Netbook Packard bell Dot S: specifications, review, photos and reviews

For a long time in the mobile computer market has erasedthe line between netbooks and laptops, because every manufacturer, trying to please customers, creates a product with the least weight and maximum portability. Without experts in the field of IT in the segment of portable devices can not do, only they are able to determine the purpose of the mobile gadget and give an opinion about the feasibility of buying.

The focus of the article is a laptop Packard bell Dot S. Features, review, photos and owner feedback will help the reader to get more information about the device that belongs to the netbook family. And the recommendations of experts will allow potential buyers to understand, they need such a gadget in everyday life, or not.

Product positioning

The manufacturer in the pursuit of profit decidedto offer netbook Packard bell Dot S in several segments at once. For an inexpensive notebook, the cost of 15,000 rubles is simply impossible. But the fact remains. So the device was in the following niches:

• portable office device;
• compact laptop for the student;
• an elegant helper for the female.

Naturally, many experts in the field of ITinterestingly, is it possible for one device to cope with any tasks posed and satisfy all customers of the above segments. The fact is that all niches unite only the cost of the product, but functional, convenience and productivity go apart. The reader will be able to verify this independently by studying the characteristics of the device in this article.

First meeting

Colorfully decorated cardboard box,executed in the form of a small diplomat, naturally, attracts the attention of all potential buyers. Inside the package, the buyer will find a netbook, battery, charger, instruction, travel bag and a cloth for wiping the Packard bell Dot S screen. Drivers (Windows XP and Windows 7) are bundled only when the netbook is sold with the operating system installed. In other cases, the manufacturer recommends downloading the software from the official site.

Users feedback is positivedescribe the configuration of the device. All owners without exception, regardless of gender, liked the fabric briefcase to transport the netbook. It is not only convenient, but also able to protect the device from impacts when falling.

Appearance and build quality

Questions begin with buyers at a detailedstudying the laptop Packard bell Dot S. If the average user can still be bribed by the appearance, then the expert is generally unrealistic. In fact, in front of the Acer Aspire One customer - this is evident not only in terms of technical characteristics, but also in appearance, including the location of the ports, as well as the identity of many components. A serious difference only in price - the culprit review is almost a half times cheaper.

As for the build quality, then to the manufacturerno questions. All plastic components are perfectly matched to each other, there are no backlashes or problems with centering. Confuses only the glossy coating of the cover of the device - it is easy to scratch, and the fingerprints of plastic collects magnificently. The bottom of the device has a matte finish and is equipped with four rubberized legs, which ensure the stability of the netbook on smooth surfaces.

System Performance

For the portable device Packard bell Dot Stechnical characteristics are not basic parameters, but many potential buyers are still interested in the performance of a small laptop. Strangely enough, the netbook has the potential:

• processor Intel Atom N550, running at a frequency of 1500 MHz;
• The DDR3 memory is limited to 2 GB;
• integrated graphics Intel GMA 3150;
• a magnetic hard disk 320 GB with a spindle rotation speed of 5400 rpm.

Generally, the user can meet the marketmany modifications of the portable device. All of them differ in the installed components. So, the most powerful configuration on the market is based on a model with two cores - Atom N2600, or the user is offered to buy the cheapest netbook in a budget class with 1 GB of RAM and a 160 GB hard drive.

Screen Features

About viewing high-quality video in FullHD formatyou can forget all the owners of the laptop Packard bell Dot S. The characteristics of the LCD screen leave much to be desired. A ten-inch display with a resolution of 1024x600 dpi is only suitable for working with documentation and surfing the Internet. Yes, multimedia is subject to a netbook, but color rendering is unlikely to appeal to users.

But the display of information in sunny weatherwill please any owner. The manufacturer has equipped its mobile product with a decent LED-backlight, which is able to display the image even in bright lighting. With such netbook it is convenient to work not only in an office or a cafe, but also in nature.

Input Devices

It is easy to guess that a small notebookcan not be equipped with a full keyboard. The manufacturer tried to provide the user with all the necessary buttons, but this decision seriously affected the convenience of using the laptop Packard bell Dot S. Reviews of owners in the media on the keyboard are negative. In addition to the multifunction keys, the manufacturer allowed himself to provide the device with buttons with a short stroke and with no recoil in the finger. Working with the text on such a device is inconvenient.

As for the touch pad, then everythingon the contrary - the touchpad is large, convenient, supports the multitouch function and there are no questions to it from laptop owners at all. It should be noted that the touch pad does not have a shutdown button, however, during operation, it is not necessary to deactivate the touchpad. The fact is that the sensitive pad does not react to occasional touches and "ghostly" pressures.

Working with interfaces

User friendly work with the netbook Packardbell Dot S provides a complete absence of interfaces and ports on the front and back of the mobile device. Naturally, comfort will have to be paid for by functionality. So, on the right side of the device the owner will find: an input and an output for acoustics connection, one USB port, a Kensington lock, a LAN port and a device for reading memory cards.

In the left panel are located: interface for connecting the charger, two USB ports and a video output D-Sub. Strangely enough, the manufacturer did not provide the netbook with a demanded HDMI interface, because there are plenty of places to install it.

In addition to wired interfaces, a portableThe device is equipped with wireless modules WiFi and Bluetooth. There are many questions to the operation of these interfaces. The manufacturer claims that WiFi works in 802.11 g / n networks, but in practice everything turns out to be somewhat different. You can not make a laptop work in both networks - you need to choose one standard.

Multimedia in a portable device

Communicate with friends and relatives byYou can use the Packard bell Dot S netbook, but only in case of emergency. The thing is that the manufacturer did not pay enough attention to the media, responsible for the transmission of voice and video messages. The built-in microphone located on the top of the display does not have an acoustic noise canceling. It's extremely inconvenient to work with such a device. Correct the situation can only an external microphone, for which there is an audio input.

As for the video camera, its qualitynot even enough to create a normal photo, not to mention the transfer of video in real time. What the manufacturer thought was unknown, but obviously not about the multimedia work in this device.

Upgrade Options

Not so simple and with increasingmobile device performance. The manufacturer did not leave any loopholes for its fans who want to upgrade the Packard bell Dot S laptop. The memory is limited on the hardware level by two gigabytes (the motherboard does not see the larger modules), and the IDE hard drive can not be replaced with a modern SSD drive. As an option, as a hard drive you can install flash memory, and expand RAM by using memory cards, but this solution will cost the user too much.

As for the overclocking potential, then about itYou can also forget - the budget representative, in view of its compactness, has a weak cooling system that can not cope with processor overheating or an integrated chip responsible for video output.

Problem solving

Netbook is no different from other portabletechnology in terms of efficiency, so any breakdowns that may occur during operation, are solved in a similar way. The most common problem a user may encounter is the inoperability of a network driver (wired and wireless) in the Windows operating system. The issue is solved by installing third-party drivers, released for notebooks Acer Aspire One.

If the Packard bell Dot S does not turn on, do notyou need to hurry to carry it to the service center. It is recommended to disconnect the removable battery for 10 seconds, reconnect and try to start the mobile device. In general, power problems are harassed by this gadget. For example, it is better not to leave the Hipro charger unattended connected to the network, as it can not only overheat, but also burn.

Finally

In their responses, many owners dubbedlaptop Packard bell Dot S a symbiosis of a calculator with a notebook. And there is something in this. The netbook obviously needs improvement - whatever it is, everything looks like something workable, but not 100 percent:

• Cheap low-resolution screen, but with LED backlight;
• low-performance components that can not be improved;
• wireless interfaces for which the original drivers do not match;
• The presence of multimedia, which does not work as many would like.

The choice, of course, for a potential buyer,who decides what is more important for him - affordable price, functionality or productivity. As practice shows, it is impossible to satisfy all needs with one device.