Compaq Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR: Review

The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR - Why I wanted it? - Truly I did not need a laptop. I already have one, however the laptop I own is huge, weighing in at nearly 9 pounds, I used it for gaming on the go... or shall I say... I planned on using it for gaming on the go. The Dell from Hell weighed far too much for me to want to lug the sucker around just so I could screw around with my Sims. 

 I am still into gaming and everything, but the fact of the matter was, I wanted a small semi-lightweight portable laptop for writing. I hate having to be stuck in my dungeon (basement) to write stories, reviews, or to web search. I feel so...limited on my desktop, when it comes to mobility. Plus it sucks being in the dungeon on nice days. I wanted something I could just tote along with me to the bed, the couch, or outside on a hot sunny day.

Why I bought it?
 
I was actually looking into Ultra Mobile PC's such as the Asus, or Cloudbook. Small, portable, and barely tipping the scales at a mere 2 pounds. However review after review pointed me into a different direction. I figured a UMPC (ultra mobile PC) was more novelty, and I wanted it based on its 'cute factor' vs productivity.

After endlessly researching, I figured I'd rather spend a few extra dollars on a more productive and usable laptop. I bought the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR simply because it was priced extremely fairly, and came with just about everything I could need; and some more.

Now, I am not one who knows much about specs, but I know when I buy a crappy PC vs a not so crappy one. I'm not going to base this review on specs though, most users don't have a clue what that PC language means anyway. I'm going to base it on my use, how I feel about it, and how well it works for me.

Boot Up Time:
 
The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR would be my first ever hands on experience using Windows Vista. Yep, I'm a Vista Virgin.

In the past I wanted Vista on my desktop... however after hearing that it would slow my PC down significantly, I wanted nothing to do with it. I stood with my good ol' XP. Besides, she never gave me any issues.

The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR however came with Vista included and already installed. I was excited to give this whole Vista thing a try, yet hesitant.

My old desktop (which is actually a relatively new Gateway) boots up on XP in about a minute. Not too bad, but also not the greatest. I however don't really notice how long it takes to load up to my work screen, unless I am in a huge rush, and just looking to click on, and look up information in a hurry. 1 minute can seriously seem like an eternity. Especially if you have the PC set up with a password. Add another 15 seconds to that load time.

Although a minute of time seldom bothers me when it comes to boot up... a minutes time would just not cut it for some PC owners.

How did the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR clock in on boot up time?
It didn't dawn on me till I was home, thinking about boot up time, that I should of tested the laptop at Best Buy, before taking it home. Don't get me wrong, I heard all good things about the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR, but stupid me, I forgot to test boot time before buying it. I figured if boot time was just too long and unacceptable I'd just box this baby up and return it.

Boot up time was a bit disgusting on the first boot, simply because I had to add in a bunch of user information. After the first initial boot though, I am happy to report that the laptop was up and booted in less than a minutes time. Nothing painful here. I will also add that boot up time on the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR was actually faster then my gaming PC. I was impressed! I was truly thinking Vista would add another 30 seconds to boot time. Fear not, it's fast. Faster then my XP run machine.

Design:
 
The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR is a very sexy laptop. Seriously, if I were an electronic desktop, I'd wanna pop my disc into this sexy slice of plastic. The design is thin, and is made of gorgeous black plastic, with decorative silver that runs around the keyboard. The black plastic is matte on the lid, and shiny, shiny black silk heaven on the inside.

There is nothing rickety about the overall laptop. It seems to be constructed of high quality material, and so far has displayed no issues with loose bottom screws or anything junk-o-licious like that.

The Keyboard:
 
The reason I choose the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR over the Gateway model (which was priced the same) was because I liked the overall set up of the keyboard. I liked how there was not a huge gap of wasted space for a hand rest. So many laptops (even expensive ones) have this huge 4 inc gap of wasted space... this wasted space is on my old laptop, and I found that it would cause discomfort to my wrists.

The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR does have a plastic hand wrest gap, but it is not huge, or an ugly site like most. On this rest, sits your touch pad right smack in the middle.

I myself have always hated touch pads, so I went and bought a mini wireless laptop mouse to go with the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR. I recommend you do the same if you are considering this laptop, or any laptop for that matter.

Anyhow, for those of you too cheap to spent the extra $25.00 on the wireless mouse, then I will mention that the touch pad works like a pro. I had no lag issues, or buggy freezes. All in all, the touch pad works like a charm, and I do not think one would have any issues working with it. I however, still prefer using a wireless mouse.

The keyboard is very easy to get used to, and the keys tap down nicely. They make a nice little clicking sound, yet is a lot quieter than a standard keyboard. I had no issues maneuvering around the keyboard while writing.

Speakers:
 
The problem I hear come from most laptop users is that the speakers are too low, and that they suck. Keep in mind, it's a frigging mobile computer... not a damn stereo.
 
The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR has 2 built in speakers which lie right at the top of the left and right hand sides above the keyboard.

The sound quality is fine, it is very loud when I want to jam to some of my favorite tunes. I have no issues with it being too low. I'm quite comfortable with the sound.

The utmost coolest thing ever though is how you adjust the sound!!!! WHOOOIE!!! Its like a frigging Apple iPhone touchscreen. It's located right at the top of the laptop above the keyboard. There are blue lights that glow to highlight the plus sign, which would higher the volume. The minus sign lowers the volume. For me touching them with my finger works flawlessly. I'm super impressed.

There is a key located next to the volume touch pads, which indicate a mute button. A quick touch of that key and your speakers are muted. I find this especially gnarly for those days working in the office, when I happen to be listening to music, or watching to YouTube. A quick flick of the finger to the mute touch sensitive light, and wallah. MUTED!
 
Next to that cool mute key we have a lovely little refresh key. This key is also glowing blue, and is easy to locate.

I truly find these touch sensitive keys amazing, and probably the neatest little addition to this laptop. I do however worry about them ever shutting down and not responding. I have no clue how to go about fixing it, so I always leave the volume on high. God forbid the touch pads stop working... at least my sound will bu all the way up.
 
The Screen:
 
This is always the mother of all pearls, and most people want to know how the screen looks. Honestly it is the reason I fell in love. When I first caught glimpse of this laptop from a distance, I assumed it was a $2,000 model. It had the nicest screen I had ever seen! I was shocked to learn that this beauty was the cheapest model in the lot. I would of wanted this laptop over a $2,000 any day simply based on it's high gloss, gorgeous, sexy, slim screen.

The screen itself comes in at 15.4 inches. It is a wide screen, with 15.4 inch WXGA high-definition wide screen display. The screens beauty is skin deep with Bright-View technology, and a 1280 x 800 resolution.

For those who have no idea what the hell that all means.... let me put it in an easy term. This screen is gorgeous! It's bling, bling gorgeous.

USB:
 
We got three of these babies jammed into this 15.4 inch dream machine. Plug in any little USB gadget you want. Camera, printer... or whatever. It's your choice.

Games:
 
There is a slew of new games that comes packed on this PC. Games we have never seen before on XP running PC's are all packed into Vista, and I'm quite impressed. From running around rescuing cats with my Granny, to regular ol' Solitaire. Vista packs a cute assortment of games; games that any user would find fun withering away hours playing.

-Besides the includes games, I also may mention that The Sims 2 works like a pro on this PC. Not that, that means much to you personally. What I am getting at though, is that the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR will be able to handle most games you throw at it. It's not some glorious high end gaming machine, but it runs my Sims 2 with ease.

Battery Life:
 
This is pretty vital to all those PC nerds out there. Me, I don't have an issue with plugging my computer in, for those who like the whole 100% wire free aspect of laptops, know that the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR ran for nearly 3 hours hours before blacking out on me. Hehe! It's not the longest battery life in the world, but it is decent for those days where you don't feel like being stuck indoors and plugged in.

WORD?!
 
A lot of folks are always moaning about boot time for windows word. The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR took approximately 10 seconds to boot up Word. Not bad for such a low priced laptop eh!? What is most impressive, is that this was it's first boot up ever, which usually takes longer.

Word loaded up at lightning speeds during the second boot.

I was totally impressed. My desktop at work takes nearly a minute!

Lightscribe!
 
Now this is just frigging cool man! I am not much of a download person. I really don't care much for creating my own music CD's online. However after learning about Lightscribe technology, I was amped to pump out my first CD.


Lightscribe basically will allow you to create your CD and then add artwork to the actual disc. I don't know how it works, but I do know this. The results were easy, breezy, beautiful.... coverart!
 
Internet:
 
The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR has built in wireless, so if you have your router all set up, getting the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR logged onto the internet can be achieved in just a few seconds. All I had to do was add my WEP key, and my notebook was up and running.

Websites loaded up at lightning speed. With Optonline, Associated Content loaded up in about a second. The blink of an eye. Brilliant for those who are impatient like me.
 
My work desktop even takes a few seconds to load up Associated Content. The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR plowed through like a pro. Even running on Vista! Yep!
 
Digital Media Reader:
 
So that little phrase up above may be Greek to those who are new with computers. Hell it took me like a year to figure out what the heck it meant. But for those who haven't a clue, I'm here to let you know that Digital Media Reader is basically a little slot located on the base of the laptop. In this little slot you can slide in your digital cameras SD card. No more plugging wires in and waiting for things to load up. Oh No!!!

With the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR you simply slide in your card, and wait for the PC to install your photos for you. It's easy, and it's awesome that this laptop came with it.

What's Inside?
 
Well out of the box you get your um...Laptop of course. Included you also get start up manuals, and user manuals. The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR also comes with your power cords, and all of that boring stuff to make it work (such as the battery). Included though was a screen cloth cleanser, ear plugs for when you want to work with sound without bothering those around you, and a cute little HP notepad.

What was disturbing though was that on the Best Buy website, it also claims to come with an HP mobile remote. I have no clue what the hell that even is, but I do know it was not in my box! I'm in the process of moaning to Best Buy and HP about this annoying lack of something that I want just because it was supposed to be included.

Weight:
 
The Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR weighs in at 5.7 pounds. It's not the lightest notebook on the market, but it's thin and small enough to tote around with you without causing sever back pain. I have been toting mine from work and home everyday without any issues. I recommend you buy a laptop carrying case to protect the laptop further.

Price:
 
Oh yeah, you wanted to know the most important thing about the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR It only cost me $499.00 at Best Buy. You can also find this particular model online at other websites. However for those who want instant gratification just stop by a local Best Buy store.

Overall:
 
Yep this gorgeous piece of PC art is by far the most affordable, and useful thing I have ever gotten my greedy PC geeky fingers on. If I were Bender from Futurama I'd be humping this thing. It's truly a reliable, easy to use sex-ay machine.

I truly have nothing but good things to say about the Compaq - Presario TK-57 Laptop V6719NR. It is by far the best $499 I have ever spent. I highly, highly recommend this laptop to those looking for an easy notebook to work with on a budget. This baby runs as smoothly and as quickly as my high end desktop. For the price, it cannot be beat.