Okay so this was one of the cheapest laptops the store had available and I needed one asap for a school assignment (I was still in high school). I bought it and it seemed to be great for a while. It didn't have word installed so I got the off brand of it and it seemed to function slow. Everything was fine. Then as it started to get older, more and more things started running slowly. Then it crapped out on me and I bought a new hard drive to put in it and now it works like brand new again (I'm a sophomore in college now). It's definitely not the fastest laptop nor does it have the greatest amount of memory/ram/etc. But it does what I need it to do, all I have to do is be patient and it will get there for me eventually. I'd say for my price range, it does a fairly good job of functioning. If you have the extra moolah, I would recommend something of higher quality though. Oh, I would like to mention that this laptop has been thrown against walls, stepped on, dropped on tile floors, and it has nothing wrong with it. Still works just fine. I'm using it right now :) Durability Unbelievably durable. It has been through so much. 10 here all the way.

stirewalts001

USA

As I type this review, I am typing from a Compaq Presario CQ56 Notebook PC. We inherited this laptop from a family member, and after having two Toshibas, one right after the other, quit charging on us, and multiple charger replacements, it is nice to have a computer that feels like it is well made. My Dad's friend who knew a lot about computers told me that the two best brands for me would be Toshiba and HP, and since I have always liked the look and feel of Toshiba, they are what I have went with in the past. Now that I know better, I will stick to HP or Compaq (pretty much the same company). This computer is very durable. Although it is an older model, and it runs on Windows 7, it get the jobs that my husband and I need done. He installed his FML8 music program on here, which makes it run slower than normal, but it ran great before he did that. I would definately recommend the HP or Compaq brand, and if you are looking for a used computer, the Compaq Presario CQ56 Notebook is a good one. Battery Life About 2 hours.

skck09

Woodville, OH

I purchased this almost 8 months ago. In needed a pc for my school work but didnt have a lot of money to spend on it. This was a pretty good deal. So far, the only issue I have is the space bar sticks every now and then. However, I will recommend this to any student. Its very affordable and I am happy with it.

merilyn

College Station, TX

i just bought this computer two weeks ago and I have to say that for the money I paid and the free antivirus software that came w/ it from bestbuy I love this computer. It rips and burns dvds like nothing and plays movies and games w/ ease. I mainly use it for writing and surfing the net but for 300 and tax this is def a good comp for the price. Like the title says though we'll see in two years how i feel about it.

jslash

Proctorville, OH

I bought this laptop a month ago.It has ran great and only had one issue with it.I set it up and charged the battery like it said in the manual,but it would never keep a charge for more than an hour after that.I put up with it for a few weeks and decided to use the HP service center and email them and ask for a new battery under my warranty.I was asked to run a simple diagnostic test on my battery and send the results in.My battery test determined it was bad,and i emailed the results in and was told within 3 hours my tracking number for my new battery.I recieved it the next morning by fedex.They work very quickly to address customer issues and provide great customer service.I have had issues before with microsoft not wanting to make good on a warranty and also with toshiba.I will be a loyal Hp customer.

chunkem33

Lawton, OK

My laptop that I had for 4 years recently was stolen. I needed a laptop as soon as possible and I did not have a huge budget for a new computer. I saw this Compaq on sale and it looked like it had everything I needed on it. I bought it and when I received it I noticed that the keyboard was not exactly like other keyboards. I didn't think much of it until I started using it (and I couldn't return the computer). There are no F1-F9 keys at the top and other certain keys I used to use a lot are in other places or aren't even on this keyboard. Now after I have owned this laptop for 6 months, it has started to run extremely slow. During a task, the laptop will just stop working and it will say "Not responding" and I will have to close everything I'm doing and a lot of the time, I just have to restart the computer and I loose a lot of information. I am an author and I write novels. This is VERY problematic when I continue to loose my work! I will never buy an other compaq and I hope others read this so they do not either.

Chan245

Nashville, TN

DO NOT BUY HP/COMPAQ COMPUTERS. Almost (2) years ago my teen-age daughter bought a Presario CQ50-139NR notebook computer. She took very good care of it. I developed a display problem with random horizontal lines and flickering screen. HP/Compaq serviced it under warranty and it was NOT fixed properly. Now they refuse to repair it under the original warranty. I recommend you buy TOSHIBA or GATEWAY products because I know of people who own these products and do not have problems with their product. Good luck and thanks for your time and support.

tburgak

Twinsburg, OH

This is one heck of a sturdy laptop. I have banged it so many times (of course not intentionally) but it has worked like a champ. It came loaded with Windows 7 and is very fast for the typical things one would do - like word processing, internet AND GAMES! You can play games without any lagging on this laptop. The layout of the keyboard makes typing very comfortable. The widescreen and graphics are worth it, and it is not really that expensive. The LCD screen displays very crisp images with bright colors and when viewing videos there is no choppiness at all. It has a great battery life which comes into real use in classes, or working remotely without the power chord all over the floor. There is a lot of software that is already loaded on the laptop when you buy it. make sure you delete the ones you do not need since there are a few that run on startup unnecessarily taking up resources that you can free up for other activities. There are three USB ports that will come handy for people who need to use it for pictures, flash drives etc. The buttons at times get stuck, but I think that's because of me banging awya at the keyboard all the time. Keep it clean and that goes awya. overall a great buy!

Something00

South Plainfield, NJ

I brought this Compac Presario CQ56 for both of my sons. They had been asking me to buy this for awhile now. So I finally broke now and got it.  I wanted to only buy one but I didn't want them to fight over it. At first I felt that they didn't need it but they both proved me wrong. My oldest son is always using the notebook. Sometimes he even falls asleep while he is still on it. He doen't even go on the computer now. My youngest son I thought that he was only going to use it only when I first brought it home. He can't keep his hands off of it. He always showing me something. This notebook is the perfert size. Not to small and not to big. Recently I started going on the notebook to see why they are always on it. Now  I also felled in love with it and I am always using it. Now I'm going to buy me one. I take it with me to work. It is so great. Everyone should check it out. Maybe this is something that they will probably love too. Thank you

kimmyworld

Jamaica, NY

the compaq presario cqfifty six notebook personal computer laptop is magnificent it comes preinstalled with windows seven home premium sixty four bit operating system. It also comes preinstalled with a free sixty day trial of norton home internet security and ant-virus. The screeny is a very good size. It has a fifteen inch screen. It also comes with hp- advisor wich can help you tune up your personal computer automaticall and can also give you other guidance and assistant. It also comes preinstalled with HP- games wich comes with tons of computer games most of wich give you several free sessions to play the computer game before you actually buy it wich is wonderful. The compaq presario cq56 notebook pc laptop also runs very smoothly and quickly. this notebook pc also has wireless internet capabilities which is awesome. this compaq presario cq56 is just a really goood computer for a great price.

coreym360

Bellaire, OH