Decision time... DV1000 or L2000

I have narrowed down my top laptop choices to these two models.

HP L2000
Price as configured: $1,244.56

- Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
- Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
- Display 14.0 WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x768)
- Graphics Card ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/productivity ports
- Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)
- Hard Drive 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- Primary CD/DVD Drive LightScribe 8x DVD+/-RW&CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer
- Networking 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
- Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

HP DV1000
Price as configured: $1,703.86

- Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
- Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 770 (2.13 GHz)
- Display 14.0" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x768)
- Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)
- Hard Drive 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- Primary CD/DVD Drive LightScribe 8x DVD+/-RW&CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer
- Graphics Card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900 - Pentium
- Networking 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
- Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

Now, honestly, what is causing the $500 price difference, the P 770 processor? What does everyone think about these two configurations and which one should I go with?

Many thanks!

 

Personal opinion? I'd go with the L2000.
Seems that with the Turion processor, you're going to get more life out of your notebook. The Pentium might be a bit more powerful (though I'm not certain of this), but it seems as though the difference would be insignificant, depending on what you're planning to use the notebook for. Certainly insignificant based on a speed difference to price difference ratio . Both should handle common apps without a problem, and neither is going to be any sort of gaming powerhouse. I also think the ATI is going to be a better GPU.

And again, I think the Turion is going to have more of a "future" than the Pentium M 770, IMHO.

Overall, I think the L2000 is a much better investment.

 

What do you think about the Presario V2000 with the Turion? Same as the L2000 without the LiveStrong advertisement.

 

With the processor different comes the video cards being different also between the two. I hadn't realized the difference in price between the models and am a bit suprised to find that big of a delta. This morning I ordered the L2000 myself, configured similarly to how you did it with the exception of adding XP Pro and only going with 512mb RAM (1 DIMM and in the future will add the 2nd 512MB), staying with the 6 Cell battery and hope to have it soon enough. The estimate ship date of July 7th.

Ordering AMD based Laptop

 

The ATI shared memory GPU on the L2000 is way, WAY better than the Intel shared memory GPU on the dv1000. Neither is all that great for games but I was able to play UT2004 at 800x600 res on a desktop Radeon 200 chipset machine (Shuttle ST20G5) smoothly. Shared memory GPUs have trouble at high resolutions (slow pixel fill rate) but at lower resolutions they can be very playable. It actually benched a bit higher than the GeForce 440 Go in my zv5000z on Aquamark3.

It's amazing what a difference not paying the Intel marketing tax makes [ ]. The top-of-the-line Pentium M might outrun the Turion ML37 on some things, but not by much, and if HP ever gets around to supporting WinXP x64 you'll be all set.

AMD did announce a Turion ML40 today, available only in the new nx6125:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050622/225269.html
I don't see the nx6125 on the HP website yet.

Be sure to add the Bluetooth option for whatever you get.

 

I don't know why HP does not offer the options of AMD Turion MT series on the new HP L2000!? Although the top speed of MT line is slightly lower than the ML line, I think MT has better performance per watt and is better competitor against Pentium M. MT is a better designed mobile chip than ML.

Did anyone see the performance comparison of a MT-1.8GHz, ML-1.8GHz and Pentium-M 1.8GHz?

 

As far as I know, all the HP 14" widescreen (DV1000, V2000, L2000) are older generation of tech! The Pentium-M equipped DV1000 and V2000 are not Sonoma, and their RAM is not DDR2 of 533MHz speed and the L2000 also uses even lower-speed RAM (DDR1)!

 

DDR2 is higher latency than DDR1, which defeats one of AMD's strengths (low-latency integrated memory controller). Intel chips are rigged for high streaming throughput at the expense of latency. OK if you're doing video encoding or synthetic benchmarks, just don't try to do anything real-time. Anyhow, right now DDR2 is more marketing hype than useful tech. You're better off with the Turion and DDR1, especially for the price.

More on this:
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Jun/gee20050622031051.htm

I haven't seen anyone with Turion MT's. My assumption is that they're simply not shipping yet. Oh well, unless you max out your CPU for extended periods of time it doesn't matter much, and even then there's always undervolting (I wonder how well that works on the Turions?).

 

Just a side note most of the times DDR1 is still faster than DDR2.

 

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

 

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

 

Well, I guess you havent visited HP.com recently. They upgraded the HP DV1000 last month to include a 900 series chipset, P-M supporting 533MHz FSB & also upgraded the graphics from IE2 to the GMA 900.

------------------------
Compaq Presario R3340US AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512MB, 80GB 5400rpm 15.4" Brightview WXGA.

Acer Aspire 3003WLCi AMD Mobile Sempron 3000+, 512MB, 80gb 4200rpm 15.4" CrystalBrite WXGA
------------------------

 

According to tests and benchmarks that I've read on the internet, there isn't a whol lot of performance difference between DDR and DDR2. I did read somewhere that AMD plan to drop DDR2 and switch to DDR3 when it matures. With respect to the price difference in the 2 notebooks, thats because of the processors primrily. The Intel Processor is on the higher end of the Pentium M line of processors and is hence a lot more expensive. Opting for a 1.6 to a 1.8GHz processor should see this difference reduce a lot. The ATI graphics option is better than the intel solution. All in all, I'd personally opt in for the L2000. Plus you get a bag of LiveStrong goodies

 

I have a DV1000 (1.7 Centrino), a very fast machine, excellent features, but yes, the GPU isnt that great. I didnt care, I thought the features would over power it, but instead, I forgot one thing- to check out the screen. It just sucks. First off, it's got that glossy crap that picks up single glare imaginable and it's light on the bottom, ok at the middle, and dark on top. If you cruise the internet- it'll be no problem, but watching a movie- forget it! It's just plain nasty. It's an awesome computer, very fast, its just that the screen sickens me, you should really check it out at your local store to see what you're getting into first. I bought online and couldnt return it. I went out and got an Asus Z70v.

Also, the DV1000 will burn through your pants! The bottom gets hot as hell...

 

So.....if you dun care about the price, the battery life, but does care about better gaming performance (would u choose L2000 or dv1000) :hp:
And personally i think Turion would work faster than the centrino because it has a higher bus speed

 

If it's only about gaming, neither will be great, but the L2000 has the edge.

 

Between the L2000 & the dv1000 the L2000 will definately have the edge...

But integrated GPU's are never meant for performance...

 

These 14' inch screen is not meant for gaming but can latest games be played on it? Because I really need a small labtop to carry around but also has enough performance to play latest games.

 

Well if your budget is around $1900, there is the Asus W3V, 14" widescreen with enough graphics power to play some of the latest games.

http://www.proportable.com/detail.aspx?ID=107

 

Yeah, the W3V can blow those two out of the water. HP's are great systems, but those 2 particular ones aren't that great in the gaming dept (I've got a DV1000 1.7 Centrino myself). You can probably get the W3 in the low $1800's (check Provantage.com and shentech).

 

I love the design of the HP notebooks, such as the DV1000 and the L2000. What frustrates me is that HP won't make one of these notebooks with a decent GPU.

They're probably targeted more toward business customers and casual consumers... I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I'm not even asking for a high-end card. Just something that will play The Sims 2, maybe Half-Life 2, on just moderate settings.

Would the integrated Radeon Xpress 200M be decent enough for Sims 2 and Half Life 2?

 

No no no. The xpress 200 is radeon's answer to intel's integrated grafix on it's intel cards. It is in no way a gaming gpu either. If you want a laptop that can play games, get a gaming laptop that weighs a lot more. You can only do so much with heat dissipation and weight in these series. Laptops like this aren't meant to be gaming machines...at all.

 

I don't understand, the Sony Vaio S series come with some decent GPU's and have about the same form factor as the V2000/L2000/DV1000, why can't these have a decent GPU as well??

 

I don't think it's a design limitation, HP just doesn't think the cost of offering these cards is worth it. I'd love to see then at least offer a 128MB x300, but most buyers of this machine don't need it. At least that's what HP is banking on.

 

Well, for one thing, Sony costs over 100% more for the same thing.

Example: A maxed out S480 is $3,400. A maxed out L2000 is $1500.
(And this assumes do-it-yourself memory upgrade to save a few hundred bucks).

For $3,400, you can buy a very nice REAL gamers laptop. Obviously, it will be bigger and heavier.

The GPU with Sony S Series (S480) is the low-end nVidia one; nice, but hardly a real gaming laptop.

So, for an extra $1,900, you get:
-802.11a
-slightly better GPU
-a pound less weight (20% lighter)
-slightly smaller form factor

Not worth it in my opinion. I could buy a second, dedicated gaming laptop for $1,900!

Also, Sony S Series drives ARE NOT USER REPLACABLE OR UPGRADABLE!
This is a huge problem...if you hard drive dies, you are SOL. Send it in for service service and wait a few weeks. If you need more space, too bad.

With the L2000 (or DV1000), just unscrew the bottom plate and pop in a new drive. This is a BIG design advantage.

 

I dun understand how X600 with 64 MB can be better than the 200M 128 MB even if it's shared.

 

DV1000 vs L2000

Okay. Well, i set up a DV1000 last month for my aunt. And I've had a L2000 for a few days. And my final opinion on which is better?

I'll try to give winners per catagory to help anyone out. And please note, this is just an opinion based on less than a week with both. so dont freak out if i get anything wrong.

- Appearance -
L2000. I love the black they used. Its not that shiny black. Its like a dull black with dark gray. Even with that "LIVESTRONG" on the lid, the tacky yellow looks very unique. DV1000 looks good on the inside but the silver outside im not a fan of.

- Features -
DV1000. The remote and the media buttons are great. Other than that the screens are the same, keyboards feel similar and ports are the same.

- Battery -
DV1000. 6Cell on both. Im only squeezing out about 2hrs on the L2000. Thats close to being unacceptable for me. The DV1000 was getting around 3hrs so thats nice.

- Heat Displacement -
DV1000. This is actually a catagory i'm not positive on, but Im pretty sure the DV1000 doesnt get nearly as warm as the L2000. The L2000 wristrest gets pretty warm even when you arent doing anything intensive. Its not to the point where its a problem, but it is annoying to have your right wrist be nice and cool while your left palm feels like its abou to break out in a sweat.

Plus the L2000 fan seems to turn on every other minute like its breathing. The fan isnt too loud, but its louder than i'd prefer and in time it will get annoying.

- Gaming -
Neither. Expecting gaming on laptops without a dedicated GPU is silly. Its just not going to happen so give up and save that memory. On my L2000 w/128mb shared video i went into the bios and pushed it down to 64mb shared in order to reclaim more ram for the system. 64mb may even be overkill since games just arent going to work.

As for games itself, i tried Sims 2, Half Life 2 and GTA San Andreas. Sims 2 didnt offer me widescreen support so not only was i stuck playing with all settings at absolute lowest, i was also in s-t-r-e-t-c-h mode which is annoying. And its slow. Half-Life rated me at only 15fps at lowest settings which is pretty much unacceptable. And GTA SA wouldnt even start. Ive tried for 2 days and i just cant install it right or it wont work with my L2000. So bottom line is games = no.

- Price -
L2000. This is the deciding factor for many of us. $999 at sams club for 1.8/512/DVDRW/BT/6Cell. Wow. Thats alot of computer for a low price. BUT, is it enough to justify the little annoyances that come with th L2000? Well, for me i'm not sure so its very possible this may go back.


Bottom line is that if I price werent a factor i'd pick the DV1000 for the battery life, less heat and remote. But price is a factor and I'm saving about $300 by going L2000 so its really tough.

 

dv1000 & dv4000 in June quietly got a "New" tag on hpshopping.com
and sure enough -
Sonoma chipset: cpu models 730, 740; 533 MHz, etc.

My 2-cents worth: AMD Turion is brand new, needs 6-12 months to shake out.
Also I believe the low-power (long battery life + cooler running)
version of the Turion CPU is not yet shipping.

One plan: get dv1000 during August back-to-school sale.
- slow cpu, fast disk, 1GB *aftermarket* ram, no DVD+w, brightview screen
$1,179
WinXP Pro: currently $29

 

Chen, it's more complicated than the amount of RAM.