Amazon.com Product Description

Like its slightly more powerful cousin, the 5430US, Compaq's 5420USeasily handles most any application thrown its way and provides plentyof room for expansion and future upgrades. In addition to thecomponents that come standard with the 5420US, this bundle includesCompaq's 17-inch FS740 monitor and IJ650 color inkjet printer, makingthis option an even smarter choice for those seeking a state-of-the-artcomputing experience for a down-to-earth price.

Topping the unit's impressive list of features is one of today's mostpotent processors, Intel's 1.6 GHz Pentium 4. Although pricier thanmost alternative processors, including Intel's own Celeron and PentiumIII and AMD's Athlon and Duron, Pentium 4 chips are generally fasterwhere it counts most--clock speed. And of the numerous Pentium 4processors Intel currently markets, the 1.6 GHz model is just a fewrungs from the very top.

For the 5420US, Compaq matches this capable Intel processor with morethan enough high-end memory to operate any program currently availableand handle most any conceivable level of multitasking. With 512 MB ofRAM at your disposal, it may be years until you even need to evencontemplate upgrading to the one full gigabyte the system supports.

The 5420US offers something else most prebuilt computers do not--adecent video card. Packed with a generous 64 MB of video memory, thesystem's nVidia GeForce2 MX graphics board will comfortably operate all2-D and 3-D tasks and pump out smooth frame rates and detailed texturesat all but the absolute highest 3-D game screen resolutions. Trulyserious gamers may want the additional performance perks of a GeForce3or GeForce4 card, yet had best be prepared to drop quite a few moredollars in the process.

With the 5420US, data storage, movement, and backup should never be aproblem. Its monstrous 80 GB UltraDMA hard drive offers oodles of spacefor even the most software-intensive workplace or gaming environment.Its 16x CD-RW drive permits fast burning of audio and data backup ordata transferal CDs. Its 3.5-inch floppy disk drive supports anyprograms or files you might still store on a floppy disk, and its 16xDVD drive smoothly and accurately plays your favorite movies. And ifyou ever do want to add another drive, the unit's two spare expansionbays are ready to accommodate.

The 5420US is packed with a variety of tools to enhance day-to-daycomputing. A built-in 56K modem supplies basic Internet connectionspeed, and a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet card offers multiple computernetworking and high-speed Internet potential. The system's Compaq USBInternet keyboard sports an assortment of convenient one-touchmultimedia and Internet controls, and its IEEE 1394 FireWire portsupports fast data transfer between computers and peripheral devicessuch as camcorders.

Other important amenities include four USB ports (two of which arehandily positioned at the front of the case), a serial port for oldermice and external modems, a parallel "printer" port, and an integratedAC97 Soundmax II Audio chip with support for Dolby Digital surroundsound. Compaq has not included speakers in the package, allowing usersto choose and configure their own audio setup. The list ofpre-installed software includes the Home Edition of the Windows XPoperating system, Microsoft Money 2001, Microsoft Works 6.0, QuickenFinancial Center/Quicken New User Edition, and InterVideo WinDVD. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

is the best notebook from 9xx series
its very easy to install and xp makes all setup work. dvd and cd burner work fine. displasy is sharp and clear. i use it with a mouse cause im not very fan of touchpad pointing device. it comes with 2 usb port too, so u can attach any device.

WinXP destroys performance
The Athlon XP1800+ cpu is very fast and 256mb DDR memory is quite adequate when run on all pre Windows XP systems (we have it on others),....but when combined with Win XP this system is left without resources to be of any productive value. Windows XP and the provided Office XP trial combined to use sufficient memory resources as to prevent an excel spreadsheet from opening in less than 2 minutes and then in processing it in less than 4 minutes. In comparision, these applications will take 1/3 as long on an identically prepared Windows 98SE system. The system runs times equivalent to an old Presario 450mhz P3 192mb (non ddr) system with Windows 98SE that we have here. We ran 500 timed tests in various Compaq suggested setting. Variances were in the single digits. IE: No gain.

Having no floppy drive is a little scary as well, as the CD does not act as a true boot drive, without performing some software and possibly BIOS changes as to how the system sees the CDRW drive. Compaq does not authorize this.

You are in the cradle (read that as grasp)of mother Compaq here. Don't think you can wonder off and add or remove or reinstrall as technology changes. Drivers are generally unavailable for the components unless Compaq posts them. Hardware manufacturers website driver updates won't generally be acceptable, if they can be found at all.

Support is generally vague and evasive, and of little use unless you have a lot of time on your hands to try and try and again. If you ask the same question enough times, you eventually get a support "specialist" that will answer "your" question inlieu of giving you the cut and paste generally nonrelavent response.

The price "was" right, but the price of the frustration can outweigh the savings. If you need a toy, buy it, but not at the current prices (you'll feel violated when you find that they went for under $ in December). If you need to be productive...add $ for the necessary memory to allow it to run serious applications.

If you have the nerve and the patience, Compaq does provide drivers and patches for Win2000 for this model. However you will loose the warm and fuzzy buttons and Compaq "officer friendly" screens.

As the story goes, in notebooks, the price and the performance do generally go hand in hand. We have no others to recommend, but based on our tests and lack of knowledgeable support, this one gets the award for the least bang for the buck, and the most frustration per minute we have run into lately.

False advertising !
Its not 1.5" thick, its like 1.75". And more than 6.5lbs. ...P>Its a desktop replacement mobile athlon, not the real mobile athlon. There is a big price difference between the types and you can see more on AMD's website. ...P>Not to mention that it runs very hot. Its not a fault of the Athlon which runs at 600MHz most of the time but a bad design by Compaq. The northbridge from ATI is too hot and so are the RAM modules. RAM get scorching hot and would burn your lap. Compaq couldn't even design proper cooling for this?

The laptop hard drive is very noisy and so is the flimsy keyboard. Think carefully before getting this. Not worth unless you get tons of rebates ...

HotPaq also serves as your winter heater!
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.

Computer enthusiast
*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. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

A true powerhouse in a portable package, the Compaq Presario R3260US notebook is powered by a 2.20 GHz AMD Athlon 64 processor and has all the amenities you need to take everything with you on the road, including Bluetooth connectivity. An 80 GB hard drive and 512 MB RAM help you store files and run multiple applications efficiently, and the DVD+RW/CD-RW combo drive means you can perform a variety of application like backing up files on CD media, burning your own DVDs, making audio mix CDs, accessing CD- or DVD-ROMs, or watching DVD movies on the 15.4-inch widescreen LCD. It also features a built-in NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go graphics card, integrated JBL Pro Performance speakers, and a 5-in-1 Memory Reader to take care of your multimedia needs.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: The 80 GB hard drive has ample room to store all your files, including digital audio, video, and photos.
• Processor: The 2.20 GHz AMD Athlon 64 processor can handle the toughest applications and has a 1 MB L2 cache.
• Memory: It has 512 MB DDR SDRAM to help you multitask with ease and is upgradable to 1.25 GB.
• CD/DVD Drive: The DVD+RW/CD-RW combo drive reads at 40x, writes at 16x, and rewrites CDs at 10x. It can also read DVD-ROMs at 16x.
• Keyboard & Mouse: It has a 101-key compatible keyboard and touch pad.
• Display: The 15.4-inch WXGA high definition LCD has resolutions up to 1280 x 800, making it ideal for watching DVDs.

Sound and Graphics
A built-in NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go graphics card with 64 MB dedicated video memory turns this notebook into a gaming machine. The integrated JBL Pro Performance speakers mean you can listen to crystal clear and bright audio right out of the box, whether you're listening to CDs or watching DVDs.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
An integrated 10/100 Base-T ethernet allows for convenient networking, and 54g 802.11b/g wireless LAN with Bluetooth connectivity means you can get online quickly, easily, and without wires. Additionally, there is a 5-in-1 integrated Memory Reader that reads SD MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and SmartMedia cards so you can share media with other people and devices. It also has the following external ports:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting to a wide range of peripherals, from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 parallel port for connecting to printers or cameras based on older technologies
• 1 IEEE 1394 FireWire port to connect to digital video cameras or other peripherals
• 1 notebook expansion port (Type I/Type II) for adding a variety of upgrades, including memory, modems, portable disk drives, and more
• 1 VGA video out port to connect to an external monitor
• 1 S-video out to connect your laptop to a television
• 1 audio-out for headphones or speakers
• 1 microphone-in jack

Preloaded System and Software
The Compaq Presario R3260US notebook is powered by Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Windows XP Home Edition is packed with multimedia features to help you get your creative juices flowing. Windows Media Player lets you burn and play CDs, in addition to playing and organizing digital audio files. Windows MovieMaker is a basic video editing tool that helps you capture and edit digital video to save your memories and share them with others.

It also comes bundled with Symantec Norton Antivirus (with a complementary 60 days Live Update subscription), Adobe Acrobat Reader, RecordNow, InterVideo WinDVD, Apple iTunes and Apple iTunes Music Store, Adobe PhotoShop Album Suite, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Money, Microsoft Encarta Plus, and Intuit Quicken New User Edition.

Dimensions and Weight
It weighs 7.8 pounds and measures 14.25 x 11.18 x 1.8 inches (W x D x H).

What's in the Box
Presario R3260US notebook, 120 watt AC adapter, 8-cell Lithium-Ion battery, phone cord, user's manual, and warranty information. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Portable computers offering premium performance and features usually come at a pretty steep price. But the Compaq Presario 920US notebook PC delivers a high-end experience for mobile workers, students, and home users in an elegant, value-priced package.

A 1.67 GHz AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2000+ processor provides ample power to blaze through a wide range of productivity applications, games, and DVDs. A built-in combination DVD/CD-RW drive lets 920US users view movies and listen to and create music CDs through the integrated JBL Pro Performance Audio with Bass Reflex speakers.

A 40 GB hard drive provides generous storage for data and music downloads, while 512 MB of memory--expandable to 1 GB--and 256 KB of on-chip L2 cache run multiple applications simultaneously with nary a hiccup. 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 920US’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 integrated 56K V.92 PCI modem. Expansion slots include one Type I/II PC Card slot with support for a 32-bit CardBus. The 920US 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.

An 88-button keyboard includes oversize keys, separate cursor control keys, and a feature that allows you to easily scroll vertically and horizontally through Web pages and documents.

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. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

False advertising !
Its 1.79 inches thick NOT 1.5 inches. And it probably weighs more than 6.5lbs they claim...

Runs too hot and display is very grainy compared to other budget laptops. not to mention noisy hard disk from fujitsu and badly designed keyboard & useless ovalpad...

Compaq support is above average though.

HotPaq also serves as your winter heater!
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 pathetic 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 morons. 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 pathetic 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 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 850 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.

Caveat Emptor
Very good value for the price--AMD beats Intel any day of the week for tasks other than video editing. It's great for all that's there--a CD/RW combo drive, generous amounts of memory and hard drive storage space, but be warned that this latest incarnation of the Compaq Presario series comes without a 3.5" floppy drive. Fine if you've moved past it for things like CD-RWs and network-based storage, but if you still use floppies, consider either an external drive or contact HP to see if they have a swappable floppy drive that can go in the CD-RW drive's place when you need to use it.

There are some things you must know!
First, the Athlon XP 2000+ outperforms a 2Ghz P4 in most tasks. Second, the video card uses shared system memory. This means that the 16MB is taken from the 512MB used for normal memory. Third, you are not stuck with only 16MB of video memory. I keep mine set at 64MB which is equal to or more than any other laptop video card.

To change the amount of memory dedicated to graphics, press F10 at the beginning of the boot process. Under the "Advanced" tab you will see an option that says something like "AGP aperture size". It will have options for 16, 32, or 64MB. The integrated graphics are decent, but they are now oficially 2 generations old (The newest being the Mobile Radeon 9000). This card performs like a Radeon 7000 (the original Radeon) for the desktop.

I play Neverwinter Nights, Counter-Strike, and Unreal Tournament without problems on this laptop. UT 2003 works, but it is a little slower than I like.

Nice laptop.
To begin with, it looks great. It's black & silver, sleek & reasonably svelte at 6.5 lbs. The HP genes are apparent in its design and the result is pleasing. The CPU is an adequate 1.67 Athalon XP; it's quite capable of most daily, non-graphics intense tasks, but not as good as an Intel P4. System memory is provided by a very fast 512 megs of DDRAM. The hard drive is a generous 40 gigs. A DVD/CD-R/W combination drive in included. All the Compaq's connections are in the right place, though missing throughout the entire 9xx line is any USB 2.0 port. The video card is a bit small for the other components of the 920, with a 16 meg ATI card onboard driving a 15" active matrix display. (I am a fan of ATI graphics cards because they have been quite reliable over the long haul and because upgrading them from ATI's nice website is a snap. However, this machine should have been given at least 32 megs of video RAM) Overall, this is a very good machine made by a company that looks like it's here to stay. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A nice system - breeze to setup at a low cost
This is a good solid system, if you're looking for an good simple way to upgrade your old CPU/motherboard for little money. I like the design of the chassis and the motherboard. Nice big power button. A solid chassis that is designed well and gives you enough room to make it easy to open up and install components.

I was a little disappointed though that the power connector wasn't already plugged into the main board and the power switches, chassis lights and front USB ports were not connected when I got it out of the box. Basically the mother board and the power supply were connected to the chassis but none of the connecting wires were attached. But it wasn't too big deal a to go through the little manual and see how to hook everything up. Only took me 20-30 minutes to hook it all up, but it would have been nice to have that already connected when I got it.

I was able to take my old components out of my old system and drop it in here without any problems (hard-drive, memory, CD drive, 3D graphics card, sound card, network card). I then installed Win XP with no problems.

It's been running smooth as silk for a few weeks now, no problems at all.

This motherboard even breathed new life into my old sound card (Audigy Vortex2) which wouldn't always work on my old 3 year old motherboard and would sometimes lock up the machine with some newer games. Now I have sound in those games without getting a new card! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

WOWWY!!!!
I'm so glad to be the first to review this emachines model.

I came here looking for reviews on this model but none were here so I asked around, friends, chat rooms, etc...and finally made my decision. So now I'm giving you all the first review :))

I just purchased this computer. All I can say is that this PC rocks! It's a very fast system.

Before purchasing I was in the whole dilemma about whether one should get an emachines computer or not. So many people kept trying to deter me saying that a PC this cheap with those specs had to be [junk]. Due to comments, I was about to spend something like $400 more bucks just to get a Sony that even had a little less to offer. I took a big "guuulp" and went for it and bought this emachines model and I have never been happier.

Im pretty critical of PCs and I need a fast computer because of all the multi-tasking I do especially with graphics software. This model is very fast.

It shuts down and also loads windows really really quickly. Remember its an Athlon XP 2000 with 512 MB DDRAM (also with good room for expansion). It has a good DVD ROM drive and decent CDRW drive. The DVD I tried on it played very nicely. The graphics card is very good, but there is an AGP slot to upgrade for hardcore gamers (not me. Xbox does me fine! ;)

To get to the point, this model is the truth. It isnt [junk] because of the price!! I'm telling you it's just simply a good deal...nothing more to it. I wouldnt be surprised if Emachines computer prices go up after this model has gone and receives all the great feedback.

To the *minor* details:
The speakers aren't the greatest. If you will be jamming audio in the house on your PC I would invest in a set of speakers.

The keyboard is a regular keyboard and the mouse is a regular mouse. (Some reviews said that this was a con, that the keyboard is plain with no shortcut buttons). This is true, but for me I couldn't understand how this could ever be an issue or even be considered much when purchasing a PC. I'm using the keyboard and will be using it. I already had an intell MM mouse so I installed it a couple of days later, but would have been happy using the mouse that the PC came with (it worked very well the first few days i used the PC). Many brand name models also come with plain keyboards and mouse.

For beginners, the Emachines support will be more than enough. They have good phone support (answer pretty quickly) and they also provide a live chat support at their site. Each representative give you his or her name and ID. For those who know about PC's, you will know that the PC is good and will not need the emachines support much.

Don't be turned off because of peoples' ignorance. Even computer store clerks will try to steer you away from buying an emachines. I really dont know why this is so. I think its that they dont get much commission. Im telling you ASK them why they dont like the Emachines model with all these powerful specs and they will not know what to say. I got the same comment from two computer store clerks of two different stores "it's returned more often, that's all i can tell you." This may have been so with older emachines model but not this one. (do a search at google on emachines past and new company & management changes)

You will not find a deal like this from Dell, Compaq or any of the others. The only way you can beat the deal is if you are one who builds your own computer (even then, its pretty close).

Get yourself this PC and a nice monitor and you'll be set!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Recognized globally for its state-of-the-art image and winning formula, noted Italian-based sports and racecar builder Ferrari doesn't lend its familiar colors and logo out to just anyone. Yet that is precisely what it has done for Acer's new Acer Ferrari mobile computer. Dressed up in gorgeous Ferrari Red/classic gray paint scheme and sporting a prominent Ferrari Prancing Horse logo on its bonnet, the Acer Ferrari 3000LMi Notebook is distinctive and fashionable. More critically, it delivers solid 3-D performance, comprehensive connectivity and a lightweight portable design, thus making it a perfect tool for businesspeople and personal users alike.

The Ferrari 3000LMi is not merely a pretty showpiece. Inside, Acer has installed a formidable system "engine", including a 1.87 GHz AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ processor, 512 MB main memory, and an ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics controller with 128 MB video memory. With this level of power at their disposal, users will have no trouble operating typical PC and notebook applications and multitasking. Even ardent gamers or 3-D designers should find the system has enough 3-D muscle to efficiently operate all but the most demanding applications.

Though not extremely compact at 13 by 10.7 inches, the Ferrari 3000LMi is just 1.2 inches thin. Furthermore, it weighs a mere 6.5 pounds, thus qualifying it as a true ultra-light. Acer makes good use of all available space, equipping the unit with a 15-inch SXGA+TFT LCD display capable of super-clean 1400 by 1050 resolution, a full-size 84-key keyboard with numerous hotkeys, a roomy 60 GB hard disk, and a DVD-Dual drive that supports CD burning, audio CD playing, and both of today's most popular DVD recording formats, DVD- and DVD+.

The unit is equipped with a number of standard amenities, including an IEEE 1394 FireWire port for fast interaction with external devices such as digital camcorders, four high-speed USB 2.0 ports for plug and play peripheral connections, a 4-in-1 card reader for memory cards from cell phones, digital cameras and the like, and Bluetooth support for no-hassle communication with cordless gadgets such as PDAs. Communication options include a 56K modem for low-speed dial-up Internet and email, a 10/100 LAN network connector, and integrated 802.11g wireless LAN for cord-free network and e-communication access.

The system's software bundle is not as comprehensive as that of similar notebooks, featuring the Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system and CyberLink's PowerDVD software DVD player. Estimated battery life is estimated up to 3.0 hours under ideal conditions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent!!
its definately an outstanding laptop.
it's far from expensive for the specifications but there is a lot more than in there...i like it so much...its nicely designed for the portable user and I like the Ferrari design on it. The color is red and is so attractive!!

It's not lite on weight...so sad...
I definately recommend it to anyone out there. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The Basics:
Not so large that they’re prohibitively cumbersome or so compact that they’re prohibitively expensive, Gateway’s newest eMachines blend sensible styling with many of today’s most desirable amenities and enough power for typical notebook tasks. This model, the eMachines M2352 Notebook PC, sports a high-end AMD Athlon CPU, wireless connectivity and a movie-friendly widescreen display. Other models in the new eMachines series offer goodies such as DVD recording, enhanced 3D graphic capabilities and futuristic 64-bit CPUs, yet the eMachines M2352 is nevertheless a solid yet very affordable choice for business and personal users alike.

Processor:
At the heart of any computer lies the CPU (processor), a massive array of miniature transistors that governs the speed and power of the entire unit. Some of today’s notebooks are equipped with high-end CPU’s on par with those found in top-of-the-line desktop PCs, while others are quick enough only for basic duties such as word processing, email and the like. The eMachines M2352 is equipped with an AMD Athlon XP 3000 CPU operating at 2.2 GHz. This is a powerful processor that compares favorably in real world tests to current high-end Intel Pentium 4 CPUs, even though its 2.2 GHz clock speed is not as high as the 3-plus GHz of today’s fastest Pentium 4s. Forward-thinking folks should note that this is a 32-bit processor, not one of the new 64-bit processors found in some state-of-the-art desktops such as the eMachines M6811. Nevertheless, it is quite sufficient for most any application, from business to entertainment and all stops in between.

Memory:
Computers typically store information on their hard drive, but they keep frequently and recently accessed data in Random Access Memory (RAM) for faster retrieval. More RAM means more efficient computing, superior multitasking and less strain on your hard drive. The eMachines M2352 incorporates 512 MB of RAM of PC2700 DDR RAM, an average allotment and speed for midlevel and high-end notebooks. But unlike many current portables, which allow you to expand your RAM to one or two GB or more, this unit supports a maximum of only 768 MB. This should not be an issue for most users, though anyone who plans to engage in ultra-heavy-duty multitasking or other high-drain procedures such as multi-track audio recording should explore notebooks that support more RAM, such as the eMachines M6810 or M6811.

Video:
CPU’s are usually so busy doing basic calculations that they need help translating visual output to the viewing screen, a duty that falls upon the graphics card (or graphics controller). This system’s graphics controller is an ATI Mobility Radeon IGP 320 with 64 MB of shared video memory. This is not a particularly high-end video controller, as it appropriates up to 64 MB of the system’s main memory rather than providing its own "dedicated" video memory. As such, the system will accurately display 2D and many midlevel 3D tasks, but is not recommended for the latest 3D games or other demanding applications such as 3D animation and 3D graphic design.

Display:
Some of today’s largest notebooks are equipped with massive 17-inch displays, while many super-compact "ultra-lights" sport substantially smaller 12-inch displays. The eMachines M2352 features a midsize 15.4-inch display in the same widescreen format favored by moviemakers.

Hard Disk:
While the integrated 60 GB hard disk isn’t particularly generous by desktop standards, it’s considered quite adequate in a notebook and therefore satisfactory for those who need to operate a broad range of applications and also keep a small library of space-gobbling music and/or multimedia files.

Optical Drive:
An optical drive is essential in today’s computing environment. A "CD-ROM" drive allows you to install CD-based applications and play music CDs. A "CD-RW" drive adds CD "burning", so you can also backup your important files to long-lasting discs and create personalized music CDs. With a DVD-ROM drive you can watch DVD movies. And with a DVD-RW drive, you can "write" home movies to durable discs and archive files to DVD (DVDs boast more than seven times the storage capacity of a CD). Most drives allow you to do a combination of all of these tasks. This system features a CD-RW/DVD drive through which you can play and burn CDs and play DVDs.

Audio:
The eMachines M2352 is equipped with an integrated audio chip, built-in stereo speakers, a microphone jack and headphone/audio out.

Keyboard and Controls:
You’ll control your notebook via a standard mobile keyboard and a touchpad with vertical scroll zone.

Connectivity and Expansion:
The eMachines M2352 offers a wide variety of ways to keep in touch, including a 56K modem for low-speed dial-up Internet and email access, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port for high-speed wired network and Internet, and an integrated 802.11g wireless connection for cord-free e-communication at home, at the office or on the road via a local public hotspot. Other key amenities include four high-speed USB 2.0 ports for plug and play devices such as external drives and digital cameras, an IEEE 1394 FireWire port (commonly used for quick data uploads from digital camcorders), and an S-Video Out for feeding the display to a television set.

Operating System and Software:
Gateway has fitted the unit with today’s most popular operating system, Microsoft’s Windows XP Home Edition. Other applications include Microsoft’s Works 7.0 productivity suite, Microsoft’s Money 2004 financial center, and an array of multimedia and Internet utilities.

Dimensions and Weight:
Notebook computers are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes and weights. Many of today’s most powerful notebooks are also the largest, weighing ten or twelve lbs or more and therefore too big and bulky for extensive, continuous traveling. These are often referred to as "desktop replacements". On the other extreme are "thin and lights" or "ultra-portables", super-miniaturized units that generally aren’t as powerful as their larger brethren but weigh as little as two lbs and fit comfortably inside a large purse. At 7.5 lbs and 14 by 10.4 by 1.6 inches, the eMachines M2352 is of medium size.

Power:
The unit is equipped with an 8-cell Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Some consumers don't mind paying a little extra for the privilege of owning the absolute latest state-of-the-art gear. For the rest of us, there's the Compaq Presario 6029US desktop. Fast and powerful, while just a notch or two removed from the cutting edge, the Presario 6029US is an affordable yet proficient machine that should handle all but the most demanding applications.

For this model, Compaq has selected a 1.73 GHz AMD Athlon XP processor with 256 KB of Level 2 cache. This speedy CPU is the brains of a capable processing engine that also features 512 MB of fast DDR DRAM (expandable to 1 GB) and an integrated 32 MB nVidia GeForce2 chip. The system bus speed is a reasonable 266 MHz. In plain English, the Presario 6029US is ready to run virtually any application currently on the market, although ardent gamers or animators may want to add a faster graphics card at a later date.

Sporting a substantial 80 GB hard disk, the unit offers plenty of onboard storage space for all your programs and files. It also features a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive for your smaller applications and a 24x (write) CD-RW drive through which you can record and play audio CDs and transfer and archive your data. Compaq has not included a monitor or speakers, allowing you to select such components separately or perhaps make use of your existing audio-video setup.

The Presario 6029US is packed with amenities to enhance your everyday computing, including six USB ports for plug-and-play peripherals, a serial port and parallel "printer" port, an integrated 56K modem for basic Internet and e-mail access, two free PCI slots for future expansion, and a scroll wheel mouse. The system's Compaq Internet keyboard features several one-touch buttons for convenient access to various Internet and multimedia functions.

To help get you started, Compaq has pre-installed a variety of software applications, including Microsoft's Windows XP Home Edition operating system, Microsoft Money 2002, Microsoft Works 6.0, Quicken Financial Center/Quicken New User Edition, Microsoft Encarta Online Deluxe 2001, and plenty of Internet and multimedia tools and utilities. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great buy, Geforce 2 on bard!
This is great computer DVD-R you can store up to 4.7 GB on the disc.
This PC is fully loaded, if you want everything this is it.
Almost perfect.
Runs 24/7 non stop for 3 weeks , and no problems.
Highly addicted PC

Nicely Designed PC for Video Editing
This PC has several things going for it and is an excellent deal.

It has a built in DVD-RW (a Pioneer A04--good choice). You'll be hard-pressed to find a machine with similar specs including a DVD-RW at this price (as of August 2002). It also has a powerful processor for encoding video quickly. It has conveniently placed IEEE1394 and USB1.1 ports up front so you can hook up your camcorder so easily.

I like the mid-size box, and find the silver/black look appealing. I really like the clean front for the optical drives and connectors (no goofy doors like HP/Sony/etc.) It even comes with a reinstall disk (unlike HP labelled products). Even the keyboard is respectable.

The graphic chip set with shared memory helps keep the price reasonable and if you really need high-end game graphics, you can add a graphics board easily enough. For video editing and everything I ever do, the graphics are fully adequate.

Drawbacks: There is only a single open mounting slot for an additional drive inside. I have placed an additional drive just laying inside. Also, the machine includes some persistant Compaq shopping software that takes a couple steps to disable.

Also of note. The PC comes with no speakers. This is not convenient but at least lets you get just the speakers you want since most included speakers are usually disappointing anyway.

Overall, this is a lovely machine for video work and general use. I'm very pleased with mine after a month churning out videos and homemade DVDs.

Okay for entry level but the graphics are weak
For an AMD system this one is pretty high end - except for the graphics. Based on the Nvidia Nforce chipset, this system is aimed at entry level users. An otherwise nice machine is hobbled by week graphics. If you even intend to play games, stay away from this machine. Not only is it based on a graphics chipset that is about to be discontinued (can only be found on very low end graphics cards today), but it uses system memory, which is slower than graphics cards with their own integrated memory. So it is slower than your standard GeForce 2! If you are an entry level buyer there are cheaper systems, if you are a power user this isn't for you. Therefore it is hard to reccomend this system to anyone. ... Read more