Old Compaq user asks questions about modern models

I am not that old , but I bought my (first) notebook back in 2002, a Compaq Presario 2816ea.
It has a Pentium M 4 @1.7Ghz, 512MB RAM, Radeon 7500m with 64MB dedicated memory and a (slow) 30GB 4200 hitachi drive.
The monitor wasn't great, although no tearing, the colours and brightness were never very good and the viewing angles were terrible. The images would change colour/brightness with the slightlest move of the head or the screen.
Still, it was a great notebook that I still own (in storage for 2 years now). It was my main PC for almost 4 years, although I did change the HDD after a while for a 7200 drive. (the first ever, 60GB by hitachi)
No matter what though it proved a well built machine. It had no problem with all my work and games at the time and only showed its age in 2005 by not running a few games that required new things, like Far Cry for example.

Back in 2004 I met a guy and he also had a HP (Compaq was acquired by HP by then) and he had nothing but trouble with his machineS. He had to change the mainboard twice. Then in 2005 he bought another model, HP again, that had similar problems.
Granded his models are on the lower end and mine was top (when I bought it), but still it got me thinking.

Now I am looking for a cheap low end notebook for my mother and I would love to hear from owners of both older and newer models by HP, how good are their machines? Build quality, need for repairs, heat, etc.

Are they indeed lower quality than few years ago?

 

Having purchased and used many different consumer-grade Compaq notebooks over the last several years while under the HP flag, this is my personal take on them:

The older Compaq Presarios of a few years ago could be had with a larger range of options, sometimes rivaling those of the sister Pavilion lines. The first one I bought cost almost $1700. It was almost as if HP were pushing two very similar products under different monikers, such as General Motors does with Chevrolet & Pontiac.

It was not until the last year or so that HP started seriously trimming down the portfolio of the Compaq brand in the US, almost to a point where some consumers were convinced that the Compaq line was going to be phased out entirely. Instead, HP spun the brand off towards the uber-budget market. Configuration options became sparse, while model selection became slim.

Since the Pavilion & Presario brands shared much of the same basic internals between model platforms, the Compaq units were given a more sedate-looking chassis to distinguish it from it's Pavilion brethren. It first started out as a more chunky look, then boxy, and finally progressed to a Pavilion-type chassis which was simply defeatured. In every instance, build quality remained the same between the brands. If the Presario developed a defect, chances are it affected the Pavilion counterpart in a similar fashion (as evidenced by the Limited Warranty Service Enhancement announced in 2007).

Fast-forward to today with HP's recent introduction of the CQ40, CQ45 & CQ50 Presario models, which once again diverges from the previous norm of simply utilizing a current (but defeatured) Pavilion chassis. A Presario CQ50Z looks nothing like a Pavilion DV5Z, aside from the lid hinge. If it were not for the new hinge, it looked as if HP took the lid from the older Pavilion DV6000 and attached it on the CQ50Z. It even shares some other minor cues from the DV6000, such as the metallic grey Imprint Finish below the keyboard (sans the etching), various port locations and the positioning/style of the power/battery/hdd lights. The keyboard is actually identical to the DV6000, and was probably taken directly from it.

Cheap-looking matte-black plastic now rings around the top of the keyboard (which differs from the Imprint Finish trim & grille which housed the speakers and Quicklaunch buttons on the DV6000). This is my only real nit. I disliked the Quicklaunch buttons anyway (and don't miss them), but the blank mis-matched plastic just screams "cheap". As for the rest of the unit, build quality seems to be on par with the DV6000, but the CQ50Z is much cooler to the touch and quieter.

The Presario CQ50Z lacks the "bling" of even the previous Pavilion model, but it's target audience is primarily those looking at sub-$500 notebooks. I have never seen a new Presario launch at a starting price of $429 until now, and frankly find it amazing. Since the price was good (cheap), I bought one for my nephew with the hopes that it would at least suffice for playing Evil Genius, MVP 2004 & SWAT 4 at high settings. Even though this unit does not offer a discrete gpu, the integrated 8200M G is handling them with ease. In fact, it is even better than my year-old Pavilion which orginally cost almost double. Not too shabby......

As for longevity, there is little disparity between the various consumer models offered by HP. It is more a matter of maintenance & ventilation practices which keep them alive. My old Presario V5000 is still chugging along daily without any issues, as well as the other two that I gave to coworkers.

The newest Presarios now have rather anemic options, but I think they are still a great tool for performing basic tasks (especially when taking the price into consideration). I was always satisfied by my Compaq purchases, which is why I bought one for my nephew. I will likely be ordering another for myself by the end of the month, as it is hard to argue with the price.

In the end, a $1500-optioned Pavilion is not going to last any longer than a $450 Presario on a similar platform. The only substantial differences are in the cost of added options (or lack of). A budget notebook is still a budget notebook, akin to adding a supercharger to a Chevy Aveo. It may cost more and have better performance, but in the end it is still an economy car.

Sorry for the long novel.

 

Thank you for your reply.
One question,
are any of these two a Pavilion or Presario?
http://www.multirama.gr/Multirama/product.aspx?a_id=111&cc_id=BrandedNote&cp_id=144549
http://www.plaisio.gr/product.aspx?catalog=21&category=69977907&product=1111019

 

The first one is an HP business notebook, while the second one is from the consumer line......

 

Interesting, I would expect the business to be more expensive.
thank you.

 

So between them and this Toshiba, which one would you recomment for a machine that will keep working with as few problems as possible?

http://www.multirama.gr/Multirama/product.aspx?a_id=111&cc_id=BrandedNote&cp_id=143537

 

The link is not presently working for me. I have had no experience with Toshiba (only HP & IBM/Lenovo), so I can't really speak for them. As for the previous notebooks mentioned, the business HP 530 is on the low end of the line and utilizes the Intel GM945 chipset. The HP G7060ev is little more than a rebadge of the Presario C700T consumer model, and utilizes the Intel GM965/960 chipset.

The HP 530 will have better warranty support, but neither will be that capable of much gaming beyond rather old titles. If used as just a basic internet browsing machine, either should suffice (warranty aside).

 

I include this one, it works for me, but the site is some times down, which would explain why it didn't work for you
It comes with 2 year warranty (extended to 4)

 

Hmm. It is hard to beat a 4-year warranty, but perhaps you should post the model in the Toshiba forum to see what kind of feedback owners can give you about it. Looking at the specs, it looks like the budget end of the Satellite line.......

 

Already did They said the same thing.
The 4 years are not for free, the 2 years are.

I am just trying to decide what to suggest to her between the above notebooks.
I am leaning towards the Toshiba due to the warranty, but my personal experience with HP (well, Compaq) was great, so...

 

Yep, I understand completely. When I was looking for my previous notebook, I was thinking about a Toshiba that had better specs for a similar price. In the end I bought another HP, just as I always did.......