Compaq Presario CQ56: one and a half times better than a netbook? ⇡ Technical characteristics declared by the manufacturer

Inexpensive laptops are sold in huge quantities for one simple reason - they are no more expensive than a PC with similar performance and a monitor, but you can also take them with you. This is why large boxes of desktops are not being replaced in offices. thin clients, and the maximum affordable laptops. Home users who do not need high performance are also increasingly choosing similar devices, because their power is quite enough to perform most ordinary tasks. This time we tested not just a cheap, but an ultra-budget Compaq Presario CQ56 laptop - at retail there are offers starting at $450, and this is already comparable to the price of netbooks.

General view

⇡ Technical characteristics declared by the manufacturer

Specifications
OS	SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11
CPU	AMD Athlon II P320, 2.1 GHz
L2 cache, KB	64 per core
L3 cache, KB	512
Chipset	Northbridge: AMD RS880M South Bridge: AMD SB800
Video	AMD Mobility Radeon HD 4250
Sound	Realtek ALC270
Matrix type	15,6” 1366x768 pixels Samsung 156AT09-H02
RAM	2 GB DDR-3 Elpida EBJ21UE8DS0-DJ-F
HDD	320 GB Hitachi HTS545032B9A300 SATA-II, buffer - 8 MB, 5400 rpm
Optical drive	HP TS-L633N
Interfaces	3 x USB 2.0 1 x D-Sub (VGA) 1 x RJ-45 2 x mini-jack 3.5 mm
Wireless interfaces	Broadcom 802.11 b/g/n
Network adapter	Realtek RTL8139/810x Fast Ethernet Adapter
Battery	Lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 47 Wh
Dimensions, mm	246x374x32.8/37.8
Weight, kg	2,55
price, rub.	No data

( Note that Compaq Presario CQ56 based on Intel platforms, inferior to the model discussed in this review in terms of graphics adapter power. — Editor's note)

Processor Information

Video subsystem information

Testing cache and memory

⇡ Delivery set

The scope of delivery is extremely modest: Charger yes a few brochures. But what more can you ask for from a very cheap (and nevertheless quite productive) laptop.

⇡ Appearance and ease of use

General view

The design of the laptop is quite laconic and devoid of any frills - everything is simple, but practical. The lack of gloss, which quickly gets dirty and is easily scratched, is immediately noticeable - the entire body of the tested laptop is made of panels with a black matte surface. The work area is covered with patterns in the form of small triangles. This pattern not only decorates the laptop, but also allows you to hide fingerprints even better. In general, this is its main purpose, because the triangles are poorly visible and not from all viewing angles.

General view

The laptop is quite light for its size, but at the same time quite thick, due to which, when trying to twist it, it practically does not give in, although it still makes a crackling noise, but not in the area where the battery is attached, as is often the case, but in the area of the battery compartment cover. installing memory modules on the belly. Otherwise, there are no comments - although the laptop is very inexpensive, the build quality was no worse than that of the premium models of the HP EliteBook series.

Front view

The front panel is empty; there are not even the usual status indicators.

Back view

The back side is almost completely occupied by the battery, on the sides of which there are connecting loops.

Left view

On the left there is a ventilation grille, a D-Sub (VGA) port, an Ethernet connector, a pair of USB ports and two standard 3.5 mm audio jacks. There is also an indicator for accessing the hard drive, which is a very unusual solution, but it also has its advantages, because when working with a laptop in the dark, the blinking indicator does not distract the user at all.

Right view

There are also few functional elements on the right: the optical drive cover, USB port, connection socket external source power supply with indicator and safety lock loop. The total number of ports is small: there is no memory card reader, no Express Card slot, and even more so - IEEE-1394. And if you can put up with the absence of the last two, because not all users need them, then the lack of a memory card slot is a significant disadvantage even for such an inexpensive laptop.

Bottom view

The bottom of the Presario CQ56 is flat, without steps, and there are quite a lot of ventilation holes, so even from an external inspection one gets the impression that there should be no problems with excessive heating of the laptop case and components. This, in principle, was confirmed during further testing. The user has access to a pair of unsealed compartments for installation hard drive, memory modules and expansion cards. The case rests on four massive round rubber feet, but their contact patch with the mounting surface is small, so the laptop glides quite easily on both a glass and a regular chipboard tabletop.

Keyboard

Recessed connection hinges often limit the opening angle of the lid, and the CQ56 is no exception - the maximum opening angle is approximately 135°. The laptop keyboard is unusual, both in the shape of the keys themselves and in the placement of additional buttons. Actually, the keyboard unit is the same as that of the Pavilion dv6 series laptops of the current model range.

Keyboard

The keys have a stepped profile, the width of their base is 18 mm, and the width of the contact pad is 15.8 mm. There are only five additional keys, but they are integrated into the main keyboard unit, so a quick inspection may not notice them. As already mentioned, the keyboard is the same as that of the Pavilion dv6 laptops, so it should not differ in operation. The base of the keyboard is well secured, even with very strong pressure on the keys it does not bend, the moment of actuation is well felt, the level of generated noise is low (although still felt), but the key stroke is soft, which, from a subjective point of view, does not add convenience.

Touchpad

Under the keyboard there is a large Touchpad size 92x53 mm. It is a separate part with a smooth matte surface, making it easy to feel when working in the dark. The manipulator keys (more precisely, a key, since both buttons are combined) are also quite large - 92x13 mm. Its stroke is very short and hard, but quite quiet.

Built-in webcam

Above the keyboard there are a pair of small speakers hidden by a decorative grille, as well as a narrow power key. A webcam and microphone are installed in the center of the top edge of the display.

As a rule, budget solutions are offered by brands such as Acer, MSI, Lenovo, and less often - ASUS, Samsung. Hewlett-Packard doesn't often please its fans with cheap laptops. However, such models exist. Take, for example, the Compaq Presario CQ56. This is a fifteen-inch laptop with which you can perform simple home tasks. The price of this device starts at $450, which is a very rare occurrence for an American brand (if it is a full-fledged laptop and not a netbook).

There are quite a few configurations of this device, but the most interesting is the HP Compaq Presario CQ56-121er. Firstly, the heart of this laptop is AMD processor V-Series V140, which was released in October 2010. Secondly, it is equipped with a built-in graphics adapter ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 (it will be more powerful than Intel GMA HD).

Design

The first thing that catches your eye when you look at the HP Compaq Presario CQ56 is its thickness. The device clearly cannot be called ultra-thin. The dimensions of the laptop are 24.6 x 37.4 x 3.28 cm / 3.78 cm. The body is made of practical black matte plastic; traces of use will not remain on such a surface. Smooth plastic on the outside of the lid gives way to corrugated plastic on the working area of the laptop.

The cover features the silver Compaq series logo. It somewhat resembles a Chinese character. The plastic of the case is quite durable and practically does not deform under hand pressure. This is especially true for a textured workspace.

Two hinges securely fix the laptop cover, preventing it from vibrating. The hinges are made in such a way that it was not possible to place ports on the back edge.

Display

The laptop is equipped with a high-definition HP BrightView matrix. Thanks to this technology, high sharpness and effective reduction of glare on the monitor screen are ensured. The display has a diagonal of 15.6 inches (39.6 cm) and a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. The picture on this matrix is juicy and rich, there are no questions about brightness and contrast either. With a cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio, you can watch High Definition videos without annoying black bars.

This display is perfect for working and watching movies. Nothing more is needed. The only drawback is the small viewing angles, so it’s better to sit directly in front of the screen.

Keyboard and touchpad

As a rule, fifteen-inch laptops boast a digital pad. However, the HP Compaq Presario CQ56 does not have such “luxury”. The keyboard buttons are quite large and have a two-level structure (a border around each key). The distance between them is very small, however, this will not affect the print quality. The keys are pressed softly and almost silently.

The matte touchpad is not recessed and has a smooth surface, thanks to which fingers glide across the touch pad easily and with pleasure. The double button under the touchpad is made of rough plastic and responds instantly. There is also an on/off button and a two-way scroll bar.

Processor and performance

On the company's official website you can see about 10-15 configurations of this model. This suggests that externally the HP Compaq Presario CQ56 laptops will not differ from each other - only the filling differs. Thus, the Compaq Presario CQ56-121er laptop is equipped with a single-core AMD V140. Based on the Champlain core, made using a 45nm process technology, supports DDR3 memory. Clock frequency The processor speed is 2.3 GHz, the 2nd level cache is 512 KB. The CPU heat dissipation is 25 W (TDP).

The laptop has a bracket installed random access memory DDR3 with a capacity of 2048 MB. If this is not enough, you can add RAM thanks to the second available slot. The maximum amount of supported memory is 8 gigabytes.

In this configuration, the HP Compaq Presario CQ56 has 250 GB of free hard disk space (operating speed - 5400 rpm). The maximum hard drive capacity for this laptop, but in other configurations, is 320 GB.

HP Compaq Presario CQ56-121er is equipped with a built-in graphics card ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 (up to 893 MB of total available graphics memory). Compared to older integrated graphics chips (such as the GMA 4500MHD), the HD 4250 is significantly faster.

Ports and communications

A webcam with a built-in microphone is built into the display frame. Thanks to it, you can communicate via Skype and participate in video chats. From wireless interfaces This model only has wifi adapter(802.11 b/g/n). HP Compaq Presario CQ56-121er does not have Bluetooth. However, it is present in other trim levels.

To work with discs, a LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±R/RW optical drive with support for dual-layer recording is installed.

Ports are located on two sides mobile device: left and right. The left end of the user contains a VGA video output, an RJ-45 connector, 2 USB 2.0 ports and audio connectors. On the right, the user will find another USB 2.0 port, an optical drive tray, a hole for connecting the power adapter and a Kensington lock.

The package includes a lithium-ion battery consisting of six cells. Antivirus software installed to protect your digital content, as well as HP Total Care, which offers technical support by phone for users all over the world.

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Conclusion

HP Compaq Presario CQ56 is an inexpensive laptop for undemanding tasks. If you do not work with resource-intensive applications, but are looking for a device for surfing the Internet, listening to music and watching movies, this model is perfect for your purposes. The build quality is excellent, the set of ports is weak, the performance is average, the price is low. This is how you can describe the Compaq Presario CQ56 in a few sentences.

It's very interesting to read (and write too) reviews of premium laptops with unique designs and modern hardware, but when it comes to the actual purchase, most users prefer something much more down-to-earth, preferably under $500.

Compaq Presario CQ56

Low cost; lack of glossy elements in the design; touchpad area

Minimum amount of RAM; set of connectors; no card reader; controversial layout

Verdict

The medium-format 15.6-inch laptop that we will look at today belongs precisely to such economical proposals. By removing everything superfluous from the presented configuration, the manufacturer brought its cost to a pleasing figure of $470, and the most affordable configuration of this model generally costs less than $400.

Indeed, if you need a “typewriter” for working with text and browsing, then why overpay for features that simply will not be used? Yes, 10-inch netbooks are even cheaper (about one and a half times), but if you are going to use the device primarily at your desk, then from an ergonomic point of view, a 15.6-inch screen and a full-fledged keyboard will be noticeably preferable (by the same one and a half times ).

Design

The laptop is made exclusively in black, which is set off only by the hinges of the display unit trimmed with metal on the inside and outside. In the middle of the matte plastic cover is the Compaq family logo, applied in silver paint.

Despite the fact that a fairly practical material is used for the lid, its surface unexpectedly quickly becomes covered with marks from wet hands, although they can only be viewed from a certain angle; it is still not glossy.

The work panel is distinguished by a geometric pattern; this is perhaps the only purely design touch of this model. This textured surface both looks good and feels quite nice under the wrists. In general, the developers Compaq Presario CQ56 It was possible to create what is called a neutral style - it does not contain any deliberate angularity of business models, nor the excessive roundness of some image solutions, nor the gloss that is super popular among almost all manufacturers.

Ergonomics

The keyboard block is located in a small recess, in which there is also a place speaker system. Unlike some budget models that have a single speaker, Compaq Presario CQ56 honest stereo acoustics from two spaced speakers.

The keyboard is made according to a classic design, and not in the form of trendy “islands,” which should appeal to conservative users. The keys are quite large, have a pleasant, tight stroke, and the backing hardly flexes when typing. The indicators integrated directly into the keys look great wireless adapters and CapsLock mode activity.

However, this block also has disadvantages. Firstly during active dialing text buttons “rattle” noticeably, the noise is no stronger than from a regular desktop keyboard, but in laptops they usually install a quieter keyboard. Secondly, the markings are not done in the best way; they are one-color; moreover, the main Cyrillic alphabet for most users is marked too small and placed in the very corner of the key.

However, the most controversial element is the leftmost column, which contains five auxiliary keys for calling up favorite applications such as a calculator or mail client. Usually, the appearance of any additional elements can usually only be welcomed, but in this case they are in no way separated from the character block and, moreover, occupy the rightful place of the service keys Control and Shift. As a result, you will have to learn familiar shortcuts using these keys again, which will not suit everyone.

The shape and size of the touchpad are reminiscent of the Synaptics ClickPad, it even uses a power button built into the upper right corner, but the presence of a hardware rocker key indicates that these are not identical solutions. There were no complaints about this unit, the touch panel is large, fingers glide over it easily, only the most faithful followers of the desktop style of work will need a mouse.

Functionality

It's hard to expect anything outstanding from a configuration costing less than $500, in this sense Compaq Presario CQ65 It failed to neither surprise nor particularly disappoint us. Not the most powerful dual-core processor from AMD, integrated video and only 2 GB of RAM will provide only “casual” performance. In total, there are about a dozen modifications of this model on the domestic market, costing from $400 to $520, based on Intel logic and AMD.

The set of connectors is minimally sufficient; there is no HDMI, no eSATA, or even a card reader. Naturally, there is no commercial OS here, so you will have to do the installation of a more suitable option and search for drivers yourself.

Operation of the laptop revealed a number of complaints about the design and build quality. Between the base and work panel There are noticeable gaps in several places, and the plastic bends noticeably more under the left wrist than under the right. Even minimal impact on the lid leads to streaks on the screen, the image quality of which, according to a five-point system, can only qualify as a “three”. How this will affect reliability will only be shown by long-term operation. The cooling system is traditionally quiet in office mode, but at the moment of switching on and during prolonged load the fans make quite noticeable noise.

As a result, this model will be a good choice for undemanding users who are willing to put up with the listed disadvantages for the sake of noticeable savings.