Digital Trends

VPR Matrix 200A5

April 28th, 2003 | by Ian Bell

Introduction
Next time you are at your local Best Buy store, you may want to check out that sleek looking laptop with the unfamiliar name. VPR Matrix is Best Buy's own line of private label PC's found only at Best Buy stores. The 200A5 is the VPR Matrix flagship laptop designed by world renowned F.A. Porsche design house. F.A. Porsche is the grandson of the legendary car designer Ferdinand Porsche. In 1963 F.A. Porsche designed the body of the Porsche 911 car. Then in 1972 he began his own design firm, Porsche Design in GmbH Austria. You may recognize some of F.A. Porsche's design influences on many consumer electronics, including Samsung LCD monitors and the entire VPR Matrix computer line. The F.A. Porsche influence is immediately noticeable on the VPR Matrix line. The 200A5 is encased in a modernistic magnesium case with an emphasis on simplistic design and function. Buttons are easily laid out on the 200A5 with inputs and controls where you would expect them. But it is what's underneath the hood of this stylish laptop that really shines.

 

Features

The 200A5 uses some of the best brand name components available. Upon receiving the 200A5 the first thing to stand out other than the magnesium case, is the slot loading DVD/CD-RW combo drive. For Windows based systems, a slot loading drive is almost unheard of. Apple enthusiasts have long been enjoying the

aesthetic pleasures of a slot loading drive. The 200A5's slot loading drive is manufactured and provided by Matsushita, Panasonic's parent company. The 200A5 features a 40GB 4,200 RPM IBM Travelstar hard drive and the graphics adapter is a 32MB Nvidia GeForce4 420 Go. Powering the 200A5 is Intel's 2.0GHz Mobile Pentium 4-M processor. The 200A5 also comes equipped with 512MB DRAM (2x256MB) 266MHz DDR SDRAM.  WiFi 802.11b is integrated. There is one PCMCIA slot available on the 200A5, but that should be all you need since the system has most of what you need internally.

 

Audio and video enthusiasts will love the 15.2” widescreen display and Sonopur audio system. Rumor has it that the display on the 200A5 could possibly be manufactured by the same company that produces the displays for Apple's PowerBook line. VPR Matrix is proudly promoting the Sonopour sound system in the 200A5 as rivaling that of most home theater systems. What the Sonopur sound system does is up-sample the audio by interpolating between samples to effectively double the quality of sound. Although the Sonopur audio system sounds good in theory, you will need to use headphones for a noticeable difference in sound, the speakers on the 200A5 do it little justice. One cool feature the 200A5 has is the ability to play CD audio with the notebook side turned off giving you the same functionality as a portable CD player using the front controls.

 

The 200A5 features Microsoft's Windows XP Home Edition as well as Microsoft Works 6.0, and CyberLink's PowerDVD video player. Those that despise the hundreds of useless preinstalled software will enjoy the included necessities on the 200A5.