Compaq Presario 2195US Laptop (1.87-GHz Athlon XP 2500+, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive)

by Compaq

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10.7 x 1.6 inches ; 7.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000D8HXI
• Item model number: DM728A#ABA
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,902 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 1, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Designed to appeal to users who can't afford or don't require cutting-edge components but need a reasonably capable machine, Compaq's Presario 2100US series of notebooks features budget-conscious processors such as AMD's Athlon and Intel's Celeron. This model, the Presario 2195us Notebook PC, lacks popular modern amenities such as DVD burning and wireless communication yet will efficiently run common midlevel home, home office and leisure applications and features double the memory of its close cousin, the marginally more affordable Presario 2190US.

Driving the Presario 2195us is a 1.87 GHz Athlon XP 2500+ processor. While not a super-speedy Intel Pentium 4, an Athlon running at this speed is nevertheless an effective CPU. Compaq has added 512 MB RAM memory (upgradeable to 1024 MB) and an ATI Mobility Radeon 4x AGP graphics chipset with 64 MB shared (not dedicated) memory. For your data storage needs, the unit offers an adequate 40 GB hard disk and a DVD/CD-RW combo drive through which you can burn and play audio CDs, archive your data and watch your favorite DVD movies. DVD burning is not supported in this stock configuration.

At 12.96 by 10.72 by 1.62 inches and 7.25 pounds, the Presario 2195us is of average size, midway between a bulky desktop replacement and a slim ultralight. The unit is equipped with a number of standard amenities, including a generous 15-inch XGA TFT display (1024 by 768 maximum resolution), an 88-key keyboard, a Touch Pad with on/off and dedicated up/down scroll surface, and a pair of internal stereo speakers. Connectivity options include an IEEE 1394 FireWire port for fast interaction with external devices such as digital camcorders, two conventional USB 1.1 ports for plug and play peripheral connections (the system does not support high-speed USB 2.0), a 56K modem for low-speed dial-up Internet and email access and a high-speed RJ-45 LAN network connector.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Space saving replacement for a desktop, January 16, 2004

By 

kireviewer (Sunnyvale, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Compaq Presario 2195US Laptop (1.87-GHz Athlon XP 2500+, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive) (Personal Computers)

The price of this laptop is pretty close to a comparable desktop with a CRT. It is cheaper than buying a desktop computer with an LCD display. Comparing computers at list price, this is a good value. HP (Compaq's parent company) will have a similar setup for around the same price, and so will eMachines (but they only have one model). The HP and Compaq's will generally be a better deal than Toshiba, IBM or any of the mail orders (Dell, Gateway, etc.) But, computers have so many rebates now a days, that you have to do a lot of leg work to determine what is the best deal.

This model is $150 more than Compaq's entry level model 2190. It is probably worth the extra $150 (just for the increased memory). But, sometimes you can find some crazy number of rebates on the 2190, that the price difference between the 2190 and 2195 is very significant.

This laptop has all the basics for almost any kind of job. The only downside is that the USB ports are 1.1 instead of the faster 2.0. I don't know how much new stuff is coming with 2.0. It can be a big deal if you try to run anything off your USB ports that requires speed, such as a external DVD burner, or video camera. But, this laptop has the firewire port for direct connection to video.

This laptop is heavy and bulky. It is over 7 pounds (but so are most other entry level laptops). It is thicker than most. It wouldn't be a great laptop for someone who travels on planes. But, it is adequate for someone who has a small desk (like in a kid's bedroom) or wants to roam around the house or watch movies during a long car trip.

Battery life will be long enough to watch a full DVD. Newer, more expensive laptops will have longer battery life.

This laptop has an integrated 802.11g compatible wireless network card. The defaults for the wireless network are set up so that you loose connection once the signal gets weak. After some painful interaction with Compaq's technical support, I was able to change the wireless settings so the system now works much better with a weak signal. However, I still cannot get the laptop to make the initial connection is weak. When I start up the laptop, I have to walk closer to the transmitter to make the connection and then I can walk away.

I had a nasty experience with Compaq technical support. I called on a Sunday (that might be a mistake). After going through the menus, I was put on hold for at least 15 minutes. Once I got a technicial, he said that he doesn't handle this type of laptop and he transferred me to someone who does. After waiting on hold for another 30 mintues, the next technician told me that he also doesn't handle these laptops. He tried to transfer me, but I go cut off. I called 2 more times, again getting the wrong technicians and getting cut off. I finally got the correct technician. He said there was nothing he could do about about my problem. After 10 minutes, he got his supervisor, who also said there was nothing they could do. So, I sent in an email to the Compaq support line. They promise a response within an hour. It took about 3 hours (but that was OK) and I got a list of suggestions of what to do. That fixed by problems. At the end of the email, Compaq wrote, if you have any more questions, please reply back to this email. I did have a few more questions. Compaq's response was to call their technical line. I replied that there was no way I was going to call the technical line again and that I wanted my email forwarded on to someone who understood the systems. It has been 3 days and I haven't heard back yet.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Technical support is really bad..., March 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Compaq Presario 2195US Laptop (1.87-GHz Athlon XP 2500+, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive) (Personal Computers)

First of all technical service is really bad. I bought my notebook two months back. Sometimes (not always) my new laptop was not booting at all. I called up Compaq. The call went to India. I was told that I need to poke into the reset button located at the bottom of notebook and discharge static electricity. He said exactly "you need to do that once in two week, sir". Give me a break! That reset button is not regular use - once in a week. Anybody knows that. Then another day I called up, and the call went China. She asked me to give the list of softwares I installed. I gave her the list - Yahoo Dialup, Photoshop. She suspected that one of these softwares is causing problem. "Who knows, your Photoshop may be causing problem". Give me another break!!!! A software is causing system not to reboot (that is not even a system software or device driver, it's a imgae processing software)!!!! She asked me to format the disk and install Window XP again. I did that and as expected, the problem did not go away. Eventually after one months of ordeal, calling technical support more than 10 times (not to mention how long I had to wait for each call), they asked me to send it to Compaq repair service center. They found problem in hard-disk and replaced it.
Bottom line, Compaq technical support is bad. Thousands of people in India and China are recruited by Compaq/HP and given a month crash course, and suddenly within one month they become technical experts to solve the problems. But the real fact is that, their intention is not to support, but somehow convince the customers to live with the problem. Otherwise why on the earth someone asks me to use the reset button every week. Is that a responsible answer from the company who sold me the notebook? In that one month, I understood couple of things

- all the technical support guys are given a huge book problem list and their answers. They know nothing practical about the notebooks (probably they never saw the notebooks they are providing technical support for ). So whenever customer calls up, they go through the list and try to find the "matching" problem. Whatever the answer they get for that "matching" problem - that's the answer. Now they will ask you to follow few steps and "solve" (???) the problem. They really don't care if that is REALLY solving the problem or customer is satisfied. "Answer" is answer - problem solved. If you ask them again, then you will get some vague answers - "you have to use reset button one in a week".

- They try to avoid any repair at Repair Center. I believe all the technical support guys are instructed to avoid making service order as much as possible. They will try to avoid making a service order any possible way (I wild guess is that any service order effects their performance review). I think it's fair game to minimizing service order for repair. People should not send their computer to repair center for trivial reason that can be solved by technical support - especially all the software issues. But when it is not getting solved after calling three times (certainly not 10 times), and it's clear that the problem certainly not a software issue, then they should be forthcoming to make a repair order. But it was not the case. They simply try to avoid that, until you are fed up and frustrated.

- All the technical support guys are instructed to be VERY polite, but I don't think they are instructed to deliver good and effective support. You will hear "sorry for the inconvenience", but at the end you will get a vague answer. Ironic...cheap labor.

I paid [$$$] for warranty and I do not think that this kind of service worths that much.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't get any better for the price!, January 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Compaq Presario 2195US Laptop (1.87-GHz Athlon XP 2500+, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive) (Personal Computers)

I purchased a sony frv31 laptop with a celeron 2.4ghz processor recently and only was dissapointed. Battery life was absolutely terrible, lasting merely and hour at most. Enter the Compaq 2195us. The most important achievement of this laptop is the fact that I have gotten over 3 hours of use out of it with one charge. The only processor that I would think to do better would be the Centrino, but this laptop was much more attractively priced at 949.99 at Circuit City. Not only is the battery life better, but it also includes 512mb of ddr memory, a 40gb harddrive, a dvd/cd-rw combo drive, and integrated 54g wireless. I can't ask for much more for under $1000.

P.S. Don't go to best buy. That's where I bought the first one and the support there is absolutely horrible! Circuit City doesn't charge restocking fees and are much nicer and more helpful to customers. Best Buy is the only place I have ever been to that the customer is not always right.