HP nc6230 Laptop Review (pics, specs)

by Kevin O'Brien

Overview and Introduction:

HP nc6230 (view larger image)

This is a review on my new Hewlett Packard NC6230. This is a thin and light laptop for the most part, and is intended to compete with the IBM T series. The version I purchased is the nc6230 (PZ517UA). It is on the higher up scale of this model series with the 1 gig of ram and the sxga+ (1400x1050) screen.

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Intel Pentium M processors 1.86ghz
• Sleek industrial design starting at 4.69 lb/2.13 kg and 1.04-inch/26.5-mm thin
• 14.1-inch SXGA+ display
• Mobile Intel 915PM Express Chipset on nc6230 model
• 1024-MB DDR2 SDRAM, upgradeable to 2048-MB maximum
• 60-GB 5400 rpm, user-removable hard drive
• ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 graphics controller with 64 MB of video memory (on nc6230)
• 802.11 b/g wireless LAN module
• Support for optional Intel Centrino mobile technology
• Integrated Bluetooth
• Integrated Secure Digital (SD) flash media slot
• Security features including integrated Smart Card Reader and optional Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Embedded Security Chip
• NetXtreme Gigabit PCI Express Ethernet Controller
• Dual pointing devices
• Support for ultra-slim MultiBay II devices
• Protected by a three-year standard parts and labor warranty

Reasons for Buying:

I purchased this laptop because of its more rugged features. It has a internal magnesium chassis, with metal for the keyboard face, and screen cover. This gives you a setup that almost never bends or creaks. I also liked the thought of the 3 year warranty.

Where and How Purchased:

This laptop was purchased through the Small Business section of HP.com. At the time there were no true Dell style sales on it, and it ended up being a pretty steep price ($1,700, ouch). When trying to find a decently built laptop, you end up having to trade off features for durability in some cases if you want to be in a certain price range.

Build & Design:

The metal structure of the laptop gives it a very sturdy feeling. With the unit closed it is very hard to bend, and really helps protect it inside a backpack or other carrying case. Kind of gives some hope that it might survive on your trip wherever you are going. Once opened, the main body of the laptop keeps its rigidity, but the screen slightly gets more flexible. Since it is a 14" laptop, the screen is only around 1cm or so thick, and has some mild flex twisting the top of the screen frame. Pressing down on the cover with your fingers takes a LOT of pressure to get ripples out of the screen. It doesn't bend down anywhere near as easily as a Latitude D610 for example. The screen hinges also feel very nice and look quite strong. The tension is very high, and only when you start to toss the laptop back and forth does the screen tilt downwards.

The build is very nice. Every single surface on the laptop besides the bottom is a smooth almost polished painted metal. This includes the typing area, and the screen cover. Almost all buttons are flush with this surface, so its almost flat going across the keyboard. All of the keys and buttons feel very sturdy and precise. Almost no part on top of the laptop bends or flexes when you are tying or resting your hands on the laptop. This can be quite the opposite when compared to other laptops with plastic overused where everything creaks or bends when you lay your hands down on it.

The only part of the body that has some flex is the thinner plastic on the underside near the drive bay, which without the drive in place has almost no structure inside of it. If you go without the cd-drive for some travel, it is almost required that you have the blank insert in place to retain the strength of the laptop. All of the pieces work together in a laptop of this size.

HP nc6230 under side view (view larger image)

HP nc6230 above view (view larger image)

HP nc6230 under side with battery out (view larger image)

Screen:

My screen only had one flaw; a stuck white pixel on the far right edge. Since the resolution is so high, the size of it is pretty small and can't be noticed unless you are looking for it.

Brightness is decent, but nothing to brag about. The brightest setting on the laptop is still less than the lowest setting on my Sony desktop LCD. The main reason for this is the amount of power those things suck down. For example, the difference in battery life on the laptop between the lowest setting and the highest setting is over 45 minutes. Put something 3 times as bright on, and you lose a massive chunk of battery life. You compensate you would need a larger battery, a heavier laptop, the list goes on.

HP nc6230 screen edge (view larger image)

The key downside to this screen is the lack of gloss finish. Going from my glossy desktop really shows off the downsides of the non-gloss screens. Text isn't as clear, blacks aren't as black, and whites end up having a slightly dirty look to them. The screen is still clearer than a CRT, but it isn't as good as the more modern displays you see on laptops these days. If anything, this will probably be the biggest choice for me if I will keep the laptop or not, because the screen is one of those things that you notice the most out of any other part.

Speakers:

The speakers are pretty decent. While they don't have any bass, they are quite clear for voices when playing movies. The headphone output is quite clear, without any static and sounds pretty good with my headphones. It's a perfectly fine setup for any casual user who isn't expecting surround sound with a subwoofer on the bottom.

Processor and Performance:

The unit ends up being pretty damned fast. Programs load and close faster than my main desktop (over clocked Northwood 2.8 running at 3.5ghz), and overall feels very peppy. Boot times are very fast, and shutting down times are quick when you need to pack up at the end of class. The hard drive in this unit is a 5400 Fujitsu 60gb. Copying files and everything is right on par with my desktop, and not "slow" just because it's a portable computer.

One really nice feature of this laptop is the cooling that it has. Even under heavy load the keyboard area will only be mildly warm. The idle temperature of the computer's cpu and motherboard rest around 35-40C, with the hard drive around 38C. The fan slowly goes once it goes into the 40 range, and is amazingly quiet. You need to stick you hand next to the air output to feel the fan to see if it's on. I have never heard it ever kick on faster than that, so I am guessing it is one speed.

Benchmarks:

The Pi calculation averages at 1 minute and 40 seconds at full speed, and around 2 minutes and 40 seconds with the unit forced into best battery life mode.

Notebook	Time
HPnc6230(1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 40s
Dell Inspiron 9300 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
Asus Z70A (1.6GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
Sony VAIO S360 (1.7 GHz Pentium M)	1m 57s
HP DV4170us (Pentium M 1.73 GHz)	1m 53s
Sony VAIO S380 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s

Using Everest Ultimate, the memory read speed is 3025MB/s, write speed of 825 MB/s and latency of 102.1ns.

HDTune hard drive benchmark results (view larger image)

3dmark05 score: 736

Keyboard and Touchpad:

HP nc6230 keyboard view (view larger image)

The touchpad and keyboard on this computer seem much nicer than the equivilant Toshiba laptops I was using last year. The keyboard structure has much less flex when pressing down on keys, and overall feels much nicer. They have a interesting texture to them pictured below.

The touchpad also kind of has the same texture, but a bit smoothed out. The buttons to go along with the touchpad and trackpoint are rubber buttons that give nice positive feedback clicks. The touchpad seems to be very sensitive and has a tendancy to click on things if you graze it slightly with your finger.

HP nc6230 touchpad (view larger image)

While the keyboard feels very nice, one thing that just seemed to start today (2nd day), is the keys squeak. The spacebar is the main culprit, but they are all starting to squeak it seems. Not sure if this is normal or "breaking in" but it might drive me nuts if it doesn't stop. If I were to try and write a term paper right now on this keyboard I would have probably jumped out the window after the 4th page from insanity.

HP nc6230 keys (view larger image)

Input and Output Ports:

This laptop has a nice array of ports. 3 USB ports, 1 serial port, 1 svideo port, 1 vga, headphone/mic, modem, LAN, power port, and 3 card readers. The card readers inside this unit are a SD/MMC slot, SmartCard slot, and a type II card slot for adapters and whatnot.

HP nc6230 left side1 USB, LAN, Modem, PC Card, SmartCard, SD/MMC, Lock port (view larger image)

HP nc6230 back side view Svideo, VGA, Power Connector (view larger image)

HP nc6230 right side:Serial Port, Optical media bay, 2 USB Ports, and the headphone and microphone hookup (view larger image)

HP nc6230 front side: Fast IrDA Port, Speakers and I *think* the hidden microphone(view larger image)

Wireless:

The builtin wireless is provided by a intel centrino compatible 2200BG 802.11b/g card. Also included is a Bluetooth receiver. Both of these can be enabled or disabled to save power. I have yet to have any issues with connecting to wireless routers yet, besides having router issues, or being too far away. I have connected to netgear, linksys, cisco, dlink, and Motorola routers without problems. All seemed to stay connected for as long as I was using the net, not counting times of reception from something blocking a really weak signal for example.

Battery:

The battery that HP provides with this laptop is quite small. It doesn't stick out the back of the laptop, or protrude in any way. This has its downsides though in less battery like than the other portable business laptops out there. With most of the excess devices turned off and LCD brightness at about midway I average just a tad over 3 hours. I am guessing that you might be able to get around 2:30 watching a movie if the screen backlight was turned down. To get any decent runtime from this machine it would probably be best to get the additional external battery pack that clips on the bottom.

Operating System and Software:

Compared to other laptops out there this unit comes with a pretty minimal install of software. To unclutter the system to run my own preferred software, it took about 30 minutes uninstalling stuff from the computer settings menu. Not too hard, and much easier than wiping the entire system and starting from scratch. All of the programs included on the computer (Norton AV, PowerDVD) are full versions, and not trial. The rest of the software deals with computer function like the security features, touchpad, and other quickbuttons.

Customer Support:

Talking to the phone rep before I purchased the computer went pretty well. I probably waited 3-4 minutes and was connected to a man on the other line. He answered all the questions I had regarding this laptop, and also helped me track down technical things about the system like removing the Bluetooth card or upgrading the wireless internet card. I am guessing it would take a lot more to find out that type of information talking to a Dell drone.

Complaints:

My main complaints are as follows:

• Outdated LCD- Non glossy, low contrast, and not that bright. Can be ok in a bright classroom, but not sure if you would stand a chance sitting out in the open on a sunny day.
• Battery life- To save space and weight HP went with a really small battery. This shows with battery life barely over 3 hours of normal use. I would have gladly taken to lbs more of weight if it gave me 2-3 hours more battery life.
• Keyboard that squeaks- Not sure if it is bad luck, but the keys are squeaking on me. My desktop keyboard I bought on clearance from dell squeaks, and I have never had any others do this. Besides the squeaks it feels great typing

Praises:

• Great sturdy design- Lots of metal in the areas that count give this laptop a very nice feel. The metal feels very nice and smooth, and goes great with the laptop. Its paint doesn't really show fingerprints or smudges, so you aren't going crazy trying to make it look nice.
• Very fast- Boots very fast so you aren't waiting around all day for the machine to do its thing. Programs run very fast, and are never lagging. When you need to packup when you class ends, or the meeting is done it shuts down very fast.

Conclusion:

This laptop's main consumer is a business user, or someone more interested in the overall build of the laptop instead of the latest features. It doesn't have firewire, a glossy screen, or the top of the line video card. What you do get is a machine that can hold up to your daily routine and not fall and creak apart when you are bringing it in and out of your laptop case.

Pricing and Availability: Hewlett Packard NC6230

 

Really nice review. It is good to have HP business series laptop reviews. Couple of my co-workers have these NC series laptops and they are really very well build. I regret whenever I see their laptops. Look, Fit and finish it really good too.

Hope you will enjoy this laptop for quite a while.

 

nice review there own6, there's no doubt the nc series is easily overlooked by consumers as HP mostly just markets these to business buyers or IT buying heads. Still, for anyone that's ever considered a ThinkPad the nc might actually be a slightly cheaper alternative with similar quality build. Now, I still will say it's not as nice as a ThinkPad T series, but hey, I'm a little biased because I'm a dyed in the wool ThinkPad buyer!

 

I bought one of these but had to send it back (actually, i tried three and returned all of them, the first one for a defective wireless that crashes windows after a few minutes, returned the second because of a dead pixel, and returned the third also because of dead pixels, talk about luck, three in a row).
I found it the base not as solid as i wished, it twisted when i lifted it by a corner, all three that i tried. It seemed like the whole body was made of plastic, i can't tell you about the internal structure though, i suppose there are metal frames in there. Compared to the tecra M3 that i have now, the tecra is more rigid, more than both the nc6230 AND the T43 (surprisingly).
I found the keyboard of the nc6230 superior to both the T43 and the M3, no squeek, just solid thumps. The trackpoint head was too slippery, inferior to the T43. The buttons for the trackpoint (i never use the touchpad) laid out side by side (on both the T43 and nc6230) is not as ergonomic as the tecra layout, one on top of the other.
The screen on the nc6230 is the worst of the three, the one on the T43 being the best.
The cool of the nc6230 is really great, cooler than the T43, and MUCH cooler than the tecra M3. Also the quietest. The tecra is gonna make you blush onces it starts its fan in class ("did someone bring a vacuum to class?", "uhm no sir that's my laptop"), and if it's not a canadian winter outside, you can count on the fan to never stop once it goes on. During the summer, the laptop never drops below 50C, in winter it would take some 10 minutes to go from 50C (when the fan kicks in) down to 40C (when the fan turns off). The temp sensor is also very unresponsive on the tecra, it would jump from 40 to 50C and never show you what happened in between. Bravo to the nc6230 for the cool.
What sucks with the nc6230 is that is doesn't have firewire, which the tecra does. But it has 3 usb, while the T43 only has two (and no firewire).
Another thing i didn't like about the nc6230 was the push n' shove mechanism to remove the modular bay. Push in the drive even further if you want to remove it? No chinese fingertraps please. On the tecra, you have a slider in the bottom (inconvenient, have to lift the laptop and if you have many wires sticking out on all sides it's even worst). T43 wins with its secure and easy to reach releasing mechanism.
The wireless, volume and mute buttons on top of the nc6230 are software buttons. So if you don't install the software for them they wont work, which sucks. I also found them quite unresponsive. The volume buttons controled the windows master volume, so when you're playing games there are instances when the buttons would stop responding. The T43 also had software switches for those things, but i found them much more responsive, and the volume control seemed independant from the windows master volume control, which was really nice. The tecra owns both of them, with a hardware switch for the wireless, and an analog volume wheel.

Aside from the lack of firewire (i have all my external drives daisy chained), i would have kept the nc6230, sadly poor quality control making me go throug the trouble of returning not one, not two, but THREE laptop in a row is absolutly unacceptable. It might be just bad luck (i also had to return the T43 that i ordered after being frustrated by HP because it too had problems with dead pixels), but three in a row is statistically unbelievable! I hate the heat and noise of my tecra but hey! at least it delivered just what it promised, no dead pixels or defective parts.

 

Hi SpareTire,

I am sorry to hear you have to go thru three laptops and return all of those. My experience has been different. Screen is not as bright as other BrightView models and less reflection is desirable.

Anyways, I hope you will enjoy your Tecra.

 

Great review, own6. I'm glad your experience with HP business-class is going well, although your squeak and Spare Tire's series of problems seem a bit troubling. My father has had business-class DTRs for the last decade, and he's been through an HP DTR about once ever three years. He only needed warranty service on one - it was quick and trouble-free.

 

Very nice job! Lot of work and effort went into that, I can see.

HP has always made one of the best notebooks on the market in my opinion, especially in the business sector. Currently, at my office, we use all Dell Latitudes, but, compared to the notebook you reviewed, they aren't nearly as high of quality. I think the all black look adds to the 'professional' attitude.

The screen may be disappointing, but at least it's high resolution. In my findings, matte screens are much easier to view for extended periods as compared to glossy types. I actually turn down the brightness on my LCD (depending on the lighting) becaues it's easier on my eyes.

Very cool.

 

A funny observation:

It's interesting how the same models that have trackpoints (Thinkpads, Dell's business line, HP's business line) are also the models that arrange the six navigation keys in the traditional way of desktop keyboards (two rows: Ins-Home-PgUp and Del-End-PgDn at the top right of the keyboard). Both of these things are of crucial importance to me when getting a laptop. If Thinkpads weren't around, I could have easily settled for something like this NCxxxx from HP.

 

I'll choose this over the Thinkpad anyday. Best blend of functionality and style for a business user. Nice review, by the way!

I noticed that it has an ambient light sensor, very handy.

 

Nice review own6volvo. By the way, are you sure nc6230 has "internal magnesium chassis, with metal for the keyboard face"? I feel plastic around the keyboard of my nc8230.

 

You can see the internal metal looking at the upside down picture with the battery out. That goldish colored stuff is metal. The silver face around the keyboard is metal, and the cover over the screen is metal. Not sure exactly which metal, but guessing magnesium alloy.

 

The HP spec sheet says that is laminated, not metal. I believe lamination implies plastic.

"Scratch-resistant keyboard deck using In-mold Lamination"

 

I don't know if it is or is not metal, since I haven't had the pleasure of holding this machine in my hot little hands, but it might still be metal under that description. "Lamination" is the process of rolling metal out into a thin plate, so this could easily mean that they roll the metal out in a mold to make the deck. I don't know how one laminates plastic... the other use of lamination that I'm familiar with is gluing layers of stuff together, like plywood or laminated papers.

 

Lamination implied layed sheets bonded together. Whatever it was, it had the rigidity of a metal, and felt "cold" just like metal.

 

I am pretty sure its not metal around the keyboard However, it feels solid, silky, resist to sketch and finger print. It looks like carbon fiber. It feels and looks like I mean...The only Mg metal that I notice is on the back of the screen.

 

I own a nc6230 and have been asking some questions on another thread about Bluetooth and Remote controls.

When I spoke to HP their online service person told me the nc6230 could not support a remote control.

However, on my post on the "Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades" it has been suggested to me to get a Bluetooth remote.

After reading Kevin's overview and seeing that the nc6230 does have a Bluetooth receiver, can anyone PLEASE suggest to me a Bluetooth Remote Control that I could use to control the DVD player.

Thanks

O'Heffe

 

That question would be best asked in the HP notebook forum.

 

Done.

Any suggestions??