Windows and Compaq

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Guest
Note: Compaq eats balls: I own a Presario 5080US 800Celeron, 256 meg(upgraded from 128),INtel810E chipset, Radeon 32M SDR PCI VGACard, SoundBlaster Voyetra Card, FireBall ICT20 20 GigHD... all of that and my old Gateway333celeron ran better. So i was pissed. I locked up about 3 times an hours out of the box.
For those of you using windows ME on a compaq...thats your first problem. Its no longer windows ME but a bastardization. The catch: if you change operating systems, you will void your warranty with Compaq. If you are a serious comp user you dont want to use ME anyway.
Second: Compaq utilzes poor thermal management. I was running 41C(105.8C), low CPU usage, out of the box. I changed their heatsync to a ThermalTake Orb and my temps dropped. So did the number of lock ups. At an ambient temp of 75F(~25C),at FULL CPU load, my comp now runs strong at an average 100F(37C). Intel suggests on their website that 800Celeron run at no hotter than 70-80C. Seems like their is enough room for operation without changing heat syncs, but it made the biggest difference.
Then I put my old 6.7 hard drive in with Win98SE. Ran like a champ. So I reformatted my 20 gig drive to Win98SE (voiding my warranty). The lockups came back, but less. BUt here was the kicker. Compaq doesnt keep all the drives on their website. The ones they do are not complete. So i had to buy a sound card to get my sound back. Which by the way, had the files i needed to complete my sound driver. Oh well, it relieved some CPU load for a whopping $15 (but i shouldnt have had to spend at all) . Once i had the new operating system (or rather my old one back) everything ran great in comparrison.
I scan disc every three day and come up with errors. But thats because I still need to hardboot about once ever 1-2 days. I think my board has a problem cause you can hear the hard drive lose power if you walk past the computer with a heavy foot. But yet it runs great in my old computer.
So you ask: If you know so much why did you buy a Compaq? Answer : I know so much BECAUSE I bought a compaq. I just wanted something faster than 333 until christmas. But mow my wife says i spent too much on computer stuff. hhmmm maybe my next upgrade will my wife j/k.
Dont get one unless you plan or are tech savy


Bent on taking Compaq down
 

jc14all

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Mar 31, 2001
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That is the very reason I build my own PC's. No long holds on the phone with tech support, can slap any card in/out whenever you please, can find hardware updated drivers easy, no voided warranties to worry about, and a big plus, you can vist THG and get help from those who have graduated form "The School of Hard Knocks" (TSOHK).

Build your own and live dangerously.

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men
 
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yeah, lesson learned. Like i said this was supposed to be a cheapie to hold me over till i can build my dream machine.

Bent on taking Compaq down
 

hammerhead

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Mar 5, 2001
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I can understand why you were pissed. I've worked on Compaq PC's in the past, and they all sucked.

Two points spring to mind though.

If my machine was under warranty and crapping out all the time, I'd be claiming, not getting my hands dirty changing heatsinks et al. (By the way, if the machine behaved with improved cooling, even though the original temps were within spec, I'd suspect a dodgy CPU. It doesn't happen very often... but that's life).

Changing O/S's voids the warranty? For O/S problems perhaps but not hardware surely?

I have a Compaq laptop. Really had to grit my teeth to buy it, I hate Compaq. It was by far the best deal at the time so I went for it.

Nice piece of kit. Typical horrid Compaq setup/configuration but that doesn't really bother me. Never any point tuning a laptop for performance anyway.

Just checked the warranty, no warranty probs with changing the O/S. They even provide some instruction on upgrading to Win 2K.