I am the great fan of Compaq. I started using presario desktops more than 10 years. I never use to face any problem expect expandability. I brought compaq presario V4103ap notebook 2 years ago. I have expected less but got more than that in the specifications wise. Slowly I have taken extended warranty which comes 2 years as an additional warranty. During my usage i found battery backup is reducing day by day. In an year compaq replaced my battery.

Tip : First year of warranty we can get new battery if the back up time reduces.. Just check your battery status around 11th month from your purchase date and get it replace. During extended warranty battery is not covered.


First year i faced Dvd-writer issues,Hinges becoming lose and instantly i got it replaced. End of First year battery, hinges and dvd writer replaced.

Second year touchpad started given me the problems. My note book is very stylish compare to old generation notebooks. Given more importance to the look and used lot of plastics and their is no quality of the touchpad. Touch-pad started loosing the paint and touch never used to work properly and slowly got replaced. After 2 months of use again i got the same touch pad and hinges issue. Again they have replaced. After using about 2 years notebook becoming very hot and shutting down. If i connect any external portable hard disks, shutting down in 15mins to 20mins of time. Again with this touchpad and dvd writer started creating problems in not working

I went to service centre on 28th of april 2008 and listed out my problems with them. They said only 2 parts can be replaced because its a rule under warrnaty it seems. And that too one week gap should be there for giving another complaint. Its really sucks on hearing such kind of rules. Imagizine guys if notebook burns because of heat they replace only 2 parts at a time and should wait weeks to get new notebook by installment.

Coming to the story they have changed my motherboard, fan and dvd-writer and told me to pick my notebook around 6th of May 2008. As i have prepared myself to pick the notebook and wanted to test all the periperhals i have taken portable usb hard disks, pen drives, Memory cards to test the mother board. And to check DVD-writer i carried dvd-media’s includes data, videos, songs and carried compact discs.. While testing none of this worked. Apart from that, service engineers scratched my laptop backside very bladly. Given them without scracthes they have delivered with me with the scratches. It looks like their is no professionalism. When i raised a query regarding the scraches theyh realised and promised me in changing the backcover. When i showed Dvd-writer and motherboard not functioning they asked me to come next week so that they will change the backcover. And i have told about the touchpad issue and shown the errors in not functioning . They said everything will get rectified if i will them some more days.

Till today i have not received my notebook and the service engineers are not responding my queries. I dont know whether they will give my notebook in good condition. Purchased my notebook for Rs.70,000/- before two years and Rs.7500/- paid towards extended warranty. My warranty period will be upto November 2008.

Always one or the other problems araising with the notebook and tried in going to service centre every time. They will replace the parts but where is the quality of the product. Spend an huge amount for the laptop and get cheap quality product.

Engineers in compaq service centre dont have knowledge and they are not checking the system whether it works or not. I recommend strongly to the power users not to buy the presario laptop. I heard hp model notebooks has very good quality control and good performance.

At the end compaq presario notebooks has excellent features and good in pricing good after sales and service. But quality levels have come down.. Frequently should go around the service centre.

Parts replaced in my notebook from the day of my purchased are : motherboard, Fan, DVd-writer(2 times), Touchpad( 2 times), Batteries ( 2 times ), Hinges ( 2 times), Power Adapter and Back plastic cover…

Purchase date : 1st november 2005.

Specifications  of My Notebook – Compaq Presario V4103AP

Intel Pentium-M 760 @ 2.0GHz Processor
Intel 915 GM Chipset  2 MB L2 Cache  533 MHz FSB
1GBMB DDR SDRAM
100 GB HDD ATA
LightScribe 8X Double layer (8.5GB) DVD+RW/+R
15.4″ Widescreen with BrightView Screen Technology WXGA TFT Display
Intel graphics media accelerator (GMA) 900  DVMT 3.0 up to 128 MB
Next Gen Express Card 54/34 slot
Altec Lansing Stereo Speakers
6-in-1 Digital Media Reader
6 cell  Li-Ion Battery
Touch pad
56K Modem
NIC 
Integrated Wireless 802.11b/g
Integrated Bluetooth
S-Video TV Out
IEEE 1394
4 USB 2.0 Ports
Win XP Home

If any of them faced similar kind of problems please comment in this page.