Home > Consumer Reviews > Compaq Presario X1010US Laptop (1.30-GHz Pentium-M (Centrino), 512 MG RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

Beware of the reviewer "A PC Hardware Fan from Las Cruces, NM" who wrote "Keep shopping for something else!" This person writes that "[The computer] automatically shut down at least twelve times in two days." And this person wrote the review on August 23, 2003. Now, call me crazy, but doesn't that sound suspiciously like the symptoms of the Blaster Worm that was making it's way around the world right around the time that this person wrote the review? I do believe this this reviewer had accidentally downloaded the blaster worm and then blamed the computer. That is ignorant and misleading. If you are not going to choose this computer, that's all well and good, just don't do it on the basis of that review.

This notebook has enough power to get you through most applications. The wireless feature is great (point to note - the wireless adapter on the notebook is set to channel 1, and most DSL routers have a default of channel 6. You need to change the channel on either the router or the adapter to make things work). The X1010US has enough memory (512MB) and disk space (60GB) for a home/office notebook. THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE WAS THE BATTERY! On normal applications (i.e. surfing on the web, working on Word, editing photos, etc.) the battery life was over 4 hours!!!!! If you are playing a DVD, you can see a 2 1/2 hour movie and still have some power left. This is an impressive notebook at a reasonable cost. Also, the 15" widescreen display is very nice!!!

Got this computer 3 days ago and can't praise it enough. I'd had a host of horrible experiences with older Compaq laptops at work and was more than a little nervous about this one...but I needn't have worried. Everything worked right out of the box. Battery life is exactly as other reviews depict it....3-4 hours, though I haven't watched an entire DVD on battery. CDs burn fast and reliably. DVDs look wonderful. Wireless connection is flawless from 20 feet and from 100 feet; I haven't tried from further away. The keyboard feels nice and solid. The touchpad scroller is an excellent feature. The display is outstanding. And while I wouldn't call the thing blazingly fast, it's more than satisfactory (and I'm pretty picky). I suppose the sound is okay, at least compared with other laptops I've heard, but face it...until they figure out a way to flatten out and miniaturize a subwoofer, a good set of headphones is a good investment.

Okay, nothing is perfect, so here are the few little things that rattle my type-A: the indicator lights, in their plastic housing on the front of the machine, seem kind of kitschy, bordering on "too much". Read the one-page inserts in the box and then scratch your head trying to figure out what's up with the software that isn't quite as installed as HP says it is (example: the utility for the Intel wireless card). The latch feels chincy and the seal between upper and lower halves is tighter on one side than the other on my machine....but not glaringly so.

I haven't had the chance to evaluate tech support and sincerely hope I don't have to. I also can't address the issue of games. I got out of that world a long time ago.

All in all, I would give it 4.5 stars....but they won't let me do that here and only God bats 1.000! Still, I recommend it wholeheartedly. Compaq has a winner with this line.

I bought our x1010 last month and I am still absolutely thrilled with it. Its very fast despite having a slow (4200 rpm) HDD. I have had zero problems with the wireless - in fact the wireless will be a no-brainer if your other wireless devices can "see" your network. I am very happy with the 32mb (dedicated) Radeon graphics. This machine will play Rainbow Six Raven Shield with no problems at all - try that on one of the Toshiba's or lower end Compaq's with shared-memory graphics!! The display is fantastic - bright and not at all "grainy" like the Toshiba's and low-end Compaq's and HP's. (Ok - the WSXGA+ would probably look even sharper). I don't know this for sure - but I think the dot-pitch on the x1000 series is .26 versus .29/.30 (mm) on the cheapie machines. Great display, great graphics power, very stable, super build quality, etc. Only a couple of potential downsides - one, its a little big to tote around the house and two, the DVD/CDRW isn't modular so you're up the creek (have to send it to Compaq) if your drive is damaged. Oh one last positive - the lid is made out of metal (aluminum I assume) so it isn't flimsy.

I got that system last week. It is one of the best ratio of specs to money in this category of centrino laptops.

I am very pleased with its performance. This compaq offers really some goodies which are top notch. 60G HDD, CDR, 1.3 Centrino and remember the 1200 VGA (32Megs-ATI) which is really very impressive on that sharp 15" Screen. I do recommend this PC especially for university student, since wifi connectivity is available on campuses. You will be impressed also by the built in card readers (SD).