Product Description

HP C502US Compaq Presario Notebook. For those seeking reliable mobile performance technology that will enable high speed wireless internet connections for surfing, e mail and more, the Compaq Presario C500 series Notebook PC provides proven mobile technologies and easy to use digital entertainment features. Optimized for mobile performance, its 6.6lb design is powered by Intel mobile processors and supports high speed WiFi 802.11b/g WLAN options. Its 15.4 inch WXGA BrightView display supports High Definition playback enhanced by Altec Lansing audio and run by preinstalled DVD Play. Digital photo management is made easy with preinstalled HP Photosmart Premier and 2 USB ports. For communication, personal projects and entertainment, the Compaq Presario C500 series is a great choice at a great value.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2318 in Personal Computers
• Brand: Hewlett-Packard
• Model: C502US
• Dimensions: 10.20" h x 1.77" w x 7.60" l, 67.10 pounds
• Display size: 15.4

Features

• Affordable, reliable business notebook with 1.86 GHz Intel Celeron M 440 processor
• 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB installed RAM (2 GB max), DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
• Connectivity: 2 USB, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video, 1 headphone, 1 microphone
• 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g), 10/100 Ethernet, Intel GMA 950 video card with up to 64 MB shared memory
• Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Basic

Amazon.com Product Description
Wherever your hectic schedule takes you, you'll stay productive thanks to reliable Compaq Presario C502US notebook PC, which offers all the basics at a nicely affordable price. Optimized for mobile performance, this 6.6-pound laptop is powered by the battery sipping 1.86 GHz Intel Celeron M 440 processor and features 54g wireless networking (802.11b/g), enabling you to stay connected at coffeeshop and airport hotspots. Its 15.4-inch WXGA BrightView display supports High-Definition playback enhanced by Altec Lansing audio. Other features include an 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum), Intel GMA 950 video processor with up to 64 MB of shared video RAM, and a DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

This laptop also comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, which delivers a safer, more reliable, and more productive computing environment. It integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

The Basics

• Processor: The Intel Celeron M Processor 440 is designed specifically for mobile computing, offering a balanced level of mobile-optimized processor technology, good mobile performance, and exceptional value. The 1.86 GHz speed is complemented by a speedy 533 MHz front-side bus (FSB) and a 1 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.) This processor sits near the top of its class (as of January 2007).
• Hard Drive: The 80 GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 RPM) has become the average size for notebook PCs. It provides enough capacity for storing documents, digital media files, and productivity software. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to FireWire and USB 2.0.
  
• Memory: The 512 MB of installed RAM (1 x 512 MB DDR2) is enough to get you started, but you'll want to add more RAM to handle today's demanding multimedia and productivity suites. It provides two DIMM slots and has a 2 GB maximum RAM capacity. To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed.
  
• DVD/CD Drive: With the included DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, you'll be able to watch DVD movies as well as burn data and your favorite music mixes to CD. It has a 24x write speed for CDs.
  
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a full-sized 101-key keyboard and touchpad with four-way scroll zone on/off button and dedicated vertical scroll up/down pad.

Screen, Video & Audio
The 15.4-inch LCD offers a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The widescreen display gives increases the width of the notebook's display while giving the computer the form factor of a smaller computer, so it takes up less space on your desk or in your briefcase. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) and provides up to 64 MB of shared video memory. It also offers an integrated audio card and built-in Altec Lansing speakers.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
This notebook has an integrated 54g wireless LAN that's fully compatible with 802.11b/g wireless networks. You get a very basic offering of connectivity options:

• 2 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 1 S-Video port for connecting to a TV
• 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Basic is the operating system for users with basic computing needs, such as surfing the Internet, corresponding with friends and family using e-mail, or performing basic document creation and editing tasks. Additionally, Windows Vista Home Basic integrates new search tools throughout the operating system to help you quickly find the precise file or program you need.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Includes Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition (60-day trial), Muvee autoProducer DVD Edition, Sonic Digital Media Plus, PC Recovery, and Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007 (with 60 days of Live Update).

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 14.1 x 10.2 x 1.38/1.77 inches (WxDxH) and weighs 6.6 pounds.

Power
It's powered by a 6-cell lithium-ion rechargeable battery, which provides between 1.5 and 2 hours of battery life (depending on usage).

What's in the Box
This package contains the HP Compaq Presario C502US notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase as well as technical telephone assistance for one year. Software is also covered for 30 days from date of purchase.

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Customer Reviews

Easy Use, Easy Setup, Inexpensive bought 2nd one
FEBRUARY 29, 2008....This is an update one year after purchasing this laptop. Six months ago upgraded it to 2.0gb ram and it works even better... it has never crashed on me. In August of 07, I purchased another one for my son which now includes a DVD burner. Had one glitch right after purchase, but when I updated the drivers and updated vista it ran fine. Great inexpensive laptop especially when upgrading the ram to 2.0gb. Would still recommend.



I purchased this laptop and feel very satisfied with all the features, it even has a 56k modem for dialup (unfortunately my only option where I live).

Some of the features not listed above are a LAN connection plug, 3usb ports, headphone jack, microphone jack, plus S-Video and SVGA output.

It was very easy to set up; it recognized all my add-ons, ergonomic usb keyboard, wireless usb trackball, usb multifunction laser printer, 2 usb hubs, and an emergency usb controlled battery backup. This laptop runs pretty fast and even more with a RAM module upgrade.

I have taken it out to try out the built in wireless and it worked flawlessly. The widescreen is a great feature and has a beautiful picture. The laptop is not too heavy especially comparing it to my old PIII 500 and even fits in to my old targus notebook case (did not think it would because of the widescreen).

Some of the things it does not have are a firewire connection, a DVD burner, and PCMIA slots. I burn my DVDs at home and just about every add-on is USB so I am not sorry at all for choosing this laptop.

This is my first experience with a windows vista system to which I was a bit apprehensive about but it was pretty easy to adjust from windows XP and did not encounter any problems. For the price and features this makes a great buy.

Look for the best price, everywhere...
I bought this at a local electronic store, at the time it wasn't the worst buy in the store, but the best. Payed 4 bones for this bad boy, look for the best price before purchasing. Also known as the compaq presario c551nr.

Powered this thing up and was very disappointed at the speed, BUT fear not, the speed is not held back by the hardware, but by Vista. I've bought about three laptops in the past 2 months for friends and family, and all have been the same price/hardware range.

#1 Vista is a joke, it's worthless NOW, in about a year after MS fixes a bunch of the small issues, it may be worth something, but for now it's a over-hyped "cool looking" resource hog from he!!. Someone in here said down grading to XP would be a bad idea, well they obviously know nothing about PC's, or about speed and reliability. XP is tried and true, sure it's about 5 years old but that only means the hardware in this is more than enough for XP.

This is what I did, I bought this, went online and found a site with no old eggs, and bought a 1gig 200 pin ddr2 667 speed G. Skill stick for fortee buckaroos shipped. Sell the ONE 512mb stick in this thing to get at least half your money back on the RAM.

Wiped the drive clean and installed Windows XP Pro Sp2. Now finding the correct drivers for this was not easy, compaq/HP obviously don't like you installing XP b/c they know after you do this, the speed doubles and this is all 90% of the people using it ever need. I know this b/c they have NO xp drivers on their site for this model. It's an a scam to make you think that the price on this is for a reason, to be slow... The best thing about vista is that it requires a lot of higher end hardware to run even the basic version, so better for us people who know vista's a joke and XP is better.

I found all drivers, chipset, graphics, wireless....needed the audio and modem drivers though. I went to hp/compaqs website to find the audio and modem drivers don't work..WHY? Well they either want you to suffer through the slowness of vista, oooor pay for their tier 2 support. Well, I'm here to tell you how to get around it to prevent it and make this work perfect with XP.

Intel's website will give you the laptop chipset and graphics driver for the mobile intel 945 express chipset family.

Now go to Hp's site, support and drivers, type in presario c306us, then windows XP and download the drivers for the audio, modem and the broadcom wireless, and the hp quick launch buttons and you're set.

Cons on this laptop are the lack of connections such as pcmcia slots, but who really needs anything more than this? I think a built in card reader would have been nice, but isn't really necessary.

A gig of ram, and windows XP make this laptop worth the price I payed for it, and hp/compaq knows this so they make it difficult to use it at it's full potential, marketing is all it is. Be smart, don't pay any more than 5 benji's for a laptop and use XP. You don't need anything else unless you're a gamer or power user.

Good computer for the price
As other's have said, this computer is slow with the installed 512 meg of ram. The first thing that should be done is to upgrade the memory, so figure that as part of the investment. Vista is a resource hog. I am not knocking it, but it really is not designed to work with 512 megs of ram. I don't understand the previous comment about XP, XP will run better with 512 meg of ram than Vista, but why downgrade. You paid for Vista, so spend the extra $[...] and get another 512 meg of ram. I would also recommend spending $[...] and getting a gig of ram and replace the 512 meg. From past experience, I have found that things just work better when you do not mix brands of ram. Get a gig and try selling the 512.

Other thoughts about this computer: The keyboard is cheap feeling, but it is functional. The large display on this computer is great. For the price this is a good computer. It is not meant for intensive work, but my wife uses it for surfing the net, recipes, pictures and we even watched a movie on it. My daughter has played Zoo Typcoon on it, so games without a huge demand for graphics will work fine. This is our first machine with Vista on it. It takes a little getting used to, but does have some nice features such as the calendar and digital picture organization software. The speakers are a little disappointing. Altec Lansing usually makes a good product for the price, but these speakers are no better than most low end model laptops - but that is what this is. By the way, after rebates we got ours for under $[...].