Anyone received their COSTCO order yet?

Just received mine. Brought it up...tried to run Skype and looks like it does not have built-in microphone?!!!! Or am I blind?

 

I got my shipping confirmation yesterday. It is shipping from Ontario, CA (I think CA is Canada and not California like someone had stated). Anyway, it doesn't really matter but it supposed to be here at exactly the end of my 6 weeks, which is 05/31. I am really hoping it makes it today so I can spend the weekend installing software. Cant wait to push this baby to the limits and see how it handles it!!!

 

Ontario,CA...Ontario is a city in California...I think that's where it is.

 

Tracking says: Ontario, CA, USA

End of story.

 

My point was it shouldn't take 36 hours to get out of California. Anyway, it's here now. I had to pick it up from UPS 'cause they forgot to deliver it. Typing on it now![ ]

HP Pavilion zv6000
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0GHz)
15.4" Bightview (1280x800)
512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256)
MS Windows XP Pro w/ SP2
80GB 5400 RPM
DVD+/-RW CD-RW Combo Drive
128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
802.11 b/g, Bluetooth
8 cell battery

 

It's finally here after six weeks of waiting. The following short review is based on my old lappy (ZV5220US)and our Costco ZV6000.

This thing is relatively noisy. The constantly running fan is noticeable even with ambient sound like a tv or the wife[ ]. My old laptop has a true mobile processor (Athlon XP-M 3000+) and the fan only turns on when there's heavy demand on the cpu such as playing games or encoding video.

Boot time is about 30 seconds shorter. But only because it doesn't have nearly the same number of apps loading as in my old one. I haven't noticed any significant improvements with video encoding despite the much better video card and faster HD (4200 rpm vs. 5400rpm). My favorite game - Rome: Total War - plays smoother at higher settings as expected.

I don't care for this glossy thing they put on the screen. The glare it produces is pretty annoying when being used in a bright room or outside on my shaded patio. My old laptop doesn't have this and seems to look better. However, it does make it look elegant with the screen turned off which is kinda ironic. On the plus side I haven't detected any dead pixels I've heard so much about[ ].

The spare 12 cell battery I have for my ZV5220US works fine in my new laptop (in fact I used it to fire it up for the first time[8D]). So now I have a total of 3 batteries between my two laptops (2 8-cell and 1 12-cell). That should take care of the long flight from California to anywhere in Europe[ ] or Asia. I know, I know those flights can take at least 12 hours and it won't last that long even with 3 batteries, but trivial things like eating and sleeping will make up the balance of the time[ ].

Costco never claimed the DVD-RW to be DL capable and my good friend, Boom, even made a good argument that it isn't. But when I run Nero Drivespeed it clearly says it's DL capable. I haven't tried this nor will I soon since DL discs are still ridiculously expensive.

So far I'm pretty happy with the machine, but I've only barely scratched the surface. The generous Costco return policy gives me the priviledge to play around with this thing for a few more weeks (or months) before I decide it really is a keeper.

 

Mine arrived on friday Overall, I don't think it's half bad, the problem for me is that it's just so freakin huge. I'm probably quiting my job to go back to grad school and I just don't think I want to carry something this heavy around with me. I'll keep it for a couple more weeks till I make up my mind though. From work I've got a Dell D810, which is the same size but considerably lighter.

 

I ordered mine on May 21st and the estimated ship date is 6/1. I ordered from the HPshopping.com. I am expecting it to get delayed to a later date and am planning on getting a $50 reimbursement for hpshopping. I am now worrying more about what to get with the 50 bucks rather than when my lappy will be here (i know it is sad, but its b/c i know its gonna get delayed). I hope it doesnt get delayed, because i am getting very impatient, now that the date is right around the corner. I cant wait to give all u guys my benchmarks and also to see/report how it does while playing various games (prolly even try Doom3).....

Anyway, for anyone who already has it: did you buy from HPshopping.com and when was your order date, ship date, and recieve date?

~HP Pavilion ZV6000 series~
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz
-512MB RAM
-128MB ATI Mobility radeon X200m
-80GB 5400RPM HDD
-15.4" Widescreen w/ Brightview
-DVD±RW W/DL support
-XP Pro
-2X 12-Cell Batteries

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by mtrivs

 

i agree about the glossy thing.

im surprised that its DL, i'll probably go out and buy some just to test it out.

do you guys have the contrast all the way up? mine is and i thought that was kinda weird. thanks.

Overall, im very happy [8D]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by bOOm

 

ya i meant brightness. all the way up for me. on games too. i guess it just looks better to me b/c there's less glare at higher brightness.

 

I am hoping to get mine tomorrow or Costco is going to get an angry call. Anyways, I am planning on putting a clean copy of XP on there as soon as I can boot it up. Are all the drivers I need on the disks? Is the copy of XP pro thats included clean? What other challenges await me?


Also, I have a Samsonite laptop bag made for 15" laptops, will it accomodate this one? Its pretty thick so the thickness may not be a problem. I need to know about the length and width.

 

That Samsonite bag should accomodate your ZV6000 nicely. They made those 15" bags overly wide, so it should fit. I found a very easy way to minimize the nasty glare. Simply tilt the screen until it goes away!!! I know, I know, I have a gift for the obvious!!![ ]

HP Pavilion zv6000
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0GHz)
15.4" Brightview (1280x800)
512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256)
MS Windows XP Pro w/ SP2
80GB 5400 RPM
DVD+/-RW CD-RW Combo Drive
128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
802.11 b/g, Bluetooth
8 cell battery

 

A very nice UPS lady just dropped it off for me [ ]

I am happy now, this thing is sexy as hell (my first laptop). I am gonna wait until the battery charges and then start getting all of the bloatware off. Is it worth reformatting? Can it charge the battery (properly) as I use it?

 

Ritek dual layers are $125 for a 25 pack and come with a 25 off rebate at meritline.com

Desktop:
P4 2.4GHZ 800MHZ FSB
20gb maxtor,120gb Samsung Spinpoint,120GB WD
Geforce FX 5700LE 256MB,
Antec Sonata case W/480Watt TruPower

Laptop:
Compaq R4000
80GB 5400RPM
Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4ghz 1mb cache
128MB xpress 200m
15.4 BrightView screen
1GB ram (2X512)

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Long Rifle

 

Its finally here. The wait from 4/18 has come to an end. This machine is awsome. Spent most of the day reinstalling windows and my usual software. Tommorrow more installations of some software and blow the dust of my unreal tournament disks. I love the machine so far. No dead pixels, picked up my wireless network out of the box plus 3 other networks, the brightview is awsome, currently testing out the battery life. Good luck to all those who are still waiting...it was definately worth the wait. Enjoy!!!!

 

Anyone else having problems installing HL2? I get all the way to the installer part and then it tells me that I am in safe mode and that I should restart. I have tried everything that I can think of, if someone has solved this issue, please help.