- CNET Editors' Rating 6.9/10 Good Editorial policies >>
- Average user rating from 29 users 6.6/10 Good Read user opinions >>
The good: Attractive design; PCI Express slot; LightScribe double-layer optical drive; multiformat media-card reader.
The bad: Wide-screen 15.4-inch display looks dim; speakers offer thin sound.
The bottom line: The attractive Compaq Presario V5000Z delivers good performance and a complete set of basic features for a remarkably low starting price.
Specs: Processor: AMD Turion 64 (2 GHz); RAM installed: 1 GB DDR SDRAM; Weight: 6.6 lbs See full specs >>
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 03/01/2006
- Released on: 01/05/2006
Otherwise, the Presario V5000Z is a pared-down version of the Pavilion dv5000z and makes a solid all-around notebook for a student or a home user who needs good--not great--performance and a fairly complete set of basic features and connections. Its starting price of just $549, $200 less than the price of the V4000's baseline configuration, makes it one of the least expensive base models on the market. We're not convinced the Intel processor is worth $200 more than the AMD equivalent, so we think the V5000Z is the better deal. If you're looking for a laptop with a bit more multimedia oomph, we recommend the dv4000 or the dv5000z.
The Presario V5000Z weighs a few ounces more than the V4000 (due to slight differences in their design) and almost a pound and a half more than either of HP's similar thin-and-light models, the Pavilion dv1000 and the Presario V2000. Our loaded Presario V5000Z test unit, priced at $1,217, came outfitted with a 2GHz Turion 64 ML-37 processor; 1GB of DDR SDRAM (1x1,024MB); an ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress graphics card with 128MB of VRAM; a 100GB hard drive running at 4,200rpm; Windows XP Professional; a 15.4-inch BrightView wide-screen display; a DVD burner featuring HP's neat LightScribe technology; an integrated 54g 802.11a/b/g networking card with Bluetooth; and a standard 6-cell battery. It turned in a decent score on our MobileMark benchmark, just a bit behind the more expensive Pentium-equipped V4000 we tested last year. However, the V5000Z, configured with a standard 6-cell battery, delivered only 2.4 hours of run time; the V4000, also configured with a 6-cell battery, ran for slightly more than 3 hours. Though the V5000Z is a bit heavy for regular travel, we recommend shelling out the $39 for the extended 12-cell battery if you plan to ever move from the wall socket.
For more information about the Presario V5000Z's design, features, and warranty, check out our full review of the very similar Presario V4000.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo's Mobile Mark 2005 performance rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo's MobileMark 2005 battery-life minutes |
Compaq Presario V5000Z
Windows XP Pro; 2GHz Turion 64 ML-37; 1GB DDR SDRAM PC2700 333MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress 200 128MB; Seagate 4200.2 100GB 4,200rpm
Compaq Presario V4000
Windows XP Pro; 2GHz Intel Pentium M 760; 1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2700 333MHz; Intel 915GM Graphics Media Accelerator 128MB; Toshiba MK8025GAS 80GB 4,200rpm
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User opinions
WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW How would you rate this product?
-
2/10 Terrible March 27, 2006
"Looks nice... but is a ticking time bomb of tech support woes" Read more >>
-
8/10 Excellent April 1, 2006
"Best laptop for the mony. Take care of her, and she'll take care of you." Read more >>
-
8/10 Excellent August 19, 2006
"best for the money" Read more >>
- WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEWSee all 29 user opinions >>
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