A little bundle of silicon hearted joy. A PC that's affordable and backed up by a good warranty.
While it’s entirely reasonable to build a new computer for your parents or friends, sometimes it only takes a few random issues and that low cost machine is way more trouble than it’s worth. That’s why we like the Compaq CQ3420AN. It’s affordable, yet backed up by a warranty that doesn’t involve you trouble shooting an abused PC every second weekend.
Hiding inside the sleek piano black case is an AMD Athlon X2 2.8GHz CPU. This is supported by 2GB of DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE GPU. Storage is provided via 500GB 7200rpm HDD and a standard DVD burner.
The hardware is tied together with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The Compaq certainly isn’t a gaming machine unless you like to play Angry Birds in your browser or check if your MechWarrior 2 CDs still work. It’s also not the most powerful number crunching PC, but it has enough grunt for everyday tasks and programs. When loaded with the 64-bit version of PCMark Vantage, the Compaq managed a respectable score of 4,573.
Round the back the connectivity options are pretty standard, with four USB ports and 5.1 surround sound 3.5mm audio jacks. In an odd move, the Compaq favours a VGA port over DVI and offers no other form of video connectivity. While you can get adaptors for only a few dollars, this seems like such a simple inclusion to be missing. On the front of the PC you get an extra two USB ports, audio I/O and a multi-card reader. No USB 3.0 or SATA 6Gb/s support is included, but considering the budget market the Compaq is aimed at, that’s not really a problem.
The CQ3420AN also comes with a wired keyboard and mouse. While both are perfectly functional if a little plain, it’s worth shelling out for at least a nicer keyboard (something from Logitech is a good bet) if you do a lot of typing.
While the RRP is $599, it’s entirely possible to find the CQ3420AN for up to $100 less. It’s also cheaply bundled with the Compaq S2021A monitor.
Available from Compaq, retailing for $599.
APC rating: 7/10
