Home > Consumer Reviews > Compaq Presario 5300US Desktop (1.1-GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

The Compaq 5300US is an easy top pick for a pre-installed, affordable Windows XP Home Edition PC. I've been using XP at work since the beginning of the year, and have nothing to say about it here except it's very, very good. (NTFS on a home PC! ClearType on an LCD panel is incredible!)

The 5300US doesn't include a monitor or speakers, but I already have them. I yanked the modem and replaced it with an ethernet card (SMC EZ) before powering up the 5300US. The case is really easy to work with, but a Phillips head screwdriver is needed to remove one screw. A tool-free screw would have been nicer.

After defining the users, setting the time zone, etc., and logging on, I checked the Device Manager, and everything was in order, including the network adapter.

Attaching a USB printer (Lexmark Z22) went flawlessly, with the driver loading from within XP - including the cartridge installation and alignment steps, without need for Lexmark's installation CD.

The printer uses the second USB port in the back. The other one is needed by the keyboard. The mouse is old-fashioned PS/2 style. There's a DIN connector for the keyboard, but it's not used.

What's REALLY nice is the flip-open panel next to the floppy drive. Instead of being "dead space" it has two more USB ports, ready for a Web Cam or whatever.

Of less obvious value is the 5-disc CD holder in a click-open panel. Too much trouble to use for frequently swapped discs. The only disc of interest that comes with the 5300US is the Recovery CD. I'll stick that in the cubby, along with the Lexmark disc I didn't need.

The Compaq 5300US runs very fast and smooth, with a 1.1 GHz Celeron and 256MB of PC100 memory (it might be 133 memory, but the bus is 100). Not scrimping on memory is what raises the Compaq above other products in this price range (a single 256 MB DIMM and one open slot). The hard drive is "only" 20GB, but that's plenty. More memory is what makes XP sing.

Anyway, from the moment this machine first booted, it was obvious it's a real winner. For super-fast 3D video, DVD-ROM and CD-RW I have my primary machine, a Dell 4100. What the 5300US needs to be is a really fast Web browser for broadband, a general-purpose family PC, etc., and for that it's absolutely perfect -- after you install an ethernet card, that is.

The Compaq 5300US is a deal, if not a steal. I'm a happy Dell customer, but at the moment Dell just doesn't have a package that comes close to this one from Compaq. For me, it really hits the sweet spot.

I own a lesser of the line of Compaq (I have a 950 mhz). I have tried Windows XP though. I find that Compaq is a very high quality product. It is up with Dell, above Hewlett Packard. I highly suggest that you do no purchase a Hewlett Packard because of many reasons (see my review on it). I like the audio, keyboard, and all the small things about a Compaq. CD-RW write drives are a must for the future. Windows XP is wonderful for multiple users. It has a sign in screen. You can personalize your sign in with things such as your own wallpaper, sounds, pointing arrow, etc. I also prefer Windows above Apple. Apple is only good if you are looking for the most simplicity.

i recently just purchased one of these computers and i must say its doing its job. Loading big programs like corel draw with ease. Evening running muiltiple programs with hardly any lag time. The cd burner its very speedy and very simple to use. As a new college student this will become a treasured item for the fact that its so fast. I recommend it to all who want a nice affordable computer that'll get whatever you need done.

I've bought 3 Compaq Presarios in the past few years. Their machines, in general, offer great value for the money. However, they are not terribly well-built or well-designed. It can be a frustrating task to add hard drive or CD drive to the system yourself. On some models, I practically had to dismantle all the drive bays before I can fit a new drive in. This can be a blessing though: my house was burglarized once and the computer literate burglar decided to steal all the add-on cards in my Compaq instead of taking the whole machine which was too heavy. He got the cards all right, but couldn't figure out how to remove the hard drives and left my 2 drives with valuable data behind. I should be grateful to the Compaq hardware designers. :-)

This computer is AWESOME! I just got it and it has never frozen in the month that i've had it. It has alot (512 MB) of RAM which makes windows XP run great. The 1.7 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor is flawless and makes the computer run fast, very fast. The 80 GB hard drive is great for storing big files. It also has a great graphics card (GeForce MX 400) which makes games such as Max Payne run really well, and the graphics card also has a whopping 64 MB of memory and an S-Video TV out port. The EA Games and EA Sports bundles that came with it includes awesome games, such as Need For Speed: Porcshe Unleashed, Simcity 3000 Unlimited, Tiger Wood's Pro PGA Golf 2001, Madden 2001, and Triple Play Baseball. DVD's run on it great, due to the fast DVD drive. And with the fast CD-RW drive and Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 Software making CD's is very easy. The Smart Credit Card Keyboard is conveinent, if you have a Smart Credit Card and don't know what to do with it. The Ethernet Card is also a nice feature if you want to hook up a network, or if you have or want to get Broadband Communications. Overall this computer deserves 5 stars because it's a steal at ... and it has great features.