HP COMPAQ CQ40-518AU

I had like 3 to 5 units of the HP Compaq CQ40-518AU laptop. Then there's the other version of CQ40, almost the same specification, but a slight difference on the extension (all of them using the AMD processor variances). Sold off a few of them and retaining 8 units for myself. The extension ‘-518AU’, is the line which was equipped with AMD processor, yeah… the cheaper processor, BUT it came with a built-in ATI Radeon 3200 Graphic Engine. This configuration is remarkably better than those equipped with Intel GMA graphic chips or stuff like that. Since this version of CQ40s is graphically more capable than its counterparts, the Intel’s CQ40s, it does have other setback as well, it is hotter and prone to overheating. It was priced around RM1500.00 to RM1900.00, depending on configurations and add-ons, RAMS, Extended Warranty, etc.

The CQ40-518AU came with this configuration; AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core QL65 - 2.20 GHz Processor (1MB L2 Cache, AMD RS780MN), 14.1" WXGA HD, 1 GB DDR2, 320GB SATA HDD, DVDRW SuperMulti Double Layer, LAN, WiFi, VGA ATI Radeon HD3200 shared 384MB, Altec Lansing speaker, Webcam, Card Reader, Weight 2.32kg. Processing speed is considerably good, since they happen to be operational for 3 hours to 10 hours daily. I’m not yet equipping these CQ40’s with a cooling pad despite the workloads they received day in day out. Maybe I should, since a few of them has shown a repetitive and frequent hangs. Lalalala… The 1GB DDR2 RAM, was a horror. What can a 1GB DDR2 RAM do, right after we install Windows 7 or Vista? Put in Kaspersky or Norton or any anti-virus program afterward, the laptop will be a joke! I upgraded the RAM to just another 1GB, heheh… considering the amounts I need to spend on the other units. Yeah, DDR2 Ram is cheap nowadays… RM150.00 for 2 GB DDR stick with a lifetime warranty, but when we need to do on all 5-8 laptops, think I better do the 1GB first. There’s baby diapers I need to spend on too.

The design is sleek while the aluminum palmrest adds the air of elegance into it. Keyboard is somehow felt so cramped. It does appear to be a full-size keyboard, minus the number pad usually we see on normal keyboards. Maybe it was the design. By the way, the palmrest is still the best looking palmrest of all notebooks within its period. Okay, put the stickers away, still what makes it good looking was, the touchpad design. It was blended nicely into the palmrest of the notebook. Nah, I won’t shoot for those who disagree.

I had my units upgraded to a full 3 years warranty, since information and feedbacks I heard about this particular model was not that encouraging. Unfortunately, last week disaster strikes on a unit which was not been upgraded to 3 years warranty. It was just my luck.

I had loads of games tested on this machine. Not less than 50 games. It was amazing since I finished the entire Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 using this CQ40-518AU. Oh, because the game is so good, I had it played repeatedly on it for few days. This baby can run Halo, Halo2 (low settings), Call of Duty Modern Warfare (low settings), Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (low-low/medium settings), Fifa 2010, Fifa 2011, Pro Soccer Evolution 2011, Need For Speed World (low settings), Starcraft 2 (low settings), Diablo 2 LOD, BurnOut Paradise, Warcraft 3, Tom Clancy Hawx, NFS Most Wanted, NFS Carbon, NFS Undercover, Crysis, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon, Prototype, Dawn of War Warhammer, Dawn of War Soulstorm, Dawn of War Dark Crusade, GTA San Andreas, Lord of The Rings Battle for Middle Earth 2 and its expansion of Return of the Witch King and yeah.. loads more.

Other features loaded in HP Compaq Presario CQ40 include 3 USB ports. The HP Compaq Presario CQ40 also has output options for VGA and HDMI. It does not have Bluetooth nor a 56 kbps modem. The standard necessities now is just the Ethernet port (RJ-45) and wireless LAN. On top of that like any other notebook in the market, the HP CQ40-518AU also equipped with a built in webcam and mic.

To be precise, I had 6 units of the HP CQ40-518AU, and added 7 more units a few months later. Those added units are from the AMD processor variants of HP CQ40. They bear almost the same specification, but a slight different in the processors, which are AMD RM65 to AMD RM72. Generally, despite the negative feedbacks I heard online about the HP CQ40 AMD versions, I am delighted to report, that these machines of mine, is heavy duty, worth every penny spent on it, a super workhorse(despite the thousands of hands using it). They ran 10-14 hours every day, for almost 30 days a month for the past 12 months. Until now, out of 16 sets just 4 sets have been return to HP Towers for servicing. What else can I ask… HP CQ40 AMD version gets a ‘dubla thumbs up’ from me!