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Rating: 
Summary: Good with one MAJOR weakness
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: There are Strengths and Weaknesses...
Review: 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.
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