Compaq Presario Notebook with Intel® Celeron® M Processor 420 ..bestbuy

[abentley]

Can someone please tell me if this would be a good buy for my son? I cannot wrap my head around which one to buy, so I need advice!! Thanks so much!!!

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8032498&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01174&id=1157067574689

[RossMAN]

How old is he and does he plan on running any demanding games?

 

For surfing the internet, school homework, watching DVDs and listening to music it should be ok. There will probably be more powerful laptops on BF if you can wait 2 months?

[abentley]

Oh that "be patient " thing? It is so hard to wait!!!! Yeah, he will be playing a few games, but mostly music & internet things. Ughh!! I only have walmart for BF!!! They only had 17 laptops last year!!

[RossMAN]

Then I would buy now. Unless you don't mind standing in line for around 12 hours on BF.

 

To get a Walmart, BB or CC laptop that's what it will probably take.

[RossMAN]

Here's another laptop for $498: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=5014000

 

Can you afford $599? For only $180 more you get a lot more bang for your buck:

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8032522&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01174&id=1157067806799

 

Intel Dual Core CPU, DVD Burner and FireWire for editing videos from a camcorder.

[stationchief]

That $449 Compaq Presario from BB has about the same specs as the Acer from WM, but it's $50 cheaper and has twice as much hard drive space (80GB for the Compaq and only 40GB for the Acer). If it's just average games, not anythin' seriously processor or graphics demanding like 'Battlefield 2142' or somethin', then he should be ok.

 

So if you can't or are unwilling to wait for another two months for somethin' even cheaper, I'd go with that one now. But look for it in the store itself. Online it says it's sold out. The next step up would be that Toshiba from BestBuy.com if he needs it for digital video editing or DVD burning.

[abentley]

he wants to play "Warcraft"... but knowing his personality, he isn't going to play it much. He just deosn't have much free time, as in maybe 1 hour a week, so I don't know how long he will even want to do that. I understand it is addicting, but his attention span isn't very long. I bought my DD an "ACER" last year, and while the computer is fine, the software it came with wasn't usefull at all.

[stationchief]

If he wants to play something like 'World Of Warcraft', he'll be just fine with either of those laptops. But 'ya did bring up another good point. Check out all the softwae that comes with both the Compaq and the Acer. And scope out the warranty and support info while you're at it. Don't know the exact details for those laptops, but I'd think Compaq would win on all those counts.

[abentley]

Does anyone know if Bestbuy.com refreshes their stock online? Do you think it will be out of stock all week?

[stationchief]

Does anyone know if Bestbuy.com refreshes their stock online? Do you think it will be out of stock all week?

Dunno, but online it might say it's sold out because they're tryin' to clear their stock of it in-store. Your best bet for that Compaq is is to call 'em if 'ya have a Best Buy near you.

 

If online is your only option, then try for the 'eMachines - 3100+ Notebook' BB is offering for the same price. Or maybe have to go with that WM Acer.

[Gurnee Al]

You can buy a newer model Compaq direct from them for the same price (AR). They are at www.hpshopping.com.

Specs appear to be slightly different, but it also comes with a free AIO printer. (This one doesn't have the brightview screen and has a 60GB hard drive instead of 80)Link

[3dnick]

I have that computer and I like it.. I mostly just surf net..one of my sons uses it and likes it he plays some games and downloads music.. My other son had bought 1000 dollar lap top from dell and couldn't believe I only paid 449 for mine.. but I bought mine in the store and grant it I know nothing about computers but they got me for 200 dollar more saying I needed virus protection program loaded and someother kind of programs loaded..I just knew I couldn't of done it myself!!! But it is a very nice computer.

[lmpress2006]

I was actually looking at that laptop since the university I attend is requiring all students have a laptop. The 80GB hard drive is more than I actually need, especially at that price. I'm only worried about customer service from HP is something goes wrong. I have another HP that is 3 years old and can't get decent customer service since I bought it "pre-merger" with Compaq.

[Venusaur]

NEVER buy a Compaq computer. Compaq is the worst brand ever. The hard drive in mine died after a year, so I did some research on compaqs and found out how common my problem was with other compaq computers.