Compaq Presario R4000 Review (pics, specs)

[red_chief]

Thank you for the enlightenment. I am just a beginner in terms of the hardware and still learning. It is a good thing that the 64 bit and the dual channel has been brought out and made more clear.

However, Enlightenment leads to more questions:
Just to clarify:

1. Will compaq R4000 and its HP laptop counterpart be able to use 64bit windows including drivers ?

2. Compaq R4000 and its counterpart has dual channel but is turned off intensionally. For what reason?

3. What are the consequence of a 64bit processor without a dual channel in terms of performance, compatibility to software & hardware?

4. What laptops have a fully functional 64bit processor and dual channel? (It is hard to buy a laptop which you taught can handle future 64 bit applications only to find out that it is disabled intentionally or is not really capable of)

[miner]

1. If you can find the drivers then most definately it will run 64bit windows. Also HP does not provide support for 64 bit windows. You"ll have to find the drivers on your own.(very few companies have actually installed 64bit windows as OEM)

2.Dont know. Hp cliams that it was to reduce heat and power consumption.

3. Dual channel at maximum would give around 5-10% improvement over single channnel memory. It does not hurt performance too much and basically it will run the same as single channel Athlon64(socket 754). There wont be any software, hardware compatibility issues.

4. All 64bit processors will be able to run at 64bits. The only way this can be disabled is at the manufacturing stage of the cpu. If there is a driver available for the components you are good to go.

*FYI - For dual channel memory to work you"ll need to have matching pair of memory modules . For example (2X256MB) will work as dual channel memory, but (1X512MB) wont.

[red_chief]

1. If you can find the drivers then most definately it will run 64bit windows. Also HP does not provide support for 64 bit windows. You"ll have to find the drivers on your own.(very few companies have actually installed 64bit windows as OEM)

2.Dont know. Hp cliams that it was to reduce heat and power consumption.

3. Dual channel at maximum would give around 5-10% improvement over single channnel memory. It does not hurt performance too much and basically it will run the same as single channel Athlon64(socket 754). There wont be any software, hardware compatibility issues.

4. All 64bit processors will be able to run at 64bits. The only way this can be disabled is at the manufacturing stage of the cpu. If there is a driver available for the components you are good to go.

*FYI - For dual channel memory to work you"ll need to have matching pair of memory modules . For example (2X256MB) will work as dual channel memory, but (1X512MB) wont.

Thank you miner for the clarification. I guess not having a 64 bit software/technical support for a 64 bit laptop does not make sense. Finding your own drivers just to use a 64 bit software is very tedious especially for non-experts. It is like you are Beta-tester.

The 5-10% boost in performance might seem a small nodge. But with future softwares that exhaust a lot of computer resources like graphics, games, 3D. I am not an expert on memory and processor. But I would like to compare it to a sprint "running" competition. A millisecond advantage is the difference between achieving the olympic gold and the runner-up. It might be deleterious not to have that function or worse yet, having that function disabled intentionally.

[red_chief]

If you put the two leading AMD-based laptop
Acer Ferrari 4005 (AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML-37)
versus
Compaq R4000 (AMD Athlon(TM) 64 4000+

http://us.acer.com/acerpanam/page9....&crc=1062168153
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...=true&tab=specs

Which will perform better in a head-on benchmark test?:amd64-2:

Both in speed, performance and customer support...as if a head-on car race.

(May I suggest to our moderators that a list of the most fast laptop be placed similar to the list posted on the home page for popular notebooks. Instead of voting for the candidate laptop, a common benchmark test be in placed and updated as new laptop comes.
That way we know who is really leading the race when it comes to laptop performance. ):base:

[miner]

You could start a new thread in the hardware section you"ll get more views/opinions that way.

The Ferrari will beat the R4000 in most benchmarks other than those that require high processor speed. The X700 is going to run circles around the 200m. If you are into gaming the Ferrari is one of the top performers. The Ferrari is thinner, lighter, performs better and also has slightly more battery life than the r4000. But with all of this and the Ferrari branding comes the higher price tag. Customer support from both companies is pretty good although I must admit HP does a better job and also Acer support are a little bit slow. Acers website is also bit messier than HP.

Thanks for the suggestion, if you want to know the best performing laptop in the market today, it has got to be the XPS2 or one of those 17" Sagers/Clevo(although they have their own drawbacks).

[red_chief]

I hope it came with a tv-tuner option...:base:

[admoore]

very interesting review, well written too.

It's been some time since I have logged unto NBR. Great to see even more Compaq Presario R4000's fans. I have used the R4010 w/AMD Sempron for about 6 months now. I as well, am hard pressed to find any cons about it.

My first impression of this device is the quality of it's make. This is still true, as the R4010 is quite solid and refined. The speakers are quite good for a laptop in this price range. **I have listened to many other notebooks while researching this purchase. The R4010 has such a great little sound system, very crisp ...even on max. volume.

Overall I would have to give this machine an 8 out of 10...no hold on ...actually for it's intented purposes and utilization ...make this device an 10. It's an ideal, economical ...desktop replacement.

Good Job ..!!!

Dean