Unique features make great value
Written: Oct 12 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick Restore & Back Web give unmatched user convenience
Cons: Short battery life
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| DanielAcosta's Full Review: Compaq Presario 1675 (108882-003) PC Notebook |
I tried several notebooks from various manufacturers and selected the Compaq Presario 1675 notebook computer back in May, 1999 shortly after they were released to the public. It features a 14.1 active matrix screen, built in DVD and floppy drive, 56K V.90 modem, USB support, stereo JBL pro audio sound, and a bunch of other features that are over my head. One of its best features is a 100MHZ system bus to go along with its 380MHZ AMD K6-2 mobile processor. The only hardware upgrade I’ve made is an additional 64MB RAM to go with the standard 64MB for a total of 128MB 100MHZ RAM. Compaq has since released similar models that have a 400MHZ processor and 15 inch screen.
Compaq boasts about their instant internet buttons on the keyboard. These really are a great feature which makes it easy for my wife and kids to surf the web and do E-mail. Compaq fails to advertise the Presario line’s two best features: Quick Restore and Back Web.
Quick Restore allows the user to periodically save everything on the computer to a secure partition on the hard drive. If for some reason your system or data is lost or corrupted, you can then restore your system from this secure partition. This is very useful if your kids accidentally mess up your system. In my case, my printer software had a bug in it that could not be removed by uninstalling the printer; reinstalling Windows 98 still left the bug in my system. The only way I could eliminate the bug was to restore my system from the version I had previously saved. Two months later the printer manufacturer sent out a software update to fix their bug, but I had already fixed my system by using Compaq’s Quick Restore and buying a different printer. Quick Restore also gives the option to selectively restore individual drivers, and also has the option to wipe your hard drive and return it to a new “out of the box” condition. I’ve actually used this option of wiping the hard drive and starting from scratch; I had too much junk on my system, so I saved what I really needed on my ZIP drive, used Quick Restore to return my laptop to its brand new out of the box condition, then reloaded what I really needed from my ZIP drive.
Back Web is a commonly available software upgrade, but Compaq custom installs a version on their Prearios that searches for free software updates from Compaq for each particular computer. When Back Web finds a software update from Compaq a red Q pops up on the screen to let you know an update is available. The user then has the option to install this update. So far my 1675 has only come up with an update to the DVD driver. I previously had a Compaq Presario 1200 series; the Back Web on that computer generated several software updates.
Compaq’s free tech support has been great, and the computer’s performance has been virtually flawless. Quick Restore and Back Web are my favorite features; I don’t know of any other manufacturer who includes these in their systems. I believe Compaq also has a trade in system where they give you the value of your old computer but still let you keep your old machine.
I do have one negative. The battery life of the lithium ion battery is about 90 minutes at best. Most computer magazines rate the battery on this laptop at over two hours, so maybe I’m a little hard drive intensive and thus more demanding.
In summary I’ve been very pleased with this purchase and will definitely consider Compaq again for future purchases. If Compaq is still the only maker with Quick Restore and Back Web when it’s time for my next purchase, then Compaq will be the only maker I’ll consider.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
DanielAcosta
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Member: Dan Acosta
Location: Mesa, AZ
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 2 members
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