Any thoughts or other owners?

My main system will always be my desktop. Its customer built, I typically build a new system every other tax return.

However, I found that I need a laptop more school. Its primary focus will be Office 2007 and Visual Studios .NET I didn't have a lot of money to spend right now. This is what I purchased from Compaq's latest budget line :

- Compaq Presario V6500Z CTO NB
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic (32-bit)
- Mobile AMD Sempron(TM) Processor 3600+ (2.0 GHz, 256KB L2 Cache)
- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M
- Imprint Finish (Trace) + Microphone + QuickPlay
- 802.11b/g WLAN
- FREE Upgrade to 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive from 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive!!
- FREE Upgrade to SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support from DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive!!
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

I guess (even though its too late) have a few concerns. Will I really be ok with only the Sempron? I could have went 1 up to the Athlon X2, which would have raised the price another $60ish..But I may not need it. I plan on adding another 1Ghz mem later down the road but what you do you all think about that coupled with my *current* needs as well as any ideas as to what the limit is this sempron can take as far as "non buisness/school" goes?

 

First thing I noticed that was bad is that you need more RAM. To run Vista smoothly (well as smoothly as Vista will run, lol) I recommend at least 2GB of RAM. Also, for $60 more I would've gone with the Athlon, its well worth the money. You have to remember that with laptops there isn't much for upgradeability, so you have to get something that will last you at least 2-3 years, or however long you plan on keeping the laptop until you purchase another one.

Another thing that will help us to determine whether this laptop is really worth it, what's the price? There are a ton of deals out there, and if you don't mind waiting for the next 30% off coupon that HP offers you can get a much better laptop for the same price.

 

I got it $611 shipped.

With Vista Home Basic I think 1GB Ram will be ok w/out all the thrills. I also may even install XP Pro. I do plan on adding more ram later on. I also figured if things got too bloated a year or to later that I'd even go as far as to drop Ubuntu on it and get more life out of the system.

Ultimately my goal is to upgrade to a MacBook Pro. But that is *WAY* out of my budgets line of sight currently.

 

It doesn't matter which version of Vista you are using, I still recommend 2GB. 1GB just isn't enough for that massive OS. You will notice it will run slow and you will probably get frustrated with it. If you would have waited a little bit longer the 30% coupon is out again and you could've gotten a better laptop cheaper. If your laptop is still less than 2 weeks old and if you bought it straight from HP you can still return it and get all your money back even if you opened it. Just a suggestion, but you can get 2x 1GB sticks of RAM really cheap.

 

For the money you spent there are Turion X2's and Core Duo's available, even with Vista Home Basic not running Aero (there is a switch to turn it on however) it's still a memory heavy OS. The Semperon is the weakest link for that system, having 1gig is next, as configured I'd say you paid too much. There are better configs out there for the same money.

Where did you buy it?