Advice on purchasing an HP Pavilion ZV5410us?

Hi again everyone,

I was at CompUSA looking at laptops today and the HP Pavilion ZV5410us looks like it would fit me well.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=317676&pfp=srch1

I was looking for decent graphics capabilities for some limited 3D gaming as well as long battery life. While I realize this laptop only does 2.5 - 3 hours battery life, I'd likely get the following to bring with me in my laptop case:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=317076&pfp=SEARCH

I'd also probably get the expansion base for home docking:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=308889&pfp=srch1

The case itself I was looking at is:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=317478&pfp=SEARCH

What do you all think of this scenario? Any last minute advice? I think it will suit me well, although I do wish the regular battery was even better. I had originally wanted to go with a Pentium M / Centrino solution, but none of them had halfway decent dedicated video cards. I was also looking at the Compaq Presario r3460us laptop they had which is very similar, but I didn't find much support for it online.

Does anyone have good experiences with such an APC battery?

Thanks again for your help. This laptop looks promising. Of course, I'll likely purchase a few of these components online as they are cheaper than CompUSA.

- Matt.

 

You may want to head over to Office Depot on Sunday. They are going to have the Compaq R3000Z on sale for $500 after rebates. Basically it is the same notebook as the zv5000 except it is silver. You buy it at the in-store kiosk, so it is customizable. Plus it comes with a free printer and larger 12 cell battery for about 3 1/2 hours. Check out the front page for details





I know things, things that could get me killed


Thinkpad T41:
* 1.6Ghz Pentium M * 768Mb Memory * 40Gb Hitachi 7200RPM * Panasonic UJ-845-B DVD+RW *

 

Thanks zazonz! Is that at every Office Depot location? I'll definitely be there. Off-hand the only upgrades I'd definitely want to do are:

* 512 MB RAM (instead of 256)
* 60 GB Hard-drive (instead of 40)
* Bright screen display if available

While a huge thing for me is bright screens, I can live with a regular one if the price really is right. I'm assuming it has wireless already built in. Hopefully the graphics card is dedicated?

 

I think it should be at all Office Depots. I would look at their ad in the Sunday paper which can be viewed on their website. Get the base amount of memory and add a 512MB stick after purchase. If you upgrade the hard drive, get the 80GB 5400RPM drive, you'll be much happier. BrightView, HP's glossy screen is a $75 upgrade. Also makes it widescreen as well. Good Luck.






I know things, things that could get me killed


Thinkpad T41:
* 1.6Ghz Pentium M * 768Mb Memory * 40Gb Hitachi 7200RPM * Panasonic UJ-845-B DVD+RW *

 

Great! I'll have to maybe give them a call then to make sure our area Office Depot's are doing this. From what you've said, it looks like you can customize various aspects of it. That is a huge plus for me.

Thanks again for the heads up. You folks have a fantastic website here. Nice job with it.