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Compaq Presario 705US Notebook (1-GHz Athlon 4, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

Compaq Presario 705US Notebook (1-GHz Athlon 4, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I actually have the predecessor to this machine
Review: Note: this thing is great if it is plugged in, but not as good on battery. It's still better than anyting with a mobile P3... Face it, Intel doesn't make 'em like they used to- AMD for speed and stability.

But this new one seems to be a lot nicer- I can play 3d games at a good rate (ok- the video card isn't good for 3d, but this processor rocks! And I have the 900Mhz, not the 1Ghz, also, with the games, it did good at 128MB memory, This modle that Amazon is selling can be upgraded to 128MB+256MB)

DVD playback is great.

Also, mine has been dropped several times and still works.

This product, being the next improvement to the 1200 series should out perform mine in almost every respect... except one. The case of this new modle is ugly. I like my black one better :-)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Just tell me I bought a lemon!!
Review: Oh NO!!

I just love this laptop it has the BEST sound I've ever heard in a laptop and a great screen.

The problem is it doesn't run dvds at the proper speed. It comes with windvd and when I'm trying a disney animation it's reporting that it's using like 99 percent of system resources. My God...I have a 475 mghz amd on an Hp with 8 megs of shared memory and it can run dvds smoothly. This is a duron 900 with I think 16 shared and even using the windows media player absorbing 57 percent of resources it still won't play smoothly. I mean the video is ghosting, and video and audio is choppy.

This is really a sweet laptop for the price especially after rebate...if it just would play dvds..I'd be a happy geek:-)

Any advice would be appreciated...hopefully I'm doing something wrong. I've checked system settings and everything seems to be in order but maybe in my despair I'm missing something. Please help!

Kindest regards,

LJ

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It Disappointed Me
Review: Only after I used this computer did I realize that this is the worst decision I've done-----

1.You have no option for OS except XP, which is the poorest OS I've used. Compaq doesn't provide driver and support for any other OS.

2.The manual is very poor and not helpful.

3.The refreshing of screen is really bad. It has 1 to 2 seconds delay to refresh the screen when you're paging up or down webpages.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A really horrible laptop and even worse customer support
Review: The 700Z laptop does not fulfill its specifications and is very slow. My unit (always handled very tenderly) developed cracks in the lid around the hinge mount after about eleven months.
The specifications say that you can add a 256 MB memory chip (for a total of 384 max) but the unit does not actually support that.

I tried Viking, Crucial/Micron and Compaq's official provider, American Memory. The laptop would never run reliably with a 256 MB module, crashing consistently. All three memory providers ended up telling me that they would not support a 256 memory module for this model. It DID run reliably (but very slowly) with the 64 MB module it originally came with.

Other web postings and the memory mfr's all have indicated that there was/is no resolution to the memory problem on this unit as of Aug '03. Compaq will not admit a problem but I managed to get an RMA to send it in for this and the hing cracking problem. Unfortunately, based on other web postings I expected that the memory issue would not be resolved.

So I returned my unit under warranty and it ended up stolen in transit while being shipped by the Compaq shipper Airborne Express! Good riddence! The claim however needed to be processed by Compaq. Fourteen days after the reported theft and filing of the claim with Compaq I am still waiting for the replacement laptop (which is a different model from the discontinued 700z) from Compaq. They were responsible as the shipper was their required shipper.

The 'quality specialist' assigned to me for the case usually has a full voice message box and does not return calls when I do get a message through. I have been on hold over three hours now this morning to the Compaq Technical Support line to try and get some information about my replacement laptop.

My recommendations? Avoid the mis-represented 700Z model completely. Better yet, avoid Compaq. I think they deserve a class-action suit against them for expensive devices that do not even meet their own specifications and support that is not even remotly as good as they state it is.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Over heating status and freezing of the windows.
Review: The presario 700 is a very good PC for business and home use but with two problems so far I relise that when I am playing games or running 3D programmes the PC freezes up.ALso Over heating is a big problem you need a portable fan at all times, the bois programme is not helping at all.Also the battery life is to short.I think compaq should try tp fix this problem or they will lose customers like me and on the other hand I am also returning this laptop.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Notebook -- Bad Rebates
Review: This is a good computer worth the money paid for it. I use it as a desktop replacement. A few complaints though. I called compaq to inquire about a docking station for the 705US and they said they have one. I then bought the computer and was leary when there was no docking station hookup. I called compaq to order the puppy only to find they don't exist. So when using as a desktop replacement, you'll have to plug everything in separately. (or buy a USB universal docker...the one I bought doesn't like the keyboard). The additional free 256 MB of RAM offer seemed like a good deal but only to find out when the RAM arrived was that the 705US only has one slot for memory and it already had 256 MB. So now I have a second unusuable 256MB or RAM (anybody want to buy it). Also I selected the notebook starter kit instead of the $100 off...and you might guess, after following the instructions to the letter, two months later, I'm still waiting on my starter kit...and that's after doing it online and mailing in the paperwork (online reguistration was suppose to speed things up). While I'm overall happy with the notebook, next time I'm not buying online because too many details are not available. Merry Christmas.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great business replacement, not for gaming
Review: This is a great computer, the only flaw I can find is in the graphics card. If you want a laptop for gaming, this is not your laptop. (For serious portable gamers, try a Dell 8100 with a 16 or better yet a 32 MB NVidea Graphics card) If you want a nice reliable, speedy, desktop replacement, then this is the computer for you. The Athlon chip combined with the 256 MB of memory makes for a speedy response time. The screen is nice and clear and the keyboard is quiet. Overall, the computer is a great choice!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The little laptop that could
Review: This little laptop is a rare find at under 1000.00. You get a good deal of power and it's quite light weighing in at only 6.39 lbs. The price I paid was after 2 rebates, one from Compaq, the other from Circuit City.

Out of the box it was easy to setup with a simple to read/use setup poster that describes each of the ports front/back and what the buttons on the inside are for.

The keyboard is small and gets in the way at times, but fix that by adding a PS/2 keyboard and you're good to go. The RAM is shared with the Video memory, so you only get 240 MB of RAM, I imagine when RAM is cheaper for this notebook, I'll upgrade to 384MB (Maximum for this model).

It comes with a 900 Mhz Duron (which some say is better than a Celeron any day) runs quite well, faster than my PIII 550 Desktop any way. It comes with Windows XP and MS Works and some other poopy software, which I uninstalled so i could put what I wanted on it.

Consider this if you purchase this machine you get:

900 Mhz Duron with 256MB PC133 SDRAM, a 20GB Hard drive, an 8x DVD, a 14.1 XGA TFT Active Matrix, a 4X AGP with VIA ProSavage KN1334, JBL Pro Audio Speakers with Bass Reflex
Inputs/Outputs S-Video TV-Out, Headphone/Speaker-Out, Microphone-In, 2 USB Ports, an Ethernet Port, an Integrated V.92 56 KBPS modem, a touchpad mouse, and Lithium-Ion battery that lasts 2.5 hours in good conditions (not playing DVD's or games).

This is my first laptop and first Compaq, too and I'm impressed!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A near excellent buy with a minor problem...
Review: This notebook has satisfied me from day one (which was Christmas) save for one problem. Fast processor, clear screen, sufficient ram, a cd-rw/dvd player, many ports, easy to use. However, I use my laptop primarily to play computer games, and I have encountered a problem. The default resolution for the notebook is 1024 x 768. This is fine. On this resolution, no problems, everything is crystal clear. But when running ANY application, if the resolution is BELOW 1024 x 768 pixels, and it is in fullscreen, the display is horrid. Blocky and grainy. I am not quite sure why this problem occurs, and I have contacted Compaq, and they have no idea either. It is very frustrating when playing a computer game. This same thing happens also if you switch the desktop display to 800 x 600. The effect is almost like this - when you decrease the resolution, the size of the window (of the application) decreases as well, and then just stretches out, which is NOT what decreasing resolution is supposed to do. When I connected another desktop monitor to the notebook, everything was fine, but it has something to do with the 1024 x 768 flat panel monitor on the laptop. This same thing happened with my first laptop, which was also by Compaq, so I assumed at first that this was a universal problem for laptops. But recently, at Best Buy, I tried a demo laptop (HP) and the change in resolution worked perfectly, so now I am forced to believe that this is just a glitch in Compaq laptops. To sum up my review, I advise anyone who is looking for a good notebook for purposes other than games to buy it. Otherwise, gamers stear clear, this notebook isn't for you. Get a Dell or something.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I loved the 700 at first.....10 months it is junk
Review: This was a fine unit till I got to know it better!
1. Will not play DVD's
2. Battery goes dead fast
3. Lost everything via the blue screen lock ups 3 times so far
4. Case has developed cracks at the stress point of hinges
5. Sent my 700 in for case replacement....Compaq told me I had abused the 700....they wanted [$$$] to fix...I told them that was not true....and send me the 700 back, I felt my 700 was not worth [$$$]...I will Never buy a Compaq again...I am going to glue a chunk of plastic over the hinges and throw it away when it dies!


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