Compaq once was the largest manufacturer of personal computing systems. Derived from the words Compatibility and Quality, the company was an independent corporation till HP took over it in 2002. In the early 90s, it entered the retail market with the Presario and has continued the line ever since. Even after the takeover HP continued the line due to the marketability. Another addition to the prestigious line is the Compaq Presario 5305UK-m.  With a dual core processor at 2.6GHz and an inbuilt Media Accelerator X4500HD graphics, the desktop promises to be a great choice for work, games and multimedia. There is an 18.5 inch monitor with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution for great HD picture and a 5.1HD audio to complement it. The hard drive of 320 GB is sufficient for storing a lot of data too. But do all these specifications make it a great PC? Read on to find out.

Compaq Presario CQ5305 Desktop PC

Design:

Monitor:
The Compaq Presario CQ5305 has a black solid metal body with aluminium finish. The screen is an 18 inch one and that uses liquid crystal display. The glossy finish does make the PC look a lot stylish.  At the bottom frame of the screen is the Compaq logo embossed. On the right side are keys for easy access. The resolution of 1368 x 768 pixels features a contrast of 600:1.

Cabinet Design:
HP has bought on a host of changes in the 5305UK m cabinet. The cabinet looks sleek and stylish. The front side has the DVD/CD tray, 2 USB ports and other connections. On the sides of the CPU are vents meant for cooling. The alloy cover that covers the cabinet is painted and is well made.

Ports and Slots:
Being a PC aimed at the home users, it has all the set of connections that you would need. It has a Super Multi optical disc drive for DVD/CD and in terms of connectivity; the system has a headphone and microphone jack, six USB ports, a VGA port and audio jacks. There is an Ethernet port and a memory card reader as well. It is really disappointing to know that it lacks a fire wire port and Bluetooth.

Peripherals:
The keyboard is nothing extraordinary. The piece is ergonomically designed and is raised slightly at the top for maximum comfort.  The mouse is not anything special either.

Features:

Processor, Hard Drive and RAM:
For its price, the Compaq Presario 5300UK-m Desktop Computer delivers the ability to browse the internet, play some games, do office related tasks and watch movies. The 2.6GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300 is capable of handling most tasks that home PC users would ever run. It has a cache memory of 2MB and hardware configuration of 320GB SATA drive, 2 GB DDR3 memory and a SuperMulti DVD R/RW optical drive.

Software:
There are complementary software included such as MS works and Office with 60 days trial. Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Windows Mail, Windows Photo Galley and Windows Movie Maker are a plethora of programs from Microsoft that are included.  Other software included in the package are CyberLink DVD Suite, EasyBits Magic Desktop and a HP games console with hours of free game play.

Windows 7 Pre-installed:
The CQ5305 Personal Computer System comes with Windows 7 Home Premium pre installed. The latest operating system from the company serves everybody’s computing needs that include support for high level software.

Graphics processing:
The 5305 features Intel GMA X4500HD processor make it a desktop powerful enough for most household user activities such as web browsing, office work and some light gaming. The GPU sports about 782 MB of RAM and coupled with the 2.6 GHz Dual Core processor, it is a great bargain for most users.

Multimedia:
It is a pleasure to watch movies, listen to music, play games in the desktop PC thanks to the high definition 5.1 channel audio output making the games and movies sound more realistic and the sound quality is great.

Performance:

The Compaq Presario delivers the ability to do activities that are light on the processor. The system is stable but it was unable to handle intense applications such as video editing, 3D editing or even 3D games. The audio solution was good, considering it included the ability to conjure up to six speakers simultaneously. The graphics card allows viewing of DVD movies and below 720p HD video.  If you are looking for expanding the memory of the PC, there is good news as there is plenty of space to install an extra high definition audio card, wireless card and a graphics card. Considering that there is a plethora of useful software included, the PC is definitely a great alternative for a home desktop PC.

Service and Support:

There is a limited warranty of one year included on the Compaq Presario 5305UK m. The warranty includes toll free support as well free hardware technical support. There is a 30 day free software support which can be extended up to 90 days with product registration.

Verdict:

The Compaq Presario 5305UK-m is another decent product from HP. It has got all its basics right. It has a decent monitor that allows viewing of DVD and 720p HD movies. The CPU has got enough strength to get most of the basic tasks done such as internet browsing or office work. However if you would want to play games such as Crysis, then you would be disappointed. The audio is decent and well, that makes it a complete home desktop unit. If you are looking for a decent PC that comes with a cheap price tag, you could go for this.

Check other Compaq Presario Desktop PCs in this website.

Compaq Presario CQ5305 Desktop PC – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer Compaq Presario CQ5305 Desktop PC
Model Number CQ5305UK m
Model Name Compaq Presario 5305UK m
Series CQ5300UK
Display & Screen Size 18.5″
Dimensions ( H x W x D) 10.2″ x 14.1″ x 1.38″(min) /1.77″(max)
Hard drive Capacity 320GB Serial ATA hard drive
Optical drive DVD-RAM
Graphics hardware Intel GMA X4500HD graphics processor
Memory 2GB DDR3
Processor Intel® Pentium® Processor E5300
- 800 MHz FSB
- 2 MB L2 cache
Processor speed 2.60GHz
Sound Speakers (2 x 1W per channel)
Operating system Genuine Windows 7
Mouse Compaq Presario Optical mouse
Keyboard Compaq Presario keyboard
I/O ports 6 x High-Speed 2.0 USB ports
1 x RJ45 LAN port
1 x PS/2 Mouse port
1 x PS/2 Keyboard port
1 x Headphone and Microphone(Front) port
1 x Microphone/Line-in/Line-out (Back) port
1 x VGA-out (Back) port
1 x DC-IN (Back) port
Software Microsoft® Works and Microsoft® Office Home and
Student 2007 60-Day Trial Version, Microsoft® Internet Explorer;
Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery; Windows Media Player;
Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker;
Cyberlink DVDSuite; EasyBits Magic Desktop;
HP Games Console with hours of free game play,
Windows Media Center
Warranty 12 Months

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