Home > Consumer Reviews > Compaq Presario V2630US 14" Laptop (AMD Turion 64 Mobile Processor ML-34, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-R/RW and CD-RW Combo Drive)

You have to know what you are getting when you buy this notebook. This is no super computer. It is typically sold with 512mb of RAM (2 256 chips is how I purchased it). However, unless you are gaming, using video applications, music recording or seriously multi-tasking, you don't need more. If you do, it is capable of holding up to 2 gigs. With the 512 I find that pages come up very fast web browsing. I purchased this laptop having just entered into a MBA program. My main uses for it will be word processing and internet surfing. The 80 gig hard drive is plenty for this purpose. I have an IMAC to handle all of my music and more complicated applications. For travel and schoolwork I don't think that this machine can be beat for the price. I purchased it on sale from Office Depot for $449.99. I base my 5 star rating on this price. It's a big bang for the buck. I would not endorse a 5 star for the Amazon price of $929 as I would guess there are better models in that price range. The built in wireless card and efficient AMD Turion processor also add great value. The book is also very light (just over 5 lbs) and it looks beautiful (futuristic silver styling). If I have one gripe it's the battery life. I've found it to be approximately two hours depending on how it's used. But as long as you can plan ahead and bring the adaptor it's a non-issue.

UPDATE: I have since increased the RAM to 2 gigs which will extend its usefullness to me for a few more years. Until prices come down further and/or a far superior product comes along, this will satisfy my laptop computing needs.

I have had it for 9 months, and it works great for me so far. The screen is bright and the sound quality is great. It is good for students or young professionals who do not want to spend too much on laptops. It works great for most games and word processing. I am currently looking for memory upgrades because it only came with 2x256=512m ram.