Great set of features for the money
Written: Sep 08 '03 (Updated Jul 22 '04)
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Pros: Great set of features for the money! And XP Pro instead of Home Edition
Cons: Keyboard does not have a high quality feel. USB 1.1 - would prefer faster 2.0
The Bottom Line: Great features and value for the money
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| Jakeblack's Full Review: Compaq Presario 2175US (DK576A#ABA) PC Notebook |
UPDATE July 2004: Coming up on 1 year and this laptop has worn very well. Absolutely no problems, and I have dragged it around the country a few times. I am still happy with my purchase.
Features (Presario 2175us):
- AMD Athlon XP-M 2400 processor (1.8ghz)
- 512 Meg RAM (expandable to 1024)
- 40 Gig Hard Drive
- 15" XGA/TFT screen
- Integrated Ethernet
- Integrated 54g Wireless
- Integrated dialup (v.92 56k) modem
- ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON™ AGP 4X and 3D architecture and 64MB shared video memory
- 2 USB 1.1 ports
- S video out
- Serial port
- 1 FireWire connection
- 2 PCMCIA slots
- Integrated speakers
- DVD/CD-RW drive
- Plugs for external microphone, and headphones
- external controls for speaker mute and volume
- Touchpad with scroll feature and left and right mouse buttons
- Lithium Ion battery
- AC adapter
- Does not come with a floppy drive or a mouse
- Weighs just over 7 pounds
- Comes with MS works, Win XP Pro, MS Money 2003, Norton Antivirus, Roxio CD burner/media player
COMMENTS:
I did a lot of shopping before deciding on this model; compared Dell, Gateway, ACER, Toshiba, etc. I could not find another laptop with this combination of features for the price that also included XP Pro as the OS. Pro is more stable and has better flexibility and security features versus XP Home Edition, and is about $170 to upgrade from Home Edition to Pro (which I would do for any machine I bought) so the fact that it came with XP Pro included was the clincher for me.
The only thing I don't like about the machine is the keyboard. It's feels lightweight and not as high quality compared to some of the other machines I looked at. It is roomy enough, just needs a more substantial feel. I would rate the keyboard a "7" out of "10" - for me, just over the line of acceptability.
I have had this laptop for about a week now, and I have had absolutely no problems, right out of the box. The wireless works great, hooked right into my home wireless LAN just fine. I cannot rate support service for this unit specifically, as I have had no reason to call support. However dealings in the past (for me) with HP/Compaq have been positive.
The PC was easy to set up, instructions were very straightforward. Documentation is sparse; however there is a CD with a lot of info on it and the HP website is a good resource as well.
There are several rebates out there now that make this a bargain - also currently you can send away for a USB floppy drive and get a rebate for the full cost.
The PC comes with a 1 year warranty on parts and labor and 90 day warranty on software.
NOTE: HP makes several similar laptop models that are almost identical to the Compaq (HP/Compaq are now the same company) and use many of the same components. However I noted that the HP models that were similar did not come with XP Pro, but rather came with Home Edition.
I highly recommend this PC if budget is a serious concern for your purchase and you need a machine that is more than just basic. You get integrated wireless, lots of connectivity - USB, FireWire, etc; PCMCIA card expansion slots; integrated connectivity for dialup and lan connections. Its a pretty versatile package with a good sized hard drive and pretty decent processor. The Athlon XP-M 2400+ has been compared to a 2.4 ghz Pentium in some tests, and it is made specifically for laptop use.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1049
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
Jakeblack
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Member: Jake Black
Location: USA
Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
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