Oppinions on Compaq's Presario 7000 series?

[Sunner]

Well as the topic says, Im looking for oppinions on this series of PC's.

This series is the stringest candidate for an up and comming home-PC program at work, but before I go ahead and start checking up prices, financing, etc etc, I want people's oppinions on them.

Now, as stated, this is for home PC's, not power user machines, Linux servers, etc etc, they need to work, play quake, run word, etc, with as little problems as possible.

And Im looking for professional oppinions from people who actually have experience with them, NOT "Compaq is suck!" and stuff like that.


And I realize alot of people are gonna swear by Dell, Gateway, HP, and so on, but there are both political as well as financial reasons why Compaq is the prefered choice here.
I could probabaly go with another vendor, but it would require a somewhat herculean effort compared to Compaq, most of all in terms of man hours spent on the administrative tasks involved.

Any serious input is greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Bozz]

Presario is Compaq for landfill. It is cheap stuff designed to undercut the price of clones to fool the foolish. What you get is a cheap chipset with pathetic performance, and when the product requires upgrading/repair, you are often confined to OEM (read:EXPENSIVE) parts.

This situation with the OEM parts is identical with the business end computers, the Deskpro's, however these are built to be reliable, stable and not to the last cent. If you really need OEM and want Compaq, then get a Deskpro and dont be tight and buy the Presario, you will clearly be better off getting a clone.

Regards

 

[Sunner]

Actually, I was thinking of the Deskpro's(which we use in the office, with great success), but thats out of the question as they're not offered in any home PC deals.

Also, please note that by home PC, I mean PC's that companies offer to employyes by special leasing agreements, not just PC's that you buy for home usage, I just dont know what the correct english word for this is.

 

[Bozz]

I dont understand what you mean... If a company offered me new Presario's (or HP's equivalent Pavillion) I would move on and sue them for insulting me. Just kidding, I would sell the piece of junk to a braindead idiot and get a real computer. I dont know if I can re-iterate firmly enough, DO NOT BUY THE TRASH ENTRY LEVEL MODELS... Presario is also Compaq-speak for "get stuffed we know you're an idiot and will buy this". If you cannot get a good deal on a real computer (Compaq Deskpro, HP Vectra, Dell Optiplex) then for your own sake, do not buy the rubbish. Take it this way, we had to replace a brand new Presario's power supply that had been hit by a power surge, it cost AUD$230, a regular ATX power supply (that wouldn't fit) is only $35, as you could imagine, the customer was not impressed because it also invalidated the warranty.... You are on this website so I assume you have more intelligence than the average sheep that buys these products, take advice kindly

Cheers

 

[Sunner]

Well, I most likely wont be buying one either way.

I'll try my best to explain the deal with "Home PC's", which is pretty much a raw translation from the Swedish term.

Basically, the company you work for rents the PC, then draws the rent from your salary every month, then after so-and-so many years, you can either return the box, or buy it for a good price.

Now in the end, this is a good deal for everyone, since it gets cheaper for the user, doesnt cost the company anything cept some administration, and Compaq or whoever sells a few computers.

So, basically Im not considdering going out and buying a Presario, my company is considdering buying 50 or so PC's for the employees, assuming 50 people wants them, and I have the "honor" of researching the options.

Hard to explain, I dont know if this sort of stuff is common outside of Sweden

 

[Bozz]

Yes we do have similar options at various companies/corporations here in Australia as well, it depends on the intelligence of the rest of the employees, if they are computer illiterate then a Presario would suit them well because if (when!) they stuff the computer up by opening up an email virus, they can simply re-image the computer from the recovery CD's... If the majority of the employees are intelligent with computers and you recommend the Presario's then you will instantly become everybodies worst enemy.

Those cheapsh*t computers are ONLY for the totally computer illiterate people.

 

[MustangChris1]

As a employee and about to be ex-employee of Compaq I can give some advice. DON'T EVER IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE BY A WORTHLESS P.O.S. LIKE A COMPCRAP COMPUTER. I can't even being to tell you how me computers that have to be repaired every night. I bought a laptop from them through their employee purchase program, and now I wish I never did in the first place. So the moral of this story is stay away from everything Compaq has to offer.

 

[Sunner]

Bump.
Anyone else?

 

[knutp]

I work at a reseller of compaq, hp and fijutsu siemens in norway at custumer support at the home pc part. We got the presario 7000 series at the help desk. And it works alright in my opinion. We haven't had a single crash and with over 100 computers delivered of that series (20 more today) I don't think that we have had to change a thing yet. Very few have called in (4-5) and had problems with the internet connection. I find that compaq have come a long way when it comes to the presario pc's lately. Most that work the same place also hated them before, but we are moderating this a little.

You will not get similar configured pc's from here perform the same as the compaq. the Compaq will be a little bit slower, but it is stable. And we at custumer support uses the computer as it was our own. And with 8 different people using it 6-12 hours a day it get's tested!

 

[Sugadaddy]

Compaq can make OK computers (Deskpro, Armada, their server line), but the Presarios are probably the last "big OEM" computers I'd buy. If it's the only option, I guess it can do the job (not really ) since only people who don't know a thing about computers will buy them, but I'd recommend looking elsewhere if you can.