Why You Can Trust CNET Compaq Presario SR1600NX review: Compaq Presario SR1600NX
The Presario SR1620NX makes a good impression for a $500 PC, as long as you remember that it's a $500 PC. Welcome extras include an x16 PCIe slot and a nine-in-one media-card reader.
It's fair to assume that any $500 PC will require a few compromises. The HP Compaq Presario SR1620NX is no exception, but that doesn't make it a bad system. It's surprisingly well equipped for a budget PC, with adequate horsepower for home users, students, or anyone with basic computing needs. The Presario SR1620NX combines features such as a double-layer DVD burner, a nine-in-one media-card reader, and a generous software bundle with futureproof technologies such as a 64-bit-capable CPU and an x16 PCI Express graphics slot, making it a good choice for budget buyers and second-PC seekers.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
A fixed configuration that costs an even $500 without a monitor or speakers, the Presario SR1620NX features an eye-catching black midtower chassis with gray accents and a large, green power LED. At 15.3 inches high and 16.5 inches deep, it's compact enough to sit on a cluttered desk; Dell's budget Dimension E510 is 1.5 inches deeper and 1 inch taller. Despite its relatively trim dimensions, the Presario SR1620NX still offers room for expansion. Inside we found space for a second optical drive (the system includes a double-layer DVD burner) and a second hard drive. Two of the four RAM slots are free, as are two of the three PCI-card slots. There's also an x16 PCI Express slot for users who want more graphics horsepower than the onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chip affords. That's a welcome perk in an entry-level system, one that's lacking, for example, in the more expensive Gateway DX200X.
The Presario SR1620NX also has generous external expansion options, with seven USB 2.0 ports (three in front) and two FireWire ports (a six-pin port in front and a six-pin port in back). While many budget systems stock the front end with only microphone and headphone jacks, the Presario SR1620NX goes the extra mile with a third jack for line-in connections.
The Presario SR1620NX's specs are your typical budget affair: AMD's inexpensive 2.2GHz AMD Sempron 3400+ CPU, 512MB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. While we've seen more memory and bigger hard drives in other low-cost systems, this one is more than capable of meeting the basic needs of budget buyers. Plus, the Sempron 3400+ offers 64-bit support, which will become more important next year with the release of Windows Vista and subsequent 64-bit apps. On CNET Labs' BAPCo SysMark 2004 application benchmark, the Presario SR1620NX and its Sempron chip held up well against systems with Intel's budget Celeron chip. It cruised to an easy victory over the Shuttle XPC K6200h, which features a Celeron D 335 processor, and HP's own Pavilion s7220n Slimline PC, which uses a mobile Celeron M 370 CPU. It predictably trailed PCs with mainstream CPUs, including the excellent eMachines T6524, which features an Athlon 64 3500+. Not only did the T6524 best the Presario SR1620NX by a healthy 20 percent on SysMark, it costs only $100 more and gives you more memory and a larger hard drive; it's still our pick for budget buyers.
We didn't have high expectations for the Presario SR1620NX's cramped-looking, low-profile keyboard, but we found the keys surprisingly comfortable and responsive. The mouse, however, earned a definite thumbs-down: It's an old-fashioned ball mouse, not an optical model. We appreciate the nine-in-one media-card reader but suspect the 56Kbps modem will be useless to most.
Likewise, we predicted an anemic software bundle but instead found Microsoft Works 8, Microsoft Money Standard 2005, MSN Encarta 2005 (including a one-year subscription), Quicken 2005 New User Edition, InterVideo WinDVD 5, and Sonic DigitalMedia Plus, a disc-burning suite. Compaq Organize is a nifty Windows front end for organizing data, applications, Web links, and so on. All the PCs in the SR1600NX series include Windows XP Home except the higher-end SR1650NX, which comes with Windows Media Center Edition.
Compaq provides a standard one-year warranty on parts and labor, similar to the basic warranty from Dell. Recent budget systems from Gateway have cut coverage to 90 days. Tech support is available 24/7 via a toll-free phone call or online chat. Although onsite service isn't included, you do get a special 90-day tech-support window for the software included with the system.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 | BAPCo's SysMark 2004 rating | | SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | | SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
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System configurations:
eMachines T6524
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+; ATI Radeon RS482 chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; WDC WD2000BB-22GUC0 200GB 7,200rpm EIDE
Gateway DX200X
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.06GHz Pentium 4 519; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; integrated Intel 915G graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB 7,200rpm SATA
HP Pavilion s7220n Slimline PC
Windows XP Home SP2; 1.5GHz Intel Celeron M 370; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; integrated Intel 915G graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; Samsung SP2004C 200GB 7,200rpm SATA
HP Compaq Presario SR1620NX Desktop PC
Windows XP Home SP2; 2.0GHz AMD Sempron 3400+; ATI Radeon RS480 chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chip using 256MB shared memory; Seagate ST3160021A 160GB 7,200rpm EIDE
Shuttle XPC K6200h
Windows XP Home SP2; 2.8GHz Intel Celeron D 335; ATI 9100IGP chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; integrated ATI 9100 graphics chip using 128MB shared memory; Western Digital WD1600JB-00GVA0 160GB 7,200rpm EIDE