by Scott Tammel

Introduction 

There is a laptop out right now that has been making splashes and now waves for its great design, gaming ability, and raw processing power.  By the way, this laptop isn’t made by Gateway, Dell, Voodoo, or Alienware.  This laptop is sold under the eMachine name!  Not only has the 68xx series of laptops from eMachines sold well, it has gained what could be called a cult following for bundling such power into such a reasonably priced package.   

eMachines currently offers various laptops ranging from basic Celeron units to Athlon XP based models, as well as the aforementioned Athlon 64 Mobile models.  I myself was in the laptop market, and after much reading and researching I decided to purchase the 6805 laptop.  The 6805 is a loaded machine, and the specs are here to prove it.   

The big "e" emblazoned on the front shouldn't scare you anymore.

Display: 15.4" Widescreen TFT LCD WXGA (1280 x 800 max. resolution)

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

CPU: Mobile AMD Athlon™ 64 3000+ Processor
64-bit Architecture operates at 1.800 GHz
  System Bus uses HyperTransport™
  Technology operating at 1600 MHz
1 MB L2 Cache

Memory: 512 MB DDR SODIMM (PC 2700)

Hard Drive: 60 GB HDD

Optical Drives: CDRW/DVD Combo Drive (24x24x24 CD-RW; 8x max. DVD-ROM) Media Reader: 6-in-1 Digital Media Manger (Compact Flash, Micro Drive, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro)

Video: ATI® Mobility RADEON™ 9600 with 64 MB Video RAM

Sound: PC2001 Compliant AC '97 Audio Built-in Stereo Speakers

Modem: 56K* ITU V.92 Fax/Modem

Network: 802.11g Built-in Wireless (up to 54Mbps) 10/100Mbps built-in Ethernet Pointing Device: Touchpad with Vertical Scroll Zone

Battery: 8-cell Lithium-ion (Li-ion) Dimensions: 1.6"h x 14.0"w x 10.4"d Weight: 7.5 lbs. (8.65 total travel weight

Ports/Other: 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA External Connector, 1 S-Video Out, Microphone In, Headphone/Audio Out, 1 PCMCIA Slot (Card Bus type I or type II)

It is not the skinniest notebook, but it is not a monster like others.  Note the front speaker grills to the left and right side of the notebook.

With specs like that, the term Desktop Replacement probably pops into one’s mind, and for good reason.  This thing truly screams.  In fact, I’m sad to say but in most cases the 6805 is superior to my desktop computer (for now!).  It is a sad day indeed. 

Worth Noting 

It should be noted, that as of now, many retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City that may have carried these have marked the current models of 6805/07/09 as closeout, and from all indications from the eMachines website these models are on their way out.  The 6810 and 6811 seem to be the models taking their place, and are essentially identical in every aspect. The only change from the 6805 review model and the 6810 which seems to new retail standard is the 6810 has an Athlon 64 3200+ and not a 3000+.

Next: Getting Started

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