Specifically, is it a good laptop to be used with gaming? What laptops are good for using computer games on? I’m looking at some for a Christmas present for a friend.
Well, allow me to say you’re the sort of friend I’d like to have
Now, as to the answer to your question, it largely depends on the types of games your friend likes to play. If it’s high-end (or moderate-end) games which require a ot of processing power and video RAM, Compaq isn’t going to do it (unless they have come out with a line of gaming laptops I am unaware of).
Gaming laptops are expensive. Those 999 specials at Dell, Compaq and HP are not going to have what you need to play newer games. You’ll be looking at upwards of 2K or more to get a decent gaming laptop. Dell has its XPS line, there is also Alienware, and another company I have heard recommended a lot here, Falcon North.
Good luck!
Moved to IMHO.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
My girlfriend had pretty awful experience with hers, but that was in the heyday of Windows98.
I do recall seeing mostly not-so-good reports & anecdotes about Compaq laptops since then though. Most centrally that the copy of Windows installed is riddled with Compaq add-on-ware and peculiar tweaks, that installing Windows from scratch (using Windows installers you have to buy separately, as the Compaq laptops only ship with those horrid “restore” CDs (?) is a nasty task because some Compaq drivers aren’t easy to find, and that their hardware is cut-rate and substandard and glitchy.
Meanwhile, the ability to play games would rank somewhere between “has a pretty colored A/C power cord” and “comes with lots of reusable packing peanuts I can use to pack other stuff in” as a consideration — I think I’ve played 5 computer games ever and don’t grok the attraction — but I’m under the impression that gamers scoff at laptops. Aren’t games most likely to need upgrades in order to run decently long before you need to upgrade in order to run browsers and editors and compilers and emailers and whatnot? I always hear about how such-and-such a laptop is “fine for office tasks but the graphics card isn’t good enough for serious gaming”, etc etc… ?
I’ve owned two Compaq laptops in my life, and they both sucked. I have a Toshiba now and like it . I don’t have an opinion on gaming, but Compaq quality leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion, and I don’t know if it has changed any in the last few years.
Nitpick: Falcon Northwest.
Otherwise, yes, what he said.
I don’t play games (though I have just installed Sam & Max: Episode 1 and have no trouble with that!), but I have a Compaq Presario (R4000 series) and I love it. Admittedly, I don’t put it though too much other than email/internet and the odd DVD or video but it hasn’t given me a problem in over a year and a half, the battery still lasts a long time, and it didn’t take a lot of computer knowledge to remove the software demos of things I didn’t want when I first got it. My husband’s laptop is a Presario too, about 2 years older, and the problems he’s had have only been that the battery doesn’t last so long anymore and his floppy drive (his actually came with one) doesn’t work, but that’s because it got screwed up when a student for a class he was TAing used a damaged floppy that had the metal cover break off in the drive. It isn’t a gaming computer, but he’s lugged it around a lot, and at times demanded quite a lot from it and he’s never had any complaints (well, other than he’d now like a more powerful one, but that’s his fault for going to grad school and not having the $ to replace it hehehe)
To give you an approximation on the lasting power of a Presario laptop, I got mine in May 2004 and it currently plays The Sims 2 with all the lowest video settings. Seeing as the same came out around the same time my laptop did, that doesn’t bode well for it.
I have a Compaq Presario 2100. I love it now, but just a few months ago I hated it. The problem was that for no reason, the power connector broke off inside the mother board, which meant I could only use battery power. Which meant I had to buy a couple of batteries and an external charger. Which meant using my computer for anything other than quick emailing was out of the question.
Apparently, Presarios tend to have this problem. I didn’t know that before I got it. It’s fine now, but I ended up spending a lot of money to get it fixed. Other than this problem, though, I have no complaints.