[ricola_pak]

Does anyone have any real bad experience with Compaq laptops/notebooks, or have heard anything real bad about them?

I'm talking in terms of build quality, service, customer support etc.


I have never owned a laptop before, but I plan on purchasing the Compaq V2110 model soon. It has a 1.3 GHZ Celeron M 350 processor, 512 MB RAM, 40GB Harddrive and a 14.0" screen. To me, these are all I need for my uses: mainly to do schoolwork, browse the net, a little bit of programming with Java.

Should I spend an extra $350 canadian or so to get a model with a Pentium M processor (and a 60GB harddrive and a DVD burner) instead? Is Celeron M going to be a lot slower than a Pentium CPU?

 

[mbriant]

I bought a pentium 3 compac laptop 2 or 3 years ago which was one of the last genuine compacs before HP bought them. It was great. I sold it to a friend who still uses it without a problem. About a year ago I purchased a new compac Pentium 4 with a 17" widescreen but the screen had a problem from day one. When it was jolted slightly, a wavey blemish ( not sure how to describe it, but it happens when you press on the screen with your finger) would appear on the screen .... apparently because the screen was lightly touching something behind it. I took it back for exchange but since they didn't have another in stock, I wound up with a similar HP. So far it's been fine. IMO compac should be fine, but I'd move the screen around a bit to make sure it's OK. I'm afraid I can't comment on processor speeds but it's my understanding the M processors are easier on batteries.

 

[smuh]

our company uses hp/compaq notebooks (nx7010) for a few month now. most users complain about the displays being not so sharp. the docking station isn´t really good. we had one broken keyboard and one broken harddrive out of 10 notebooks so far.

But keep in mind that we only use the nx7010.

Before hp/compaq we used to have a lot of gateway, ibm and hp notebooks. the gateway and ibm notebooks, even if they are 5 years old still work and are in good conditions

about hp: we had some xe3´s and some hp 6500 (or maybe 4500) which are already gone... we had 5-6 xe3´s, one (maybe two) is still working.

if I remeber right, we have one or two compaq notebooks. and since I don´t recognize them, they must be still running

otherwise they would have been on my desk for a checkup

 

[smuh]

i always found the newer celerons being noticeable slower then the normal pentiums. I don´t know if the celeron has the same power saving functions as the pentium ....


lini: sag du doch mal was!

 

[Kirosia]

My cousin has one, and it's been nothing but trouble from day one. Hardware failures up the wazoo. He got it from BB and has exchanged it at least 3 times for another, and s**t keeps happening. Perhaps it's more BB's fault, don't know.

 

[grawk]

If you're going to take your laptop off your desk with any regularity, I'd strongly recommend sticking with either apple or ibm laptops. They're not that much more expensive, and they have a well deserved reputation for build quality and durability.

 

[andrzejpw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk If you're going to take your laptop off your desk with any regularity, I'd strongly recommend sticking with either apple or ibm laptops. They're not that much more expensive, and they have a well deserved reputation for build quality and durability.

quoted for truth. The only laptop worth buying is an apple or an ibm.

 

[wallijonn]

too bad IBM has sold their Laptop production to an overseas buyer. Will quality suffer?

 

[grawk]

Probably not for a while, as they sold it to the company that was making the thinkpads to begin with...

 

[Jmmmmm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk Probably not for a while, as they sold it to the company that was making the thinkpads to begin with...

Are you sure about that? I didn't know lenovo made them....hmm
They are still using the same production plants for now, as far as I know. In a few years, I expect them to go to **** though. I hope not, but I fear they will.

As for compaq/hp, they are the one company I would avoid the most. I knew a lot of people in college with them (everyone either had a dell or a compaq), and many people had problems with them. My girlfriend has a compaq laptop and it really sucks. Her brother and I have tried numerous times to 'fix' it, but we came to the realization that the only way to 'fix' it is to throw it in the trash. Another friend of mine bought a compaq laptop last year and is already looking to get a new computer due to all the problems.

Now I can't say you will definitely have problems if you get a compaq; in fact, you could have a great experience with it and it could last 10 years. It seems to be very hit or miss with laptops, and it just seems that compaqs have a higher ratio of misses.

If you are getting a laptop, DEFINITELY get a pentium M over a pentium 4 (or celeron M). They are as fast (as lower clock speeds), run much cooler, and get much better battery life. The celeron M's don't have the power-saving feature of the pent Ms, and they have half the cache. This equals less battery life and slower speed. If you just have very basic needs, a celeron is an ok alternative, though.

If you can afford it, get an thinkpad, they are tanks. Unfortunately, they cost as much as a tank too. You can get dells very cheap, and I've been happy with both of mine. Those and toshiba are the top on my list.

Go to notebookforums.com, they are almost as good as head-fi, dealing with laptops.

 

[ricola_pak]

Thanks for all the comments people.

I do like the IBMs, but I have to pay at least $600 canadian more for a machine with 256 MB less RAM and 20 GB less harddrive space, which is fine I guess.

Although I do have a few friends at my uni who have HP laptops who have encountered no problems at all so far, but I will really look into IBMs then, thanks!

 

[grawk]

There are certainly deals to be had. IBM often sells refurbished systems for signficant discounts. Unless you're doing serious number crunching, you'll be happier in the long run with a good reliable sturdy laptop than the latest and greatest notebook that will soon become out of date and unreliable taboot.

 

[Jmmmmm]

Also, I'm not sure about other companies, but when ordering a dell laptop, dell rips you off with upgrades. For harddrive and ram, it is much cheaper to order the lowest available, and then upgrade with aftermarket. For example, upgrading from a 40gig to a 60gig 7200rpm harddrive at dell may up your price by like $200. However, you can get a 60gig 7200rpm harddrive for $150 by itself. So, if you get the 40gig, you can sell that on ebay and order the harddrive yourself, you can end up paying much less. The same goes for ram. This may be more hassle than you want, but it could save you a lot of money and allow you to upgrade things you can't upgrade (easily), like the better brand or the faster processor. So, when upgrading, see how much they are charging you for each thing, and then check www.dealram.com and www.newegg.com and see how much it would cost you from there.

 

[necropimp]

my complaints...
outdated drivers... the newest video drivers for my mom's laptop are MORE THAN 2 YEARS OLD... beauty of laptop video "cards"... the drivers are in the hands of the company that made the laptop

that's really my biggest complaint... i rarely use the thing

 

[ricola_pak]

Alright I'm pretty much decided on buying the IBM R51 on eCost, great deals there. Looking for some advice from you guys, would you go for option 1 or option 2, knowing that I'm a comp sci uni student who ISN'T going to game on this machine:

1) 256MB RAM, 30GB harddrive, 1.6 Pentium M 725 with 2mb cache

2) 512MB RAM, 40Gb harddrive, however 1.5 Pentium M 715 with 1mb cache


Should I get the better CPU, and save up later to upgrade the RAM? Is the 1MB less of cache and 0.1 GHz less going to be noticeable?