Is this Compaq Presario Desktop a good deal?

Create a Post
Richard Darling

Richard Darling

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Posts
1,540
Loc
Bozeman, Montana
Office Depot has the Presario with AMD Athlon X2 4200 Dual-Core processor, 1GB ram, 160GB HD selling for $200 after rebate, and with no monitor.

My POS stations are all getting old, and I'd rather start upgrading with a good deal than wait for them to implode. Is the Presario a good deal?
 
The price sure is right, if you can find one! This closeout pc is basically free, if you consider the cost of the (Vista, etc) software licenses included. There are multiple rebates involved with the offer. If you have a $30 off $150+ coupon, you can use that, too. It's a good opportunity, especially if you have spare monitor(s).

After you get it, I would double the RAM to 2gb. With 1gb, it may be slow with Vista, but 2gb will be great. That upgrade will probably be less than $50

I'm not a huge fan of AMD, but it'll be more than sufficient for the shop. Be aware that for use with visualization or certain CMC brands, you may need XP. It's best to check with the vendor(s), to be sure.

Here are the full specs:
AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor 4200 operating at 2.2GHz
1MB L2 cache
2000 MT/s frontside bus
1GB of PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM memory
160GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA (SATA) 3Gbps hard drive
LightScribe SuperMulti DVD drive with Double Layer support (reads/writes DVD±R/RW, DVD-RAM, DVD±R Double Layer, CD-R/RW)
10/100Base-T Ethernet network interface (RJ-45 connector)
56K V.90 modem
6 USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear)
2 PS/2 ports (rear)
nVidia GeForce Go 6150 SE with 1280MB of dedicated video memory, up to 319MB total available
High Definition Audio, 6 speaker configurable
Audio line-in, line-out and microphone jacks
Compaq keyboard
Compaq scroll mouse

Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Basic with Service Pack 1 comes installed, providing enhanced security and productivity, and new ways to organize, find and share information. Other software included:

Microsoft Works 9
Muvee autoProducer Basic
HP DVD Play
Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe
Adobe Reader 8
Norton Internet Security 2008 (60-day trial)
 
Mike Labbe @ GTP said:
I'm not a huge fan of AMD, but it'll be more than sufficient for the shop.
Click to expand...

I was wondering why some people have the preference for Intel other than some gaming applications. I have read a lot but not a ton of comparisons on the two and for the most part they say AMD performs faster calculations.

It has been my experience that when you go dollar for dollar spent that AMD always outperforms Intel. My latest laptop w/ dual AMD 1.8 Gig processor was $100 less than the Intel dual 1.5G and I could see a noticeable difference.

I ask this because you have technical knowledge that we don't all share and wonder why you have the preference for Intel. I have managed/used/owned at least 50 of each and have always liked the AMD better at similar price points. I have never been responsible for building or maintaining the networks so there are many aspects that I have no knowledge of in this area.

Price does matter and was wondering if you were spending the same amount on the both systems, what would be the benefit of getting less with Intel than you would with AMD.
 
It's really a matter of personal preference. To be honest, the best AMD and the BEST Intel will both do the job - well.

There's no doubt that the AMDs are cheaper, but I still haven't forgiven them for some of their earlier models. When AMD was fairly new, they released some flaky cpu's that cost me a great deal of money for a client. I specced out 37 workstations for a lawfirm, with AMD base clones, and won the bid. They were very unstable, and I had to upgrade them all to (more expensive) Intel cpu's and take a hit. For another client, two of their (old, but still used) programs simply won't run on an AMD chip.

It's probably not fair, but i'm still biased towards Intel. Now you know why :)

The home pc has an Intel Core 2 Quad, and I don't think AMD has anything close to that yet performancewise. My laptop has a Core 2 Duo. There are 4 Intel based Dells at the shop. AMD and Intel take turns outdoing each other, which is a good thing for consumers. Competition breeds innovation and lower prices! :)

Mike
 
Thanks Mike. Techies usually have specific reasons for their choice and I really was curious as to yours. I have the same bad feelings about Dell as a brand. I haven't given them any business in the last five years because of 2 years worth of nightmares with about a dozen of them over that time frame. I know it is most likely unfair to their product but it happened at a time when they no longer cared about customer service. HP won my business at that point and it has cost Dell about 2 dozen computer sales just where I was the decision maker during that time.

As to the original question, I have been very happy with the Compaqs since they were taken over by HP.

When buying for GeAnn & Krityanna I go Compaq but anything I buy for myself it is HP because you get 12 months free support with HP and only 90 days with Compaq.

$200 is a great incentive to buy this PC. Definately add as much RAM as it will hold. It makes a world of difference since 1 Gig will just barely run Vista and if you use it for any photo work you will just pull your hair out. Adding the RAM will make it a much more stable system.
 
OK just curious now...I almost have, said computer,well except for a 250 G hard drive.I keep hearing how Vista will be slow with only a 1G memory.However I have all my photos here,and run a scanner/printer.Everything is fast,unless I have a request from "up on Mount Olympus "for a very high res scan of a design.Is this a fluke,am I gonna get bitten in the butt later,or is it the dual core at work? Or is it possible the 1G is the "free" part of the memory,not counted as the bit used to run Vista(home premium)?I bought the floor model,and it was the only one at the store(yeah,I got 4 years worth of free repair/replace too),so maybe it has been,um played with....who knows! All i know is it was about $400,not bad...Then MY monitor died a week later,I had,of course declined the one sitting with "Hal "here,arrgghh..........:nuts: L. (Oh,and Mike..it`s an Intel.)
 
1g will work fine with vista, but you'll notice more delays and disc access while it swaps out to the hard drive to handle larger documents.

If you use something like visualization or photoshop, which use a lot of memory themselves, you'll see a big difference between 1gb and 2gb. Windows 32bit can only address about 3.2gb, while 64bit can use more. I have 4gb on my home pc, but 0.8 of it just sits there with nothing to do :)

Mike
 
Mike Labbe @ GTP said:
1g will work fine with vista, but you'll notice more delays and disc access while it swaps out to the hard drive to handle larger documents.

If you use something like visualization or photoshop, which use a lot of memory themselves, you'll see a big difference between 1gb and 2gb. Windows 32bit can only address about 3.2gb, while 64bit can use more. I have 4gb on my home pc, but 0.8 of it just sits there with nothing to do :)

Mike
Click to expand...
Thanks!Not running either of those so far,Don`t need the Viz,and I edit photos on either my windows gallery,or paint,or photosmart(came with scanner)....If I ever need it I`ll drag this thing up to the store and get me an upgrade....So far its just groovy! L.
 
newegg.com is my favorite
 
I bought one laptop recently with Vista Home Premium and it was preloaded with 1Gig knowing that it was not enough to run Vista and the complicated software that we all run regularly.

It was shaky at best with 1Gig. Added 1Gig Kingston Value RAM from Circuit City 2 miles down the road. Everything runs beautifully now. Like getting a brand new computer twice.

You will really love Home Premium with another Gig. I have it with 3 Gigs on a PC with an AMD dual 2.6 processor and it is a wonderful operating system. Everything just happens so fast it puts a smile on your face. I have room for 1 more Gig on that computer but I haven't had any reason to add on yet.
 
" I haven't had any reason to add on yet"

yes you do---keep looking around for the low $$$.... you dont "NEED" it but a bargin is a bargin!
 
Create a Post
Back
Top