AOpen B165 (Intel)
OK, we thought the IBM was big, but the AOpen is even bigger! We're sure we asked vendors for desktop replacement notebooks, not desktop PCs with integrated LCDs, but this is what AOpen sent us. There isn't even a battery or the facility to add one. So you can only use it with the supplied bulky AC adaptor from mains power. After seeing the array of features packed into the relatively diminutive Acer TravelMate 800 and the Dell Latitude D505, something as large as the AOpen would need to have some redeeming features to justify its sheer size and weight.
The CPU is an Intel Pentium 4 3.20GHz with 1GB of DDR400 RAM and a whopping 160GB HDD unit. Unfortunately, the optical drive unit is only a CD-RW/DVD combo, it would have been nice to see a DVD burner.
The keyboard is not very tactile and the keys provide little in the way of feedback when pressed. The input device is a trackpad. There is however a full numerical pad on the right-hand side of the keyboard which is definitely not found on any of the other notebooks in this review.
Overall it is probably a very good concept, points certainly go to the inclusion of a serial port, numerical keypad, full-size HDD unit, and five USB ports. However the total design and implementation certainly need to be improved still. The lack of a battery means the operator always needs to be near mains power. A DVD burner should definitely be standard, as should gigabit networking to get the data on/off such large a disk drive. There is also no Bluetooth, wireless LAN, infrared, or even PCMCIA socket support, so communications are rather limited. The lack of flash memory card support is probably the last nail in the coffin for this unit.
It would be very hard to recommend this machine to anyone unless they were willing to make the compromise on all the features just so that they could have a very large internal HDD unit or a numeric keypad. And with the ready availability of Firewire and USB external hard drives, this could easily be overcome using a better notebook with more features. This unit also retails for $2499 when a similarly configured desktop machine with a 15in LCD monitor will only set you back around $1300. Perhaps if this machine was around that price point, there may be some practical uses for it.
| Product | AOpen B165 |
| Price | AU$2499 |
| Vendor | AOpen |
| Phone | 1800 803 802 |
| Web | www.bluechipit.com.au |
| Interoperability |  |
| Very few features and not many communication devices integrated. | |
| Futureproofing |  |
| Reasonable expansion potential. | |
| ROI |  |
| Overpriced, some of the performance redeems the score. | |
| Service |  ½ |
| Two-year warranty is slightly above average. | |
| Rating |  ½ |
I'm surprised that in a 'high-end desktop replacement notebook' category Dell didn't think to submit their new Inspiron 9100.
To quote from Reuben Lee, ZDNet, 04 March 2004
'The Inspiron 9100 is probably one of the best notebooks around that can truly replace the desktop PC, offering speed and excellent 3D graphics performance.'
Having just purchased one I would have to agree.
I would have truly liked to have seen this cat set amongst these pigeons.
What was Dell thinking?