Ever since I got my new Compaq Presario V3000 laptop, a lot of people have been asking me for reviews about it. I thought I’d give it a couple more weeks before I’d post a more substantial feedback but I guess a Top 10 list of what I liked about it would suffice. 
1) It is fast! An Intel Core 2 Duo at 1.66GHz T5500 coupled with 1GB of RAM is the fastest rig I’ve ever had (desktops or laptop). I’ll spare you the details (that’s for AnandTech to work on.)
2) The built-in Altec Lansing speakers are just awesome. I’m an avid fan of Altec, having bought only that brand since I had my first PC back in college. The audio controls are simple and easy to use — mute, high and low. The sound quality and volume just rocks (ever tried playing DVD on a noisy Starbucks cafe?).
3) Built-in SD, MS, Pro, MMC and XD card readers to easily transfer files from my Ixus to the laptop in a jiffy. 
4) Manual toggle to turn on and off the built-in wifi and blue-tooth devices. With Bluetooth 2.0, I can manage my N3230 with the PC Suite even if it’s tucked in my pocket.
5) Toggle to turn off the trackpad. You can lock it so it won’t respond if you accidentally touch it (rogue cursor movement). This allows you to comfortable use the keyboard un-interrupted even if your palm hits the pad while typing. Comes in handy if you’re using an external mouse.
6) 16x Dual-layer DVD Re-Writer. The store even gave me a whole stack of BenQ DVDs for free. 
7) A really bright 14.1″ WXGA LCD screen (1,280×800) — more display space to work on.
Reasonable battery life. This one is just over 3 hours (6-cell) though the store said they could get me a 12-cell battery (6 hours) for under Php8k.
9) Dual built-in microphones situated on the top lid part of the screen. Not really for high-quality podcasting but this is the first time I saw two on a laptop.
10) Elegant blank carbon finish. You’ll have to see and touch it to appreciate.
Of course, it doesn’t come in without any drawbacks. First, the same time that I appreciate the extra horizontal display, the added weight comes with the baggage (5.5lbs). The battery life can still be improved, but you need to shell out some more dough to get it to 6 hours. Storage is only 60GB and though I wish it were 100 or 120GB, the DVD-RW comes in handy if you want some more storage space. While it comes in with a PCI Express Card slot, the old but still trusty PCMCIA slot was booted out . And yes, I would have been more delighted if Compact Flash (CF) card reader for my Rebel XT was also supported.
All in all, IMO the Php73,500 I spent for this baby is well worth it.
[...] a couple of weeks now, I’ve noticed that my laptop (a Compaq Presario V3000) is overheating too uncomfortably even when perched on that cushtop. At first, I thought maybe it [...]
Hi i wanted to ask… Where can I find a user’s manual guide (website) cause my mom bought her PC from her friend, which her friend bought it in China. Naturally the manuals is in Chinese. I’m trying to find where the DVD burner here. Cause I need to burn the videos i have here in the laptop and turn it into a dvd movie. Thanx hope you can help thnx
woah. i got mine for 60k.
its the v3525tu model. 120 gb hard disk and intel core 2 duo with 1 gb ram at 1.66.
how much did u buy that compaq presario v300?
i just bought a Compaq Presario V3000 today and when i had it home..it won’t turn on even if i already charged the external power..any ideas? thanks a lot!
jaye vista
yeah…mine’s 60k too..lol
jaye vista and shhh!! m getting he same loptop next thursday. would it be a good buy? how would you rate its general performance on 1-10 scale(10bein the highest)?
well i got mine just the other day… so sweeeeeet!
but where do i find drivers for windows xp. coz i find vista a bit funky!
Hi! recently bought one… got it for 39,895php… it has intel dual core processor, 512 RAM, 80 GB HDD… thinking of upgrading it to 1gb ram though… my ms office 2007 eats up a lot of memory and lags the whole system…
The lappy is one good-looking unit!
jevilo?
where did you buy yours?
i canvassed for like gazillion times and all i got is only as low as 42,950, that’s in php..512MB RAM/80GB HD, CEntrino Duo, Core Duo..
pls reply..
SORRY!MY v3000 AMD Turion 64*2 (1.66GH)SOUND DRIVER CAN`T WORK…CAN U TELL ME WHICH WEDSITE I NEED TO FIND,PLZ…:( THNZ
ei there! just bought my compaq v3525tu core 2 duo today for P54,950 0% for 12 months electroworld trinoma, with free flash drive and webcam. As a new user do you have any important info that u can share? god bless u all. Btw no installer for the vista home premium and a recovery disk was made instead c”‘)
I just bought my V3000 for only 43,000! V3000, 2.0 GHz Intel dual core. It came with Windows Vista Home Basic though. I upgraded it to 1GB RAM.
Cons:
1) Vista Home Basic
2) Onboard video Intel GMA not built for “heavy” gaming. It just won’t run my favorite games.
is vista home premium really is causing the system to slow down?
I bought a presario v3000 a couple of days back. I have loaded Win XP software but the display is not clear inspite of installing all the drivers. Can any one tell me whether presario v3000 with AMD dual core will support XP
I have the Presario V3431 version, 2.0 GHz but with 512mb only.. I think that’s why Vista’s not really fast here.. I’m thinking of using XP instead, but when we tried installing it, it was looking for more drivers and other sites say that it isn’t compatible with XP. What can be done?
And if there’s no way of using XP instead, is it possible to upgrade it to 1Gb perhaps? Around how much would it cost?
Thanks a lot. =D
It cost me around PhP1400 to upgrade from 512 to 1GB. Google for Vista tweaks to make it run faster
Question, is it possible to install an external video card on this laptop? And has anyone tried “downgrading” to XP?
I think its possible to install a video card to a video card enclosure via express slot. kaso wala pa yata dito sa philippines.. ehehe
Hi! I just got a Compaq Presario V3000 (Vista OS) a few months ago but it seems that most of the USB flash disk or usb receiver i use looks for a driver which cannot be found either in my PC or the web. Have you encountered this? I have always updated vista drivers but to no avail.
Thanks.
i got mine @ 34+++
dude…i got mine for 31k …..and its awesome..
Amd Turion 2.2 ghz
2 gb ram
120 gb hd
but i wish my graphics was better than the given geforece go6150..
now i am gonna upgrde that ……hehehhe….without any serious consequences ofcourse …hehe
hi guys! i also want to buy Compaq V3525.. i saw that some of you bought the v3000 for less than 40K.. Can you advise me where to buy at a cheaper price.. Villman and PCX are selling at 54k++… tnx!!!!
I too wonder where they bought the unit at that price, market price as of today for a v3535tu is php49,950.0 and its the same price wherever you go iba iba lang ng freebies, maybe its not brand new kaya ganun ang price or slightly used
hi all,
am about to buy this beauty for 37.5k. 80gb hd/ 1gb sdram/ vista starter…but i just read from all you guys that something is wrong with it? or the vista starter?…pls let me know…hu hu hu
It’s not like something’s really wrong with it. I think it’s just a matter of how you intend to use the machine. Definitely not for gaming, but for general home and office use, it’s very worth the price.
Vista generally slows your machine down ’cause for one, it has lots of pre-configured settings that you don’t really need (Google “vista tweaks”). The Directx10 installed won’t allow you to play Directx9.0c games. Boo..