HP Compaq Presario V5000Z

The Compaq Presario V5000Z is perfect for buyers who want a laptop that handles more than productivity software, but aren’t willing to sacrifice portability or pay a huge price.

In the looks department, the 6.6-pound V5000Z reminds us of a late 1980s Volvo: durable, but blockish, lacking any sleek refinements you might see in a notebook from Sony or Apple. The case is thick at nearly two inches, but we had no trouble fitting it into the laptop bags that we tried. The V5000Z is silver on the sides and black on top; this dual-color scheme helps the machine stand out. All of the ports can be found either on the left or right sides, which include three USB 2.0 ports, a 6-in-1 memory card reader, and an expansion port to dock the notebook to an optional base.

As HP is one of the few major manufacturers to offer AMD processors, the V5000Z runs on a 2-GHz Turion 64. With a MobileMark 2005 score of 176, this CPU delivers pretty good performance. Much less impressive is the V5000Z’s endurance, as it turned in a below-average runtime of 2 hours and 30 minutes with the Wi-Fi connection turned off. During an informal test on a cross-country flight, this system lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes ripping a few CDs in iTunes and then watching a DVD.

When it comes to power and heat management, the V5000Z does a decent job. The machine operates quietly, even when we had multiple programs running. One minor complaint is that the notebook gets warm on the bottom left side, so users may feel a little discomfort during long-term usage.

The V5000Z’s built-in Wi-Fi radio connects to 802.11a/b/g networks, and we had no problems logging onto our wireless network. Our tests showed an average strength of 15.3 Mbps at 5 feet and 6.3 Mbps at 50 feet.

This configuration includes 1GB of DDR memory, which is more than enough to handle multitasking and demanding applications like Photoshop. The V5000Z didn’t have problems with ripping CDs, playing music, surfing the Web, and processing a few Word documents. The 100GB hard drive is fairly large, but it spins at only 4,200 rpm. If you want a faster hard drive, you will have to downgrade in capacity to the 5,400-rpm 80GB drive.

Many notebooks in this price and performance range offer barebones specs, but HP aims a bit higher by including some welcome multimedia features. Whether you’re watching a DVD or editing some photos, the 15.4-inch WXGA screen is sure to please. This configuration of the V5000 includes optional BrightView technology, which means that the display offers excellent brightness and contrast.

Powering the screen is ATI Radeon Xpress 200M graphics with 128MB of dedicated memory. You shouldn’t expect to play the latest 3D titles at the highest resolution, but the 3DMark03 score of 1,561 puts this system a notch above most systems with Intel’s integrated graphics.

For DVDs or burning your homemade movies, the V5000Z sports an 8X DVD+RW/8X DVD-RW drive that reads double-layer discs. This drive features LightScribe technology, which allows you to print images and text directly onto LightScribe-compatible discs. An optional HP Remote Control allows you to control your CDs and DVDs like any other media player.

For users who are torn between a powerful desktop replacement and an efficient thin-and-light, the V5000Z is a decent compromise. As long as you can live with less than three hours of battery life, you’ll be pleased with this value-priced portable.