Compaq - Presario Laptop with AMD Athlon™ X2 QL-60 Dual-Core Processor

I was going to buy a outlet notebook that came with ATI Xpress 1250. According with the reviews, gets hot easily and probably not even run games of 2006, like Doom 3. When I was going to do the request in Best Buy to delivery store-to-store, I found this laptop on sale for $399. I bought and did several tests. I tried the Home Premium and Ultimate version of Windows Vista 32 and 64 bits. All of that ran with a poor performance and "cranking" all time. So I tried the Windows XP 64-bits and ran beautifully well. The nVidia GeForce 8200M graphics card is not SO powerful, but is enough to run Dead Space on low settings and Doom 3 on High Settings. Also runs perfectly "old" games (2006 and older) and runs almost all new games (2007-Present) on low/medium settings. That's enough until you're gaining money for a future gaming laptop, hehe. About the problems, this laptop gets hot with some easily. When you are surfing on internet and/or using MSN/IRC is not a problem, but when you're playing, converting videos and/or installing some programs, the computer can easily reach 85-90 C. The problem about this laptop does not come with a card reader is easily solved when you buy a xx-in-1 USB Card Reader, but occupies 1 of all 3 USB Slots only for that. 2 GB of RAM is not a AWESOME thing either, also the 160 GB Hard Drive (nothing that a external HD won't solve), but still a good buy and good replacement for few months until you can't buy a better desktop/laptop.

I bought this on November 30, 2008 at Best Buy (the ad said online only, but like another reviewer, I decided to see if the store might still have one in stock). They had one out of the box and the first thing I noticed was a very solid and quality look that the laptop had. The keys had a very good feel to them (unlike most desktop keyboards). The display was very clear, too. Seemed okay, so I purchased a Microsoft wireless mouse to go with it and brought it (a new one in the box, not the demo) home.Very easy to set up and get on the internet. The Windows Vista operating system, which this is my first computer to have that sysem, is extremely easy to use and I encountered no problems or difficulties with it. The more I use this computer for surfing the net, playing music with Napster, or even as a portable battery powered DVD player, the more satisfied I am. I still can't get over the fact that it was only $400. I was kind of worried that it might not be that great of a computer for that price, but I sure was wrong. One possible drawback for some people might be the hard drive capacity of 160 Gigs, so those prospective buyers might want to spend a little more to have more storage for music and movies. That aspect doesn't really bother me because I use my desktop to save music. I also must mention that in order to truly get the best use out of this (and most other laptops, fot that matter), a battery upgrade should be looked into. Two hours can go by very quickly, so a longer lasting battery would be a good investment. To summarize: I am happy enough with this laptop to consider purchasing another one for the family!

I bought this computer about two weeks ago on sale. Even at its regular price, I'd still say its a great deal. That said, it is a pretty basic machine. No built-in web-cam or card reader (for xD, SD, etc.). I was surprised how little space was left after transferring my file from my desktop, which also has 160GB (but has XP os). I still have 40GB or so left, but Vista takes up more space than I expected. Not a big deal, though. After cleaning up all of the junk software that comes pre-loaded (come on, just send a disc and let people install it if they want it!!), start up is fairly quick, and programs load in no time at all. The CD/DVD drive works great, and has played/read every disc I've thrown at it. Burning is a bit slow, in my opinion, but makes up for it by actually burning good discs, not coasters. It doesn't seem to be too picky about blank media either. One small gripe is that the USB port closest to the CD drive tray is too close (the tray won't eject if you have something plugged into it). But that's easy enough to avoid once you know about it. The graphics and sound could be better, but not too bad for the price. My only other real complaint is the lack of recovery discs. I really despise those partition recovery systems. If your machine gets infected, the infection CAN find its way into the recovery partition, and then you're screwed. I've yet to be successful in creating my own discs using the included utility (that software is junk too) and always have to order a set of discs. It seems to be well built and looks pretty good, if a bit plain. All in all, its a great machine for a easy to digest price.

I had a Compaq laptop that had problems with the optical drive and the battery was shot. Decided rather than try to fix, would buy a new one. Considered a refurbished unit at competitor but with an extra $15 off from Best buy provided gift card, this was only a few dollars more and was new. I had no trouble getting it running. My attempt at making a recovery disc was unsuccessful and was not allowed to try again. Ended up ordering a set on line ($16). Wireless interface went well but trouble setting up network to share with my desktop. More a Vista problem. I would have preferred an XP Laptop. I have only had it a week but like it a lot so far except for opening the optical drive which is a bit funky. Likely a quirk with the computer rather than a problem in design. Also the power supply gets very warm. It might be undersized.

The hard drive is too small for my uses, so I bought an external 300 gig hard drive. It overheats pretty easily, and on one condition I had to cool it down with a cold towel so I could start it up, so I borrowed my friend's laptop cooler. The processor can't crank out enough power for gaming, I tend to get anywhere between 10-50 FPS. I was pleasantly surprised that this laptop came with an actual graphics card (not an integrated unit) at this price. The NVIDIA GeForce 8200M works great aside from a couple trippy crashes. For some obscure reason, it comes with 3 gigs of RAM, but has cart room for 4 gig. It has Vista, which is somewhat of a resource hog, but I haven't had any problems with it other than a couple of custom bootlogo programs not working. Wireless internet access works very well. Comes with a small mess of crapware that's easy enough to uninstall. If your uses for this laptop run from simple word processing to multitasking an Internet browser, music player, and various other apps this laptop works quite well. If you're looking for a high-end gaming machine, then prepare to get an average of 20 FPS on the lowest settings. The key idea here is *VALUE*. Great machine for the price it's offered at.

PROS-this computer is pretty much my perfect computer, i could ask for nothing more, the nVidia integrated graphics makes the game that i primarily play run very well. [FYI the game that i play is warcraft 3 at highest settings] enough RAM to run windows sidebar at startup without much delay. Dual-core cpu is always great, and is a plus to how much i paid for this computer (400$). 550$ for this computer is also a steal! no need to bother with the "speedboost" option when you purchase because first time setup is an ease to use, anybody who can read can setup themselves. It physically looks astonishing, the fine black gloss and the logo in the middle of the hood makes this machine "an attention grabber!" CONS-everybody that has written a review about this computer knows the first flaw, which is the battery life. a laptop battery is meant to degrade overtime, so no need to worry too much about the battery life! the interface buttons are standared only. 3 USB ports, VGA extender, Network and phoneline adapter, CD drive, and what else am i forgetting....the power port? and this is a personal pet peeve, but the power slot is located on the left side along with one USB port and the network port. Hopefully it will suit you as a buyer! Overall this is the best machine that i currently own. (out of xbox 360, ps3, living room alienware gaming computer, 1080p 52 inch lcd tv, comcast high speed internet). Bought this the monday after black friday, and it has delivered optimal performance and has never disappointed me in any way. i wrote this review at 3:30 in the morning. I hardly ever write reviews about any product due to my laziness, but this item is worth every penny, worth every calorie used to type this review, and worth every minute of sleep that is deprived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife and I purchased this laptop a week ago while it was on sale for $479. After much searching, the price was great considering other laptops went for at least $75 more and didn't even have 2G of Ram, or any dual-core processors. So far, this laptop has surpassed our expectations. The only area where it fails is with it's battery life. While researching this laptop I discovered this was a common complaint. We overlooked this con because we planned to use the laptop near an outlet most of the time. Otherwise battery life would be a serious issue. Besides that one flaw, I would highly recommend this laptop. Especially if its on sale.

So I purchased this mostly because I wanted to edit video. YES! I know. a quad core with upgraded video card is the way to go. GREAT! No kidding. Well, I need something portable, and yes i film in HD, so even more difficult. Nobody at Best Buy knew if it would work. Even Geek Squad said they wouldn't recommend it. Sure I could have spent $2000 and got a nice dell XPS or Alienware. Anycase. I'm not rich. I have only had it about 3 days, and have yet to get my 2x2 gig each ddr2 from newegg, but already it works pretty darn good. I was surprised. Rendering is a bit slow, but seriously what can you expect. I am running Sony Vegas Pro 8, and yes, sometimes you must wait for it to catch up while editing for a second, but 4 out of 5 i would say for this little beast. So if you are using this for basic things, then this is great. Evening editing standard video I'm sure it would go fast. And HD, not too bad!