New PCs emerge from Compaq glacier

A whole stack of readers emailed us to say that they too have had problems with their Presarios freezing but hope is on the horizon for the next generation of machines from the Big Q. A source close to Compaq's plans has revealed that the freeze system problem is well documented but will be fixed when the company rolls out its 7300, 7400, 7500 and 79000 machines real soon now. Although this source says his chain only carries the 5834, the problem affects the entire 5800 series. The chain has warned its customers that the 5834 might freeze, and has even printed Compaq's suggestions for fixes if the Ice Age hits the PC. But, more importantly, the 5800 series is being rapidly phased out, with new Presarios on the way with higher clock speeds and larger hard drives. For example, the 7360 will come with a K6-2 500MHz processor, with 64MB of memory, a 10GB hard drive, a 40x CD, and 8MB of VRAM. The 7940 will use an Athlon 600MHz part, come with 128MB of memory, a 30GB hard drive, CD-RW and 16MB VRAM. The 7588 has a Pentium III-550 with a similar spec, and there will also be a 700MHz Athlon model too. The 7300s and the 7400s will use a small case, similar to the 5400 series, while the 7500 and the 7900 will resemble the current 5800 Compaq range. Compaq was unavailable for comment at press time. ® See also Frozen Presarios found in Compaq support glacier