Compaq R4000 reviews and other stuff...

Well, im buying the R4012 from best buy and was wondering about them. I havent been able to find a review on here but if there is one please post it. Anyone who has this laptop what are the pro's or con's. Also what have you heard about Compaq's support. Also is the battery 8 or 12cell, couldnt seem to find it anywhere on Best Buy's website. Thanks for everything guys! Also, is the screen glossy? I really like the glossy screens.

 

Well, heres a list BASED on the sites I've looked at:

Pros:
-64 bit
-BrightView, thus glossy

Cons:
-7.9lb, pretty heavy
-It's a AMD64, low battery life and could get hot(not as much as P4's though)
-Shared memory, its 128mb SHARED!
-4200 80gb, slow rpm

 

A lot of people would consider the Athlon 64 a plus, not a minus, as it's 64 bit and can run XP64 today (if you need that). It also does a good job of throttling cpu power consumption in proportion to cpu usage, giving you decent battery life. The Pentium-M is the best at battery life, followed by the AMDs, and the Pentium-4 fall last. For processing power, depending on the tasks, either the Pentium-4 or the AMD 64 are the most powerful, followed by the Pentium-M. All of them are plenty powerful enough for most uses, though.

The ATI video card has two iterations. One is a 32mb option that is truly shared memory. Most of the versions I've seen are 128mb dedicated, with the option of adding another 128mb (for a total of 256mb video memory) from system memory. However, the tests that I've seen run show that adding the second 128mb from system memory actually resulted in less performance, so there's no reason to do it, except as some sort of parlor trick. (I know the BestBuy website says that it's IGP/shared memory, but they're wrong - wouldn't be the first time. The 128mb version is dedicated memory, per Compaq's website, plus numerous reports here. It's also the only configuration that comes with the 1394 port, card reader, and Express Card slot, which BB shows as part of the package.)

The R4000 is a fine machine if it suits your needs. Tell us what your requirements are, and we can tell you if it's what you need.

Russ

HP ZV5000z
Athlon 64 3000+
768mb RAM
60gb 4200rpm HD
nVidia G0 440 64mb
DVD-RW/CD-RW
1394, 5-in-1 card reader
15.4" wide screen
802.11 b/g w/Speedbooster

 

Its a basic computer really, i will use it mainly for surfing, typing reports, AIM, and some low quality games like eh SIMS2, Unreal Tournament etc... I checked out the one at the Local Fry's and it has a sempron 3000+ but was a very nice laptop. Somewhat bulky but i can live with it for the features and price.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by rfortson

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Imacyco

 

I recently purchased a 4012 from BestBuy - I'd agree for the most part with this brief review, however, the brightview can also be a bit of a problem as it's often difficult to get situated in order to get a minimum of reflection off the screen. The only other drawback I see is that it is heavy.
On the plus side it doesn't run hot at all, comes at a very good price considering the 512 MB RAM and decent video card (by the way, the 128 MB video memory is NOT shared - that's a mistake posted on BestBuys ads), dvd writer, solid construction, and excellent keyboard. Could be a bit faster, but some of that is AMD's PowerNow processor control - runs considerably below max speed, even with external power, in order to extend battery life and keep unit cool. Start to use it heavily and processor speed increases as necessary.
Good luck with your shopping.

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by coriolis

 

I also purchased the 4012 from Best Buy, after looking around and considering several other models. Having had it a week now, and continuing to look at reviews, comments, and subsequent ads for this and other laptops, I'll say this:
It runs cool. I have it set as a desktop usually, no problems with heat, or excessive fan noise.
Just for the heck of it, I went out and bought doom 3. It runs ok by me. I think the video card is very good, for the price you are paying.
Great keyboard. Includes XP disk. The wireless is much better than my wife's IBM T40. Love the brightview screen. Good software package. Decent battery life.
So, for me, a big question some time after making a purchase is would I buy the same thing again? And I would buy the 4012 again. For a desktop replacement with good laptop performance at a great price, I have no regrets whatsoever.