Customer Reviews

Compaq Presario 700US Laptop (900-MHz Duron, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I've got the same problem with dvd's on this unit- using it as a portable dvd player is one of the reasons i bought it, but something is very wrong- lots of frame and audio skip, and frequent screen freezes. Display units in the stores have the same problem. I've tried 3 dvd's and all three have had problems. 'Shrek', one of Amazon's top selling dvd's, is the most problematic when playing

Otherwise, this laptop is fabulous, you can't beat it for price and features this holiday season. But a lot of folks will be upset Christmas morning when they can't watch their favorite animated dvd's

I should mention that Compaq support has been very responsive to my calls for help, suggesting various configuration changes that have improved the playback, but it is still not 'dvd' quality...

Additional Comments 12/11/01 - the Interactual DVD player conflicts with some of the Compaq settings (see Interactual web site). Do not load it on this laptop. It is the one that tries to self load when many of the newer dvds are played on computers. I recovered the computer and avoided the Interactual player. It now works great with all dvd's I've tried, except for Shrek, which I think might require the Interactual player due to all of the additional content. I am now really pleased with this laptop.

This little laptop is a rare find at under 1000.00. You get a good deal of power and it's quite light weighing in at only 6.39 lbs. The price I paid was after 2 rebates, one from Compaq, the other from Circuit City.

Out of the box it was easy to setup with a simple to read/use setup poster that describes each of the ports front/back and what the buttons on the inside are for.

The keyboard is small and gets in the way at times, but fix that by adding a PS/2 keyboard and you're good to go. The RAM is shared with the Video memory, so you only get 240 MB of RAM, I imagine when RAM is cheaper for this notebook, I'll upgrade to 384MB (Maximum for this model).

It comes with a 900 Mhz Duron (which some say is better than a Celeron any day) runs quite well, faster than my PIII 550 Desktop any way. It comes with Windows XP and MS Works and some other poopy software, which I uninstalled so i could put what I wanted on it.

Consider this if you purchase this machine you get:

900 Mhz Duron with 256MB PC133 SDRAM, a 20GB Hard drive, an 8x DVD, a 14.1 XGA TFT Active Matrix, a 4X AGP with VIA ProSavage KN1334, JBL Pro Audio Speakers with Bass Reflex
Inputs/Outputs S-Video TV-Out, Headphone/Speaker-Out, Microphone-In, 2 USB Ports, an Ethernet Port, an Integrated V.92 56 KBPS modem, a touchpad mouse, and Lithium-Ion battery that lasts 2.5 hours in good conditions (not playing DVD's or games).

This is my first laptop and first Compaq, too and I'm impressed!

I had the same problems as everyone else. It runs so hot that it is uncomfortable to hold on your lap. The battery life is less than a year (two batteries died total). The hinge cracks appeared after about a year, and completely broke through after a few more months so the display is dangling...I also got a quote of $800 to repair although the LCD itself is fine.

A couple things of things that weren't mentioned in the other reviews....the PCMCIA slot had no guide initially so the pins bent after I inserted the wireless card a few times, and the power adapter quit working after 1.5 years. Tech support was worthless.

Overall, this product is a joke. Avoid it at all costs.

We also developed the small cracks at the hinge site. The whole thing is broken out now after only 1 1/2 years. ONLY solution would be to buy a whole new LCD screen for $800!!! Yeah right, buy the same cheap plastic POS. They do not stand behind their product and do not care we spent our hard earned money on what looks to be a disposable product. If cracks appear in the plastic around the hinges, take immediate action.

I was suprised to find that people are having problems with this computer. I own one and love it. I can play Unreal Tournament at 1024x768 at a high frame rate, with NO problems. I also play a lot of sims, and have had no trouble. This is faster than my desktop computer, an Athlon 500, with 320mb RAM! The audio is great, the screen is clear and bright.

I for one have not had any problems with the DVD. (The movies I play are new releases from Blockbuster.) Due to copy-protection, Disney has had noted problems with its DVDs for quite a while. The biggest example is ANTS, which refused to play on many computers. I will bet that copy-protection schemes are messing up the video for the other reviewers. I have had no problems with skipping frames or the like. I do however remove the background programs from running while I play DVDs.

Overall, this is a great computer. Light (6.5lbs), great memory (20 gigs), good battery life (about 3 hours on max battery life setting), and good audio. I really like it.

I have had the same problem as described above, cracks develop above the hinges and eventually the screen falls off. It does not happen until the warranty is expired.

The 700Z laptop does not fulfill its specifications and is very slow. My unit (always handled very tenderly) developed cracks in the lid around the hinge mount after about eleven months.
The specifications say that you can add a 256 MB memory chip (for a total of 384 max) but the unit does not actually support that.

I tried Viking, Crucial/Micron and Compaqs official provider, American Memory. The laptop would never run reliably with a 256 MB module, crashing consistently. All three memory providers ended up telling me that they would not support a 256 memory module for this model. It DID run reliably (but very slowly) with the 64 MB module it originally came with.

Other web postings and the memory mfr's all have indicated that there was/is no resolution to the memory problem on this unit as of Aug '03. Compaq will not admit a problem but I managed to get an RMA to send it in for this and the hing cracking problem. Unfortunately, based on other web postings I expected that the memory issue would not be resolved.

So I returned my unit under warranty and it ended up stolen in transit while being shipped by the Compaq shipper Airborne Express! Good riddence! The claim however needed to be processed by Compaq. Fourteen days after the reported theft and filing of the claim with Compaq I am still waiting for the replacement laptop (which is a different model from the discontinued 700z) from Compaq. They were responsible as the shipper was their required shipper.

The 'quality specialist' assigned to me for the case usually has a full voice message box and does not return calls when I do get a message through. I have been on hold over three hours now this morning to the Compaq Technical Support line to try and get some information about my replacement laptop.

My recommendations? Avoid the mis-represented 700Z model completely. Better yet, avoid Compaq. I think they deserve a class-action suit against them for expensive devices that do not even meet their own specifications and support that is not even remotly as good as they state it is.

The presario 700 is a very good PC for business and home use but with two problems so far I relise that when I am playing games or running 3D programmes the PC freezes up.ALso Over heating is a big problem you need a portable fan at all times, the bois programme is not helping at all.Also the battery life is to short.I think compaq should try tp fix this problem or they will lose customers like me and on the other hand I am also returning this laptop.

I'm going to return mine ... this unit locks up regularly due to overheating problems...The bios upgrade didn't fix anything... leaving a desktop fan blowing over the unit does.

Also the battery life is horrible... under 2 hours for regular use.

Nice speakers and seems fast enough when running.

I am a College Student who bought this computer as a desktop replacement. I have had no problems since I bought it about a month ago. I have watched 1 DVD on it (which worked great), and play SimCity 3000 ALL the time with no problems.
I highly recommend this computer to anyone who needs a desktop replacement. The sound system is EXCELLENT! You can even change the sound around to increase/decrease echo etc.
Since the computer was so cheap, if you have problems with the DVD rom, you could really go buy a DVD player separate .... This notebook is absolutely amazing!