Compaq Presario Cq61420us Notebook PC Black And Silver

User Review #5 Source: HP.com on July 14th, 2010

I bought this at a major retail outlet on the west coast that specializes in consumer electronics. I saw their weekly full page ad in the paper and went in fully prepared to purchase another notebook from a not-quite-so-main-stream PC manufacturer but still a well known one. I had the ad in hand and went to the store.My wife, bless her heart, asked me if I didn't want to look around first in case I found something I liked better. I'm a value conscious shopper but will spend more money for a better deal. I was certain I had selected the best value for my money but, in order to appease, I opted to look over the many laptops this store offered.The very last laptop I looked at, on the very last row I could have walked down was this Compaq. Compaq was a company I've never owned a product of but I know they are together with HP now and I've had mostly positive experiences with my HP notebooks in the past, save a couple. (I've owned dozens and dozens of laptops over the years.)The laptop I was going to buy had a 12.1" screen (At the time I wanted something smaller.), the same CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 160gb 5400rpm hard drive. And, a step lower, HD 3200 video card. It also cost $80 more than the Compaq. They both came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit installed.The Compaq was an easy choice for me. I'm happy now that I went with the larger screen, not sure what I was thinking looking for something so small. Look what you get with this one; 3GB of PC2-6400 RAM, a 7200 RPM hard drive that is very, very speedy on benchmark tests. This drive is FAST, FAST, FAST. The number one thing you can do to increase the perceived speed of your computer is to increase data transfer on the HD bus and this unit feels extremely snappy.The screen is fantastic. The HD4200 is not the greatest GPU in the world but it does the job. Everything Windows operates fine and seems like any desktop computer. Oblivion can play at full-res with a few features dialed back. The main game I play, World of Warcraft, runs quite well on it and I'm glad for that. I hang out in big cities at ~25fps, I do 25 man raids with ease when I'm away from home so I don't get booted out of my guild. This is a great mobile WoW station. It isn't going to play Crysis or Bioshock 2 very well but overall it's a decent gaming laptop unless you're very demanding there.The design is the real winner on the laptop. it looks, feels and functions as if it cost hundreds more than it did. The layout is nearly perfect and it really is a joy to use. Build quality is first rate. It is an extremely well thought out and executed computer. I don't even need to say that considering the low price, it just is at any price.I did upgrade the RAM to 4GB from 3GB to get a little less slugishness in big WoW cities and that helped. Just pop out the 1GB stick and replace it with a 2GB stick.Lots of bloatware needs to be removed immediately but that's typical. The battery life is perhaps average, or maybe slightly below that. It could use a bigger battery. I'm very happy with this computer and I'm 100% confident, after a few weeks of use, that I made the right choice. I don't regret it one bit.

1st time user


I bought this at a major retail outlet on the west coast that specializes in consumer electronics. I saw their weekly full page ad in the paper and went in fully prepared to purchase another notebook from a not-quite-so-main-stream PC manufacturer but still a well known one. I had the ad in hand and went to the store.My wife, bless her heart, asked me if I didn't want to look around first in case I found something I liked better. I'm a value conscious shopper but will spend more money for a better deal. I was certain I had selected the best value for my money but, in order to appease, I opted to look over the many laptops this store offered.The very last laptop I looked at, on the very last row I could have walked down was this Compaq. Compaq was a company I've never owned a product of but I know they are together with HP now and I've had mostly positive experiences with my HP notebooks in the past, save a couple. (I've owned dozens and dozens of laptops over the years.)The laptop I was going to buy had a 12.1" screen (At the time I wanted something smaller.), the same CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 160gb 5400rpm hard drive. And, a step lower, HD 3200 video card. It also cost $80 more than the Compaq. They both came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit installed.The Compaq was an easy choice for me. I'm happy now that I went with the larger screen, not sure what I was thinking looking for something so small. Look what you get with this one; 3GB of PC2-6400 RAM, a 7200 RPM hard drive that is very, very speedy on benchmark tests. This drive is FAST, FAST, FAST. The number one thing you can do to increase the perceived speed of your computer is to increase data transfer on the HD bus and this unit feels extremely snappy.The screen is fantastic. The HD4200 is not the greatest GPU in the world but it does the job. Everything Windows operates fine and seems like any desktop computer. Oblivion can play at full-res with a few features dialed back. The main game I play, World of Warcraft, runs quite well on it and I'm glad for that. I hang out in big cities at ~25fps, I do 25 man raids with ease when I'm away from home so I don't get booted out of my guild. This is a great mobile WoW station. It isn't going to play Crysis or Bioshock 2 very well but overall it's a decent gaming laptop unless you're very demanding there.The design is the real winner on the laptop. it looks, feels and functions as if it cost hundreds more than it did. The layout is nearly perfect and it really is a joy to use. Build quality is first rate. It is an extremely well thought out and executed computer. I don't even need to say that considering the low price, it just is at any price.I did upgrade the RAM to 4GB from 3GB to get a little less slugishness in big WoW cities and that helped. Just pop out the 1GB stick and replace it with a 2GB stick.Lots of bloatware needs to be removed immediately but that's typical. The battery life is perhaps average, or maybe slightly below that. It could use a bigger battery.

I'm very happy with this computer and I'm 100% confident, after a few weeks of use, that I made the right choice. I don't regret it one bit.

User Review #4 Source: HP.com by BALane on April 11th, 2010

I bought this at a major retail outlet on the west coast that specializes in consumer electronics. I saw their weekly full page ad in the paper and went in fully prepared to purchase another notebook from a not-quite-so-main-stream PC manufacturer but still a well known one. I had the ad in hand and went to the store. My wife, bless her heart, asked me if I didn't want to look around first in case I found something I liked better. I'm a value conscious shopper but will spend more money for a better deal. I was certain I had selected the best value for my money but, in order to appease, I opted to look over the many laptops this store offered. The very last laptop I looked at, on the very last row I could have walked down was this Compaq. Compaq was a company I've never owned a product of but I know they are together with HP now and I've had mostly positive experiences with my HP notebooks in the past, save a couple. (I've owned dozens and dozens of laptops over the years.) The laptop I was going to buy had a 12.1" screen (At the time I wanted something smaller.), the same CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 160gb 5400rpm hard drive. And, a step lower, HD 3200 video card. It also cost $80 more than the Compaq. They both came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit installed. The Compaq was an easy choice for me. I'm happy now that I went with the larger screen, not sure what I was thinking looking for something so small. Look what you get with this one; 3GB of PC2-6400 RAM, a 7200 RPM hard drive that is very, very speedy on benchmark tests. This drive is FAST, FAST, FAST. The number one thing you can do to increase the perceived speed of your computer is to increase data transfer on the HD bus and this unit feels extremely snappy. The screen is fantastic. The HD4200 is not the greatest GPU in the world but it does the job. Everything Windows operates fine and seems like any desktop computer. Oblivion can play at full-res with a few features dialed back. The main game I play, World of Warcraft, runs quite well on it and I'm glad for that. I hang out in big cities at ~25fps, I do 25 man raids with ease when I'm away from home so I don't get booted out of my guild. This is a great mobile WoW station. It isn't going to play Crysis or Bioshock 2 very well but overall it's a decent gaming laptop unless you're very demanding there. The design is the real winner on the laptop. it looks, feels and functions as if it cost hundreds more than it did. The layout is nearly perfect and it really is a joy to use. Build quality is first rate. It is an extremely well thought out and executed computer. I don't even need to say that considering the low price, it just is at any price. I did upgrade the RAM to 4GB from 3GB to get a little less slugishness in big WoW cities and that helped. Just pop out the 1GB stick and replace it with a 2GB stick. Lots of bloatware needs to be removed immediately but that's typical. The battery life is perhaps average, or maybe slightly below that. It could use a bigger battery. I'm very happy with this computer and I'm 100% confident, after a few weeks of use, that I made the right choice. I don't regret it one bit.

Great performance for the price.

I bought this at a major retail outlet on the west coast that specializes in consumer electronics. I saw their weekly full page ad in the paper and went in fully prepared to purchase another notebook from a not-quite-so-main-stream PC manufacturer but still a well known one. I had the ad in hand and went to the store.

My wife, bless her heart, asked me if I didn't want to look around first in case I found something I liked better. I'm a value conscious shopper but will spend more money for a better deal. I was certain I had selected the best value for my money but, in order to appease, I opted to look over the many laptops this store offered.

The very last laptop I looked at, on the very last row I could have walked down was this Compaq. Compaq was a company I've never owned a product of but I know they are together with HP now and I've had mostly positive experiences with my HP notebooks in the past, save a couple. (I've owned dozens and dozens of laptops over the years.)

The laptop I was going to buy had a 12.1" screen (At the time I wanted something smaller.), the same CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 160gb 5400rpm hard drive. And, a step lower, HD 3200 video card. It also cost $80 more than the Compaq. They both came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit installed.

The Compaq was an easy choice for me. I'm happy now that I went with the larger screen, not sure what I was thinking looking for something so small. Look what you get with this one; 3GB of PC2-6400 RAM, a 7200 RPM hard drive that is very, very speedy on benchmark tests. This drive is FAST, FAST, FAST. The number one thing you can do to increase the perceived speed of your computer is to increase data transfer on the HD bus and this unit feels extremely snappy.

The screen is fantastic. The HD4200 is not the greatest GPU in the world but it does the job. Everything Windows operates fine and seems like any desktop computer. Oblivion can play at full-res with a few features dialed back. The main game I play, World of Warcraft, runs quite well on it and I'm glad for that. I hang out in big cities at ~25fps, I do 25 man raids with ease when I'm away from home so I don't get booted out of my guild. This is a great mobile WoW station. It isn't going to play Crysis or Bioshock 2 very well but overall it's a decent gaming laptop unless you're very demanding there.

The design is the real winner on the laptop. it looks, feels and functions as if it cost hundreds more than it did. The layout is nearly perfect and it really is a joy to use. Build quality is first rate. It is an extremely well thought out and executed computer. I don't even need to say that considering the low price, it just is at any price.

I did upgrade the RAM to 4GB from 3GB to get a little less slugishness in big WoW cities and that helped. Just pop out the 1GB stick and replace it with a 2GB stick.

Lots of bloatware needs to be removed immediately but that's typical. The battery life is perhaps average, or maybe slightly below that. It could use a bigger battery.

I'm very happy with this computer and I'm 100% confident, after a few weeks of use, that I made the right choice. I don't regret it one bit.

User Review #3 Source: HP.com by Jetbeautie on March 15th, 2010

I irst had an HP and bought it for about $800 at Brandsmart, then I caught a virus and decided that it was old and want a new laptop. Instead I got a notebook which was very small and convieniant, but I never trveled with it so it made no sence. I decided to sell it on craigs list and I paid the difference for this laptop. I love it, the number pad is seperate and easier to access, also the screen has a really nice resolution. I am actually excited to do HW on my new laptop. My only complaints are: No web cam :-( and the volume does not go as loud as my HP did. But there is a really big price difference.

Great Laptop

I irst had an HP and bought it for about $800 at Brandsmart, then I caught a virus and decided that it was old and want a new laptop. Instead I got a notebook which was very small and convieniant, but I never trveled with it so it made no sence. I decided to sell it on craigs list and I paid the difference for this laptop. I love it, the number pad is seperate and easier to access, also the screen has a really nice resolution. I am actually excited to do HW on my new laptop. My only complaints are: No web cam :-( and the volume does not go as loud as my HP did. But there is a really big price difference.