Getting ready to buy dv8000

Hi folks,

I'm getting ready to push the button on hpshopping.com to buy the dv8000. I was going to wait a little while though to see if the price drops through the season. Does anyone see any value to waiting a while, say early next year? I'm asking because the system is a new release and I am not familiar with the pricing behavior.

Thanks,
Michael

 

The price dropps, on average, about every 3 months, so maybe in Feb. you'll see a $100-$200 price drop. I personally wouldn't wait that long if you need the notebook now. If you need it, get it - there's no point in waiting. If you think 100-200 bucks is worth that, then wait, but I see no real gain in doing so. Nice choice by the way!

 

Well, how much is the one you want and how much do you want to spend? Because, if you need a notebook right now, I say go for it. The dv8000z has been out for about a month or so now, so the price isn't as high as it originally was.

EDIT: Ahh AMD beat me!

 

Well, I think you make sense, I will just get it now. They are also offering a free printer, the HP720 and no shipping charges. The whole system with a one year warranty and damage protection is 1573.00 less 100.00 mail in rebate. This includes the 2.0GHz 1mb chip and 1 dimm of 512 kb memory.

Thanks for your advice,
Michael

 

That looks like a pretty good notebook for the price, especially with the free printer - HP usually doesn't throw in stuff like that. However, if you want us to review your specs, just post'em and well tell you what we think. Also - What are you going to be using this notebook for? For multimedia purposes, this notebook is great, but for games not so great.

 

I'll be using the system for mostly Internet browsing and MS Office productivity such as Excel and Outlook. I have XP professional and Ms Office 2003. The HP printer is the HP1610 3in1 not the HP720.

Thanks again for your help - Michael

Here are the specs:
Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
Display 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Wide Viewing (1680x1050)
Graphics Card 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
Memory 512MB DDR SDRAM (1x512MB)
Hard Drive 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
Networking 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
Primary Battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
1 year express warranty and damage protection

 

That's a pretty good configuration, although if you are going to be working more mobile, then I say upgrade to a 12-cell battery. The ML-37 may be overkill for general productivity, but will be great for Photoshop/Video Editing. If your only doing what you mentioned in your last post, go for the ML-34; That'll save you a few bucks Nice choice on the 80 5,400 RPM HD though - that will give you better performance than a 4,200 RPM drive will. That's a pretty good deal BTW - a 3in1 printer for free! BTW, consider upgrading your RAM to 1GB after you recieve your notebook - this will give you the best performance.

 

Thanks for the advice - can you tell a good site to purchase RAM and what type I would need?

 

Look at online places like Newegg.com and try to score some Crucial/Keingston (There are ads floating around all over NBR.com, just click on one). See if your RAM is DDR333, DDR400 or DDR533 RAM to enable the best compatability. DDR533 is the fastest type of RAM availbe, but I'm not sure it'll be enabled on your notebook, since it has a Turion processor.

 

Crucial PC2700 SODIMMs are the safest bet, Newegg usually has a good price on them. DDR533 is DDR2 (higher bandwidth but higher latency, different socket too), no AMD machines use it. PC3200 *might* work but HP uses PC2700. Might as well go straight to a 1GB stick (or two, though there's no advantage to a matched pair on Turions).

There is no 12 cell option for the dv8000z AFAIK. I do recommend spending the extra money for the Bluetooth option, just because you can't add it later (except as an external USB dongle), up to you.

 

This is really good information...thanks again for helping me out.

Michael