A For Ol' Compaq By Lena Christine on Jan 31, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

I'm not one to rush out to buy a new computer ever other year just to have the recent upgrades in develeopment. I'm more of a frugal technology shopper who only needs a computer for simple reasons. 3 years ago I purchased the Compaq Evo N610c from an Ebay seller who had refurbished the item for a bargain of $400 and that included shipping. After Fedex initially lost the package and 2 weeks later finally found it I received this little bargain and fired it right up to try it out. Three years later I'm typing this very review on that same laptop and I have to say for it to be an older model from Compaq I have been quite impressed. In that three years time the only thing i have had to do to this old thing is replace the hard drive after my daughter sent the whole thing crashing off the desk onto the floor for about the 100th time. Can't go wrong with an $80 repair that gives you a space upgrade though. It was probably over due. For a person who needs a computer for only simple reasons such as typing papers and surfing the internet this Compaq is the way to go. I have used it for gaming at times and for the most part it does very well in that area also. Now it doesn't have the RAM to play those huge games like WoW, but for smaller games like The Sims and such it works wondefully without any issues. The only issue I really have with the whole thing is the cooling system which was installed a bit odd. the fan is on the bottom of the laptop and only has one small slot on the side for hot air to circulate out so extended use can cause this baby to overheat and shut off. My simple fix for that was a cheap laptop fan I bought on discount that the laptop now sits on top of. No more overheating! problem fixed! All for just at $500 in total too. Can't go wrong at that price!