Compaq SR1800NX @ [H] Consumer

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Chris_Morley

Former [H] Consumer Managing Ed.
Joined
Jul 5, 2000
Messages
3,609
Sure, PCI-Express graphics in PCI slots, no problem! Compaq/HP tech support falls on their face again.

Our first call was answered by “Samantha.” We asked how to install a new graphics card, and she promptly responded “by using the PCI-Express slots.” When we asked how to identify those slots, she said there are three white slots towards the bottom of the machine and the middle one should contain a modem. Which, as all you good [H] Consumer readers know, are PCI slots, and physically forcing a graphics card in those slots will damage it. Benevolent evaluators that we are, we gave her an opportunity to correct her mistake and asked if she was sure those white slots were PCI-Express slots. Oh yes, she assured us, she’s sure. Is there anything else?
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Hmm, no. Instructing us to damage a $100 graphics card is enough for one day, thanks.
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It seems like I've been seeing only crappy support (aside from some limited manufacturers). I miss the days where PCs didn't come with so much crappy software, sigh...

BTW, what happened to the reference grading scale?
 
clockworks said:
It seems like I've been seeing only crappy support (aside from some limited manufacturers). I miss the days where PCs didn't come with so much crappy software, sigh...

BTW, what happened to the reference grading scale?
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Fixed, thanks. ;)
 
a 6.0 for support!?!? oh man, that sounds like a 4, tops to me, prolly a 3. at least they picked up the phone, right?
 
i_am_mustang_man said:
a 6.0 for support!?!? oh man, that sounds like a 4, tops to me, prolly a 3. at least they picked up the phone, right?
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I agree I would like to know if that was a 6 whats a 1 or a 2 ? A swift kick to the balls for troubling them ?
 
dajet24 said:
I agree I would like to know if that was a 6 whats a 1 or a 2 ? A swift kick to the balls for troubling them ?
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We'll show you what a 2 is really like coming up. =)
 
I wonder if they woulda replaced your pci-express card after breaking it in 2 trying to shove it in that pci slot like there tech instructed
 
dajet24 said:
I wonder if they woulda replaced your pci-express card after breaking it in 2 trying to shove it in that pci slot like there tech instructed
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LOL!
 
Why didn't you do an RMA on this one? It looks like you started to but never had them replace the drive. Also did you all by chance kill all the boatware and see how much better it ran? I say this because even if the box sucked as is I wonder if it would be something that if cleaned up would be good for mom to surf the net on and do whatever.
 
swatbat said:
Why didn't you do an RMA on this one? It looks like you started to but never had them replace the drive. Also did you all by chance kill all the boatware and see how much better it ran? I say this because even if the box sucked as is I wonder if it would be something that if cleaned up would be good for mom to surf the net on and do whatever.
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We got tired of trying to get them to issue one.

Besides that, we had enough data to call this system a dud.

I agree that we scored this a little high on support, but I think that the bottom line of 6.5 is accurate and fair.
 
dajet24 said:
I wonder if they woulda replaced your pci-express card after breaking it in 2 trying to shove it in that pci slot like there tech instructed
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I would have done this as a tech support call, personally.
 
GForce64 said:
I would have done this as a tech support call, personally.
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ya that was my point if a companies tech tells u to do somthing insanely dumb they should own up to it.

all calls are monitored :D
 
What was the original resolution- this image, or this one? And did the Compaq Organize program run at startup?

I ask because, in the first image, it's nowhere near half the desktop, and while it is in the second, I haven't seen a computer in a long time come with a resolution that low. A Compaq we bought a few months ago didn't..
 
Chris_Morley said:
We got tired of trying to get them to issue one.

Besides that, we had enough data to call this system a dud.

I agree that we scored this a little high on support, but I think that the bottom line of 6.5 is accurate and fair.
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I can understand that as the pc doctor software sucks and hp wants an error code from it. I use to do warranty work for hp/compaq and have seen it pass a hard drive when the system didn't have one connected. I guess to be fair the hard drive wasn't "bad", it just wasn't in the system.
 
Our Presario did not come with CD/DVD recovery discs, but instead allowed users to burn their own discs through an application located under PC Help & Tools. Our hats are off to those proactive enough to burn recovery discs before their system crashes, but most users we know (ourselves included) aren’t that organized and wouldn’t worry about recovering the system until after it croaks. Our guess is that Compaq is banking on the fact that those discs aren’t used frequently. By providing recovery software on the computer, the company can claim their systems are equipped with restore features while saving money by not manufacturing the physical discs. Sending those disks with the computer is an important part of protecting the machine’s longevity, especially since the warranty only lasts a year.
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What is most amazing to me... The machine did not come with a DVD/CD burner at all! :mad:

Oh wait... :p
 
Thanks for the review. Back in March I bought a Compaq SR1710NX. The specs between the review machine and the one I bought are similar expect for the processor. The 1710NX has a Semperon 3400+. I have to agree that Compaq doesn't make it very clear about the restore cd's. It took 12 cd's to make the backup. My concern, after looking at what are on these "restore" cd's is there anyway just to reinstall the operating system. The discs are just labeled 1 through 12, with no indication of what's on each disc.
 
Hard hits for poor performance, but the sentence or two devoted to determining the cause of the poor performance was pretty weak in my (worthless but also free of charge) opinion.

Why didn't you guys try a fresh/clean installation to see if it was the bloatware causing the poor performance? You noted 50 (!!!!!) running processes on initial boot, but never discussed cleaning out the bloat or trying a fresh installation to see if it helped the performance.

Yes I know you guys are rating the whole picture and aren't going to stoop to writing a mere collection of hardware benchmarks, but since you guys hit the performance and bloatware so hard and so repeatedly during the review, I'm left wondering why the heck you guys didn't spend a little time doing a clean installation using a spare winXP license in order to see if the hardware or the software was the cause of the poor performance. Blaming the cpu when the computer is still (apparently) running the factory installation is definately jumping to conclusions without much real evidence, but that's what you guys did.

The same general comment also applies to the stability score. In the main review, you note that the system passed the stress test with flying colors, but in the score section give it a 6/10 with barely a vague comment about some warm reboots required. That vague reference justifies a 6/10 stability score? Or did I miss a major portion of your review somehow? You've had systems that locked up numerous times during gaming and fail the stress test get higher than a 6, so what's the deal here? In the gaming section you mentioned that the games were pretty much unplayable, but didn't mention lockups, corruption, etc. so where's the beef?

Sorry if my comments sound harsh but compared to some of your other system reviews, this one gets a 7/10... It gets points for using the [H] review format and methodology but loses badly for a lack of investigative rigor in some specific areas where you find fault wtih the system.
 
flenser said:
Blaming the cpu when the computer is still (apparently) running the factory installation is definately jumping to conclusions without much real evidence, but that's what you guys did.
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We did the same thing with the eMachines and the HP, and the HP had a LOT more bloat on it, yet both machines scored much higher in WB and games.

You know by now that we do not do a clean up before we do our evaluations/
 
flenser said:
Hard hits for poor performance, but the sentence or two devoted to determining the cause of the poor performance was pretty weak in my (worthless but also free of charge) opinion.

Why didn't you guys try a fresh/clean installation to see if it was the bloatware causing the poor performance? You noted 50 (!!!!!) running processes on initial boot, but never discussed cleaning out the bloat or trying a fresh installation to see if it helped the performance.

Yes I know you guys are rating the whole picture and aren't going to stoop to writing a mere collection of hardware benchmarks, but since you guys hit the performance and bloatware so hard and so repeatedly during the review, I'm left wondering why the heck you guys didn't spend a little time doing a clean installation using a spare winXP license in order to see if the hardware or the software was the cause of the poor performance. Blaming the cpu when the computer is still (apparently) running the factory installation is definately jumping to conclusions without much real evidence, but that's what you guys did.

The same general comment also applies to the stability score. In the main review, you note that the system passed the stress test with flying colors, but in the score section give it a 6/10 with barely a vague comment about some warm reboots required. That vague reference justifies a 6/10 stability score? Or did I miss a major portion of your review somehow? You've had systems that locked up numerous times during gaming and fail the stress test get higher than a 6, so what's the deal here? In the gaming section you mentioned that the games were pretty much unplayable, but didn't mention lockups, corruption, etc. so where's the beef?

Sorry if my comments sound harsh but compared to some of your other system reviews, this one gets a 7/10... It gets points for using the [H] review format and methodology but loses badly for a lack of investigative rigor in some specific areas where you find fault wtih the system.
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I think it would be ridiculous for them to 'clean-up' the machine before they reviewed it. These machines are supposed to be reviewed on how they come straight from factory so that some of the less tech savvy people on the planet can make educated decisions about their purchases.

To receive the product and then modify it in ways that most consumers are not educated in would be providing a false product review.
 
desrin said:
I think it would be ridiculous for them to 'clean-up' the machine before they reviewed it. These machines are supposed to be reviewed on how they come straight from factory so that some of the less tech savvy people on the planet can make educated decisions about their purchases.

To receive the product and then modify it in ways that most consumers are not educated in would be providing a false product review.
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Awesome, I'm glad that you understand why we do what we do...that makes me happy. =)
 
I could have sworn I was reading [H]ardOCP where most people who would buy such a computer would realise that it was full of bloatware and promptly reformat it ?
 
Demon_of_The_Fall said:
I could have sworn I was reading [H]ardOCP where most people who would buy such a computer would realise that it was full of bloatware and promptly reformat it ?
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If you've been reading our system evaluations over the past year you'd know we're targeting different people with [H] Consumer, hence the different branding.

With a $300 off the shelf consumer, we're targeting the "just gimme something for the intarweb" type.

With a $1500 Velocity Micro computer we're targeting the slightly more technically savvy gamer on a budget.

These are different perspectives we take on when we evaluate a PC.
 
Since I know you guys have soooooo much free time. . . :p

It would be nice if [H]Consumer reviewed the out-of-box experience, then passed it on to [H]Enthusiast to flog it and see what it can do with an upgrade or reformat.
 
I wonder if you added another 512 MB of ram how it would have performed? Intergrated video is just a no go.
 
techie81 said:
I wonder if you added another 512 MB of ram how it would have performed? Intergrated video is just a no go.
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That's why we added the 6600GT - it really just seemed CPU bound at that point...
 
Rube said:
Since I know you guys have soooooo much free time. . . :p

It would be nice if [H]Consumer reviewed the out-of-box experience, then passed it on to [H]Enthusiast to flog it and see what it can do with an upgrade or reformat.
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Not a bad idea, and stuff like that has been kicked around, perhaps we'll find a scenerio where it's worth doing it...

Bottom line is, I really like showing you guys cool stuff. That's why I was excited to show you the Origami, and I rushed around like a chicken with my head cut off to get you info on HTX as soon as possible, and then was able to get some pictures of a stripped down 19" SLI laptop. So [H] Consumer isn't all about just evaluating PC's, I want to be able to get stuff on the page that you can at least think "Hmmm...didn't know that, interesting". So if that means I gotta send a Compaq to Kyle so he can set it on fire, then that's what I'll do. ;)
 
a couple things about HP/Compaq that are bad for noobies:

1. they dont give you speakers with a pc. they instead give you speakers if you buy a monitor. thats pretty damn stupid since the sound comes from the pc not the monitor. you should be able to have sound without spending extra for speakers.

2. for some reason every HP/Compaq i have owned or looked at has the video set to pci in the bios. to put a video card in the pci-e or agp slot you have to into bios and change it first. theres no reason for it to be set to pci because the options are "pci" and "onboard/agp" or "onboard/pci-e". the computers come with onboard graphics so wouldnt it make more since to have on that setting anyway? that would also make installing a video card a snap for first timers.
 
trek554 said:
2. for some reason every HP/Compaq i have owned or looked at has the video set to pci in the bios. to put a video card in the pci-e or agp slot you have to into bios and change it first. theres no reason for it to be set to pci because the options are "pci" and "onboard/agp" or "onboard/pci-e". the computers come with onboard graphics so wouldnt it make more since to have on that setting anyway? that would also make installing a video card a snap for first timers.
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If the option is set to AGP/onboard, it will boot either onboard video or an AGP video card. what if someone puts a PCI card in? Shit outta luck. If the option is PCI, its going to boot PCI if a card is inserted and disable onboard, with the assumption that someone is not going to have BOTH a PCI and AGP card in, which is a perfectly valid assumption. obvoiusly, if there is NO card in there, its going to boot onboard.
 
lithium726 said:
If the option is set to AGP/onboard, it will boot either onboard video or an AGP video card. what if someone puts a PCI card in? Shit outta luck. If the option is PCI, its going to boot PCI if a card is inserted and disable onboard, with the assumption that someone is not going to have BOTH a PCI and AGP card in, which is a perfectly valid assumption. obvoiusly, if there is NO card in there, its going to boot onboard.
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who the hell puts a pci video card in? 99% of users will put a pci-e or agp card in. if it was already set to onboard/agp or onboard/pci-e then the user would not even have to fool with the bios.
 
Im fairly certain that option is to select where it boots FIRST. If it never looks at PCI, it will never boot with a PCI card in. There are people who get sold PCI cards because some dolt at BB told them it is good, you know.

if it sees nothing in the PCI slot, it goes to AGP/onboard. where is the problem? most of my aftermarket boards have been set like this too.
 
Chris,

I'm not saying do a clean-up BEFORE the evaluation. I said that after you condemned the machine and blamed the cpu for it's poor performance, the only way to really back up that statement would be to do a clean install AFTER your evaluation, and show the results to back up your conclusions.

Making a statement without supporting it is what the other guys do :)
 
lithium726 said:
Im fairly certain that option is to select where it boots FIRST. If it never looks at PCI, it will never boot with a PCI card in. There are people who get sold PCI cards because some dolt at BB told them it is good, you know.

if it sees nothing in the PCI slot, it goes to AGP/onboard. where is the problem? most of my aftermarket boards have been set like this too.
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do you own a a compaq because i do? the video is set to pci in the bios so if you put an agp video card in all you will have is a blank screen. i have installed plenty of video cards in hp/compaq computers and i know what i am talking about. if you buy an emachines all you have to do is put in the pci-e or agp card.
 
no need to be snappy to correct someone, goddamn.

I never said you were wrong. I gave simple explainations as to why they might have done such a thing in their BIOS, based on expeiriences with other hardware. If I had known the screen goes blank when an AGP card were installed, then I would've joined you in saying WTF? from the very begenning.
 
lithium726 said:
no need to be snappy to correct someone, goddamn.

I never said you were wrong. I gave simple explainations as to why they might have done such a thing in their BIOS, based on expeiriences with other hardware. If I had known the screen goes blank when an AGP card were installed, then I would've joined you in saying WTF? from the very begenning.
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sorry if i was rude. this whole bios settings caused me grief a couple years ago when i got my first compaq computer. i knew nothing about computers but followed the directions on compaqs website on how to install a video card. they never mentioned the bios settings in the insructions. i think they updated the card installation instructions since then though.

i called compaq since i had a blank screen after installing the card and they had no clue. i took my computer to compusa and they looked at it for me. they told me all i had to do was switch the settings in the bios and they fixed it. i felt so stupid. i guess we all learn the hard way sometimes. at least now i know what i am doing when it comes to installing cards. :D
 
I think the point is that by doing anything to the system it defeats the purpose of reviewing pre-built systems.

The reviewers should base their conclusions on the product they recieve without modifying the system at all, they should not change the systems in order to prove what is wrong with them.

It is a new website that is not HardOCP, it is something different entirely.

Complaining that the reviewer didn't change the product in order to prove their conclusion is a very poor argument in Compaq's favor.

If I am using these reviews as a reference I want to know what the systems are like from factory, period.. not how to fix them after I make my purchase.

Think of it as a review of a car, say there was something wrong with the transmission, the car reviewer would not replace the transmission and then drive the car again to test it, the reviewer would simply say 'Do not purchase this car it has a bad transmission'.
 
Chris_Morley said:
So if that means I gotta send a Compaq to Kyle so he can set it on fire, then that's what I'll do. ;)
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Haha....sweet! Please post that video soon! :D
 
Chris_Morley said:
If you've been reading our system evaluations over the past year you'd know we're targeting different people with [H] Consumer, hence the different branding.

With a $300 off the shelf consumer, we're targeting the "just gimme something for the intarweb" type.

With a $1500 Velocity Micro computer we're targeting the slightly more technically savvy gamer on a budget.

These are different perspectives we take on when we evaluate a PC.
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And at the same time, you @ [H]Consumer need to realize that very few people that stumble on [H] are totally and complete noobs. This last review read like you were trying to find problems rather than just review the system. While it was a good read, I think you need some more facts to back up all of the generalizations.
 
Nate7311 said:
And at the same time, you @ [H]Consumer need to realize that very few people that stumble on [H] are totally and complete noobs. This last review read like you were trying to find problems rather than just review the system. While it was a good read, I think you need some more facts to back up all of the generalizations.
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I think you should reread the first paragraph at the beginning of all our evaluations:

As many of you might know by now, [H] Consumer doesn’t "review" systems; we evaluate the experiences they facilitate. We order the system the same as you would and evaluate every aspect of the end-user experience. Not only does this give us a better idea of what hardware an end user actually receives, it also allows us to obtain a more accurate picture of just how each company functions and treats its customers. As fast as PC hardware has become over the years, we think giving a personal computer "5 stars" based on a synthetic benchmark is simply irresponsible. We think service, support, and reliability are much more important factors in today's climate than speed. Fast is easily bought, but purchasing and ownership satisfaction can be elusive.
This process allows us to not only evaluate the system, but the OEM that builds it. Our goal is to give you the wide-angle lens view of the computer and the company so that you can make informed and educated decisions about what you purchase or recommend to clients, friends, and family.
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Chris,

I think it would be at least Interesting to see just how much the preinstalled software was hurting things, although only as a side note to the data you already have. For $399 out the door, a lot of us folks would consider picking one of these suckers up to use as a quiet, no-frills workstation. I know as loud as my gaming box is, its not a joy to use it for internet use, media, etc.

Great job on the evaluation!

Squash
 
squash said:
Chris,

I think it would be at least Interesting to see just how much the preinstalled software was hurting things, although only as a side note to the data you already have. For $399 out the door, a lot of us folks would consider picking one of these suckers up to use as a quiet, no-frills workstation. I know as loud as my gaming box is, its not a joy to use it for internet use, media, etc.

Great job on the evaluation!

Squash
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In the case of the first XPS 400 we evaluated, we did just that, and saw it hurt it by about 20%. We did that because it was a $1400 gaming PC and we felt it wasn't catering to gamers.

We weren't as concerned with the $300 value systems, but if you guys think it would be of value to you and would help you make purchasing decisions, then I will take a look at adding that metric in the future.

I will say that the eMachines we have seen so far run fairly lean and mean.
 
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