Compaq Presario 715US Notebook (1.2-GHz Athlon 4, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

Product Description

The Compaq Presario 700 Series notebook makes a great gift for the college-bound teen or anyone needing an affordable portable PC. Capable of handling the most demanding applications with AMD processors, the Presario 700 Series is optimized for affordability for the home or small office.

Amazon.com Product Description

As Compaq's most affordable lineup of notebook computers, the Presario 700 series delivers more bang for the buck than you might expect. At the high end of the 700 series is the Presario 715US, a capable notebook that lacks some of the perks of costlier models such as the business-class Armada but nonetheless delivers solid performance and desktop-level speed.

Featuring the same sleek design and two-tone color scheme seen throughout the 700 series, the Presario 715US looks substantially sportier than many of its notebook peers. It tips the scales at a comfortable 6.4 pounds and measures in with a slightly larger than average 10.6-by-12.4-by-1.64-inch profile. Powered by a 16 MB Via ProSavage graphics card that supports resolutions up to 1,024 x 768, its moderately sized 14.1-inch TFT XGA display is ready to handle all the movies you'll play on the system's integrated 8x DVD-ROM drive. A 20 GB hard drive offers plenty of storage space for all the MP3 files you may want to collect and broadcast through the unit's proficient JBL Audio bass reflex speaker system.

Its keyboard section offers 88 full-size keys, a separate cursor and touch pad, and a half dozen one-touch buttons for instant access to everyday functions such as speaker volume, e-mail, and the Internet. A 3.5-inch floppy disk drive ensures support for programs that have yet to find their way to disc, and a 56K modem delivers adequate on-the-run Internet access speeds.

Identical in most respects to the bestselling Presario 710US, the 715US is distinguished only by its slightly higher price and superior processor. Compaq has fitted the unit with a 1.2 GHz AMD Mobile Athlon 4 CPU as opposed to the 1 GHz AMD Duron in the 710US, an upgrade that should move most applications at a marginally faster clip.

Of even more significance to power users and hard-core gamers is the larger Level 2 cache. With a total of 512K of L2 cache (vs. 64K for the Duron-equipped 710US), the unit's Athlon processor offers far more instantly accessible data-memory storage space and therefore an improved level of performance during particularly complex computing situations. Although some may not fully benefit from the extra punch, hard-core users will quite likely benefit from dropping a little extra cash for a lot more cache.

The unit's roster of ports includes two USB jacks for plug-and-play peripherals such as joysticks, a single parallel port for printers, a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network connection, an NTSC/PAL port for various video devices, a multipurpose PC Card slot, an S-video TV-out for television output, jacks for an external keyboard and desktop monitor, and speaker-out and microphone-in ports.

Users will operate their system with the Home Edition of Windows XP, arguably Microsoft's most stable OS since Windows 98. Other pre-installed software includes useful utilities such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, Microsoft Works 6.0, Microsoft Money 2001, Norton AntiVirus, Roxio's nifty Easy CD Creator 5.01, InterVideo WinDVD 3.0 DVD player, and a one-year subscription to Microsoft's Encarta Online Deluxe Encyclopedia.

Customer Reviews:

Three years and running fine.......2005-02-22

I've had a Presario 700 laptop for three years now with minimal problems. I did have a problem with it not rebooting once during my first year with it, but my service plan with the store I bought it from took care of it with no cost or hassle to me. People with major complaints must have gotten bum units, but I've been very happy with mine. Keep in mind these things, though: 1) Compaq no longer makes the 700 line, since they have moved on to making newer lines, so support for it is now hard to find. 2) It comes with two 128 RAM chips but you can only replace *one* of them, the other is inaccessable. So the most you gan get out of it is 384 RAM. You only need the 256 for everyday use, but many new games are currently eating 256 all by themselves. If you have a game that needs 256 RAM by itself, it won't work on a laptop with only 256 to begin with. Trust me, I've tried. 3) It does like to overheat and then freeze up if you arent careful. This only happens to me when I am burning a lot of CD's in a row, and/or in the hot summer months. But I keep a little fan on my desk to blow air under the unit and that helps immensely. In short, I feel that if you NEED a laptop, buy something new and buy a good service plan. But my Presario 700 does still work fine at three years old, and I don't intend on replacing it soon.

Many problems.......2004-07-07

Lockups are being reported on every board on the internet. The other problem is with the plastic cases. The plastic cracks around the hinges making the display unstable. Compaq has discontinued the parts.

Always locks up within 15 minutes.......2004-05-05

We purchased two of these machines. Both freeze within 15 minutes of use. We speculate on a heat related problem. This problem is not OS dependent. Same results on Windows XP Home/Pro, Windows 2000 Pro/Server.

don't buy a Compaq.......2003-02-18

Compaq Presario 715US Notebook (1.2-GHz Athlon 4, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)by Compaq is a peice of JUNK and the folks at Compaq are worse than their product. My warranty was for one year - parts & labor. I sent the Presaio 715 US Notebook and was told it would cost $690 and it is not covered under the warranty. It was a problem with the nick card slot and I was told I caused the problem.
Even if I caused the problem, and I didn't, the warranty should fix the problem. I own two other laptops (Dells) and have never had a problem getting support on the phone or repairs. Compaqs are junk and if you buy one, you'll be sorry. Mark my word!

Don't fall for the price!.......2003-01-09

We got this laptop last February. The price was good and it had all the features we needed. After three days of use the computer died on us with all my work inside of it (who would think that a brand new computer would die in three days???) We got another 715US from Office Depot (I wish we got a Toshiba...) More problems arose in May when the screen would start to shake vertically so frantically that we couldn't see or do anything. We send it over to Compaq, but they couldn't find the problem, so they reformatted the hard drive. The computer seemed to work for a couple of months, but the problem reappeared. We sent it over to Compaq again, but they quickly returned it, stating that they didn't find anything wrong with it! Now the screen is still shaking on occassion. I work with GIS software. Every time a grafic image loads, the computer seems to go nuts. The Compaq technicians said they can't repair this problem!!! But they will not give us a refund for this lousy PC. People! Don't buy it!

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