HP OmniBook 500
By Bruce Brown
The HP OmniBook 500 offers a terrific combination of performance, simplicity, and functionality. It is one of the best ultraportables we've seen, and its feature set makes it especially useful for those professionals who often need to give presentations, training seminars, and other public speeches on the road.
The 1.69kg OmniBook's six-cell lithium ion battery held a charge for three hours and 11 minutes on our BatteryMark test with SpeedStep in low-power mode, two hours and 47 minutes without. Equipped with 8MB of graphics memory, the VGA output can drive external monitors or projectors at up to 1600 x 1200 true-colour resolution. Other presentation-friendly features include Sensaura 3D-sound enhancement and dedicated audio-mute and volume controls. The amplified headphone connector can also drive conference-room sound systems. Another nice touch is the product's programmable Presentation button, which lets you negate time-out settings, redirect video to an external monitor or TV, and launch a presentation with a single keystroke.
On top of all this, we found the OmniBook's three-button TrackPoint pointing device comfortable to use, and its 85-key keyboard, though a bit noisy, was relatively spacious and well laid out. A large Sleep button positioned directly under the display makes it easy to send the system into hibernation, and a handy Help button displays on-screen manuals and Windows Help.
The Omnibook's AU$616 expansions base is the most versatile on the market. Bringing the total system weight to 3.04kg, the base adds CD/DVD playback controls, a modest three-piece speaker system, and S-video output, plus two swappable bays that accommodate CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, LS-120, and Zip drives. Unlike those of the competition, the base can also accept a second battery or even a pair of 20GB hard drives.
HP OmniBook 500
Company:Hewlett-Packard
Price:AU$4,888
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