Can't make up my mind between V2000Z and V5000Z

l saw the 2000Z in Staples today for the first time after researching it for a few weeks and l must say that it is smaller then l had imagined. There was a 15.4" notebook next to it and it was dwarfed in comparison screen-size wise but the overall size of the 15.4" was close to the 2000z's.

Now if l configure both the V2000Z and the V5000Z to my liking (about $950 for each) l am stuck in a rut and can't figure out which l want.

The 5000Z that l have configured has a 80gb 5.4k HDD vs the 60gb 5.4k HDD in the 2000z (but storage really isn't that important to me).

The 5000Z has a 2.2Ghz Turion vs. 2.0Ghz for the 2000Z

The 2000Z has a Lightscribe vs. normal dual layer dvd burner in the 5000z

They both will have xp pro, 512mb ram, 6 cell battery.

Both have Brightview screen

The 2000z weighs a pound less then the 5000z which would be nice, but which would you go for?

 

If you are going to be carrying it around a lot, I can tell you from personal experience, that the extra pound will make a difference.

I have a dv4000 series laptop, and its a real pain to carry around with me from class to class at school, whereas suprisingly enough a dv1000 that my friend let me try out, is very easy to carry around.

I hope that helps.
Alex

 

Considering how close the physical specs are on both, I think I would be inclined to go for the DV5000 due to the more attractive design and the Quickplay feature. Added screen real estate wouldn't hurt, either. For me, personally, those would justify the extra weight. My 2¢.

 

I have the v5000z, and I don't have too much of a problem with carrying it around. I wanted the bigger screen more than the 1lb savings.

 

5000z bc the shared integrated graphics on the 2000z sucks.

 

Weight and battery life would lead me to favor the 2000. Can you live with the smaller screen? I like it and use a big external at home.

 

It really depends on your needs. I decided to go with L2000/v2000z because it's lighter and and 15'' notebooks but it is also warmer. Battery life should be roughly the same with some advantage to the smaller notebook. v5000z has a slightly better GPU due to its dedicated memory but have in mind that the chip is the same in both - x200. The difference between 2.2 and 2 ghz should be negligible but v2000z will take up to 128 mb from the 512mb RAM for the GPU. RAM does make a difference but in any case 512 is hardly sufficient nowadays.

 

l know 512 isnt sufficient but l forgot to mention in my first post that l planned on buying a 1gb stick of ram from newegg since HP overcharges on ram like theres no tomorrow.

l'm still leaning towards the 2000z though...

 

Totally, I agree with you 100%.

 

Well l just got approved with HP so l can order it anytime, but l'm gonna wait for another day or two at the most.

l am still leaning towards the 2000z, even though l probably don't need something that small. Whenever l get my laptop it'll be used for: Word, Powerpoint, laying in bed browsing the internet, listening to music, MSN, Definately CS 1.6 since it should run without a hitch..


Thank you for all of your opinions on this Anyone think they could sway me to the 5000z?

 

Don't they both have the same 128MB Radeon Xpress 200M? Or at least the option fot it?

 

Neither one has spectacular video so don't let that decide for you. I have the v2000z so may be biased but i love it. I carry mine daily so the size and weight thrills me. It seems to me that performance, batterylife and price will be close enough, you have to let size/weight/screen size decide for you. If you carry it much go for the smaller, if not go for the bigger. Good luck

 

Same GPU, but the dv5000z has the 128MB dedicated memory option and the V2000z doesn't (shared memory only). You'll get a bit better performance with dedicated memory, especially at higher resolutions.

 

Didn't know there was a dedicated 128MB version of the 200M thought the most dedicated was 64MB with 64MB shared, but I see it now that I read the specs closer. Good to know. I'll definitely be factoring that into my future buying decision. Thanks!

 

If you are going to be carrying this around a lot I would go for the v2000z. If not, you will get slightly better performance out of the v5000z. Either way I think you will be happy. Good luck!

 

I completely agree with all points Vassil stated. And I add, 1 pound extra when it comes to laptop weight. It seems it is trivial, but if you carry around a lot, I would strongly suggest V2000z. But if it mostly on a desk, without a doubt go for V5000z as it has bigger screen.

By the way performance difference between dedicated memory vs shared DDR400 memory for the X200 is around 15% ( 3dMark05 634 vs 720).

 

The v5000z lets you have 128 mb of dedicated video memory and 128 mb of shared video memory, so that's 256 mb, and if you have enough RAM (~1 GB), the drain on your RAM from the shared video will not be too bad. If you are going to get a 64-bit processor, that means you are looking to run Vista in the future. Because the requirements are vague right now, you should try to get as much integrated graphics memory as possible. Furthermore, I do thinkg the v2000z runs warmer, and the v5000z is cheaper.

 

If you go with the V5000 By a good laptop book bag. I bought a Targus one (made for 15.4") at Best Buy yesterday. I already walked around with it and weight is not an issue. If I were to use the briefcase or mail carrier styles it would feel heaver...

 

It is same case with V2000z also. It lets you assign 128MB in bios, but has hyper Memory it can assign 256MB dynamically if needed.( same is case with V5000z, it allocates another 128MB dynamically based on need making it max 256MB).

V2000z does not run hot, only thing that is warm( or you say hot) is HDD. It hardly gets warm any other part.

 

Thanks, chinna. Do you happen to have a link to some more benchmark comparisons between these two? I googled around a little bit and didn't really find anything.

 

I don't know where you see that the integrated graphics in the v2000z features hypermemory. It certainly doesn't say that at the compaq site. BTW, I didn't say "hot."

 

Thank you for your replies. l'm also considering the V2000T if l can swing the extra few hundred bucks (with the 1.83 Ghz Core Duo) l would get that but it may be doubtful.

 

HP does not list all the features properly. It is feature part of ATI driver on ATI PCI express based chipset( like NVidia Turbo Cache!!?). You just, assign 128MB memory in Bios and run 3DMark bench mark. 3DMark will tell you how much memory has been used by Video card( 256MB) . I did tested and that is how I came to know.

Here is the desc from 3DMark

System Configuration

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
DirectX Version 9.0

Mobo Manufacturer QUANTA
Mobo Model 3093
AGP Rates (Current/Available) N/A / N/A

CPU Unknown 1990 MHz
FSB 200 MHz
Memory 896 MB

Graphics Chipset ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M Series
Driver Name ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M
Driver Version 6.14.10.6561
Video Memory 256 MB

Program Version 3DMark2001 SE
Resolution 1024x768 32bit
Texture Format Compressed
FSAA Disabled
Z-Buffer Depth 24bit
Frame Buffer Double
Rendering Pipeline D3D Pure Hardware T&L

Detailed Test Results
3DMark Score 5014 3D marks

 

Don't get a dual core now. Intel Yonahs were released recently, so the prices are very high. If you need a laptop now, get v2000z or v5000z. If you can wait until May/June when AMD's Taylor Turion 64s are released, then maybe the Duo Core will drop in price bc of competition. But then the Taylor Turion 64s will be expensive. Busy time for technology.