Finally, I was looking for my first laptop. All most all of my friends and colleagues had their own brand for quit some time leaving me way behind in this competition. I was too happy with my six year old desktop which never let me down during this period. But lately some how I started to feel that its right time to get upgraded. Also It was 'April' time and thats the time when IT people get their yearly bonus and appraisal. So I started my search in Feb by reading on line reviews and consulting my friends. HP and Sony are too costly for the same configuration among the rest. So these were easily voted out. Never wanted to go for Acer and Lenovo can't say why.
After much of brain storming I finalized two brands - Dell and HCL. Dell is already the most trusted brand in India specifically between IT guys. Even I was convinced with its performance and thought of going for Studio 14 model. But one thing lacked in dell - good looks. Also there were some complaints about its heating problem and sound quality in the reviews on its own website. This made me to look further into HCL brand. Also I was more inclined towards HCL due to the fact that it is an Indian company.
Now HCL is not so popular as compared to Dell, reason may be whatever. But still when I searched online reviews about its products then never found any hard comment against any of the products. I noted down two of its laptops which fell into my category, both financially and configuration wise - T3904 and Z3909. Main difference between the two are:-
OS - T3904 comes with Linux while other comes with Vista.
Cache - T3904 is loaded with 3 MB cache while counterpart is with 2 MB cache.
FSB - T3904 has 1024 MHz while Z3909 has 800 MHz.
Price - T3904 is Rs 41990 and Z3909 is Rs 42740.
I visited HCL store in Khar Road, Mumbai to have a look at the both models. Look wise both are same. Its just the configuration and price that differs. Also it is ways ahead of Dell in terms of look (this is my opinion anyway). In no time I decided that this is the laptop I want to purchase. The store guy promised to deliver the product within 7-8 days at my home. And to my surprise the delivery was on time altough I had to follow up 1-2 times. After the delivery an engineer from HCL comes who signs warranty card for the laptop and also prepares the laptop for first time use. This was also on time without any delay.
Total payment for this model is around is Rs 43680(including VAT).
Now lets have a look at the specification of this laptop.
Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processsor P7350 (others are giving 5800 or 6400 within this price range)
3 MB L2 Cache, 2.0GHz, 1066 MHz FSB (others are giving 2 MB L2 cache and 800 MHz FSB at this price)
Ubuntu 8.10 ( Yes, no vista or XP in this model)
Intel Wireless lan 5100 AGN
4 GB DDR2 RAM (Others are giving around 3GB ram)
320 GB Hard Disk Drive
DVD Dual Layar Super Multi Drive
Integrated 2.0 M Video Camera with Dual Internal MIC,
14.1” Wide Screen TFT-LCD WXGA (1280X800)
Integrated Bluetooth v2.0 & 4 in 1 Card Reader
IM Print Design Notebook (This is unique and quite impressive)
86 Keys Keyboard
Li-ion Battery (6 cells) Approx. 4 Hrs 20 min in idle state
10/100 mbps Ethernet on Board, 56K Modem
Audio: Realtek ALC 268 24-bit DAC/20-bit ADC, High Definition Audio controller
Video: Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M-HD - Inbuilt
Excellent Thermals
Palm Rest Surfaces at below Ambient + 6 C
Temperature difference between the palm rests +/- 10C
ACPI 2.0 Power Management with Intel Speed Step technology Support
Ports: 3 USB,1 e-Sata, 1* Express Card , 1*External MIC Input, 1*External Audio Out
HCL SONIC EAR-GEAR
MicroFibre LCD Protector
One Year Warranty
Weight: 2.5 kg
After using this laptop for nearly two months all I can say that it is an excellent machine which gives good performance and well within a good price range. Every friend of mine was impressed with its look and performance. I would recommend every one to go for this laptop as it is worth every penny spent.
Pros:-
1. Beautiful imprint design
2. Good performance
3. Good price range
4. Timely response from HCL store
5. All most every functionality is provided.
Cons:-
Not really much but you can say that battery life is not as promised. It gives around 2-2.5 hrs of backup. But as far as I know other laptops are also more or less same on this parameter. Other drawback can be of OS which Linux instead of XP/Vista. Rest it is a damn good machine. Go for it!!!
21 comments:
sir plz guide me. i want to buy a HCL ME series laptop......my frnds suggest me it is not good. plz guide me
Hi uday, I am using my laptop for the last one year and it is working very fine. No problem till now. Also, some of my friends are also using it and there is no complain. In fact in looks and features it is very competitive to other high cost brands. So go ahead my friend, atleast HCL is an Indian company!
sir pls guide me.. i am planning to buy a HCL ME laptop b3861 within a few days.. my friends suggest me to go for HP or DEll as these as international brands and that HCL laptops are quite unheard of. plz guide me
Hi, I am also planning to Buy HCL ME model k4111.www.hclstore.in/k4111. Please do advice.I am taking it abroad.there is no international warranty on this and what are the pros and cants-shall i go with hcl or some other brand with international warranty pls suggest me RS..
I bought a new HCL ME ICON 1044 series laptop - has good many features at affordable price notable - latest Intel second generation core processor, 1.3 MP web camera, Bluetooth 3.0, free McAfee 3-yr AV etc. But a very important drawback of this notebook is that although second generation Intel core processors like Pentium B960 has Enhanced Speed Step feature, it is not supported !!!! or permanently DISABLED !!!! in HCL ME ICON 1044 series.
This laptop can go for 3 to 4 hours for less CPU intensive tasks. But if Enhanced Speed Step was available then the CPU frequency could be reduced by OS thus reducing power consumption and increasing battery support to 5 to 6 hours.
I have made many attempts to like using CPU clocking tools... to Flashing bios (be cautious) but I think either HCL do not want to provide a suitable bios or the motherboard does not support Enhanced Speed Step. The Bios provided by HCL is AMI ver 2.01.1204 but if it had been ver 2.02.1205 then it may have supported Enhanced Speed Step.
hinges problem, laptop structure gets broken easily, once broken- hcl don't have the parts u hv to repair from outside .......bad service...bought it considering indian company ...but really very bad experience
@Bheem: I don't know whats your reason to hate HCL but my laptop is working fine till date (almost 2.5 years). I have used it for long hours without any heating problem. Only issue I faced when I got its battery replaced. New battery started having charging issues within a month but since it was under warranty so HCL store just replaced it and now it is working fine.
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Well HCL ME series laptop sure offers a enticing configuration at such a price range that anyone would buy it AND yes, that is the same mistake I did:
HCL laptop are not durable at all for carrying around daily from your workplace to your home.
They don't have any experienced engineer who can repair HCL parts though on the phone customer service is great but that achieves nothing when it comes to hardware problem.
After only one & a half month of usage(in which i used to carry my laptop in metro) the webcam stopped working & after 2 months of complaining to customer care and Nodal manager, my laptop is still not repaired or replaced, although it had been completely opened up by their engineer thrice.
So all I can suggest is that whatever you do but don't buy HCL laptop.
Well HCL ME series laptop sure offers a enticing configuration at such a price range that anyone would buy it AND yes, that is the same mistake I did:
HCL laptop are not durable at all for carrying around daily from your workplace to your home.
They don't have any experienced engineer who can repair HCL parts though on the phone customer service is great but that achieves nothing when it comes to hardware problem.
After only one & a half month of usage(in which i used to carry my laptop in metro) the webcam stopped working & after 2 months of complaining to customer care and Nodal manager, my laptop is still not repaired or replaced, although it had been completely opened up by their engineer thrice.
So all I can suggest is that whatever you do but don't buy HCL laptop.
@taruncool, it was truly an eye opener. Although I don't carry my laptop to my workplace but its been 3 years and it is working fine till date. I only had its battery replaced around 8-10 months back. May be a lucky piece I got!
i bought HCL ME laptops last friday .... surely HCL giving cheap rate as compare to other brands,,, but after one day i come to know there are so many issues in this lappe.....
1 heat
2 LAN is not working
3 On starting its giving very long beep ..... dosen't starting in normal window mode....
sorry but truly its my very bad exp.
@akhil, yes recently there have been lots of complaints regarding HCL laptops. May be I got lucky with mine, its working perfectly fine since last 3.5 years!
HCL Computers and laptops are widely used in many banks and financial institutions and HCL products are having good demand and good will in the market.
HCL products are comparatively cheap without compromising on quality.
GO FOR HCL. BE INDIAN AND BUY INDIAN.
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The HCL laptom looks good and pretty cheap. But when it come to performance it is horrible. I have several issue with my HCL laptop for last one year - It makes nice while doing video chatting, hard disc got corrupted within 6 months and not looks like I have to change the RAM too. I will not recommend anyone for ME laptops.
Mounamukhar, may be the quality level of ME series is not so up to to the mark. Mine worked fine for almost 5 years and now finally dead. It had issues with first RAM and then with motherboard.
Hi i purchased a Laptop in 2007 hcl and till now no hardware or softaware issue. battery worked for 4 years. my laptop is on for 3-4 days continuos plugged in, its a great roguh and tough machines...no other laptop could have survived this much extreme usage..hatts off to HCL. Its true and im still using it.
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