Product Description

HP Compaq Presario CQ50-210US 15.4 Inch Laptop. The Compaq Presario CQ50-210US Notebook PC redefines simplicity with thin lines, an iconic touchpad design and sleek touch control panel. Glossy black Imprint finish encases the form and is more durable than traditional painted surfaces. A silver panel covers the palm rest and touch pad area for clean contrast. Compaq Presario notebook PCs are designed with the features and power you need to get the most from Windows Vista. The result is intuitive system controls, powerful search and organization tools and more security when you go online. In addition, each PC includes 60 days of Norton Internet Security 2008, with the option to extend for PC and identity protection when you email, bank and shop online. For those who want everyday computing capability that's built to last at a great value, the Compaq Presario CQ50-210US Notebook PC delivers! Balancing mobility and performance needs at 6.35 lbs, the CQ50-210US is powered by AMD processors and NVIDIA graphics, and includes integrated high-speed wireless LAN along with these essential features: 15.4 inch diagonal WXGA BrightView display supporting high-definition video playback and Altec Lansing speakers delivering smooth audio performance. The CQ50-210US ships with Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1, AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8200M with up to 895MB Total Available Graphics Memory, 2048MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm), 160GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support, and 802.11b/g WLAN. Dimensions: 14.05" (L) x 10.2" (D) x 1.37" (min H) in approx., weight: 5.83 lbs approx

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2855 in Personal Computers
• Color: Black
• Brand: Hewlett-Packard
• Model: CQ50-210US
• Dimensions: 1.37" h x 10.20" w x 14.05" l, 5.83 pounds
• Display size: 15.4

Features

• 15.4-inch Diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display, 1280 x 800 resolution
• 2.00 Ghz AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor with 1MB L2 Cache
• 2048MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm), 160GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), NVIDIA GeForce 8200M with up to 895MB Total Available Graphics Memory
• SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support, 802.11b/g WLAN
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, dims in inches: 14.05" (L) x 10.20" (D) x 1.37" (min H) in approx., 5.83 lbs

---

Customer Reviews

A good deal at $600, a bargain for anything less
I took a chance on this machine when my old IBM laptop went on the blink. Office Depot had a deal running on the Compaq that brought the price down to $405 after two mail-in rebates. At that price, I figured any risk was worth it. All in all, I have been pleasantly surprised. Two of the things that matter most to me--quality of display, and ease of typing--exceed expectations. The screen is beautiful and very sharp. I prefer working on the laptop to using the big CRT provided by my office because it's so much easier to read on. And even though IBM laptops were famous for their quality keyboards, I find the Compaq's easier to use, and I make fewer mistakes (I'm sure this is an individual thing). Other pluses: the onboard speakers are better than I expected even if no one would seriously want to listen to music on them for very long, and the sound through headphones is very good. After a little tinkering with the settings, I also prefer the touchpad to the one on the IBM (which I ended up disabling). After a few months of relatively light use, I haven't had a single complaint with the machine. Judging from comparative specs, I think it's definitely worth the $600 currently being charged at Amazon, and is a steal for anything less.

Great Business Buy
This Laptop is great for the price so far no complaints. Its great for business use. The Compaq Presario CQ50-210US looks similar to the HP 6000 series but without all the flashy aesthetics, which I prefer. Put in a finger print reader and it would be good to go.

There's hot and then there's hot
I really like this laptop. Performance wise it is really good - much better than I expected. The HP install of additional software is minorly intrusive, but it's easy to disable or uninstall the stuff that I didn't want. I use it as a general purpose laptop for accessing the internet, reading email, and watching videos. It fits my needs well. I've been able to successfully install Ubuntu Linux on the device, with the assistance of this link: [...]. All features work correctly.

I paid $[...] for it (after $[...] in [...]). So from a price/performance perspective, that's one kind of hot.

But then there's another kind of hot. The devices generates extremely high temperatures. So high that I am concerned that the device will fry itself.

I use speedfan to monitor temperatures. The GPU seems to be parked at 110C, the CPU is typically above 60C sometimes going into the 70's and 80's, and the HD is usually around 55C sometimes spiking above 60C. The GPU and HD temp seem excessive to me: especially the HD. I just purchased a laptop cooler to deal with this (not yet arrived).

I occasionally need to leave the device running overnight (e.g. in order to complete a backup). In order to do this, I have to close the screen, and lean it against a wall so that the bottom side is exposed to open air. If I do that, the temps for GPU, CPU & HD fall back into much more reasonable ranges (GPU<100C, CPU<60C & HD<50C).

I am hoping that the laptop cooler that I bought will significantly help with the cooling of this device. However, without the cooler, I am concerned that I will fry the device very quickly. So, for now, I'm not leaving it run for long periods of time. This, of course, limits it's usefulness. I would have given this a 5-star review except for this heat problem. Which is bad enough to drop the review down to 3-star.

Summary:

Pros:
* Performance
* Price (my price)
* HP Windows install is good & non-intrusive
* Linux compatible

Cons:
* Hot (by far my biggest concern)
* Battery life is low - I get about 90 minutes
* The case is a fingerprint magnet


UPDATE: Wow, what a difference a working fan makes. I connected with HP via their online chat about the heating problem. They sent me a box and a shipping label for repair. I dropped it off at FedEx on Monday and had it back on Friday. They replaced the fan. And now, the normal usage temps are: GPU 104C, CPU 58C, HD 49C. These are all *much* more reasonable.

As a consequence, I have changed my review to 5 stars. Note however, that I got a great price for this. Much less than the price advertised on amazon when this review was written. I would rate this much lower at that price.

UPDATE2: HP removed the screws from the hard drive in order to replace the fan. But they didn't put them back in, causing the drive to unseat itself and disconnect. At least one screw is needed to keep that harddrive from easily falling out of it's connector. Bad form, HP! When I called them back, I had to haggle with them to send me some screws. They wanted me to send the entire laptop back in.