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Compaq iPAQ Legacy Free: A Hot-swappable Multi-bay Drive PC 

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PCQ Bureau
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This desktop PC from Compaq, with an elegant black and silver color scheme, is aimed at the corporate user for running normal productivity applications and Internet access. It is available in two models–Legacy and Legacy Free–the difference is in the type of ports supported. One supports all legacy ports like serial, parallel and PS/2, while the other supports only USB ports. We looked at the Legacy Free model.

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Design 

The iPAQ Legacy Free has a compact design–16.25 cm wide, 26.67 cm in depth, and 37.08 cm tall. The tower stands vertically with a hot-swappable multi-bay drive mounted on one side, and weighs 4.83 kg (without the multi-bay device). The hot-swappable drive lets you add a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, Zip drive, and even a hard disk or a super disk to it. A super disk can take both regular 1.44 MB as well as higher capacity floppy disks. However, since the multi-bay drive is placed vertically on the side, it is difficult to operate. Also, having to place devices vertically in the drive mean that you have to do so carefully lest they fall out.

Being legacy free, this model supports only USB devices, for which it has five USB ports. Of these five, two are located on the front panel. You can hook the USB mouse and keyboard that come with the iPAQ to these ports, as it’s more convenient. The remaining three USB ports are located on the rear panel. The front panel also has ports for mic and headphone.

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Compaq iPAQ Legacy Free
Price: Rs 49,900



Features: PIII/733 MHz, Intel 810e motherboard, 128 MB SDRAM, UltraATA 66, 10 GB
HDD, integrated network card, graphics with 4 MB VRAM, and AC’97 audio, 5

USB, mic, headphone, line-in, and line-out ports, Windows 2000 Pro



Pros: Sleek, hot-swappable multi-bay drive


Cons: No PCI slots, monitor not included in the price, drive difficult to operate


Contact: Compaq Computers.


Tel: 011-6931123—35 Fax: 6931120. No.1, Dr Jha Marg


Max Pharma House


Okhla Phase III


New Delhi 110020






Other than USB ports for connecting external devices, the machine has an integrated Ethernet controller for networking and integrated graphics and sound. The rear panel also has an RJ45 port for network connectivity, VGA port for display, and line in/line out ports for audio. However, you can’t add any internal devices, as it doesn’t have any PCI or ISA slots. 

For added convenience, the iPAQ’s keyboard has additional keys that can be programmed to launch your e-mail client or the Internet with just the click of a key. It also has a built-in speaker that’s visible on the front panel and is good for playing light music.

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The PC ships with Windows 2000 and a PIII/733 MHz, 128 MB RAM upgradeable to 512 MB, and a 10 GB hard disk. Its motherboard is based on an Intel 810E chipset.

Performance

The PC did very well on the performance front in both regular productivity applications and graphics applications. It gave a Business Winstone 2001 score of 30.4, which was amongst the best scores, and scored 33.6 in Content Creation Winstone 2001, which was another good score. So, as far as performance is concerned, the PC scores very well.

Neelima Vaid

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