DV8000T questions.....about to buy.

Hey guys, I been reading the forums here for a few days now looking for a new laptop. After looking at just about everything, I've decided on the HP DV8000t. It seems like a pretty solid (aside from the keyboard) and well rounded entertainment/desktop replacement notebook, plus there's a $300 discount on them right now, putting me in the $1000 range on it.

I need to replace my dying desktop from 2001...yikes. Going to use it for all around home use - intenet, watching DVD's/downloaded movies in my bedroom, light 3D gaming, CD/DVD burning, photoshop, video editing, and MS office. I value responsiveness, multi-tasking, storeage and loading large files quickly more so than raw number crunching power. I'm not concerned about upgrading to windows vista (I'd run win2k if I could), and probably never will...but I'd like to have this machine for about 5 years. I like that it's massive and has a nice screen, I won't be transporting it much aside from taking it away on weekends occasionally, and moving it around the house. I'll plug it into a very nice audio mini-system on my desk with the optical digital out. Will use an external mouse 80% of the time at home.

Anyway, I was hoping you guys could help me dial in the basic spec for my uses. I've managed to learn a good bit, but need a push in the right direction.
Here is what I was thinking for starters:

Operating System: Windows XP Media Center
Processor: Intel Core Duo T2250 (1.73 GHz, 533 MHz FSB)
Display: 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050)
Graphics Card: 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600
Memory: 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB, 667 Mhz)
Hard Drive: 80 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive: LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer

For $1050 shipped, which I thought was pretty good all around.

Which of the following will make the biggest impact/improvement for the money on my uses as discussed above.....or should I just leave it as is?

Processor: There's no Core 2 Duo option, which is probably why they're on sale. $75 more for a T2400 C1D (1.83 GHz, 667 Mhz FSB), or $25 less for the T2050 (1.6 GHz, 533 FSB). Is the FSB speed a big deal for my uses, ie. multitasking and manipulating large media files, and some games? Will the T2250 be enough power to stay with in the long term? How about the T2400 long term? Will it be possible to upgrade to a Merom on this machine (bios?). Will it only support the 2MB cache cpu's (T5500, etc), or can it handle the more powerful ones with 4MB cache (T7200, etc)? Or will the only upgrade be to the faster T2600 (or maybe T2700)...which will probably be super cheap next year? What's your call on this....does it even matter in my application?

Memory: The 1 gig upgrade is $75, and it's 2X512MB 667 MHz (running in dual channel I assume)....so that would work fine if I went to a 667 FSB processor, but I have to chuck it if I want to upgrade to 2MB. When this ram is running at 533mhz, are the memory latency settings (CAS, etc) brought down to levels of 553 Mhz ram automaticly (good)? Or, should I just order it with 512 MB, then buy a 1 Gb stick of 533 or 667, and run it in single channel mode for now, adding another matching stick later......will single channel limit these CPU's? Or should I just go directly to 2 Gb now? Is 533 mhz ram better with a 533 mhz FSB, if I'm going to stay with the T2250 processor? What matters most in the real world?

Hard drive: The 80 gig 5400rpm is the minimum configuration. There's 100 gig 7200 RPM option for $125....not a very good deal, because I can just go out and buy a 80 GB 7200 rpm drive for $125, and install it as the main drive with a clean install, then use the original drive as a backup drive in the 2nd bay. I assume it's pretty easy to add a drive, but I heard you need a special bracket. Does this make sense? Is a 7200 rpm drive very noticeable?

Whew, I guess that got a little long winded. If anybody can cut through all the tech and get me pointed in the right direction, it would be greatly appriciated. Thanks!

 

I think any Core Duo is good for the foreseeable future. Upgrading the CPU will cost you the warranty. The CPU is only part of the performance equation. It is usually cheaper to upgrade the memory yourself. I could be wrong, but I don't think they give you the bracket for the second drive bay. Again it is usually cheaper yourself. Good Luck.

 

Here's some advice from my past experience.

1. Don't underestimate the keyboard problem. I just sent a dv8000 back in August soley because of that. I type a lot, and the problem was bad for me. Totally unusable.

2. If you do a lot of text based work, you should look at the 1680x1050 screens in a store before you buy. The text is really small. Even on the 1440x900 the text is about 10% smaller than the 1024x768 screens. You might really be disappointed with it if you've never seen it before. And if it is too small, there really is no good fix for it. (ie changing resolutions, or resizing font size)

Zany

 

I would agree that the dv8000t keyboard is very annoying. Unless you are seriously limited by your budget you should look at the dv9000t. Similar configs, but I think it looks alot better and people haven't complained about keyboard problems yet.

I don't know if this is still true but if you buy one of these machines with only 1 harddrive, it used to be you can't put a second one in there yourself because you need the bracket which HP doesn't sell. They don't include the bracket if you don't buy 2 drives to begin with. Maybe they sell it now? I'm not sure... you can still buy an enclosure and use the drive externally however.

 

Could you please explain more about the keyboard problem you were facing? I'm planning to get a dv8000t myself and if it's bad enough I might look elswhere.

 

Cool....good info.

I like the higher rez monitors, I have a 17" at 1280x1024 at home and a work laptop at 15.4" 1440x1050....I'll be ok. I wanted similar horizontal lines, and it's also in the range of 1080i (HDTV).

I think the harddrive bracket is available for $28, check the end of this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=50494&page=3&highlight=dv8000t+drive+bracket

I went to Best Buy and typed on one. I thought it was ok (keys seemed a little loose), but I'm a crappy typer. I can always plug in a keyboard and mouse at home if I'm going to be doing any serious work. I thought the unit seemed pretty solid.

I wouldn't upgrade the CPU until it was out of warranty....but I bet it would be a pain the neck, ehhh. I think I should go with T2400 if I'm not going to upgrade.....the faster FSB seems key for a multimedia machine. If I get that, then I'll order it with the base 80gb 5400 rpm drive and 512mb memory. I'll see how it runs, then upgrade to 2 gigs and a 2nd 7200 rpm drive .

 

So that's it? Only loose keys?

 

Nope. There's about a 500 page thread on this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=57325

 

Well now.....the upgrade for 1 gig ram is now free as of this morning....so I can get my original config for $975, or with the T2400 for $1050. The upgrade to 2 gig is $200....around the same price as if I bought them outright. I guess I could sell the 512mb sticks on ebay if I upgraded.....hum....what to do.....

 

As stated, there is big thread on the keyboard problem. I only had mine for about 3 days and all of the problems showed up in that short time.

It typed upper case without the shift lock, acted like the control key was down (twice in about 5 minute span - had to reboot each time), and many, many key drops. I didn't try any of the workarounds, they may work, but since it was brand new I just returned it. HP has excellent customer service. Got the refund in 2 days. Bought a dv9000t (typing on it now), very happy with it (have a couple of gripes, but overall very nice laptop).

Here's my take on the dv9000t
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=78055

Zany