Compaq Presario CQ40-401AU Review

Posted on 14 April 2009

I just got back from my dealer today. Although I’m not in the business anymore, it pays to visit your dealer once in a while even just for a chat, as you will still get a dealer price for everything.

While I was there, he told me currently the best selling notebook and laptop is the .

I was not shocked to hear the news. As for me the CQ40 AU series still is the best value for money notebook or laptop offered today.

The still use the same shell as the other CQ-40 AU series. That means it still looks as good as the others, modern look with the sleek silver casing.

The specification also does not differ much from other CQ-40 AU series.

The default specification for are as follow:

AMD Turion X2 Dual Core (2.0 Ghz)
14″1 WXGA Widescreen LCD
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
250GB Hard disk drive
1024MB DDR2 Ram
DVD+/-RW Double Layer Drive
802.11 b/g Wireless Adapter
5 in 1 Card Reader
Built in webcam
6 Cell Lithium-Ion battery
FreeDOS Operating System
carrying bag

Price at the time of writing: RM1849.00

Looking at the specification of the , the only difference from the previous specifications is the size of the Hard Disk Drive. come with 160GB of Hard Disk Drive, meanwhile is equipped with 250GB Hard Disk Drive.

There isn’t much to talk about the except that it won’t give you any trouble if you decide to use it as a personal computer, and run normal applications and tasks. Although the is equipped ATI Radeon HD, the 3200 series is not meant for serious gaming.

As with all CQ40 AU series, the keyboard is comfortable to use, but I do find the slippery touchpad is odd to my liking.

Some retailers are offering sweet deals for the such as free upgrade to 2048MB (2GB) of RAM, free pendrive and other accessories such as optical mouse. You might want to find such retailers if you are thinking of getting the .

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This post was written by:

Edubase - who has written 1627 posts on Malaysia Laptop, Notebook and Netbook Resources and Review.


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27 Comments For This Post

  1. Superman says:

    Actually the laptop is pretty good. Especially ati 3200 is one of the best IGP that can perform at entry level dedicated graphic engine :)

    Superman’s last blog post..How to Save a Website/Webpage To PDF | TMS Network

  2. hakkal-cihad says:

    esselamu aleykum

    http://hakkal-cihad.blogspot.com this is my site fiy sebiylillahi subhanehu ve teala

    youre come here visitor http://hakkal-cihad.blogspot.com inşallah teala

    barakallahu fiykum

    hakkal-cihad’s last blog post..Medine-i Münevvere’nin Meşhur İmamı Faziletli Şeyh Ahmed El Acemi’den ”ALLAH YOLUNDA CİHAD” Ayetleri 2.Bölüm

  3. Ihsan says:

    Wa alaikumus salam,

    Umm with no offence intended, I don’t think this is the right forum for your message / blogspot advertising. The discussion in on Compaq Presario CQ40-401AU computers. Please respect the nature of the site you are posting to.

    Also, because this is a Malaysian website and hence not many people speak or read Turkish at all.

    JazakAllah khair for your intention.

  4. loong says:

    I own myself this laptop… but i notice the operating temperature is around 40-50 for idling and hit up to 80-81 after 1hr of warcraft3-dota gaming…

    now here is the question, is this normal? cause i compare to my friend’s intel laptop, his laptop runs around 29′c at normal tasking.

    please clarify this, thank you

  5. Dr. Ziela says:

    just bought this laptop 2days ago@ low yat plaza.. good price rm1880 with upgraded RAM (from 2G to 4G), upgrade grafic card and 7 free gifts (mouse, cooling pad, headphone with attached mic, keyboard protecter sheet, anti-thief wire thingy :p, LCD cleaner and USB port(4 USB)…
    b4 upgrade was rm1774…

    cons: easily get warm.. no wonder come with free cooling pad.. :D

  6. syah says:

    hi there,

    Dr. Ziela,
    can you get me the name of the shop?..i’m looking for this kind of model @ affordable price.

    TQ

  7. Dr. Ziela says:

    Syah,

    E-life Gadget Sdn Bhd
    Lot 2-K12, 2nd Floor, Low yat Plaza.–> just a small booth, i bought from here..

    another one..
    Lot 4.33&33A, $th Floor, Low Yat Plaza..

  8. Jijie says:

    Dr. Ziela,

    Was the laptop that you buy 100% original, becoz as i know there’s a lot of underwater laptop were sold there… can u clarify.. thanks..

  9. sweet.poison says:

    i bought this laptop on may, the price was rm2700. the spec as below:
    - Vista Home Basic (ori)
    - 4GB HD Ram
    - 2GB hardisk
    - 5 free gift(normal la..)
    but now i realize its bit expensive…m r rite?? hurmm..nevermind, i’ve bought it.

  10. sweet.poison says:

    i bought this laptop in may, the price was rm2700. the spec as below:
    - Vista Home Basic (ori)
    - 4GB HD Ram
    - 2GB hardisk
    - 5 free gift(normal la..)
    but now i realize its bit expensive…m r rite?? hurmm..nevermind, i’ve bought it.

  11. sadness says:

    oops… i bought 1900 but without any free gifts. this is because my dad friend direct took to my house, n my dad didn’t know will get any free gifts. thus, is it possible tome to go back the shop n ask for the free gifts?

  12. Edubase says:

    Guys, make sure the retailer gave you the manufacturer warranty card with their dealer stamp/signature when buying laptops. Most manufacturer provide worldwide warranty for their products.

  13. vicky says:

    Hey there,i would like to ask if AMD turion X2 Dual core same as Intel Core2 Duo?
    and if it’s different which one is better?
    Dr.Ziela,so far did u encounter any problems with ur laptop?
    im using compaq laptop for past 5yrs and overheating is one of the main problem with compaq i guess.

  14. asya says:

    i bought this laptop for rm2399.
    at sunway pyramid.

    T_T

  15. Wholesale Batteries says:

    I was about to buy an eepc. Well thanks to your review i change my mind and now my head is hurting again because there’s so many options and it’s hard to decide which laptop is best suited for me. Sigh T___T

  16. maykane says:

    this ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics is built permanent or can change the graphics card…

  17. Zeti says:

    I bought Compaq Presarip CQ40 Intel( R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8700@2.53 GHz, memory ram 3G at Harvey Norman Midvalley with the expensive price RM2900.. so far, I don’t experience with any overheating problem with this notebook.. I think the overheating is caused by the processor.. The notebook with AMD processor always suffer with overheating problem like my sis notebook Acer which use AMD as a processor

  18. helloween2112 says:

    correct zetty….amd processors produce more heat compare to intel processors.That’s why some pc with this processor having problem like system hang..We see..the price of both processors little bit different

  19. yazid_89 says:

    ok…perbezaan sistem proceser pd Intel( R) Core(TM)2 Duo dan AMD turion X2 Dual core 64… cip intel dan amd masing2 ade dua core kat dalam dye, tp kalau bab performance, mmg amd lebih laju, nt trbukti bile aku main game race driver grid kat cq40(amd)/ati radeon hd3200, mmg lancar beb… pasal amd processer always use 2 cores for running the program..dan disebabkn dye run menggunakan 2 core…batery korg mmg cepat KO ler…amd mmg direka utk performance..suggestion aku utk korg meringankn beban amd time main game…on software amd fusion sblum main game..leh download software tue kat amd.com…
    Intel( R) Core(TM)2 Duo plak dye pakai sistem switching, thats mean..cip intel akan run program dgn mnggunakn satu core jer…klau kte dah run lebih dari 10 or more program, baru lah satu lagi core akan beroprasi (so, dual core laa..)…tue pasal-lah intel jimat tenaga battery n cold temp compare to amd…utk penggunaan jangka masa panjang…intel mmg trbaik..

    aku conclude kat cini…
    amd sesuai utk gaming and hi-graphic usage
    intel utk sistem yg stabil dan jimat electric

    dua2 ade kelebihan kn…?

    per2 hal nk tanye leh email aku..
    yazid_89@yahoo.com

  20. Edubase says:

    Sebenarnya kedua-kedua Mobile Processor dari Intel dan AMD ada teknologi penukaran speed processor berdasarkan beban seperti yang Yazid bagitau. Teknologi ni dinamakan “Dynamic Frequency Scaling” . Teknologi Intel dinamakan “Intel SpeedStep” dan AMD dinamakan “AMD PowerNow!” untuk laptop dan “AMD Cool’n'Quiet” untuk desktop processor.

    Kalau guna Microsoft Windows, korang boleh adjust speed processor untuk laptop korang melalui Control Panel > Power Scheme. Kalau takde, kena install driver dari website manufacturer. Untuk Linux dan MacOS, feature ni memang dah built in dalam kernel.

    Just to clarify

  21. jai says:

    laptop sy compaq presario cq40 notebook pc ade masalah dari screen dye..sy nk btulkn..tp warranty sy hilang..macam mane ek??dari warranty tu sy ade 6buln lg sblm hbis tarikh warranty..pliz help me..

  22. Edubase says:

    Jai, selalunya kat bawah laptop tu ada sticker warranty beserta tarikh warranty tersebut tamat. Jai boleh hantar ke mana-mana dealer Compaq atau Compaq Service Centre untuk diperiksa.

  23. mijie says:

    hi

    sy sekarang tgh nak decide untuk beli laptop this weekend, sy dah buat survey, dan member2 pun ramai pakai compaq dgn acer,

    acer byk sgt mslh yg kawan sy hadapi…manakala compaq belum lagi ada mslh sy dgr

    cuma bila sy baca komen2 kat atas…dah jadi takut nak beli compaq…

    boleh tak suggest untuk saya laptop yang bagus bagi harga rm2500 kebawah,….

    dan brand apa yang patut sy consider…please advice me….sy skrg ni betul2 blur…

  24. sadegh says:

    My company import notebook .pls send me special offer and price list for hp sony and asus brand. we want to have a long time business with your company.

  25. Don't like CQ-40 AMD says:

    Really regret it to get this lappy!
    Just over a year, and too many problems.
    Battery life is too short, and I have to replace one after the 9th Month I bought it.
    Getting overheated too easily even just running on some regular operation and even worse that it shuts down without any warning when doing some other heavier operation like watching movie or playing some games. It may be some problem with the fan as it makes some stupid noise. And yes, the stupid CQ40 is sitting on top of a cheap cooling pad.
    So my advice… Don’t buy it because it’s cheap… Top up a little bit $$ and get something better. Not this crap!

  26. stupid CQ40 says:

    yes Don’t like CQ-40 AMD you are correct DO NOT BUY THIS COMPUTER, i had my monitor screen change twice due to lining below the monitor after changing it for 2 month the problem occur again. YES it often shut down on me too with rendering and converting video, mp3 etc…

    STUPID hp COMPUTER and cheating the end user for providing us without a good R&D!!!

  27. Y2n says:

    got dammit laptop! the temp can over 100celcious(can boil water) degree! HP Compaq useless! design rubbish! the back lid covering the air flow for the processor what a stupid design! the worst laptop computer i ever used in my life!!!!!! i’d used thinkpad T43,X31,T61,Toshiba satelite L500…never ever got that heat! i think HP are planning to provide outdoors cooking machine together with laptop computing experiences!

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