Compaq Presario R3000
Spec data:
1.6-GHz Athlon XP-M 3000, 256MB DDR SDRAM, 40GB (4,200-rpm hard drive, 15.4-inch (1,280 x 800) display, 802.11b wireless, 7.9-pound system weight (9.5-pound travel weight), nVidia GeForce 4 420 Go graphics, DVD/CD-RW combo drive, three USB 2.0 ports, Windows XP Home

Pros:
Wide-aspect screen, three USB ports, easily accessible buttons.
Cons:
(compaq r3000 battery) (COMPAQ 346970-001) life: 4 - 6 hours
Bottom Line:
the HP Compaq Presario R3000 is a desirably designed multimedia notebook, with a 15.4-inch wide-screen display at an affordable price.

Review
If you're looking for a bargain basement system to ease the back-to-school burden but don't want to sacrifice multimedia features, then the Compaq Presario R3000 could be the notebook for you.

The 8-pound R3000 has a sharp 15.4-inch WXGA display. The system had no problem displaying our test DVD movie clearly, and its JBL Pro speakers delivered superb sound quality. The nVidia GeForce4 420 Go graphics solution helped the R3000 win first place on our 3D performance tests. (Although our test system came with 802.11b, HP is offering free upgrades to 802.11g.)

On Multimedia Content Creation Winstone and our Serious Sam SE gaming demo, the R3000 had the best scores of the budget machines with 16.6 and 28.4, respectively. But we were surprised to find no memory card reader on a system with such multimedia-centric components. HP Presario R3000 Battery On Battery Mark, the R3000 lasted 4 hours 42 minutes, which was lowest among the budget systems.

The R3000 offers very good bang for the buck if you're on a budget but still want a spiffy multimedia system that will impress your dormmates. (Hey, you even get Microsoft Office SE 2003 for when it's time to get to work.) Shy away from the R3000, however, if you're looking for a more mobile system to carry around campus.