Compaq R4000

I was browsing about hpshopping.com and came across the R4000. I did some web searching, and the only reviews I've found for it come from notebookreview.com. Is this a new model of laptop that has just come out and no one has extensively reviewed it yet? Or is it a hype of the V line utilizing the AMD 64 bit chips instead of the Sempron's and Pentium's?

 

No, its been around from March of this year. It is just an update of the R3000/zv5000. It uses the S939 Athlon64 & Sempron for low end models. It was also one of the first laptops to utilize the ATi chipset & graphics combo(200m). The difference between the R & the V series is that the V uses the low power Turion & can be configured only with the integrated version of the 200m, the R4000 & its HP cousin zv6000 can be configured with 128MB dedicated 200m. The R4000 is a DTR whereas the V2000z is for Thin & light use.

 

Thanks, that answered a couple major questions that I had about that particular model of laptop.

I have another question though, is this a good R4000 configuration?

MS Windows XP Pro w/ SP2

AMD Athalon 64 4000+ (2.4ghz/1mb l2 cache)
15.4" WXGA Brightview Widescreen (1200x800)
128mb ATI Radeon Xpress 200m w/ Hypermemory
512mb DDR SDRAM (2x256)
60GB 5400 RPM HD
DVD+/-RW/R % CD-RW Combo w/ Double Layer support
Free Upgrade to 54g 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM
12 Cell Lithium Ion Batter
MS Works/Money

total package comes to 1197 dollars.

Is that a good deal for this model?

 

Depends on your needs/uses, it can do anything you throw at it other than serious gaming. I would recommend skipping the highest processor and get the 3700+ with 1GB RAM. This would improve performance, since the 3700+ also runs at 2.4GHz but with 512KB L2 cache(1mb is still better but the difference will be small).You could also get minimum RAM from HP & install RAM later yourself.

Overall your specs are very good for that price.

 

Try to buy a single SODIMM (you can always buy a 512MB stick cheaper yourself). Don't fill both slots with 256 sticks.

Mine, I left the 256 standard in the configuration, for a cheaper price. Then bought a 512 PC2700 Kingston stick that was $39 after rebate in town. Install was a snap.

And MS Works 8 / MS Money was free with my Compaq, probably free on yours also.

 

I was playing about once again on hpshopping, (fast becoming my favorite hobby ) and found that if I dropped the processor down to the Athalon 64 3200+ at 2.0ghz it'd drop the price quite a bit.

My question is now this. I'd want to use this laptop for some casual gaming. AOE III when it comes out for example, and would this processor have enough oomph to power a game like that. Besides that type of game, I'd mainly be using the laptop for word processing, Instant messaging, music listening, some photo editing, and movie watching.


Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2

Processor AMD Athlon(TM) 64 3200+ (2.0GHz/512KB L2 Cache)

Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)

Graphics Card 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)

Memory 256MB DDR SDRAM (1x256MB)

Hard Drive 40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive

Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support

Networking 54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth

Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

That's the latest configuration that I've fiddled with. Yes, I know it's a knockdown on the HD but I plan on purchasing an external harddrive within a couple of months of laptop purchase.

right now with that configuration and rebates, the price drops to $843 dollars. With the plan on adding 2GB RAM later on, and external HD.

 

I'd spend the extra $100 on the 3800+. Memory and the internal HD are easy to upgrade later but they've made CPU upgrades very difficult on this model (and a CPU upgrade would void your warranty). Otherwise, it looks like you've found all the good stuff.

 

I'm trying to keep the price under 1k if possible.

I think I might use this processor: AMD Athlon(TM) 64 3500+ (2.2GHz/512KB L2 Cache)

Keeps the price under 900 with rebates, but is only .2ghz slower than the 3800 and 4000+ lines.