Including 2 USB Ports, which becomes a pain in the ass when you use a mouse and an external hard drive and want to upload pictures from a camera or use an external webcam. I use my laptop more like a desktop as it rarely ever leaves this room, so I went out and bought a USB hub to connect my other USB toys to.

Including a 54g 802.11b/g wireless connection that runs flawlessly with the drivers provided for Windows XP (Compaq Presario V5303NR Drivers for XP). However, getting this wireless card to work well with other operating systems becomes quite a task. It took me quite some time to get it working with Windows 2000, which is what I am running right now. I believe I had to download a broadcom driver in order for Windows 2000 to recognize it. Anyway, out of the box the wireless network works very well.

The VGA Display Out is fun to play with on 42″ HDTV’s, but I’ve still found Windows to be quite a hassle when configuring the 42″ to be the main screen. This could be that the graphics card doesn’t like the idea since it is a laptop based internal graphics card.

The internal speakers, internal network card, touch-pad, keyboard, DVD Reader/CD Writer all get the job done, nothing extravagant, but you get what you pay for, right?

More Compaq Presario V5303NR Specifications…

Quality:
I’ve ran this thing to the ground many of times, where the processing speed is peaked and the RAM is at maximum usage with no major problems. The computer has crashed a few times from viruses, but you have to expect that with any Windows PC that you use with the internet. Takes about 45 minutes to format and re-install Windows XP, which is the best fix for any virus problems in my opinion. Other than the random crashes, everything works on this computer as it did when I bought it (Monitor is still just as crisp, speakers sound just as well, all inputs/outputs still work, CD drive still burns quickly, keyboard is still in-tact, etc…). Just remember kids, ALWAYS back-up your stuff.

Performance:
I can run Adobe Photoshop CS with my small amount of RAM and still run it quite well. This computer plays Counter-Strike: Source flawlessly at around 60FPS at the lowest resolution and I can keep a consistent connection of 40-50ms with my current internet connection with wireless. I’d say this computer does a great job considering the price!

Value:
It came with a good processor, enough ram for basic use and built in wireless internet connection all for under $400. I’d say this computer was valued perfectly.

Pros: bang-for-buck, screen size, decent AMD processor, XP compatible drivers
Cons: random crashes, lack of usb inputs, low amount of memory