Customer Reviews

Compaq Presario 705US Laptop (1-GHz Athlon 4, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

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

 

 

This is a great computer, the only flaw I can find is in the graphics card. If you want a laptop for gaming, this is not your laptop. (For serious portable gamers, try a Dell 8100 with a 16 or better yet a 32 MB NVidea Graphics card) If you want a nice reliable, speedy, desktop replacement, then this is the computer for you. The Athlon chip combined with the 256 MB of memory makes for a speedy response time. The screen is nice and clear and the keyboard is quiet. Overall, the computer is a great choice!

I wanted a laptop that was relatively compact, had a one gigahertz AMD processor, at least 256 megabytes of memory, and a DVD/CD-RW combination drive. This laptop had them all. I purhcased it a couple of weeks ago, and in terms of the laptop I was looking for, I couldn't be happier. Two peeves, though.

One is that I was duped into buying another computer that didn't have independent video memory (this computer's video memory, while a generous sixteen megabytes, is "shared" with--or taken away from, to be more precise--the computer's main memory, a problem I've encountered with my two previous desktop purchases), so while the computer is advertised to have 256 megabytes of memory, only 240 of them can be used for other applications. ("Only" 240--what am I saying? My previous computer had only 128!)

The other is that in order to type in special characters using the integrated numeric keypad, I must hit Fn + NumLk, then the keystrokes required, then Fn + NumLk once again to turn off the keypad in order to again be able to use that part of the keyboard normally. Other computers allow the user just to type Fn and the required keystrokes without all the NumLk business, but this one suited my needs best, so I chose to overlook the flaw. I am reminded of it, however, every time I type up a French composition and need those accents. Sacré bleu!

A more trivial annoyance is the row of Compaq "EasyAccess" buttons, which are not that easy to access at all (they are located in a narrow space between the keyboard and the screen--if you want a better of idea of how they look you can find a bunch of useful photographs at bestbuy.com), and the volume ones did not work (it had seemed) for the first week I used the computer. Finally I figured out that the EasyAccess volume buttons don't work like television volume buttons, the ones you can hold down--these ones can only be pressed once every second or so for them to respond. I usually opt to adjust the volume instead using the (excellent) Windows software. Also, the EasyAccess buttons (which include technical support, e-mail, Web search, and Windows Media Player buttons) all surround the computer's power button, so I generally don't use them for fear I might inadvertently shut off my computer.

Short battery life is another problem--mine runs out after only an hour and thirty minutes, not even enough to watch a full DVD movie. Not good for portability, but since I don't travel that much, I'm fine--for now (I think).

So aside from all that, the Compaq Presario 705US Notebook is a solidly built computer with a stable operating system, and both are a breeze to use. While I occasionally look at other notebooks with a tinge of envy, I keep reminding myself how little I paid in comparison to how much I got, and when I get home, I turn on my notebook, turn up its incredibly sonorous speakers (they really are good speakers) to full blast and get lost in the digital music library that, so far, the included Windows Media Player and I have managed to keep organized.

I bought this computer from Best Buy and am quite happy so far. I have viewed several DVD's (no problems), burned about 20 CD's, and play games constantly. This notebook is great. My only big complaint is the battery. It only lasts about 2 hours, unless I am using the DVD/CD-RW drive, then it is much shorter. The speakers are wonderful, never heard such great speakers on a laptop. I had to buy another mouse when I am at home, but the touchpad is much better than others I have used.

Things I really like about this notebook:
- Speed: 1 GHz. I use this notebook as my desktop replacement.
- Hard drive space: 20GB is huge for what I do.
- Little scroll button: quite helpful.
- Speakers: JBL Pro are absolutely the best.
- Combo DVD/CD-RW Drive: more convenient than swapping like Gateway.

Things I dislike:
- Little buttons at the top of the keyboard: Can't figure out how to change what they do.
- Windows XP: Takes a while getting used to compared to Windows 98.
- The stupid sticker that came on the screen: A bugger to get off, I still have a little stickiness on the screen.
- The stickers advertising AMD and Windows XP on the corner of the keyboard: I have scratched my arm several times.

That's about it. If you are going to be near an outlet most of the time, this is the laptop to get. Or if you don't mind spending $100 on a car adapter or another battery, still the best machine for your money.

I'm putting this review on several of the Compaq laptop systems since they are all from the same platform

1. The offer and rebates did not apply from Compaq, but only from an authorized reseller.

2. Right out of the box the 700z system had Driver errors and a bad modem. Corporate tech support sugested that I return it and buy another through a reseller.

3. They then took 2 months to clear up my account for financing after I returned the system but meanwhile I bought a newer system - a 705us.

4. The rebate went through and everything was working okay until the floppy drive went bad, which occured in four weeks. It never wrote to the hard drive and I couldn't copy to or from other disks onto any other computer.

5. I called tech support and they sent out a box for repair pickup and told me the turnaround would be 3-5 days. Well, it took over 4 weeks to get the system back.

6. The repair shop failed to recognize that the second system was mine and did not follow through with repairs even when all the proper paperwork was channeled through support on the phone. I also seemed to get tech swupport in India when I called during certain business hours, and they were not help at all!

7. I wish they could dumped the hard drive info on to a refurbished 2710 system that has a better track record. As it is I'll use this until I get the funds for another system.

My advice is to wait until they get the bugs worked out on this system. They don't even have a Docking station yet, but they'll tell you the part number to order the "phantom" station.

In their defense they have tried to compensate me by sending memory to update my system but they've sent the wrong memory twice!

I'm giving it 2 stars since it worked beautifully when it was up and running and the screen is clear and bright! Oh, the DVD player on my system works great and I've played it through my TV with no complaints!

Now the problem is the memory that was sent to me. The 256k chip freezes the system and I've tried to get it fixed but calling tech support only adds to the frustration.

This notebook has satisfied me from day one (which was Christmas) save for one problem. Fast processor, clear screen, sufficient ram, a cd-rw/dvd player, many ports, easy to use. However, I use my laptop primarily to play computer games, and I have encountered a problem. The default resolution for the notebook is 1024 x 768. This is fine. On this resolution, no problems, everything is crystal clear. But when running ANY application, if the resolution is BELOW 1024 x 768 pixels, and it is in fullscreen, the display is horrid. Blocky and grainy. I am not quite sure why this problem occurs, and I have contacted Compaq, and they have no idea either. It is very frustrating when playing a computer game. This same thing happens also if you switch the desktop display to 800 x 600. The effect is almost like this - when you decrease the resolution, the size of the window (of the application) decreases as well, and then just stretches out, which is NOT what decreasing resolution is supposed to do. When I connected another desktop monitor to the notebook, everything was fine, but it has something to do with the 1024 x 768 flat panel monitor on the laptop. This same thing happened with my first laptop, which was also by Compaq, so I assumed at first that this was a universal problem for laptops. But recently, at Best Buy, I tried a demo laptop (HP) and the change in resolution worked perfectly, so now I am forced to believe that this is just a glitch in Compaq laptops. To sum up my review, I advise anyone who is looking for a good notebook for purposes other than games to buy it. Otherwise, gamers stear clear, this notebook isn't for you. Get a Dell or something.

I received this as a graduation present to get me through 4 years of college, and so far has been doing a decent job. Before I left for college, I had several problems with it, however.

I don't remember the exact order that these things happened, but after owning it for a few months, it all of a sudden stopped recognizing the touchpad! I hadn't done anything differently from what I usually do, either. I hadn't even been moving the thing around much (this was my primary computer and I kept it at home most of the time). After contacting tech support (which is free for the first year) and unsuccessfully trying to re-format my hard drive with the included Restore Discs, I finally had to ship it off to Compaq to get it repaired (also free for the first year). Two weeks later, I received it and everything worked fine again.

Other problems have been intermittent, such as the computer occasionally deciding to turn itself off all by itself, or failing to start up properly.

Compaq/Hewlett Packard tech support is utterly useless. Whenever I called I got some person that barely spoke English and their instructions were always unclear. Also, no matter what the problem was, their advice was ALWAYS to format the hard drive and then call back. Gee, thanks guys. This doesn't help when you can't start up. I was only given the run-around (transferred to the wrong people over and over again) one time, so I'm assuming this was just a fluke and doesn't usually happen.

I have been at college for about 5 months now, and have had no major problems except a faulty Ethernet port that could only be fixed by buying a ... PC card that plugs into the side. I have heard from a few sources that this is a common problem with Compaq Laptops.

Overall, not very good for processor intensive games (Like Unreal Tournament or Warcraft 3), but great for sound editing, picture tweaking, internet applications, and just fiddling around with.

My roomate got a Hewlett Packard laptop with just about the same specs, and for about the same price, if not a little less. If I had a choice, I would probably go with the HP, now.
Hope this review helps!

I bought the 730us through Circuit City for 899.99. For this price, you get a great deal. But Compaqs seeem to have a lot of problems and are usually hit or miss. I know a couple of people who bought this laptop, and some said they worked great while others say they had problem right out of the box. First of all, I was lucky, and I had no problems and it works very well. And it is well worth the price. The only thing that I wish is that it had a cd rw, but you do pay for what you get and then some. I suggest that if you are going to buy one, you should put out the extra 250 or so dollars and buy the 4 year replacement plan. So if it goes bad you can get a new one. Another piece of advies that I would recommend is that you SHOULD NOT BUY IT FROM EBAY OR ANY OTHER COMPANY THAT DOES NOT OFFER A RETURN POLICY. Hope this helped.

i am reading these reviews of people saying that they dont like this little kick ass machine, well i have had no problem with the dvd player, battery,cd player, burner and programing those little butons. this computer has alot of speed, power and of course windows Xp. the only thing that is wroing with this computer is when i first started it up i noticed one pixel was messed up in the top left hand cornor which is always red if it the backround is white, but that is not a MAJOR PROBLEM in fact i have gotten use to it, this computer has 2 usb ports, a printer port a parrell port two pci cards,. a 10/100 card, and an s-video plug in the back so you can hook it up to a tv or data projector (i now have a dvd player for my room). the touch pad is very easy to use and the keyboard takes time but is very easy to learn. the screen is awsome. the speed of burning cds is excellent, the dvd is beautiful. i dont know what that guy was talking about the sticker on the screen, just be patient it came off with one pull and no sickie stuff on screen. if i can recormend one thing is when you buy this computer from best buy, dont buy the warenty cause they used, used or re-built parts, and when we were checking out the man behined us had a cracked screen and i said "fix his screen and we will buy the warrenty" they said they cant fix it so we didnt buy it ( the warrenty that is.) now what another thing is they offer you for ... do that all the preloaded stuff take us 1gb of hard drive space, but with 20gb that isnt alot. lets see what else..hmmmm/. i bought a mouse to plug into so i dont have to the touch pad all the time. anything else i can think of. the speakers are excellent i download some songs off a cd and were playing them and man it sounded like a full size stereo. it comes with a year free of msn internet service which is pretty good ( i have a cable modem )if i think of anythig else i will post another comment

This is a good computer worth the money paid for it. I use it as a desktop replacement. A few complaints though. I called compaq to inquire about a docking station for the 705US and they said they have one. I then bought the computer and was leary when there was no docking station hookup. I called compaq to order the puppy only to find they don't exist. So when using as a desktop replacement, you'll have to plug everything in separately. (or buy a USB universal docker...the one I bought doesn't like the keyboard). The additional free 256 MB of RAM offer seemed like a good deal but only to find out when the RAM arrived was that the 705US only has one slot for memory and it already had 256 MB. So now I have a second unusuable 256MB or RAM (anybody want to buy it). Also I selected the notebook starter kit instead of the $100 off...and you might guess, after following the instructions to the letter, two months later, I'm still waiting on my starter kit...and that's after doing it online and mailing in the paperwork (online reguistration was suppose to speed things up). While I'm overall happy with the notebook, next time I'm not buying online because too many details are not available. Merry Christmas.

Note: this thing is great if it is plugged in, but not as good on battery. It's still better than anyting with a mobile P3... Face it, Intel doesn't make 'em like they used to- AMD for speed and stability.

But this new one seems to be a lot nicer- I can play 3d games at a good rate (ok- the video card isn't good for 3d, but this processor rocks! And I have the 900Mhz, not the 1Ghz, also, with the games, it did good at 128MB memory, This modle that Amazon is selling can be upgraded to 128MB+256MB)

DVD playback is great.

Also, mine has been dropped several times and still works.

This product, being the next improvement to the 1200 series should out perform mine in almost every respect... except one. The case of this new modle is ugly. I like my black one better :-)