Get all the power you expect out of a desktop PC with the Compaq Presario R3160US laptop. Road warriors will appreciate its 60 GB hard drive for storing important documents and productivity applications, as well as its built-in 54g wireless connectivity. The R3160US also features a fast, 64-bit 1.8 Ghz Mobile Athlon 3000+ processor, a DVD+RW/CD-RW combo drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, a huge 80 GB hard drive, and a 15.4-inch widescreen display that's powered by Nvidia's GeForce4 420 Go video/graphics card with 32 MB of dedicated memory.
The Basics
- Hard Drive: The spacious 80 GB hard drive (4200 RPM) is at the very top of the range for notebook storage, and it offers more than enough capacity for both your work and home files as well as a good-sized multimedia library.
- Processor: The 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor offers a high level of performance that's equivalent to a 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor--speedy enough for PC gaming, graphic design software, and multimedia creation. And with its 64-bit architecture, the R3160US is built for the increased demands of future software applications that take advantage of this architecture. It also features a 1 MB L2 cache.
- Memory: The R3160US comes with a 512 MB built-in memory (2 x 256 MB modules, DDR SDRAM, 333 MHz)--a good start for power users. However, only one slot is accessible for upgrading; it has a maximum RAM capacity of 1280 MB (1 x 256 MB, 1 x 1024 MB).
- CD/DVD Drive: It is equipped with a combo drive that is capable of reading and writing of both DVDs and CDs. It uses the DVD+RW format, one of two formats for rewriteable DVDs.
- Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook PC has a 101-key keyboard and touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical scroll up/down pad.
Sound and Graphics The R3160US includes Nvidia's GeForce4 420 Go video/graphics card, which produces good 3-D and DVD playback performance, helps save on battery life, and can drive an external monitro. It also features 32 MB of dedicated video RAM. The 15.4-inch flat-panel screen has a 1280 x 800 native resolution.
The audio card is integrated into the notebook's circuitry, which helps save on cost. The R3160US features two built-in JBL Pro Performance stereo speakers.
Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The R3160US offers a decent variety of external connections:
- 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
- 1 parallel port for connecting older printers and scanners
- 1 VGA monitor port
- 1 S-Video out (for connecting to a TV)
- 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II compatible and 32-bit card bus)
- 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
It also has an integrated 802.11g wireless LAN (which is compatible with the more widespread 802.11b and offers faster data transmission rates), integrated 56K modem (V.92), and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).
Preloaded System and Software
The R3160US comes with the Windows XP Home Edition operating system, and it also features Microsoft Works (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents). Other preloaded software includes Norton Antivirus 2003 (with 60 days of complimentary live updates), Quicken, Microsoft Money, Microsoft Encarta Online Deluxe, Adobe Acrobat Reader, InterVideo WinDVD SE (for playing DVD movies) and WinDVD Creator, and MusicMatch Jukebox.
Dimensions and Weight
Measuring 11.18 x 14.25 x 1.8 inches (L x W x H), it's not the thinnest notebook available. It weighs a moderate 7.8 pounds.
Power
The included rechargeable lithium-ion battery has 8 cells (which refers to the number of charge-storing components within the battery) and offers a standard amount of power for a notebook PC (around 2 hours of typical use).
What's in the Box
This package includes the Compaq Presario R3160US notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, phone cord, and operating instructions.
With the Compaq Presario R3000 series notebook, you'll get all the power you'd expect from a desktop PC - without being tied down. With the latest processors, widescreen displays and dedicated video RAM, integrated high-speed wireless and wired LAN connectivity options - all at a great value in a streamlined design - you'll be ready to take on the ultimate challenge: a day in your demanding life.
1 Bulky, Heavy and the hard drive really really sucks
I got this machine at work so I could work on 64-bit related data. I have been using it for almost 6 months now and I have to say that if I would never buy it. This is a desktop replacement, and as such, weighs a lot. I do travel a lot and this machine was not meant for that purpose. Forget about using it on a plane if you are not going in economy. The power consumption is simply ridiculous; I have yet to find a power adapter that will work with this thing on the place. The power adapter is a brick which just adds more weight to the whole ordeal.
Now the hard drive...oh boy. I did a clean install of Windows since I thought my old installation was the problem - but no, I was wrong. I don't know why this HD is so slow. If I am working on Word with a 100 MB document and it does the auto-saving thing, my computer is pretty much useless for two minutes, mega-frustrating. If I am writing something over the network to this laptop, rest assured that I wont be able to do anything else. My Powerbook G3 is like 4 years older than this machine, has the same hard drive and never stalls as bad as this guy.
On the positive side, it plays Ut2k4 fairly well. If I am hosting a LAN game, it takes around 3 minutes to load the next map, which is way too much. The display is nice, the keyboard is nice and the trackpad works as expected.
I have not found a place where I could get more RAM and finding replacement parts for this puppy is a mayor pain.
Would I recommend it? No, there are way better 64-bit alternatives out there.
