Couple of questions

Hi, just recieved a compaq CQ61-310SA. I'm pretty pleased overall with it. I like the look, and seems solid (but I guess time will tell there lol).

My first question is to do with the warranty, what are compaq or HP like on upgrading the parts, will this absolutley void the warranty, or, like some other manufacturers, do they allow it so long as if you need to send it in for service, you send it in with the original parts. The reason I ask this is i'm looking at upgrading the CPU, as it currently has an AMD Semperon M100 2.0ghz. I'm going to look at getting a dual core (some of you may ask why I didn't buy a notebook with a dual core already, this new machine came as a gift so I couldn't be picky lol).

Second question, and this has been asked many times before I know, as I've been here for long enough, but as I'm asking a question anyway, I thought I'd throw this one in there. What HP bloatware, if any is useful. I'm going to be getting rid of the Cyberlink stuff, Norton (I'll use either Avira or try the new microsoft offering as it sounds ok), the games, office trial, works. Is the HP Update any use???

Anyhow, thats it for now, and cheers in advance for your replies (if any).

 

If I'm not mistaken, you won't risk voiding the warranty if you install one of the processors available on the CQ61. Those are-

AMD Athlon II M300 - 2.0GHz, 1mb L2 cache, 3.2GT/s HyperTransport speed
AMD Athlon II M320 - 2.1GHz, 1mb L2 cache, 3.2GT/s HyperTransport speed
AMD Turion II M500 - 2.2GHz, 1mb L2 cache, 3.6GT/s HyperTransport speed
AMD Turion II M520 - 2.3GHz, 1mb L2 cache, 3.6GT/s HyperTransport speed
AMD Turion II Ultra M600 - 2.4GHz, 2mb L2 cache, 3.6GT/s HyperTransport

And as long as you install the new processor properly and don't damage any other part of the system during the process.

Bloatware...the curse of HP (and Toshiba and a few others)! I can't think of a single thing they install that you really need or can't find a better solution elsewhere. Download the free program "Revo Uninstaller" and use it to remove the software you don't need/want. It is much more thorough than the typical uninstaller and scans your drive and registry for items to delete when the program is uninstalled....it's a great free application!

 

Thanks for the info, already downloaded revo and pretty much got rid of most of the junk, great program. Since getting rid of a lot of a lot of the junk the machine runs a lot quicker, I was amazed at how many programs were scheduled to launch on startup. I guess I Should'nt be surprised really, after owning an acer before. One other question, is there a recovery console that can be launched when the machine starts up which can be used to recover the laptop instead of using backup disks, I know this function was available on acers, just wondering if compaqs do the same.