DV1170US vs ZV5000Z Advice please

I am trying to find the right notebook for my dh. It's a birthday gift so I can't ask him for advice. Anyway, I know that he would prefer something on the lighter side. He needs a laptop for several different functions; as an instructor at a University to present powerpoint lectures, to replace his home pc for his consulting company and for occassional travel to keep in touch with his main job.

He will use most of the Office software and perhaps some engineering CAD drawing type programs. He won't use it for games.

Anyway, I originally bought the ZV5000z directly thru HP and then for several reasons I changed my mind. At Best Buy today I bought the DV1170US. Now I have two notebooks and I have to return one. The DV was more expensive but I am willing to spend more money if it's a better product. Any thoughts or personal experience that might help? I've never spent this much money on a gift and I am really nervous.

Thanks!

 

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

 

Specs are as follows:

ZV500Z

AMD Athlon (TM) XP-M 2800+ (1.60 GHz/128K L2 cache)
15.0" TFT XGA
32MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 4 420 Go
512 MB DDR SDRAM (2 X 256MB)
40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/125HSM/SpeedBooster
Microsoft Office
8 Cell Lithium Battery

DV1170US

Intel Pentium M Processor 725 (1.6 Ghz)
14.0 WXGA High Definition Bright View Widescreen Display
100 GB (4200 RPM) Hard Drive
512 MB DDR SDRAM
64 MB Video Memory (shared)
Intel Pro Wireless 2200 802.11 BG Integrated Wireless LAN
DVD/RW and Cd-RW Combo Drive
6 Cell Lithium -Ion battery
HP Quickplay
Windows XP Home Service

 

The DV1170US will provide you with better battery life than the ZV5000z but will be less powerful. I don't think the DV1170US's integrated video card will handle CAD programs well.

Could you tell us the specs of the two laptops please?

 

What is your budget?





I know things, things that could get me killed

 

Actually I found out that the only CAD type program my dh uses is Adobe Photoshop which uses a lot of RAM. He uses it as a 2D program rather then 3D.

As to budget, I hoped to spend no more then $1200 - $1500 The ZV was $1,198 and the dv was $1450, not including tax.

 

i am thinking of gettin the dv 1150 or the 1040.. the only difference between both of them is that the 1040 is 1.6ghz and 60gb hard drive and 1300$ while the dv 1150 is the 1.5ghz and 80gb.. and is 1100$... the ghz ...does it make a hige differnce or..?? what does it help in?

 

The zv5000 is a AMD based machine, so you are looking at about two hours on the standard battery or three if you buy the larger twelve cell battery. Plus it is weighs almost eight pounds, not what I would call light. I'd take a look at this:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=4314579/blsrt=1

It is under five pounds, has the Pentium M for good battery life, a 5400Rpm hard drive for a nice performance boost, and a dedicated video card. IBMs are way better built than Pavilions. Plus IBM's service and support are far superior to HP. The two things the HP has going for it are the DVD burner and the enhanced screen. I guess you'll have to decide whether those are important. If you do want to look at ones with enhanced screens, I'd look at these:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=34-110-127&ATT=Notebooks&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

or

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=34-110-140&ATT=Notebooks&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

Fujitsu like IBM are very well built. They have one of the best enhanced screen available. The only thing is that they tend not be as upgrade friendly. Put in another stick of memory after purchase and you'll have a nice machine. I don't know when the big day is, but if you ordered soon, you could have it next week. Also, I personally would never buy a laptop at Best Buy. They are more expensive and you have to pay tax, which will probably add another $100 to the price. Good Luck.





I know things, things that could get me killed

 

AMD-based zv5000's get better battery life than that, in between the Pentium-M and the grossly inefficient Pentium 4. I get 3-4 hours with a 12 cell with normal screen brightness and wireless enabled, usually closer to 4, and with a 7200RPM HD.

Shared memory video is evil. One of the zt3000/zt4000 Pentium-M machines with dedicated memory video might make sense, but the zt3000's are gone and the zt4000's aren't here yet AFAIK. Anyhow, that's my main concern about the dv1000 series. For lightweight use it's OK, but...

 

If you got the 12 Cell zv5000 I would have said give him that since it is a more powerful machine and an excellent desktop replacement. With 12 Cells battery life is good. However it is not light and not very portable.

The DV is a good compromise in size and functionality and in this case, my vote is for the DV. Esp since he will be carrying it around frequently.

Life's a Beach and then you drown.
DV 1000
1.7 GHZ,512 MB RAM,80 GB HD

 

If you are choosing between those two, I like the dv1000 better as it is more portable and it seems like you are going to need that. I would seriously consider the IBM.






I know things, things that could get me killed

 

I would go with the DV1000, because it is quite light and easy to carry around. You may want to upgrade the memory to 1 GB though for CAD. And if you get the 12 cell battery for it, you'll get around 6-7 hours of battery life, pretty good to me.

And if your dh will only be using Photoshop, then I'm pretty sure the DV1000 should be able to handle that, you won't need a dedicated graphics card for that, integrated graphics will suffice, just upgrade the RAM if you can.

 

Hi all. Need some advise. I am buying a neew laptop for college. The building are set up for wireless use so we can access the class power point presentations from anywhere in the building. I also like to play some games in my spare time and watch movies. Any sugestions for the right Laptop for around 1300$? I've looke at the HP DV1170 and gateway (don't remember what model)

 

What kind of games will you play thor? The DV1000 is not for you if you want to play the newest 3d games out now like Doom 3 or Half Life 2. The DV1000 has an integrated graphics chip, which is suitable for 2d games or old 3d games like the original Half Life.

But the DV1000 is excellent for movies.

 

The Gateway that you are referring to is the Gateway M210. Good computer by specs but it has speakers in the bottom of the PC which is dumb. The integrated graphics memory is 32 MB.

Overall it is less busy in appearance and is a good value (M210 has DVD burner, 80GB HD 4200, 512 RAM which is a great deal for $1272 + shipping. I don't know the reliability of the computer.

Life's a Beach and then you drown.
DV 1000
1.7 GHZ,512 MB RAM,80 GB HD

 

Thanks to all for your advice. I decided to give him the DV1170US and it was the right choice for him. He would not have been happy with the heavier one. I'll tell him to upgrade the battery.

Thanks again.

 

What in the world was Gateway thinking, putting the speaker on the bottom of the laptop!?

 

I'm seriously thinking about buying a DV1170US. I need it because my current laptop (a terrible Packard Bell Easynote E5138)wont output to any vga projector. Will the DV1170US do this job OK? I see some people complaining about the graphics...

 

I am considering a DV1145 which is P-M 1.6 and DVD RW.... How do these stand up to video editing and DVD playback?

 

As I saw in bestbuy, dv1170us was down to $1250 yesterday after $50 discount + $200 rebate, then it's up again and is "out of stock". It's might be too hot an item there???

 

Circuit City has a similar sales gimmick.

It publicises a very good deal and then labels OUT-OF-STOCK.

Crooks.