compaq presario r3000 review

Designed to appeal to consumers looking for value and productivity in a notebook computer, the Compaq R3000 Series is reasonably priced. The entry-level model, R3000T, starts at $949 and includes numerous connectivity options.

Backed by Compaq's one-year limited hardware warranty, the R3000 (original battery code is: HSTNN-DB02 )series offers a host of configuration options and add-ons. With integrated ATI Radeon 9000 graphics and integrated Broadcom 54G wireless, the R3000 is well-suited for the mobile professional or student who doesn't mind lugging around eight pounds, and the casual gamer who doesn't need the highest settings in the latest games. Its powerful JBL Pro speakers, DVD and CDR/W combo drive and 15.4-inch screen make this an excellent choice for multimedia use as well.

The full spec for the laptop is:

• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+

• Memory: 512 MB DDR

• Hard Drive: Toshiba 80 GB 4200 RPM

• CD/DVD Burner: LG 4X DVD+RW/R & CD-RW

• Screen: 15.4" WXGA widescreen (1280x800)

• Video Card NVidia GeForce4 440 Go 64 DDR

Features:

• Alps touchpad. dedicated scroll pad, deactivation button

• parallel port, monitor-out, s-video-out

• JBL Pro speakers, volume control and mute buttons

• microphone socket, headphones socket

• built-in 56K modem, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11g wireless

• firewire port, three USB ports, notebook expansion port

• memory card reader: SD, MS/Pro, MMC, SM

• three-hour compaq presario r3000 battery which is less long than a digital camera battery

• Operating system Windows XP Home

Compaq’s R3000 line of Pentium 4 notebooks is a solid performer with good looks and good features. While lacking some of the bells and whistles of other “multimedia friendly” competitors, its minimalist styling is both sleek and functional. Backed by Compaq’s one-year limited hardware warranty, the R3000 series offers a host of configuration options and add-ons. With integrated ATI Radeon 9000 graphics and integrated Broadcom 54G wireless, the R3000 is well-suited for the mobile professional or student who doesn’t mind lugging around eight pounds, and the casual gamer who doesn’t need the highest settings in the latest games. Its powerful JBL Pro speakers, DVD and CDR/W combo drive and 15.4-inch screen make this an excellent choice for multimedia use as well.

At over eight pounds it certainly isn't the most portable laptop available, but the weight compares favorably to competing products. If you're looking for a sturdy laptop that is somewhere between ultra-portable and a desktop replacement, Compaq's R3000 line, while not being flashy or innovative, is a good choice.

Features and Design

While Compaq offers the R3000 ( compaq presairo r3000 battery )series with several different configurations, our test machine for this review featured an Intel Pentium 4 processor at 2.8GHz and 512MB of PC2700 DDR memory. Our 15.4-inch widescreen model also included a 40GB Hitachi 4200RPM hard drive, ATI's Radeon 9000 integrated graphics processor, and an internal Broadcom 802.11b/g mini-PCI card. Compaq sells the R3000 series with Microsoft's Windows XP Home operating system or, as our system was configured, with Windows XP Pro.

Opting for a different design than some other laptops, Compaq has placed most of the expansion ports and interfaces on each side of the machine instead of at the rear. Those annoyed with having to turn a computer around or awkwardly reach behind it to plug in a USB device will appreciate Compaq's design choice here. The only interfaces at the back of the computer are the legacy devices — a VGA monitor port, a parallel port, and a telephone modem. Although we had no use for it, we were happy to see a parallel port since many new laptops don't include one, yet many people and businesses still have parallel-only printers.

The front of the computer features a button for turning the internal wireless on or off, and amber lights indicating hard drive activity, system power, and AC/power. The system power button slowly flashes when in standby mode which is useful if you have closed the lid and can't remember if you turned the power off or just went to standby. Also featured on the front panel are speaker grilles hiding the included JBL Pro speakers and a pushbutton to release the cover latch. The solid screen hinges and unique lid latch really gives the Presario R3000 (replacement battery code : compaq 346970 001

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a quality feel. We really liked this mechanism as the u-shaped metal latch was easy to open and release and kept the lid tight when closed.

With many competitors offering multimedia buttons on their laptops, the R3000 only offers the aforementioned volume buttons. Compaq's keyboard utility configures the F-keys to be used as multimedia keys, but you have to push them in conjunction with the Function key. Since many media applications such as Winamp have keyboard shortcuts anyway, we found Compaq's solution here to not be very useful and didn't like having to use a two-key combo.

Software and Upgrading

Compaq includes the usual “free” software with the R3600 bundle, and as is the case with other manufacturers, much of it was unwanted. But Compaq also does something that we haven't seen with many other manufacturers: they provide a system restore disk with only the operating system and don't force you to install the bundled third party applications. The company earns some nice points here because while we didn't want all of the “junk” they gave us, it was easy to get rid of.

They also include a version of Intervideo's WinDVD for watching DVDs and our model came with Microsoft's Works and Money 2004. One notable “freebie” in the packaging is a free month of T-Mobile Hotspot, which we used for high-speed Web access at coffee shops and bookstores during a few business trips.

There is only one device slot on the Presario R3000 battery models, occupied by default with the optical drive. With floppy drives a dying option, this shouldn't be an issue for most users, but we weren't able to find any internal floppy drives or additional batteries that fit in the slot.

The R3000 line has two DDR memory slots and can handle up to 1GB of memory with two 512MB sticks. Access for one slot is through the keyboard on the top (this is the one populated by default at the factory) and the other is through an easier to access bottom slot.

Removing or replacing the battery is a simple process with the quick-release lever and the hard drive can be removed with two small Phillips-head screws. One thing we really like about the Dell Inspiron 8600 and some other laptops we've seen is the quick release option to expose the processor fan or heatsink. This allows you to easily clean the dust out of the fins of the heatsink. Unfortunately the R3000 doesn't have such a feature, but the heatskink fins are exposed through a plastic grate, allowing them to be cleaned with a vacuum.

There isn't much besides the memory that can be easily upgraded. With the integrated graphics solution those thinking of future proofing their laptops for upcoming games may want to look at more upgradeable options.