Compaq Presario CQ5300F Desktop Computer with AMD Sempron LE-1300 Processor

In our household we have an old Dell laptop, 2 Toshiba Satellite laptops, a Compaq Presario SR132OXN, and just recently purchased the Compaq Presario CQ5300F Desktop.

My husband Len had told me that the old Compaq was working really slow and starting to freeze up on him. It originally had 512 MB RAM memory, 80 GB hard drive, but a friend of his had upgraded it a couple of years back with more memory.

He wanted a new one, so we headed up to Office Depot, as they had a sale on. The CQ5300F was reduced down from $309 to $249.91. He looked at it, and it didn't have the area for a smart media card, and only 1 slot, instead of the 2 slots for the DVD+RW/CD-RW. He told me that he didn't need them, because he would keep the old computer next to his desk, and only use it for certain projects.

Upon taking the new computer out of the box, Len opened up the quick setup leaflet that came with it, and in no time at all, had the system up and running.

It has a 320 GB hard drive and a 2 GB memory. Len is planning on taking out the extra memory in the old computer, and adding it to this one.

The system it uses is Microsoft Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit. Apart from my new laptop all the systems are older than Windows 7, so I told Len that all the programs he has will not run on this computer. He found this out on the first day when he wanted to make the usual calendar for the Community Newsletter. Instead of him getting frustrated, he said that he would continue using the SR132OXN, as this computer was all set up with the correct program.

With all computers nowadays you don't get an owner's manual with it. I did go online and found out that it has a 1 year warranty on it. It did have a list of product details which I am listing below:

"processor brand AMD
processor model Sempron
memory 2 GB
hard drive capacity 320 GB
optical drive DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R Double Layer
operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
processor speed 2.3 GHz
frontside bus speed 1600 MHz
memory speed PC2-6400
memory type DDR2 SDRAM
maximum memory capacity 4 GB
network connectivity 10/100 Ethernet
modem 56K V.92
ports 6 USB 2.0; 1 Ethernet; 1 VGA 15-pin D-sub
memory card reader no
video graphics nVidia GeForce 6150 SE graphics with 256MB to 895MB shared memory
audio hardware Integrated audio, 6 speaker configurable
peripherals included keyboard; optical mouse"

I often go on Len's computer and he on mine. I find that his doesn't seem to be quite as fast as mine, but that could be all the stuff he keeps in it. Instead of clicking it on at the front, the new one has a button, on the right top side of the desktop.

It doesn't matter that this computer doesn't have a smart reader card, because we purchased for just $9.99 a drive USB 2.0 SD. It is made my Ativa, and all you do is pull off one end, and insert the card. Then pull off the other end, and it is a USB drive, so you just push it into the port. It will then bring up your photographs for you. I just love this little piece of technology, and it works great with the computer.

The keyboard is black and the letters and numbers stand out well. The mouse is also black, and is just a basic one. We prefer to use a better quality one, so that stayed in the box.

We have had the new Presario for a month now, and are pleased that a computer, which was so cheap, is working well. This computer wouldn't be suitable for anyone who needs more capacity, but for a home computer, it is basic enough for anyone to use.

You will need to register your computer by going to http://register.hp.com

They have a help and support center too, which you can email, if your computer is working, or they have a toll free number as well.

The Compaq Presario came with a trial of Norton security. There was also a discounted coupon to use, if you want to continue with it.

Final thoughts.

I switched on the new computer, and wrote this article in wordpad, and then transferred it into the article. This is really all I want from a computer. I feel it is an excellent purchase, and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to shell out a lot of money.

Source: HP website.