Compaq-Desktop Reviews

The Compaq Presario 6027us was the one brought by my Mom for the entire family use. I personally brought the Compaq Presario 6350us, because I am one of those who need cutting-edge gagets. While the Presario 6027us is a notch below the Presario 6350us, its powerful features still leaves many others in the dust. With its fast 2.0 GHz processor, doing almost anything will not be a problem. Gaming, however, was not as good as the Presario 6350us. With 80GB hard drive, storing music and other programs will not be a problem. My family has over 200 songs installed along with many other applications. We still have 70 GB left. This computer should be the ideal choice for many people in need of a new PC and should last for another 6 to 8 years. The PC also came with a design easy for upgrading graphic cards and RAM/Hard Drive memory. One could just open it and it would be easy to change. My sister, a week ago, opened it and exchanged the "Integrated Intel Extreme" graphics card for an advanced "nvidia GeForce 4." This just made the already advanced PC into a cutting edge Compaq Presario. I personally recommend this PC for its great price, however, if you don't mind paying extra then settle for the Compaq Presario 6350us or the even more powerful Presario 6370us.

I've had mine for about 10 days and I'm loving it. It's quiet, looks good, and seems to be pretty solid. I had no troubles setting it up and my PC skills are about the same as Joe Average.

I've loaded it up with my usual Office, anit-virus, fire wall and a few games and it still boots prett fast. I finally got to boost my new Castle Wolfenstein upto full settings and enjoy it the way it was meant to be.

I can't help out on the technical stuff, but I kicked the tires, drove it around the block and even took it out on the freeway for a spin (so to speak) and I have no complaints.

THIS COMPUTER ROCKS!it starts up really fast(3sec) the system is soo quiet u cannot even hear it when its on.The modem seems alot faster then my old computers modem JUST BUY THIS ONE ITS GREAT !!

This is a great choice for anyone looking for a mid to high end PC. This system has a nice array of components and Compaq's reliability is pretty good. If you are a heavy 3D gamer you may have to upgrade the graphics within a year or so, but that's true of most of the systems sold today.

Let look at what's included:
CPU: P4 processor 2.53GHz - Excellent, plenty of CPU horse power no matter what you want to do.

RAM: 512MB DDR-SDRAM - The Amazon specs list this as plain old SDRAM but is really 266MHz DDR-SDRAM. There is faster ram out there if you are a power user who wants to push the edge. However DDR-266 is a perfect fit of speed and reliability for most users.

Hard Drive: 120GB - More than enough storage for just about anyone.

Other drives: CD-RW (40x write/10x rewrite/40x read), and 16x max speed DVD-ROM. Perfect. Don't expect a 40x write speed when creating audio CDROMs. For reasons too involved to go into here, it doesn't work out that way.

Graphics: 64MB DDR GeForce4 MX420 w/ TV out - Good card but not cutting edge. If you are a cutting edge gamer you will want to upgrade this within the year. The good news is that a good upgrade doesn't have to cost you more than 100 bucks.

Ports 10/100 Base-T Fast Ethernet; 56K ITU v.90 flex modem, lots of USB 2.0 - Compaq did a good job of loading this up with all the ports you could want.

Software: Windows XP (great!), MS Works (okay), and all the usual stuff like anti virus and photo editing software.

Overall this is a good package loaded with just about everything you need. It doesn't have speakers (most bundled speakers aren't worth your time anyway). If you are looking for a LCD monitor to go with this system it is important you get one that supports an analog input. This system does not have a digital DVI output. My advice: buy a LCD monitor that supports both analog and digital inputs and upgrade your computer in a year or so with a video card that has a digital DVI output. The digital output quality is superior to the analog output quality; especially on Nvidia based graphics cards.

For an AMD system this one is pretty high end - except for the graphics. Based on the Nvidia Nforce chipset, this system is aimed at entry level users. An otherwise nice machine is hobbled by week graphics. If you even intend to play games, stay away from this machine. Not only is it based on a graphics chipset that is about to be discontinued (can only be found on very low end graphics cards today), but it uses system memory, which is slower than graphics cards with their own integrated memory. So it is slower than your standard GeForce 2! If you are an entry level buyer there are cheaper systems, if you are a power user this isn't for you. Therefore it is hard to reccomend this system to anyone.

This is great computer DVD-R you can store up to 4.7 GB on the disc.
This PC is fully loaded, if you want everything this is it.
Almost perfect.
Runs 24/7 non stop for 3 weeks , and no problems.
Highly addicted PC

This PC has several things going for it and is an excellent deal.

It has a built in DVD-RW (a Pioneer A04--good choice). You'll be hard-pressed to find a machine with similar specs including a DVD-RW at this price (as of August 2002). It also has a powerful processor for encoding video quickly. It has conveniently placed IEEE1394 and USB1.1 ports up front so you can hook up your camcorder so easily.

I like the mid-size box, and find the silver/black look appealing. I really like the clean front for the optical drives and connectors (no goofy doors like HP/Sony/etc.) It even comes with a reinstall disk (unlike HP labelled products). Even the keyboard is respectable.

The graphic chip set with shared memory helps keep the price reasonable and if you really need high-end game graphics, you can add a graphics board easily enough. For video editing and everything I ever do, the graphics are fully adequate.

Drawbacks: There is only a single open mounting slot for an additional drive inside. I have placed an additional drive just laying inside. Also, the machine includes some persistant Compaq shopping software that takes a couple steps to disable.

Also of note. The PC comes with no speakers. This is not convenient but at least lets you get just the speakers you want since most included speakers are usually disappointing anyway.

Overall, this is a lovely machine for video work and general use. I'm very pleased with mine after a month churning out videos and homemade DVDs.

I needed to replace an aging computer. With limited dollars to
spend I looked for the cheapest computer I could find. The
Compaq 6300 was it. After setting up the computer it turned on and worked! This is a bare bones computer great for email, word docs and internet surfing. On the minus side the box looks cheaply made. When a CD is inserted in the CD drive the drive is very noisy. If this computer last more than 4 years I will be
very happy.

pc is really great if you are looking for a fast processor that can handle dvds, cdrws and desktop imaging. but i made the mistake of buying this and expecting to play games like hitman 2, madden 2003 and grand theft auto 2. hitman is decent, madden is ok, gta is horrible. the intel chip is sub par compared to any graphics board out there, and the sad thing is that this 6350us does not have an onboard AGP slot. very tough indeed. i will have settle for a low end geforce4. :(

First of all lets realize that computers now wait for us as opposed to us waiting for them, as we've done for years. Even with several applications going at once there should be nothing to slow us down any more. Thats why we keep trading up every 6 months or so.
Well the Compaq 6550 wont disappoint. Not only is it loaded with power and speed, it has the drives to match: 80 gigs (what am I gonna do with all that space?), a DVD player which displays movies extremely well in this computer, and a CDRW ready to churn out copies in just a couple of minutes. Plus it has a complement of software which provides tools for fun, financials, films, security, communication, storage, productivity, and great sounding music.
I upgraded from a P3 1 gig, 256RAM, GForceMX PC and this new system very noticeably outruns it, especially with heavy Photoshop use. Intel's (direct AGP) graphic chip looks about equivalent on the display. I do work with images in website building; the color rendition and richness of the images look quite nice.
On the negative, there exists no available AGP slot, so the results of future upgrading of the video card (using PCI slot) may be less than optimum. Also, although the USBs are the faster 2 type, it lacks a fire wire jack which I think by now should be standard.
This baby runs super quiet, similar to a laptop, and the cover is a snap to open for accessibility.
This is a far cry from the old problematic Presario clunkers. I like the new Presario.

I just currently purchased the Compaq Presario 6350us from Office Depot and as soon as I plugged it and set it up, I was amazed. Computers today are advanced, however, this one leaves most of them in the dust. It's massive 80GB Hard Drive is more than enough to store your businesses, favorite music files (I currently have 100 songs) and games. It has 512MB of RAM (expandable to 1GB) allows many games on your computer, if you are a hardcore gamer. Not to mention that its got a 2.4 GHZ speed that is just amazing. Going online with this speed will make many smile. The only little problem is that its graphic card is an "Integrated Intel Extreme" and this is only as advanced as the Nvidia GeForce 2, which is very powerful. It may not be as powerful as the Nvidia GeForce 4, but I played Spider-Man: The Movie without any slowdowns. The review below stated that when runing games, the system runs slower than a 600Mhz processor. This is NOT true. I believe that words coming out of an AMD fanboy cannot be trusted. That or maybe he/she got a broken computer. Intel and AMD, in my opinion are equal in strength, except that Intel's clock speed is much faster. This computer will create many happy faces for the next 6 years. It's superior design and technology should be accepted by many in need of a computer. Even a big AMD fanboy such as the one who wrote the review below, should think twice before placing blame on Compaq. Besides, the "Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics" is not developed by Compaq. It was indeed developed by Intel. I recommend this computer to any home PC seekers. Trust me, you will not regret this purchase for such a low price.

The Compaq Presario S5300NX is a nice computer. With Pentium 4 at 2.5G and 512M ram (exapndable to 1GB) it's got good speed. The 120GB hard drive provides plenty of space for all application and storage - and a CD burner in case you need more.
However, with that kind of power, it has one glaring weakness: It's Intel Integrated video Chipset (64MB). With no AGP expansion, the 5300NX slows 3-D graphic-using programs way down. For example, Command and Conquer Generals (which states a minimum 32M card) runs very slowly. As I said, the annoying thing is that Compaq (HP) didn't even provide an AGP expansion slot - making it virtually impossible to fix this achilles heel - even if you wanted to.

Normally, I would have given it 4 stars, but with all the power it has, the inability to do even a fair job at handling graphics that most older computers can, is an unforgivable oversight.

The Compaq Presario S5300NX is a unit that has its ups and downs which will be detailed below. However, since its strengths outweigh its weaknessess, the Presario deserves a 4 star rating.

STRENGTHS:

*Combination of DVD and CD-RW drives - A Tower which features only one drive (i.e. the RW drive) defeats the purpose of the RW drive. With dual drives, you can now burn much faster.

* Appearance - Mostly black with a gray front panel it is a machine (a la Dell) that looks like it means business.

* Front side USB 2.0 - The Presario features 2 Front side USB 2.0 prots as well as two in the rear. Front Side USB ports make it much more conevient to plug in Jump Drives and other transient USB devieces. In addition, there is a convenient pull down access panel to hide the USB ports when not in use.

* Pentium 2.5 Ghz - The 2.5 Pentium 4 provides more than enough juice to power any applications you can throw at it.

* 120 GB Hard Drive =- Provides plenty of storage space for files.

* Quality keyboard - Finally... a name brand computer which features a quality, non-throwaway keyboard.

* 3 1/2 disk drive - Yup, it's almost a relic... but not quite and the Presario has it.

* Quiet running - The Presario runs quiet.

* On-board Intel extreme Graphics - The on-board intel extreme graphics can handle the very latest in graphics requirements for todays games.

*Quality motherboard - Many name brand computerscome with cheap motherboards. The Presario however, features the ASUS mother board.

WEAKNESSES:

* No AGP expansions slot - There is no upwards expansion of the graphics capabilities of the Presario.

* Minimum expansion slots - Again, provides minimum opporuntity for expansion of the Presario which limits its upgrade potential.

* Clumsy tower design - It takes some effort to open the tower in order to upgrade the machine. In addition to removing the side panel, one must also remove the front panel.

* Limited pre-packaged software - You get Windows XP... and not much else.

All in all, the S5300NX is a complete machine, but it better be since there is not much room for upgrades.

I recently decided to upgrade from my Compaq Presario 400Mhz I bought a good 5 years ago. Thinking the 2.7 GHz and 512MB (plus an extra 256MB) would be great. I am totally disappointed!!

The Compaq Presario S5200NX is by far a waste of money. It is slower than you can imagine and the technical service from Compaq/HP is ZERO !

I am without a doubt totally disappointed, my only option at this point is to either purchase a new processor and see if that speeds it up or buy another computer. Since I have only had this for a couple months neither choice truely appeals to me.

If in the market for a new computer...DON'T BUY A COMPAQ PRESARIO S5200NX !!

This is a good basic computer. The price is right for 120GB and 512RAM. This is a big step up from my Windows Me Emachines. I love it up to this point.

This replaces my 333cs E-tower, and it's a multi-tasking dream...RPG Games windowed with spreadsheets and music playing.....I'm one happy camper

I think this looks great and easy to use and not heavy in case of moving or just rearannging furniture!

This is a quick follow-up to my previous review of this item. Sure enough, when I got the CPU back from the shop after having had the floppy drive replaced, the first cd I burned was marred with glitches, just as was the last one I burned right before the machine went for repair. Guess I'll have to have the DVD and CDR drives replaced now! Folks, whatever you do, stay away from this particular model: I couldn't even consider recommending an electronic product which I'd had to take for repair twice within the first two months of ownership (and yes, it was purchased brand new.) HP/Compaq really ought to be embarrassed. It may not look like a duck, but it sure quacks and desecrates like one!

Despite the usual experience one can get from an HP product (HP owns Compaq.) there was a lot to like about this model. However, too many frustrations with this unit make me unable to recommend it to anyone else. I'm sticking with it simply because the money's spent and the return is past.

Most of what I'll discuss is about the internal design, but, the few surface elements I will touch upon are disappointing. Like with most HP computers, HP can't seem to get this one to work right out of the box. Something installed at the factory causes Windows Explorer to want to bug out a lot. Either crash on start of Windows, or simply freeze over the course of use, causing it to stop responding. Plus, you can't seem to add the Paste Internet Explorer button to the WE Toolbars. You CAN, but, it's useless to do since pressing it will cause WE to freeze. Windows Explorer locking up or freezing has plagued HP PC's since at least 2000, when I first encountered it. So, since it doesn't work right out of the box, how can I really recommend it, since they just installed things on it without even testing to make sure they all work okay?

Inside the machine... man, I really wanted to recommend this model internally... It's got a lot of great hardware in it, but, HP is famous for doing this. They're good on hardware, but lousy on bundling the software necessary to use it. In terms of design, the interior is well done. The drives are held in not with screws against a plate but with a railing system so they can slide in and out. The IDE data cables that connect to the mother board have loops on them so you can hook your finger in them and easily remove them from their sockets. The upper drive bays are designed in such a way that you can easily connect their back cables by merely sliding the opposite drive forward a bit to make the space. However, HP shoots themselves in the foot by being "cute" with other design aspects.

They included several screws attached to a plate inside the case for future upgrades. While that is unusual and a nice gift, they're not standard. They're the funny kind of screws that have Philips heads, but, must be used with flathead screw drivers. The bezel is poorly designed, so, certain drives, like the Sony DRU-500a cannot be placed in the top drive bay. Otherwise, the drive simply will not open at all. The floppy drive slot is placed so the drive itself is recessed in relation to the slot, which means you must press pretty firmly on Eject button so the floppy has enough propulsion to eject it out enough for you to grab. So, you'd better have your hand near the slot, or the floppy will fly to the floor.

The PCI slot is protected by a cover, which is a nice idea in thought, but they failed again in execution. The instructions say to replace the screw when you have removed the slot cover, which is NECESSARY to insert a new card, but, the cards COVER the hole! Plus, the instructions say to use a Philips when it is quite clear that a flathead is all that will work!

One final comment on two of the installed hardware components. On the first day after I could return the unit, the hard drive just died! Up and died! HP wants you to send in the ENTIRE PC to see IF you're right before they will replace it! IBM, IOMega, and others will just take your credit card number and send you a replacement drive. IF you don't send back the old drive, they charge you for a new one! There is absolutely NO need to deprive people of their PC's with something that could easily be solved within a week's time of shipping new and old drives back and forth! Shame on HP! The other one, the modem: it's listed as a v92 56k Cheetah modem. Well, the Cheetah aspect is in name only: this modem would only connect, in general, at 28.8, so, I swapped it out. Speaking of swapping out things, as you can guess, I was FORCED to swap parts out: the modem and the dead HD. For someone who isn't experienced with doing that, this makes this model NOT a good first choice system. I also swapped out the optical drives to replace them with better ones.

I've paid for it, I can't return it, so, I must live with it. But, that doesn't mean YOU have to. DON'T buy this! In fact, skip ALL HP products you don't need! I need HP ink cartridges because that's all I have, and HP doesn't give you much of a choice. But, other HP products (The Pavilion PC in 2000, a returned Pavilion in 20003, the DVD 100i and 200i rip off DVD+ burner models.) have been nothing but frustrations and empty promises.

The previous reviewer gave you a pretty good thumbnail sketch of the flaws with this product, so I won't belabor the point. Apt to say, though, mine found itself in the repair shop within days after I purchased it from Amazon. Why? Because the floppy drive did not work, right out of the box: Could not snap a disk in the drive. I've been buying electronics for longer than I care to recall, and I don't think I've ever seen such ineptness so soon after a product's purchase. I needed the drive to install a few programs I wanted, so I couldn't put the repair off. Further, I noticed around the same time that a cd I burned had a few glitches in the recording (not in the original, of course.) The drive looks perfectly normal and all was clean, but you can bet that the next time I hear something like that, this machine will be back in the shop again. As the previous reviewer lamented, the money's already spent--so I guess I'm stuck with it--but I cannot in good conscience recommend a product laden with such problems right out of the package. This thing looks real nice, both outside and inside, is very fast and strong in processing and memory, and the price is nice, but if you don't enjoy headaches and hemeroids, stay clear of it.

This was supposed to be a new computer, however, when it arrived, the box said that it was refurbished.

The modem did not work.

The customer service was poor. Obtaining a return authorization was like pulling teeth.

Other that that, everything was great!!!

My recommendation -- do not buy from Compaq or Office Depot.

This is a solid starter computer.

Note the two different cosmetic faces this computer can have.

All you need to do is add ram. I added a 512mb PC2100 chip ($99 05/04) to this machine and it flies. I can play Madden 2004 just fine. Regularly, I will have opera full of windows, adobe photoshop, macromedia dreamweaver, winamp, seti@home, antivirus, two messenger programs running... and the computer is well under control. I can flip back and forth to windows with ease without any problems. If you want to play the latest games, then ofcourse, you're to need a better machine with a dedicated video card, but otherwise this is a great machine for 95% of tasks. The case has a small footprint, which I like. Note that I didn't use the modem, but the onboard network card is fine and I threw a second hard drive in with ease.

The front USB ports are handy.

i love this pc i got it as a birthday present and it is awsome. it runs multiple files so easily.mine came with 248 MB of ram and 2.60 GHZ i got it at wall-mart for $500.the only reason i gave it 4 stars is because it does not run games to perfectly.but,it downloads things(like songs,and games) very fast.all around a good computer(even though it is a little noisy)
p.s. i love the burner/compact disk combo drive