The Compaq Presario 700 series is one of their biggest selling "home" laptops, how do I know this I here you ask, well I worked for Compaq on their Presario Technical Support line.
The 700's are a good laptop, if your new to the PC scene, but don't expect great things from them. They have an average spec for the price, but the build quality is not the best in the world.
The software bundled with the 700's is fine for the majority of users (XP Home, MS Word, MS Works) amongst others. Although I would recommend ditching Works and getting a full version of Office as it offers much more flexibility.
As I said earlier the spec is average, and fine for most beginners, however the quality of the components leaves a lot to be desired. The battery is prone to not holding any charge (which is covered under the first years warranty). The majority of problems that arise with 700's is that they are, or were 4/5 months ago, prone to overheating and crashing, however this is also covered under the warranty. In fact the majority of faults, excluding accidental damage, are covered by the warranty.
Whats the warranty cover like?
Well the manufacturers warranty is for 1 year from date of purchase, and covers mechanical defects, it does NOT cover accidental damage. The repairs are carried out by the ONLY authorised Compaq laptop repairer in the UK (so ignore PC World when they are authorised to repair Compaq laptops) and is on a pick up and return basis. That is Compaq will collect the laptop from you and return it to you free of charge, in the majority of cases the turnaround for repairs of laptops is 7 business days.
To sum up I would only recommend this laptop to users who are looking to buy a PC for the first time, as itermediate and advanced users will not like it.
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(+) cool and quite robust trackpad, good display,64-bit windows 7 (-) few connectors,dell drivers only, not realy for gameing (most models), finger print prone!
brought one over 12 mths ago, failed with over heating and fixed under warranty, after fix it will not POST. a reall pain, would not recommend a compaq again
vikingpimp 22.08.2003 19:05
Couldn't agree more about the overheating and crashing - a real pain
stepearce 22.06.2003 21:13
I ill gladly re-rate this op if it is beefed up a bit! You need to include things such as weight, availability, price, screen size, personal experiences with the product, size dimensions, etc. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but since HP bought out Compaq, isn't every Compaq computer (laptop or PC) simply a re-badged HP? If not, there's some startling resmeblences between them...!!! Let me know if you change your op and I'll gladly re-rate it for you. Ste.
Advantages: Good size keyboard, most keys are in standard places (like desktop keyboard) Disadvantages: Not suitable for traveling (not very durable), battery life when using windows
fitzy75 22.12.2005 (22.12.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Compaq Presario 700
Advantages: Good Looks; very good WiFi adapter; Widescreen; Card Reader; Awesome sound; nice keyboard Disadvantages: Very Poor Battery!!! ; Overheating
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