Gaming for ZD8000?

I am ready to buy a new HP laptop because i've had a great expierence with my last one. The game i want to play is World of Warcraft, a low type game but still kinda high up there. I believe this graphics 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) X600 card will play it, but i just wanted to confirm with the more knowledgable people in these forums

here's my probable spec, i want around 1500$ computer

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional with SP2 edit
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 530 w/HT Technology, 3.0GHz edit
Display 17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Wide Viewing (1440x900) edit
Memory 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM, 533MHz (2x512MB) edit
Hard Drive 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive edit
Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade DVD+/-RW/R CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer edit
Graphics Card 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) X600 edit
Networking FREE Upgrade to 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM!! edit
Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

Comments or suggestions wanted, thank you!

 

Yes, you'll do well with that card.

 

I know somebody who has a zd8k, he plays World of Warcraft all the time. Seems to play great!

 

It plays great on mine. the X600 is better than the GFX that I have (also it has more memory) ... so you should have no problems at all!

 

Thanks guys you helped me a lot. Good day!

<3

 

I know you've probably heard this a million times, but I would definatly would go with the Inspiron 9300. First of all lets start off with the processor, a pentium M 1.6 actually is faster than a pentium 4 and will not overheat and kill your battery like a pentium 4. The next advantage of the insprion 9300 is the geforce 6800 go 256 mb graphics card. This graphics card is 100% dedicated memory while the x600 has to share memory. It also supports a variety of new technologies that are out and supports currents and is a future proof card and will continue to support games for years to come. For instance the geforce 6800 go is one of 2 cards for laptops that supports High dynamic range rendering. That doesn't seem like a big deal now but in a few months when new games start taking advtange of this technology, you will be left out in the dark. Here is what I got with my inspiron 9300

Pentium M 1.73 (equivalent to a pentium 4 HT 3.2)
80 gig 5400 hard drive
1 gig ram
256 mb geforce 6800 go

this was about $1575 after a $750 instant off coupon which dell gives out on a monthly basis. The decision is up to you, but I would advise you to check out the inspiron 9300 before you purchase the HP zd8000. I looked at the zd8000 and the inspiron 9300 is about the same price. Just my opinion.

 

I have a hp zd8000 for about 2 or 3 months now and have had no problems whatsoever with it. The graphics card will work fine with WOW, I play Half Life 2 and BF2 with all settings on high and it runs really smoothly. You have pretty much the identical set up as I have now, except I have the next step up from the P4 530, the 540 which runs at 3.2 ghz, but that shouldnt really matter too much. Now for all you are hearing about the dell 9300 be warned, there is a screen defect on every 9300, that I know of, that has this weird fog or glow at the very bottom of it, Dell has confirmed this themselves and deemed it an "acceptable" fault. Plus out of all the reviews I have compared with the 9300 and the zd8000, there were other issues with dell's screen, lots of dead pixels and whatnot, while the only real problem people had with the zd8000 was that it was heavy, it gets warm ( and that is overblown so much its not even funny) and that it makes a lot of noise, which depends on what you call noise really.
Now about the laptop warming up, the only place I notice it is at the bottom of the keyboard and slightly to the right of it, it gets warm there, but you have to have it on and running a high end program for like 3 or 4 hours before it gets really noticeable, and besides, any laptop warms up after that much time anyway. And the other complaints are kinda of void as this is a desktop replacement laptop, its gonna be big, the screen is wonderful on it btw, and the fans, for me, dont make any distracting noise when Im playing a game or even just browsing the web. Plus if your looking for battery life, you shouldnt be looking at a desktop replacement laptop in the first place, just keep it plugged in. All in all its an awesome machine, dont let anyone make you think you got a second rate machine next to the 9300, the zd8000 is awesome

 

I was not trashing on the zd8000, I was just suggesting another laptop that would be just as good if not better. I was very close to getting the zd8000 but the fact it uses the x600 (not a bad card by any means) was the only option, I liked the fact that dell offered the geforce go 6800, which I feel is a better card than the x600, due to the fact it is dedicated and supports alot of the new graphics technologies coming out.

 

yea..i agree..the 9300 has a some more options that are better...and is almost irristable with the coupons around

 

I would really upgrade to the Pentium 4 630 3GHz processor as it will give you 2MB of L2 Cache and EM64T technology. EM64T Pentium 4 processors are compatible with 64-bit operating systems and applications, something that Windows Vista will be pushing in the next few years. I would also upgrade to a higher resolution LCD panel and downgrade the RAM to 512MB. You can get 2GB of RAM from www.newegg.com for a little over $200. Other than that it looks pretty good.

I think the main thing to change is the Pentium 4 processor, pay the extra $50 and upgrade it to the Pentium 4 630. The ATI X600 is still a pretty good gpu. When the ZD8000 initially came out, in November of 2004, it was on the heals of Dell's XPS Extreme Edition. Compared to today's offerings of the Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 (in the Dell Inspiron 9300 and Gateway M680XL) it is weak but it will play World of Warcraft just fine.

 

That's my system exactly. The one gripe I DO have is the AC97 sound. This has caused me problems with a few games. I'm thinking about upgrading the sound, any zd8000 owners with advice?

 

I'm using Creative's Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA card. It's a huge impovement in my notebook's audio output.

 

Wow, I'm glad to hear that, since I just ordered 1...