Nice DVD-RW machine for the price.
Written: Sep 10 '02
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Pros: Clean, quick, efficient machine with DVD-RW
Cons: Could use extra drive rack space inside.
The Bottom Line: Very nicely designed machine with DVD-RW built-in making it a very good deal for the price.
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| usadan's Full Review: Compaq Presario 6029US |
I've had this since it very first came out. I've been very pleased with it.
The specs of this machine are very similar to many others in this price-range BUT this one adds a Pioneer DVD-RW in place of a simple CD-RW. You'd be hard-pressed to find another machine with DVD-RW/+RW at this price.
I've burned several DVDs with no problems at all. One note, the included MyDVD software is awful and I'd say use something else if you can.
To keep the price low they have utilized an integrated graphic set which is completely fine for video editing. If I decide to play more games, there is an AGP slot for adding a more sophisticated graphics board.
The included drive is an 80 gig 5400 RPM (Seagate). This worked fine for me in capturing video but I put in several 7200 RPM drives for more working space (currently 360gigs total).
For expansion there is one extra spot for a mounted hard-drive. They mounting bracket is just right and snaps the drive right in place. They even have spare screws on the chassis for helping to mount a second drive. I've added a PCI board to add a third and fourth drive. Those additional drives end up just sitting loose on the bottom of the machine but it seems like they run fine.
The hardware is very nicely designed. On thumb screw releases the side panel (much nicer at home than Dell's clam-shell design which is better for factory production than for working on at home). The size of the unit is quite compact. It runs quietly.
The unit does not come with speakers which is fine by me because I would not use most bundled speaker sets anyway. I have a nice Monsoon 3-speaker set and I'm very pleased with the sound through them.
There are some annoying ad icons that show up in the factory installed softtware. I reinstalled WinXP from the included installation disk, but left out the additional software, tweaked msconfig, and it cleaned up nicely and I've been very pleased after that.
A couple other things I love about this design is that it doesn't have stupid extra door covers with buttons that push other buttons over the drives. I'd avoid HP label and Sony products due to those superfluous design touches.
Also nice is the IEEE1394 and USB ports right on the front of the machine (on the back too). Again, no door cover, which I like. Its also mid-way up the box instead of on the floor (like some Dell products).
I had one call to tech support. They answered the phone nearly immediately which is really nice. Unfortunately, I could barely understand the tech support person due to a very heavy accent. We had to repeat numbers and name spelling about four times each to communicate. Aside from that he answered my question professionally and accurately.
After that, things got a bit weird. I wrote that I had a hard time understanding the tech rep in a web survey they sent. Two nights later, at 4 a.m. in the morning, the guy called me back to "follow-up on my response", but it was really just a harrassing phone call because he was fearing for his job and wanted to chastise me for my honesty. Again, it was 4 AM in California when he called to wake me up. How annoying. So now I call Compaq tech support "Psycho Tech Suport." Fortunately, he did not call again.
But despite the issue with one particular tech rep, I gotta say I love this machine for doing video editing and basic office applications. I haven't tried playing games on it or really pushing the graphic part but that's not how I use it. It compresses MPG codecs three times faster than my old P-III 700mhz. I don't have much else to compare it to but it sure seems fine. So it sure seems quick, and runs predictably in an efficient and affordable design. I'd buy the same machine again.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1099
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
usadan
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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