Wal-Mart has Black Friday-style deals on Nov. 8, including a $298 laptop
In a nod to the tough economic environment, mega-retailer Wal-Mart is offering a selection of one-day in-store specials, a few of which caught our eye, including a sub-$300 laptop.
A Wal-Mart press release says the company will be offering a "$298 Compaq CQ-139WM 15.4" laptop with 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive." The Compaq brand name (which HP usually saves for bottom of the barrel junk) is almost enough to scare us off, and we've asked HP for information on this specific model, including what CPU is has. But, if you've only got $300 to spend on a laptop, and don't want a 9-inch Netbook, it might be worth a look.
Other notable Nov. 8 tech deals include a $100 Wal-Mart Gift Card with a $399 Sony PlayStation 3 purchase and a $30 Wal-Mart Gift Card with $129 Sony PlayStation 2 purchase. A handful of older (but popular) PS3 games--Warhawk, Resistance and MotorStorm--are going to be $19.82.
My question to you is: Would you trust a $298 laptop, especially one with a Compaq logo?
Update: HP never got back to us with specs, but after the system went live on Walmart's Web site Saturday, the info is now available for all to see:
- Intel Celeron Processor 575
2.00 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 1MB Cache - 2048MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Expandable up to 3072MB with 2 accessible memory slots - 15.4" Diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display
Viewing is enhanced with the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (shared) with up to 765MB Total Available Graphics Memory - 160GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)
Store all of your digital media on this expansive drive - Genuine Windows Vista? Home Basic with Service Pack 1 Makes your computing experience more efficient, more secure and more fun
- SuperMulti 8X DVD?R/RW drive With double-layer support
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
Every sub $500 laptop I have ever sold has fallen apart within a couple of years. The build quality is just not there and QA is almost nonexistent. Save your money for something reliable.
The price is great, but I suspect the CPU is very low power. Still the HDD is big enough and 2GiB is fine for Vista and great for XP.
so, no, not really.
As for the Compaq laptop, my dad has one, an R3000 that's about four years old now. Has a brittle shell on it, ran slow as heck, and the hard drive failed prematurely. I personally wouldn't buy another. However, if you're a university student who needs a laptop, $298 is pretty tempting.
I bought a $350 Toshiba as a present for someone last year and the sucker had lower specs than this Compaq?for $300 and 1 year warranty what is there to think about? A perfect workhorse laptop one will not be worried to haul around on trips.
And do your homework before you use foolish rhetoric like "bottom of the barrel junk."
Even with those specs, I bet it paled in comparison to the HP brand's line up, and for the price... Yeah the joke's definitely on you.
..*snickers*
$3500 for a C2D @ 2.6Ghz with the COMPAQ name on it...
*snickers some more*
Back to the article, no I wouldn't buy it. If I were short on money, I'd save up and buy something decent. And what defines a purchase as decent would mean that it is NOT the top of the line, but not using scrub components like the Pentium Dual Core crap or the fit-for-budget AMD chips out there. Add a little more for a decent GPU (400-series equivalent) and look for the goodies like integrated bluetooth, webcams, USB ports, size, and battery life. Ton of $700 laptops that fit this profile, so I'd say it'd be worth saving up.
Otherwise, a netbook would be more fitted for the price (maybe not the lowest of the low-end netbooks) since battery and physical size will be the icing on the cake.
I don't even look at Compaq as a brand anymore. It was bought out and I doubt if the people that founded Compaq are involved in any way at this point. It's an HP!
Nothing is more ridiculous than the braggarts who pay $2000 for an 'elite' laptop that will be obsolete in 2-3 years.
One of the great under-appreciated skills that underlies the tech hardware industry is to get people to buy so much more computer than the vast majority of users need.
Save Money, Live Better.
I wouldn't buy a $300 compaq. Not because of the name, but because of their absolutely terrible outsourced customer service. I expect hardware failures in ANY computer eventually. It's how the manufacturer handles it that sets them up for success of failure. I never imagined I'd have to wait over 2 months (they had it for two months) for them to replace my laptop. If they had their choice, I'd have waited 6-12 months for them to replace the motherboard instead of ponying up a new laptop. So HP and Compaq? Never again.
Some run hotter than others, but If you buy this machine I would strongly recomment you either set it on a laptop cooler, or do what I did. I put a couple of shims (anything will do) with some double sided tape. My laptop is raised about a 1/4" off the desk now and runs way, way cooler.
bologna, cheddar cheese, etc. etc. at 2:30 in the morning? Aaaaaaah, truly these are happy times....
Save Money, Live Better.
I work for a food manufacturer and sometimes run into this problem with traditional grocers.
I guess my point is that everyone thinks that Wal-Mart is the only retailer who does this, but in truth, all do, so don't be fooled. Also know that there are manufacturers out there who won't do anything to make a buck. Not as many as you and I would like, but they are out there.
To the poster who said save up for a $700 laptop--there are those who'd argue $700 laptops are cheap junk. It's all a big crapshoot.
Unfortunately the audience Walmart is targeting can barely handle computing let alone Linux.
Go to Compaq/HP pages about this laptop.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3804159?=en&
Not a product specification anywhere?
The FAQ should be enough to give you pause!
» Fixing WebCam Problems
» Precautions to Take Before Updating to Vista Service Pack 1
» Update to Vista SP1 Frequently Asked Questions
» How to Improve the Performance of the Battery
» Updating Drivers and Software with Windows Update
» Resolving No Sound or Audio Problems in Vista
» Unable to Use or Install Microsoft Office 2007 (Cannot find Missing Product Key)
» Resolving Microphone Problems
» Checking Your Notebook PC Using the HP System Health Scan
» Locating and Using the Product Number and Model Number
» Testing a Webcam in Vista with YouCam
» Resolving Coprocessor Error Message
» Improving the Performance of Your Computer
» Obtaining a Recovery CD or DVD set for Windows Vista
There are millions of people that $100 makes a big difference in their budget, and this sounds like a great computer for them. Like I said, I bought a Toshiba for $798 on sale at BB three years ago. This laptop has more/better RAM, a faster processor (Mine is 1.8), and a bigger hard drive. This Compaq is less than half what I paid.
Yeah, CNET is fine, but your review of this machine is elitist and unfair. I own a sub franchise in case you wonder if I'm some hack for WalMart or Compaq.
- by truthteller33 November 8, 2008 4:47 AM PST
- I have owned 13 Compaqs and recently bought a laptop from them and it was awesome, with no problems. 15", dual-core CPU, Vista, thin for the price, Vista, 160GB, 2GB RAM, DVD. Sweet. Unlike a nutbook that can't even surf some websites like Hulu, can't play a DVD, can't play games, etc.
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- by bradleyolson November 9, 2008 1:18 AM PST
- My favorite Black Friday site is: http://www.bfads.net
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (66 Comments)I don't know why anyone would want to use any other Black Friday site when they can use BFAds.net
Brad Olson