HP Omnibook 900

HP Omnibook 900 Overview Features Model 900B (high-end) Intel Pentium III 450 or 500 (unofficial 650) MHz CPU (socketed) 64MB PC-100 DRAM standard onboard, 192MB max with 1x128MB module (model 900B) ATI Rage Mobility-M (M64) 4MB VRAM (Model 900B) ESS ES1978 Maestro-2E, SoundBlaster 2.0/Adlib capable emulation (Model 900B) Model 900 (low-end) Intel Pentium II 300, 366 or 400 MHz CPU (socketed) 32MB PC-66 DRAM standard onboard, 160MB max with 1x128MB module (model 900) NeoMagic MagicMedia256AV video controller 2MB VRAM (Model 900) NeoMagic Audio NMA2 (Model 900) Common to both models: One of the following screens: 13.3" TFT display (1024x768 resolution) or 12.1" TFT display (800x600 resolution) Intel 440BX chipset 4, 6 or 12GB 4200rpm 9mm height PATA HDD Only external drives supported (proprietary connector) Other Stereo speakers (upfiring, near the screen) 2xPCMCIA Slots (Cardbus compatible) VGA Output Li Ion rechargeable battery USB 1, Dual PS/2, Serial, Parallel ports 19V power supply (separate) Windows 95/98, Windows 2000 support (slightly slow on Windows 2000)

Best retro purpose

Mid Windows 98 era gaming, for DirectX 7 titles released before 2000 or as office computer. The best model is 900B, offering a good compromise between speed and compatibility. While the Ati Rage Mobility chipset does not have any Windows 3.1 support, the ESS Audio chipset offers great dos compatibility and the video chipset is very fast on VESA modes. The only relative drawback is that there is only 4MB of VRAM, too little for games such as Quake 3, despite the potential. The 800x600 resolution 12-inch display is the best choice since VRAM is less than 8MB, already limiting some games at 640x480 resolutions. All MS-DOS games run fast even on 640x480 resolutions. Good RAM expansion capabilities ensure that most games will be limited by the video chipset or the CPU more than the RAM size.

Durability and repair-ability

The mediocre plastic quality means of certain top parts of the chassis means that cracks of internal plastic screw stands are common, making disassembly and assembly operations quite difficult, with screws that are difficult to remove or tighten. Access to the hard-drive is straightforward, requiring only a single unscrew. Unfortunately, the LCD screen lamp is mounted vertically and it is very difficult to replace, requiring a full disassembly of the display. This means that you rarely can repair a screen without damaging or affecting something else with dust or slight manipulation mistakes. The rubberized coating that flakes over time is one of the most annoying feature of the laptop, as the smell, dirt and stickiness of its gets worse as the laptop aged. It can be cleaned with careful wiping using a smooth sponge and mild concentration iso-propyl alcohol or another alcohol solution. None of this problems were solved on the 600X models.

Review

A midrange, quite slim, business laptop, released in 1999. It had a good mix of parts and a slim chassis. The choice of PC-100 SDRAM and dual RAM sockets, as well as graphics chipset, make for a good all-around laptop. By 1999 the laptop was already obsolete due to the video chipset choice but this was standard for IBM laptops of its time, with no 3D hardware rendering support, no matter how rudimentary. The system runs reasonably well Windows 2000 or Windows XP, if you really need it, but Windows 98 SE is the best choice.

The graphics chipset is below average for such a great CPU. The great scaling support make it possible to have very sharp output on the internal or external display, although less smoothly than on modern computers. It depends on taste if you like or hate this scaling mode without any blur but some small rough edges. Overall, the Neomagic graphics chipsets were very fast for 2D operations, definitely faster than Trident or Cirrus Logic Chipsets and Chips andTech 6555x chipsets in just about every respect. The Neomagic graphics is the top performer on 2D graphics both for compatibility as far back as Windows 3.1 and DOS as well as competitive with Chips&Technology or S3 Trio 64 videocards. No real improvements due to the additional video RAM available on the 600X.

The LCD TFT screen is somewhat alright but it uses a dated technology that results in low brightness, relatively low contrast due to the vertical rather than horizontal, higher power CCFL sidelight.

The typical CPU implementation is very good. The Pentium 3 CPUs are Coppermines so they release heat slightly less than the previous model's Pentium II CPUs on typical workloads. The active cooling is quite good, not overly noisy, reliable, relatively easy to clean. The inclusion of an USB 1.1 port is a major feature. The keyboard is durable and with good tactile feedback. The trackpoint is very good, being quite smooth, predictable as well as with quick response at the classic, renowned IBM quality. The palm rest is also very comfortable.

The removable drive tray is a nice feature, offering both DVD-ROM/CD-ROM and Floopy drive support. The rechargeable battery can be easily removed or replaced. The BIOS and timekeeping battery is a standard CR2032 3V button cell.

The chassis was slim, light, comfortable due to rounded corners. The laptop's case is quite durable except for the rubberized coating. This is the single most annoying feature of the laptop, as the smell, dirt and stickiness of its gets worse as the laptop aged. Unfortunately the rest of the chassis also has problems due to the slight brittle plastic that frequently cracks due to age or shocks, especially for the frame around the kwyboard and screen. The lid closing latch is well designed and durable. The display hinges are very well engineered even if they may not look to be anything special. The integrated speakers are quite good for a laptop with no special audio quality features.

The standard HDDs are quite a very good choice for any Windows 98 SE installation supporting the UDMA33 interface that allows a typical top performance of around 15MB/s transfers, if the harddrive can keep up. Replacing the harddrive is straightforward as the system accepts most late Pentium III era drives for a real speed boost.

Software support is great for reasonably modern (for its time) operating systems. Due to the video chipset Windows 98 is the best choice of operating system. Good DOS sound support is present due to the Crystal Audio chipset that is Sound Blaster compatible but it is somewhat less refined for older MIDI and software support in MS-DOS, as it is slightly difficult to configure out of the box.