Hewlett Packard Compaq Presario 2100US (DB954A) PC Notebook

Pros: Can't beat the bang for the buck. Nearly everything is in this machine.
Cons: No high-speed data transfer port (no true FireWire or USB 2.0).

Greetings. HP manufactures this model under the Compaq 21xxUS or the 2100z series. The 21xxUS are shelf models; the 2100z models are customized orders directly from HP. This is a review of the HP Compaq 2100z. Constants of the two categories are ...

Pros: Excellent performing full featured notebook at a very attractive price
Cons: Includes USB 1.1 ports, not the newer 2.0 standard. This is not really a limitation

I had been in the market for a new notebook for at least the past six months. When the Intel Centrin ...

Pros: Highly Reliable - Good Standard Features - Budget Friendly
Cons: USB Port Speed, Port Placement

I am a self employed network consultant. I have owned this particular notebook for almost a year now. I use it in the field almost every day and take "Reasonable" care to not let it get banged around too much. I basically use it to configure routers ...

Pros: Good price, highly configurable, wireless networking option, good looking
Cons: Noisy fan, somewhat heavy for frequent travel

When I moved back home for my final semester of college I decided to invest in a laptop to bring my ...

Pros: Nice big screen, not too heavy, fast.
Cons: Keyboard doesn't work, no USB-2, bad battery, bad hard drive.

I've had my Presario 2100 for over a year now. It has some nice features for the money. But it has two major flaws that make it useless! The first flaw is the keyboard. The keyboard will skip characters sometimes. I have seen several reviews that say ...

Pros: fun while it lasted
Cons: loud boot beep can't be silenced...product failure at 18months no customer care

I have had this notebook for 18 months. I bought it on-line, custom configured from Costo.com. I was pleased with the configuration and performance until, at 6 months past the factory warranty date, the motherboard needed replacement. That was after ...

Pros: Nearly everything!
Cons: Comes with XP Home rather than XP Pro

It's just simply a great all round value.

The 2100US is more than fast enough with an Intel Celeron 1.6 processor and a handy 256 MB of the better DDR SDRAM memory. It's pretty quick and very easy to use out of the box as well with Windows XP...

Pros: Great value: DVD, CD-RW, 512MB ram
Cons: Lacks speed, battery noise, no USB 2.0

I bought the 2105CA model and am very happy with it. The new scroll section of the touch pad is a gr ...

Pros: Screen clarity, CDRW and DVD, good battery life, neat button to turn off touchpad
Cons: Screen flicker when on battery, too much extraneous software, video memory shared from system memory

This is a great little laptop that I picked up at CompUSA for $750 after rebates.

It performs well, for day to day activities. Its time is spent mostly in my wife's domain, browsing the web, email, doing taxes, etc.

I only have...

Pros: Low price (699 AR) + Great features = Great value. LOUD FAN = Annoying.
Cons: LOUD fan. Very loud. Annoying whine from hard drive.

UPDATE. I've had this laptop for almost 3 years now and it still works great. The hard drive failed after 2 years, but that is to be expected. If it weren't for the noises it makes, I would be giving this laptop the highest possible recommendation. ...

Pros: Bright screen; convenient quick-launch buttons for common tasks
Cons: Built-in speakers sub-par; integrated WiFi antenna not very sensitive; cannot use external batteries.

Overall, this has been a very reliable computer. However, I recently discovered some things that, if I had known before purchase, may have swayed my decision.

The Presario 2100's power supply is 19V @ 90W (19 volts at 90 watts), which is not the norm in the laptop world (16V @ 60W is more common). This comes into play for those "power users" who need more battery time while on the road.

There are several external battery products out there that are designed to supplement your laptop's built-in battery, to provide up to 6 additional hours of run-time. These external units are usually flat, sit under the laptop, and plug into the power plug recepticle on the laptop. However, none of these devices provide the necessary 90W of power!

So if you EVER anticipate the possibility of needing to run your laptop on batteries for more than 1.5 hours, such as using your laptop as a DVD player on long trips or layovers, or attending a seminar where power outlets are not available, you should look for a laptop that is not a 90W model. I found this out the hard way.

Pros: Good price, nice features, well made
Cons: Fan is noisy, a bit bulky.

I've had my Compaq Presario 2100 for more than a year, and I'm very satisfied with it. It is fast, has alot of software included, and was very well priced. I only paid $799 for it at Circuit City with mail in rebates. I really have no complaints at all with it except for the fact that when you use the adaptor (which I used all the time) the fan is incredibly noisy. It sounds like an air conditioner. Also the laptop is very heavy; it weighs about 7lbs. But other than that, I have been very impressed with this laptop.

Pros: Not to heavy,ease in use.
Cons: none

I have this notebook and it has been a great performer. Easy use and not too heavy. The screen is clear and good size.

Pros: Easy to set up, good help available
Cons: Sound recording horrid

I'm also quite happy with my Compaq Presario 2100- Works well in almost all areas with one important exception. The sound recording is terrible. I am hoping that a software upgrade might help (right now I'm using Microsoft Sound Recorder)but am not sure. Also I was annoyed when I bought the computer from Price Club as it appeared to come with Word and Excel included, only to discover later that it only came with trial versions. That said, it was still a great deal financially at $1,150 with the software (using an academic discount).

Pros: decent speed
Cons: loud fan,generated alot of heat, usb ports are not high speed

The fan is way too loud and generates way too much heat and the battery was fried after a year. my charger is always in