Compaq CQ61 does 15.6-inch screen and "real" processor for $399, wonders what all that netbook fuss was about

It doesn't usually take much to identify the type of person that's suited for a netbook and the type of person that's suited for a budget laptop, but unfortunately not all of them can self select -- we're pretty sure a lot of folks who picked the former option would be pretty pleased to trade up for this here Compaq CQ61 right about now, the followup to the well-received Walmart-destroying CQ60. Compaq is becoming HP's "value" brand in the US, and we'd say the CQ61 is a pretty nice way to flex those wallet-friendly credentials for a wider audience than the Walmart set. It's built on a 2GHz AMD Sempron M100 processor, ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics, 2GB of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium, with a WXGA 15.6-inch screen, 160GB HDD and DVD burner to boot. HP was a bit cagey on what sort of battery life to expect out of the included 6-cell (our guess is not much), and of course the laptop won't be winning any beauty pageants, but it's a pretty nice score for the truly cash-strapped student or anyone else who needs a full-fledged laptop on the cheap without all the netbook compromises. Still too rich for your blood? Compaq's CQ4010 slim desktop weighs in with relatively similar specs and a $319 pricetag.

Compaq CQ61 hands-on

Compaq CQ61 press shots

[moleculeeye Posted Oct 13th 2009 5:44PM]

I just picked up one of those CQ models for a friend who was on a budget, sporting a dual core mobile Athlon running Vista. It's quite speedy. For 15.6 the screen res. is a bit lame, as is the battery, for the price, you can't beat this thing. Netbooks suck dick. (And you need portability then cheap CULVs exist.)

[Plothole Posted Oct 14th 2009 1:00AM]

None of the CULVs are 10" or below.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 13th 2009 8:07PM]

I got me an Acer Extensa 4420 (14.1 inch) Laptop last year at Best Buy for $399. It came with 2GB Ram, 1.9 GHz AMD Athlon TK-57 dual core processor, 160GB HDD, ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 (256MB Dedicated), and Vista Home Premium (x86) (YAWN, hated Vista, Switched to Windows 7 Professional RTM). For the price it doesn't seem like this Compaq is any better than what I got a year ago. I like my Acer, it has been great other than Vista. and my battery life on average is about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 14th 2009 9:11AM]

i bought a $400 Toshiba laptop last year, its not the sexiest machine but damn if its not a solid and reliable laptop, i have no complaints....

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 14th 2009 10:33PM]

You are totally right about great deals on the PC side of the fence. For $399.99, I got an HP G60-458DX from Best Buy.
Here are just a few of the amazing specs on it:
Intel Pentium Dual Core 4200 2.0 Ghz processor
4 GB RAM
250 GB Hard Drive
Intel GMA 4500 Integrated Graphics
Webcam and Microphone
HDMI output
SD card reader
DVD+-RW with lightscribe disc labeling
High Def 15.6 inch widescreen with 16:9 aspect ratio
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit with Free Windows 7 64 Bit Upgrade
I bought this in late July after seeing it in a Sunday ad. Sold out the next day and I haven't seen them advertised or online since.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:02PM]

Where Can I find the Compaq CQ61?