Compaq R4012US Review

Overview and Introduction

I recently purchased a Compaq Presario R4012US after much searching for an expandable, nicely priced notebook. I originally was looking at the Averatec 3250. I chose the 4012 over the 3250 because the 4012 has the new AMD 64 processor and is expandable where as the Averatec was more of a size notebook not expandability. The R4012US is in my opinion a budget notebook but one could argue it is a desktop replacement because of its specs.

Specs.

• AMD 64 3200+ 2.0Ghz
• 512 MB DDR PC2700 Expandable up to 2GB
• 80GB (4200 RPM)
• Dual Layer, Multi-Format DVD Writer
• 15.4” Brightview (glossy) Screen
• 6-in-1 Card Reader
• ATI Radeon 200m- 128MB Dedicated memory
• Lithium Ion battery
• 1.9” Thick
• 7.9 Pounds

Reasons for Buying

The main reason for buying this notebook was the price. The list price for the Presario R4012US is $1079.99. I however, found it on sale at Best Buy with $180 in Mail-In-Rebates. I also had a Best Buy credit card and there was an offer for no interest for 12 months. So the bottom line was I got the notebook for $899.99 after rebates and no interest for 12 months. With both of these deals it comes out to be about $75.00 month. The other reason I bought this notebook is because of its expandability. With this, the 4012 will last for many years even when 64 bit programs become more popular.

Form and Design

The form of this notebook is overall very sturdy and classy. It is made of heavy duty plastic used on many other notebooks. The color scheme is a simplistic silver and black. The 4012 is quite large and heavy weighing in at almost 8 pounds. However I would prefer a heavier notebook just because I don’t like to have to worry about breaking the smaller notebooks. If you are a businessman and have to tote your notebook to and from work this isn’t the notebook for you. Unlike many other laptops the screen and palm-rests are very sturdy and don’t give way.

Screen

The Brightview 15.4” screen is very vibrant and adjustable. The Brightview upgrade is in simpler terms is just the glossy overlay. The screen has NO dead pixels and is very crisp and clear. It has a resolution of 1280X800 pixels. The ATI Radeon Xpress 200M graphics card seems to hold up fine with its 128MB of ram for most uses. I wouldn’t recommend it for anything more than light gaming, however it is great for watching movies and the 15.4” widescreen really accentuates them.

Speakers

The R4012US comes with an on board 16bit SoundBlaster pro sound card. The speakers are mediocre for notebooks. The sound quality is great but the volume is quite disappointing. With headphones plugged in it gets louder but I would recommend some external portable notebook speakers.

Processor and Performance

This Presario notebook is very quick and an EXCELLENT multi-tasking machine. I have managed to play music in i-Tunes with the Visual Effects on and watch a DVD movie simultaneously (just for testing pourposes). My desktop cant even do that…well it is only an AMD XP 1700+, anyway. The processor being the new AMD 64 will be great for the future when everything turns 64 bit. This processor is more than enough for everyday use and good at gaming.

Benchmarks

Pi to 2 million: 1 min 48 seconds
HD-Tune: Min: 14.6 mb/sec
Max: 27.6 mb/sec
Avg: 22.6 mb/sec
Access Time: 19.3 ms
Burst Rate: 66.6 mb/sec
CPU Usage: 5.1%
3D Mark05: Overall: 671 Marks
CPU: 3427
Battery Eater: On highest brightness 1:45:19

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard is really my only other complaint about this laptop besides the speakers. It is nicely laid out however you must strike the key almost directly in the center to get it to register. This is only a minor gripe that just takes some getting used to. Otherwise the touchpad is VERY precise and the easy ON/OFF switch comes in handy when typing long documents so the mouse doesn’t fly all over. The dedicated volume and wireless buttons are also very handy and have excellent access.

Input and Output Ports

The 4012 has most of the ports you would normally find on a notebook and a few extras. It has:
• 4 USB 2.0 Ports
• 1 Firewire Port
• 6-in-1 Card Reader
• 1 PCMCIA Type I or II
• VGA Out
• S-Video Out
• Modem
• LAN
• HP Expansion Base
• Mic
• Headphones

Wireless

Wireless was a bit of a problem at first because it would connect for a few hours but thanks to the Customer Support I got my needed patch and its working fine! It comes with a built in 802.11 b/g with the switch. So far I have noticed EXCELLENT reception I’m usually a good 70 feet from the router and have full signal which my other dell laptop doesn’t with the and it has a PCMCIA Card. The R4012US does not have Bluetooth or infrared which is a bummer because my laptop printer has infrared capability but it’s not a big deal.

Battery

The battery is decent for a laptop of this size with the AMD 64 processor. The Battery Eater benchmark was about 1 hour and 45 minutes however I have found it closer to 2 hours by watching movies or word processing. This isn’t very long compared to most other laptops, but what can you expect when you have the AMD 64 processor.

Operating System and Software

This system came with XP-Home SP2 and much other bundled software. In the box are all the required back-up CD’s. The other software:
• Office 2003 Trial
• I-Tunes
• Intervideo WinDVD
• Adobe Reader
• Muvee Autoproducer
• Quicktime
• Norton
• AOL
• More….

Customer Support

I have had to deal with Compaq customer support once on my Wireless issue stated above. They, like many other companies have exported jobs overseas. None the less he was very helpful and worked through my problem. I am very impressed with the quality of service, the rep even went so far as to ask if the notebook was running OK and if anything else was wrong.

Cons

• Keyboard
• Speakers
• Battery
• No Bluetooth/Infrared
• Size and Weight

Pros

• Processor
• Expandability
• HDD
• DL DVD+/-RW
• PRICE!!
• Screen

Conclusion

In conclusion this laptop has impressed me from the time I opened the package. It has excellent features for the price and is a great price for the average person looking for a nice laptop on a tight budget. Like any other laptop it does have its cons but In my opinion the Pros easily out weigh it.

Other

This is my first review here at Notebookreview.com so I’m sorry if it isn’t exactly great I just wanted to say thank you and make a contribution because without all you helping people I wouldn’t have even been informed about this notebook in the first place. Thanks!

I HAVE PICTURES BUT I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO INSERT THEM SO IF SOMEBODY COULD TELL ME I COULD GET THEM IN!! THANKS!

 

Got this notebook about a week ago. So far I am very impressed.
Comments good, bad and indefferent:

Seems to be very well set up and expandable hardware wise. For any price it seems to be on the high end of what is being offered in a notebook. I admit that I am a die-hard AMD fan. I also have not realy put its graphics thru the paces.

Touch pad is great. I am very impressed at how good it is. Propably the best I have ever used.

It is not a small notebook. It really doesn't fit in my bag that I usually cary, I have it crammed in there for now. Also seems to be on the heavy size, but I suppose why this is why they seem to be calling it a "desktop alternative".

Battery life is as the other guy said about 2 hours, I consider this borderline acceptable. There must be a way to get a little more out of this without affecting performance too much.

The video I have tried I can't seem to get divx and xvid's preforming where they do on my desktop with media player classic. Lots of blocking and blurring. I havn't tried a DVD yet, but I seem to think it is a software issue.

Lots of ports - 4 USB, S-video, monitor, "expansion port"??, PMCIA, and what looks like a PMCIA port, not really sure what it is, external monitor, network and telephone all well spaced and not all on top of one another.

Again overall I am very impressed with this notebook, I have been looking for a while for a notebook on the cheap the at least 512 mem, decent graphics hardware with s-video out, and a large harddrive. I was put back by the compaq name, but initially I have been proven wrong on my prejudice to better names. We'll see how this thing holds up over time.



bobmitchell