Compaq Presario 915US Laptop (1.53 GHz Athlon XP 1800+ M, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive

by Compaq

Product Details

Product Manual [2.26mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 10.6 x 1.5 inches ; 6.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 12 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006LUJZ
• Item model number: 470045-485
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 13, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

If enjoying a DVD movie or game on your notebook PC is often a lifesaver on an arduous business trip, it’s always more absorbing on a big, bright 15-inch display. The Compaq Presario 915US notebook PC starts with exactly that and adds enough processing oomph and features to deliver a sublime computing experience.

A 1.53 GHz AMD Mobile Athlon XP 1800+ processor smoothly powers the 915US across a wide range of productivity applications, games, and DVDs. A built-in combination DVD/CD-RW drive lets users view movies and listen to and create music CDs through the notebook’s integrated JBL Pro Performance Audio with Bass Reflex speakers.

The notebook’s 40 GB hard drive provides plentiful storage for data and music downloads, while its 256 MB of memory--expandable to 1 GB--and 256 KB of on-chip L2 cache make it easy to run multiple applications simultaneously. An ATI Radeon IGP integrated graphics card and 16 MB of shared video memory deliver resolution of up to 1,024 x 768 on the 915US’s integrated 15-inch TFT XGA display or up to 1,600 x 1,200 noninterlaced on an external monitor.

The 1.5-by-12.8-by-10.6-inch, 6.5-pound notebook includes an integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet port and 56K V.92 PCI modem. Expansion slots include one Type I/II PC Card slot with support for a 32-bit CardBus. The 915US also includes two USB 1.1 ports, a parallel SPP/ECP interface (DB25 connector), a PS2 mouse or keyboard port, an RJ-45 Ethernet jack and RJ-11 modem jack, an S-video TV-out port, and an external VGA monitor port.

Installed software includes Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Works 6.0, Microsoft Money 2001, Microsoft Encarta Online Deluxe Encyclopedia (one-year subscription), InterVideo WinDVD, and Norton AntiVirus 2002 on CD.

Product Description

Compaq Presario 915US Notebook PC

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Computer enthusiast, November 22, 2002

By 

T. Ha (GA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Compaq Presario 915US Laptop (1.53 GHz Athlon XP 1800+ M, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive (Personal Computers)

*Performance*
Everybody thinks that Intel is superior to AMD. This is not true for processors under 2.0GHz (Intel is the champion above 2.26GHz with 533MHz FSB). If you take a look at the tomshardware.com CPU benchmarks, you would notice that AMD XP1800+ even beats out the 2.0GHz of Intel in most applications (AMD XP 1800+ at 1.53GHz beating a Intel P4 at 2.0GHz?). However, Compaq does not make full use of the AMD XP power. The video graphics is good because ATI is the best, but it uses shared memory architecture (main memory - video memory = available memory), which is not very fast compared to embedded memory architecture. For example, if you have 256MB of memory installed on your laptop and use 16MB for your video, then you actually only have 240MB of memory. This shouldn't bother you too much since 240 is still sufficient. You can always add memory later. Furthermore, DVDs play great without any stuttering, and 3D games runs pretty smoothly.

*Accessories and software*
What amazon.com doesn't tell you is that it does not come with a floppy drive. Compaq is offering it free after rebate just to let you know. The installed softwares are a nuisance. Compaq put so much garbage on it, and they put their name everywhere. Just uninstall as much as you can. Also remember to visit Windows update to get the most recent patch for Win XP.

*Design*
The housing of the notebook is very impressive. The black and silver combination and modern style will make you want to clean and take care of it like a new luxury car. Very solid. The keyboard is smooth and allows comfortable typing. The touchpad is smooth as well as it is stylish. However, personally, I don't like where all the input/output ports are located. Everything is in the back except the PCMCIA port and DVD/CDRW drive. So, if you're a mobile person, you'll be reaching for the back a lot.

*Conclusion*
This notebook is a excellent value only if you get the rebates. I think people should reconsider if the rebates were not offered because it is not worth its +$[$$] price tag.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The other review is wrong in some spots., November 20, 2002

By 

David (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compaq Presario 915US Laptop (1.53 GHz Athlon XP 1800+ M, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive (Personal Computers)

You can adjust the video memory to 16, 32, or 64MB via the BIOS (press F10 at startup) and an Athlon XP 1800+ will outperform a 1.8Ghz P4 in MOST things. This includes graphics like 3DStudio Max. Don't listen to everything you hear.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars HotPaq also serves as your winter heater!, January 19, 2003

By 

superman2k3 "superman2k3" (On a sunny beach!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compaq Presario 915US Laptop (1.53 GHz Athlon XP 1800+ M, 256MB RAM, 40GB hard drive (Personal Computers)

You live in a cold area like Canada or Arctic? You might then love this as it can also double up as room heater. After an hr of demanding use like a movie and you may as boil you eggs on it. No seriously, I am yet to see a laptop running hotter than this one. And all this with supposedly PowerNow! technology from AMD.

Well I guess I should have realized that if desktop Athlons run so hot then mobile ones can't be very dfferent. HPpaq makes ... laptops to say the least. They couldn't even get proper cooling solution for the processor, chipset & memory.

Now back to the laptop under review.

The keyboard was certainly designed by ... 10 keys on bottom row, out of which only 4 were really needed. and that to mostly wrongly placed. space bar is tiny, tons of junk Windows buttons around, Fn button in place of Ctrl, Caps lock too big size, a repeated | button the bottom row, and delete button at the farthest/obscurest corner of the laptop. To top it all off the whole thing shakes when typing & looks like some buttons would surely break off. Never seen a more ... keyboard.

The scroll pad and touchpad buttons again are designed to looks good but have no usability. The up/down keys are easier to use than the junk ovalpad.

Only one PCMCIA card slot, not 2 as in most laptops. HPpaq phone support is worst in industry, try calling them. HP doesn't even have a toll free phone number for consumer laptops.

All HPpaq 9xxus models have a shared memory ATI integrated graphics will max 3DMark2001 score of 1500 (no matter how faster athlon is or how much RAM you put in). Very poor performance. Get a laptop based on Intel chipset.

The colors are also not good, even with the latest ATI drivers and on A/C power. Although screen is bright enough.

The case is actually designed for a 15" screen and if get a 14" version you unncessarily carry bigger laptop around. It really looks very clunky and thick. More than 1.6" I expected.

HPpaq cheats you by not even including a full copy of WinXP to reinstall XP later on. Only a restore Cd to erase everything & put all nasty programs back. Yes that true, they bundled 12+ nasty promotional programs for which no one has any use. Like Disney Online.

Finally all useful ports are at the back and covered by clumsy cover. What a pain to connect anythign to it.

Two stars because it costs under 800 after rebates in some local stores and because it runs.

Shame on HPpaq for building such a ... laptop. I suggest you look at Toshiba/Dell laptops around. You (roughly) get what you pay for.