Customer Reviews

Compaq Presario S5000NX Desktop PC (2.50-GHz Celeron, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, CD-RW Drive)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was my first and last computer from HP. I purchased 2 units for my kids. Both are/were, since one is dead, extremelly loud.

I have been working with computers for over 20 years
and, with the exception of Symbolics LISP machines,
had never had a unit break on me after 8 months! "NMI: Parity error/Memory Parity error" was the error displayed.

I have been very disappointed with the email and phone
support from Compaq/HP. I was on hold
for over 2 hour just to get someone in India, who
could not speak English, and when I ask to speak with
a manager I was transferred back to the main menu. I
will make sure that I will never
purchase HP computer again.

This is a great machine for the price and I have had no problems with it so far. I upgraded the Ram to 256mb for a net cost of $40 over the purchase price...still a good deal! The Intergrated Intel graphics now uses up to 64mb of shared Ram rather than the 32mb when just 128mb Ram is installed. I picked this machine up at Radio Shack and mated it to a Samsung Syncmaster 753DF monitor. The support from Compaq is easy to access and the documentaion is clear. The machine does not ship with recovery disks..so I burnt my own following the instructions (6 disks) which took about 45 minutes. So what if it is not the best gaming machine around..that's what I have an X-box for! For my purposes, the S5000nx does the basics very well (WP, e-mail, I-net, tunes, burning, etc) at a hard to beat price.

This was supposed to be a new computer, however, when it arrived, the box said that it was refurbished.

The modem did not work.

The customer service was poor. Obtaining a return authorization was like pulling teeth.

Other that that, everything was great!!!

My recommendation -- do not buy from Compaq or Office Depot.

This is a solid starter computer.

Note the two different cosmetic faces this computer can have.

All you need to do is add ram. I added a 512mb PC2100 chip ($99 05/04) to this machine and it flies. I can play Madden 2004 just fine. Regularly, I will have opera full of windows, adobe photoshop, macromedia dreamweaver, winamp, seti@home, antivirus, two messenger programs running... and the computer is well under control. I can flip back and forth to windows with ease without any problems. If you want to play the latest games, then ofcourse, you're to need a better machine with a dedicated video card, but otherwise this is a great machine for 95% of tasks. The case has a small footprint, which I like. Note that I didn't use the modem, but the onboard network card is fine and I threw a second hard drive in with ease.

The front USB ports are handy.

This PC is very solid performer. As other have stated it comes pretty bare bones for $400-$500 dollars. (...)
I upgraded to 1GB, added an internal DVD +RW burner, added a PC TV Card, added a 128MB graphics card and a Firewire card. I also have a 120GB external hard drive and an external HP 300e DVD burner. I also use a digital camera and camcorder. With the exception of the NVIDIA Graphics card I used rebates on the other upgrades.

The machine now SMOKES!!!

I burn CDs & DVDs, edit videos, watch TV, download using Comcast cable at 400kbs and surf the WEB - all at the same time with little or very minimal processor delay.

I have been very happy with the machine. If I had bought a similiarly configured machine I would have paid hundreds more.

My best suggestion for those interested in this or a similar machine is make sure you have plenty of memory - I suggest 1GB is the best investment you can make. Also, 40GB drive is too small for today's apps.

I would not recommend this machine as it comes out of the box unless all you want to do is surf the WEB on a dial-up modem and do simple word processing.

i love this pc i got it as a birthday present and it is awsome. it runs multiple files so easily.mine came with 248 MB of ram and 2.60 GHZ i got it at wall-mart for $500.the only reason i gave it 4 stars is because it does not run games to perfectly.but,it downloads things(like songs,and games) very fast.all around a good computer(even though it is a little noisy)
p.s. i love the burner/compact disk combo drive