I'm getting me a Compaq Presario 1700 laptop -- any good?

[freegeeks]

through my work i have the chance to get this laptop for an incredible price ---

specs:

Intel Celeron 933 mhz
256 MB Ram
DVD player
56K modem
Compaq Patented FutureBay? options
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Integrated IEEE 1394 Digital Port
ATI Mobility Radeon? accelerated 3D Graphics with 8 MB video memory
S-Video/TV-Out
JBL Pro Audio Speakers with Bass Reflex
High-capacity LiIon battery
20 Gig HDD

I don't need it to play games
Just want something light to carry around
-- so whay do you think? How is the playback on a TV set? Good or bad Laptop in general?

Any comment is welcome

Thx

---

Please refrain from excessive bumping.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[bacillus]

<< i have the chance to get this laptop for an incredible prize >>


I assume you mean price as opposed to prize!

 

[freegeeks]

my mistake

see my sigh

 

[freegeeks]

bump

 

[freegeeks]

another bump

 

[akiraxtc]

Try getting a P3 version of the notebook instead of Celeron, they are seriously underpowered in notebooks IMO

 

[AKA]

There is no such thing as a good Compaq laptop. Our corporation use to use them.. went to Dell. Its night and day difference.

If you never have a problem then you might be okay.. but the chances of that.. argh! Their tech support is horrible.... their way of doing quick restores, recovery etc is pathetic.

Do you know that on certain models of compaq presarios in order for the quick restore to work properly you have to turn on the caps lock when you boot the computer.. then turn off the numlock when the flashing compaq presario logo stops. Then hit ctrl-q to put a Q in the title bar.. THEN continue with the restore as normal. WTF IS THAT? Might as well tell someone to jump on one foot while whistling dixie!

 

[mooseAndSquirrel]

<< There is no such thing as a good Compaq laptop. Our corporation use to use them.. went to Dell. Its night and day difference.

If you never have a problem then you might be okay.. but the chances of that.. argh! Their tech support is horrible.... their way of doing quick restores, recovery etc is pathetic.
>>



Ditto with my corporate experience. The last company I was with changed from IBM as the standard laptop to Compaq Armada. It looked to me like the failure rate on these was above 20% (especially the hard disk getting corrupted). I've had IBM, Toshiba (my favorite) and now a Dell Inspiron which is o.k. but too new for me to pass judgement on.

 

[freegeeks]

damn -- that doesn't look so good

 

[1]

Cheer up, I've got good information. I've had three Compaq laptops, and in my opinion, a great laptop with many features for the money. I've had no problems at all. The 1700 is a good laptop but has one disadvantage. It has a swappable floppy and cd rom drive. One or the other installed but not both. Most people use a floppy drive very little so maybe in this day and age not a big problem. The 1800 (any model) would be my choice. I agree, a PIII would be a wise choice over the Celeron, not much of an increase. If possible, spend the extra $ and get a 15" LCD. Again, Compaq makes a nice laptop with many features and a reasonalbe price. GOOD LUCK!

1
1@dz1.com

 

[hans007]

compaqs are ok i guess. my dad had a presario 1920 and well the backlight failed on the lcd but they fixed it and he got it back within a week or so. I had a presario 1700 for about a week but then i sold it. i had the celerono 600 model. the thing i reall hated about it was that the wrist rest heats up and burns your hand. that was just unacceptable, it wasnt just warm too, it was uncomfortably hot.