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Compaq Presario C500 series (Core Duo T2060 Processor 1.6Hz, 512MB RAM)

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List price as of Apr 20, 2007:
S$1399

Product Summary


Very good

7.4

out of 10

View score

The good: Excellent performance for the price; decent 15.4-inch screen; ports within easy reach.

The bad: No DVD burner; flimsy keyboard.

The bottom line: A good value laptop that outperforms many other notebooks at the same price--the only feature missing is a DVD burner.

Read full review of the Compaq Presario C500 series »

 

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CNET Asia Review

By Dennis Advani

The Compaq Presario range consists of entry-level systems from HP. Unlike the entertainment-focused Pavilion lineup, the Compaq C500 offers a set of basic features at a low price. We were, however, pleasantly surprised that for a value buy the C500 offered excellent performance, though we were a little upset at the omission of a DVD writer. Fortunately, HP in other regions does offer configurations with a DVD burner option.

Editors' note :
This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.


Design
The HP Compaq Presario C500 is an attractive budget laptop which is finished in two tones of matte silver. The unit makes the most of the screen real estate with a very small bezel, and has a surprisingly small footprint. The unit is quite thick, however, due to the exhaust vents being underneath--it even has feet to prop the laptop up off the desk, which is a little unusual.

All its ports and connectors are conveniently accessible on both sides of the laptop. There is actually nothing on the back you would need to reach around for--not even the power supply--which is great as you will never have to flip it around to plug anything in.

The build quality is mostly good, though the keyboard is somewhat flimsy--it moves up and down as you type. Easily accessible above the keyboard are dedicated buttons for volume and wireless networking. These light up when active which is great for quick control and feature status.

Features
The Presario C500 is powered by an Intel 1.7GHz Celeron Mobile processor. It may not be fast, but it gets the job done. The unit comes with 512MB RAM as standard and it has a spare memory slot so you can easily upgrade--running Vista can be memory hungry, and so a minimum of 1GB is recommended--even for the Basic version.

The C500's 1280 x 800-pixel widescreen has a nice gloss finish and offers quite reasonable levels of brightness. Only one combo drive included so you won’t be able to burn DVDs but all other equipment levels are as you would expect, including all standard features such as 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11g wireless networking, a modem, three USB ports and VGA and S-video connections.

Performance And Battery Life
Battery performance testing wasn't particularly noteworthy. Under the standard Battery Eater test its battery life was only average at 1 hour 37 minutes. This is with wireless networking turned off, so you can expect slightly bigger impact on power if you want to use Wi-Fi.

BatteryEater Pro reader test (in minutes)
(Longer bars indicate better performance.)
Acer Ferrari 5000
164
Acer TravelMate 2483WXMi
99
HP Compaq Presario C500
97


PCMark 05
(Longer bars indicate better performance.)
Acer Aspire 3683WXMi
1555 
Acer TravelMate 2483WXMi
1274 
HP Compaq Presario C500
1507 


Performance also wasn't spectacular compared to some of its bigger cousins. The Presario C500 achieved an overall 1,507 with PCMark 05. Higher end laptops will generally score over 2,000 so it is definitely not going to compete with them, but compared to other laptops in its price range this unit sits well above average.

Service And Support
The Compaq laptop comes with a one-year international warranty. At the support Web site, laptop owners can download the latest drivers and manuals. In the event of a simple malfunction, the company offers an online knowledge database and support forum for troubleshooting. Further diagnosis or repair can be made at the service center, though the owner has to bring the notebook there. Telephone support is available during normal working hours and for current or potential customers who are not sure which notebook is right for you, a dedicated number is available for assistance in purchase selection.

 

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User Reviews

pay little and you get crap



Rating: 2 out of 10 (Terrible)
Pros: makes a good door stop
Cons: screen very poor contrast. not usable in high light intensity, creeps along with vista .. continually breaks
Opinion:
I have had more than a dozen computers and by by far this is the most disappointing. This is not suitable for anything more than checking one's email. I am trashing it and going back to a vaio. A stupid attempt to save some money there is no comparison.

 

Superb Desktop Replacement



Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: Superb 15.4" screen, nice keyboard, price.
Cons: Lacks PC Card slot and card reader.
Opinion:
I have the newer C520 model that comes with a 1.6GHz Celeron M 520 CPU, 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm hard drive, and DVD dual-layer writer. As far as desktop replacements go, battery life is not so much a concern. However, it did manage to squeeze about 2 hours of usage from the 6-cell battery. The 15.4" screen is superb with good sharp text and bright colours. Performance wise this NB breezes through image editing and office applications. Websurfing is fast and problem-free, but don't expect blazing frame rates on 3D games though. The lack of a PC Card slot and SD/CF card reader may deter some buyers. Other than that this is a fine desktop replacement notebook.

 

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macdac: I placed a different power supply to my laptop and it came up with a blinking POWER L.E.D. if you ...

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