones installed, I have discovered that the new drivers conflict with the any of the SRS WOW Drivers new or old... cause sounds to cut out sometimes... took me a fresh install of XP and installing **** one by one to discover this issue...
over all tho.. pretty solid unit..

 

Feel free to make a quick review of the machine darkdevil!

 

Do you plan to update HD to 100GB/7200rpm?

 

Any pics? C’mon guys chop chop

 

Is it even possible to update the HD to 2.5"? I thought it had a 1.8" slot, but maybe I'm thinking of the T1?

 

Okay, I re-read my warranty card and the Canadian warranty is NOT international. Sorry for the confusion.

 

In Canada LG P1 is only WXGA. One more no-go for me ...
In Canada any laptop either

-has subpar screen
and/or
-subpar HD RPM
and/or
-subpar GPU
and/or
-lack of DVI

 

I like to now yours opinions about this LG P1 with:


Intel® Core™ Duo Processor 1.66GHz(T2300) 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2
1024DDR2(667MHz)
15.4
X1400
100GB 5400rpm
DVD Super Multi Dual Layer (DVD-R/RW, +R/RW, RAM)
Intel® Pro/Wirless 3945ABG(802.11a/b/g)
XP Home

Thanks.

 

I believe you're thinking about the T1. No way you could upgrade that. But, what more can you ask of a 14 inch laptop that's less than an inch thick.

 

I have the LG P1, and here are my thoughts.

1. The feel is plasticky, it feels better than the Acers I've come in contact with (and owned) - Similar to the Sony's with the reinforced carbon plastic. Hard, very slight flexibility.

2. I have no issues with the external casing, no loose or misaligned joints and no pressure flexing at the speaker ports nor at the express card slot. Slight rippling on the screen when a fair amount of pressure is applied to the lid.

3. The screen while only 1200*800 is perfect, very bright, no flaws or ghosting. Offers a clarity better than similar Acer, Asus and HP screens.

4. Keypad, somewhat compressed keypad to allow for the addition of the number pad takes some getting used to. The keys themselves offer little complaint. Samsung keyboards are better, but this is above par as far as I've seen.

5. My 3d mark 05 scores without overclocking and without a clean bloat free install came in at just under 3900, 3876 I believe - I'll edit when I get a clean install.

6. In terms of cooling the P1 runs cooler than both a Toshiba with a 6600 go and an acer with a x1400, I can confirm that I do indeed hear a fan running (only after running intense games for an extended period/2-3 hrs) and then it is barely audible.

7. The included laptop speaker sound is slightly tinny with little to no base (as is to be expected) but when run through a 5.1 system (or headphones for that matter) the SRS feature is pretty nifty, impressive actually.

8. Oblivion auto configures to high settings on this machine, I've adjusted the settings only to default to HDR lighting (and screen resolution to 1200*800 of course) and thus far have experienced a highly enjoyable game with little to no problems. (hovering at an average +/- 30 FPS)

9. I use this machine primarily to encode video while I am travelling and have had zero to no problems with any of the encoders/transcoders I am using. In fact its very fast. (I'll edit in some times when I have time to compare).

Just my impressions/opinions

for reference:
I also own a Toshiba M40 -(PSM40C) w/6600 go (My older one)
in addition to an Acer Aspire 5672WLMI w/x1400 (Wifes)
as well as this P1. (and a x2-3800 desktop)

 

There was an IT and Computer Exhebition in Istanbul,Turkey yesterday (14.05.06) and I have seen LG has achieved something with their latest notebook series. Sorry for pics quality,I have used a Nokia 7710 mobile phone.

This is LG P1 (1,83 dual core T2400,1GB DDR667 MHZ,Ati 1400,80 GB 5400 rpm,Bluetooth,Finger Print(also sound,volume,stop and play finger print),Super Multi DVD +-, SRS Sound (24bit),15,4" finebright screen (superb), probably hard plastic and sexy looking case)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/Clearday-TRForce/lgp1.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/Clearday-TRForce/lgp1kboard.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/Clearday-TRForce/lgfull.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/Clearday-TRForce/lgp13.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/Clearday-TRForce/lgp12.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/Clearday-TRForce/lgstant.jpg

My LG P1 Points;

Screen 8/10 - sharp,crisp,good viewing angles and brightness. I dont give much attention,importance to WXGA or WSXGA screens. But what I see in this notebook,its screen quality,bright is better than HP Pavillion' DV5000+DV8000 series, Toshiba's Trubrite screens, Acer's Crystal Brite screens, it looks like in same category like Sony's,Qosmio's,Packard Bells...LG's new notebook screens achieved something that are very different than former LG LW-LS series.


Chasis Build Quality 7/10 - over average quality, and feels like hard plastic, looking very elegant and professional
Keyboard Quality 8/10 - Numped, very good keys
Performance for Price Value 8/10 -
Heat 9/10 - very very cool
Noise 9/10 - no noise...I very much tried to hear something...But nothing.
Batterylife 9/10 - 3:40 hours...Great
Overall Appeal 8/10 - I really respect LG after seeing that notebook. It will be very clever and good bargain to buy a new LG P1 or Piano black red dot awarded S1 series notebook.



regards,
CDTRF

 

The harddrive is located under the right wrist right ... ? (hence the heat)

mmm a quiet/cool laptop with lots of powr + looks and size ....
why arn't these selling more!??!

 

Yeah you right. I think this grey hard plastic p1 chasis looks among Apple MacbookPros and conventional nbooks. Stylish, sleek, thin-light and still powerful, quite fans and bright,sharp,colorful screen. I must accept it is really good and establised a balance among security-general purpose-gamer-business...


regards,
CDTRF

 

I have been checking these forums for months trying to figure the best laptop to buy. I had originally decided on a 17” and checked out reviews and forums for, Sager 5720, Acer 9504, Asus Z83, Fujitsu 6210, and LG LW70.

I had seen in person the LG LW70 and the Acer 9504 didn’t like the Acer and had heard some negatives about the LG although I really liked the screen. I ruled out the Sager due to hassles being north of the border, cost and forum comments and reviews. Fujitsu was losing my interest because of weight and I still haven’t seen one. The Asus seemed like the best choice until I saw one. The screen was really nice but the machine was huge and had no integrated numpad which is a waste because there is plenty of room for it. Having seen most of my choices I had to decide, I did, they are all too big so decided to look at 15.4” models.

Looked at the same makers for 15.4” and came up with the LG P1 as my favorite choice, read decent reviews and have always liked the screens on the LG’s so I bought one. Rather than disappear from the forums as most do when they buy their machine I thought I would at least give my opinions of the P1.

Overall look and feel: Very clean lines, not as sleek or sexy as some Asus or Mac models but good looking. It’s a little plastic feeling where your hands rest while typing. Great size and weight compromise, you can carry it around but it’s big enough to be functional with apps open etc. Keyboard is comfortable and numpad is nice to have. Good location of I/O ports, fan exhaust and DV/CD player. The only one that’s questionable is the VGA port on the left side, it would be better on the back and could have been DVI. While I’m looking there is no parallel port, finally someone gets rid of that useless thing!

Screen: 1200 / 800 native resolution is clear and sharp, with vivid colors. It’s a shiny surface so it’s reflective and you have to be in the viewing angle “sweet spot” for a perfect view. Off axis it’s OK too but right in the sweet spot it’s perfect. I can see a little light leakage at the bottom. There is slight darkening imperfection in the lower corners about 1/8th of an inch square. It’s like the screen is stretched too tight or something. Screen is good but I swear the old matte screens have way better viewing angles though the sharpness can’t match this. I’m being picky as usual with a new screen, it’s really quite sweet.

Setup: At first I booted up and kept all the factory stuff without wiping and reformatting the drive. It did work fine but had lots of stuff I didn’t want so I wiped it, partitioned and formatted and reinstalled XP. All worked fine, the LG driver / program disk is pretty well thought out but you have to be careful to use the disk in manual mode to install just the drivers/programs you want and then disable the LG intelligent update which will keep wanting to install the stuff you don’t want. Easy enough I guess. Synaptics driver and program was a pain and I finally went to their site to download then reinstall which worked fine. I still can’t get the fingerprint reader to work for me. I suspect it’ll be like the touch pad and I’ll have to go to the makers site and reinstall.

Performance: It’s fast! Even with a slow 5400 drive it feels faster than my P4 dual desktop, except for large file transfers where the desktop 7200 drives are clearly faster. I’m not a gamer so I suppose the video card is a bit of a waste for me but it does drive this screen and my Samsung 204T just fine. The P1 makes virtually no noise and is not hot. The left side hand rest gets a little warm.

Battery: Battery life looks to be about 3.5 hours.

Sound: Typically average for a laptop. The SRS adds some depth and quality but still at fairly low volume. Headphones seem fine with decent level and reasonable EQ choices. I don’t like the SRS program interface itself very much.

Wireless: Works fine, the Gigabit hard wire also works fine. Haven’t tried the Bluetooth but I will.

Slim documentation. 3 Year warranty

All in all I think it will be a great laptop. It’s a pretty perfect balance of size and features. If this lasts as long as my old Clevo P3 that I bought 5 years ago which still runs fine, I will be very happy.

Cheers, aflat.