Good deal? Plus question about expansion base?

Hi guys and gals,

This is my first post on these fine forums though I've been a lurker since early summer. Love this site, one of the most helpful going!

After months of research I think I've decided on my next notebook. I'll be replacing a 3.5 year old Dell Inspiron that has run it's course.

I'm SHOCKED to say that it looks like the winner in this derby (for which hundreds of hours of research has been done will be the HP dv1000.

At the outset of the search I would have considered HP to be a huge longshot, almost to the point of not being considered.

Here's the config I came up with, please let me know if you feel this is a good config for the price:

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

Processor Pentium(R) M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz)


Display FREE Upgrade to 14.0" WXGA BrightView Widescreen!


Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)


Hard Drive 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive


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


Graphics Card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900 - Pentium


Networking FREE Upgrade to 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM!!


Primary Battery Extra 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery


Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

Price: $1348.00 free shipping

Questions:

Good value?

How good is the HP screen? Some have said it's washed out, other seem to think it's great.

How good is the HP warranty? I believe it's mail in, correct? This would be the major disadvantage though I can live with it as I still use my desktop as my primary system, so I can live with the wait for repair more than others can. It's $179.00 for the three year which seems reasonable. Yes?

I'm considering purchasing the expansion base which comes with a cordless keyboard and mouse. Do you guys recommend the base? Seems like a good idea, but I also feel like I'm taking a bath on it as it's $250 for the package with the wireless mouse and keyboard.

Is that a lot, or is that reasonable?

Is it necessary to purchase the base from HP or could I search for the best deal from a 3rd party? Is the port this thing connects to propeietary or just a serial port? Could I find a significantly better deal 3rd party?

Will the cordless keyboard and mouse work with the notebook independent of the base? I'd hate to have one cordless mouse for the base, and another for the road.

Is it generally recommended to puchase from HPshopping.com where I configured this, or is it better to go to a store like Sams Club or Circuit City?

BTW, this notebook will be used primarily for college (taking it to class, etc) multi-media, (music, DVD's)etc. I will not be playing games on it as I prefer to game on a console.

Any/all suggestions seriously appreciated, I intend to purchase on this Tuesday October 11th.

Would you buy this for this price?

Total with specified configuration, 3 year warranty, and expansion base: $1,683.98

 

I think you will be very happy with the DV1000. I just ordered my 2nd one due to my 1st one having been stolen. Obviously I was happy w/ it because I'm buying it all over again.

My config is almost identical to yours (close enough) except I went for the Bluetooth wireless card. Although having a 2nd 6 cell battery can be handy, you also might want to consider the 12-cell . It raises up the back which makes typing easier. But this is subjective, so you might not like it. You should also go for the optional remote control, it's only $15 and you can't get it later.

I think you can do better on price. This week, Staples has a sale that gives you $200 off. Last week was cheaper, but this week is still a deal. You must go in-store though. I found Staples cheaper than Costco, CompUSA, Best Buy, Circuit City, or Office Depot.

Also if you are a student now, you may qualify for an educational discount on HPShopping.com.

The brightview screen is not washed out, it looks great. The HP unit is MUCH more sturdy and had a better feel than the Dell machines I was considering.

I did need to send my machine back to HP once for fan replacement, and I found the service to be very good. They were pretty fast about it too.

I think you will like the DV1000. The only thing I regret is that this year the speakers are Altec-Lansing, and last year's were Harmon Kardons. For all I know they don't sound any different, though.

 

I am really ticked off that there are no Staples stores in Houston, the 4th largest city of America!!

I can tell you that not all DV1000's have the same screen. I remember one model with better specs had a dimmer, less vibrant screen than another DV1000 next to it with lesser specs. But both screens were still very nice.

The Altec Lansing speakers in my DV4000 sound great, the best notebook speakers I've heard so far.

 

I've only seen two or three for an extended period, but the screens seemed pretty good to me. HP has 30 day return policy if it is not to your liking.

I'd drop the CPU down to to the 1.73Ghz or even the 1.6Ghz which is a Dothan Pentium M which runs cooler and has better battery life, but the performance is not quite as good. You'll save $$$ and likely won't notice a difference. The 5400RPM drive will make a bigger difference performance wise.

I'd agree with getting the 12 cell instead of the two 6 cells even if it is a little more. You won't have to shut down to change batteries. It does add a bit of weight though.

Nice thing about HPShoppng is you won't have to pay tax like at CC or Sam's Club. You may get it a little cheaper at them, but will likely have to deal with rebates which can sometimes be a pain getting your money.

Lastly, look for the dock on ebay. I was able to pick up the dock for my ThinkPad for a little over half what Leveno was sellling it at. Good Luck.

 

Zazonz,
Can you say any more about that "Dothan" Pentium M and what's the difference, and why it runs cooler? Does that have anything to do with why they call it a 725A instead of a 725?

:centrino:

 

HP DV1000 series and Comaq V2000 series comes with propritory Expansion Port 2.
This is used for for the docking station.

I you do not want to spend too much, you can go with HP All-in-Media Cable kit for $89 .
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?product_code=PH675A

This one even comes with HP remote. You have all the outputs, USB, Firewire, S-Video, Composite, Audio, and Digital Audio Out!!

You can hook up all your Wireless KB and Mouse to the USB, and other accessories to cable, and you only need to disconnect one cable to disconnect the Laptop from all these device at once.

BTW. I read somewhere the Wireless KB and Mouse that comes with Dock is Logitech one( I am not sure though) and connected thru standard USB port on the Docking station HUB. But again I do not think you would want to carry it around as it is a full size wireless KB.


As Rahul mentioned, all DV1000 screens may not be same. This depends on who is the supplier for that lot. Generally they have two or three sources for LCD panels. Generally they all have to meet certain specification from HP. What I observed is, most of the times difference comes from the backlit of the LCD, some are warmer( more close to NTSC standard) and some are more blueish( looks washed out, but some people like it). You can compensate for some of those variables thru Video Card control panel with Gamma and color adjustment. But anyways this is not case specific to HP, but to all most all major brand laptop vendors.

It is not a bad idea to consider HP L2000 series if you want future proof you laptop with Turion64. you get lot more for your money that way. You get better graphics too.

Anyways, best upgrade for any current crop of laptop I suggest is Faster Hard drive.
Go with fastest HDD you can buy. BTW 80GB 5400 RPM is good balance between price and speed.

My V2000z I bought with 4200RPM drive as I want to buy 5400RPM drive from retailers like newegg and that way I have an extra spare drive and also get 3 year warranty.

 

Don't why they do the A thing. Dothans run at a lower voltage so they run cooler than Sonomas. They also cut the clock to 600Mhz whereas the Sonomas only cut to 800Mhz. which helps a little more on the battery life.

 

All,

Thanks so much for all the info, it truly is priceless to me.

I went to CC today to do some testing and am now discourages. Of all the machines I laid my hands on the dv1000 felt by far the most flimsy/clunky.

The screen felt like it was made of junk. I felt like I could snap it in half with almost no effort while the Sony's felt like they were made of a brick.

Aside from that, the whole overall build quality felt pretty cheap and thin.

Has anyone here had issues with HP build quality? I really don't want a cheap feeling flimsy machine.

This could be just buyers panic which is something I typically get when making a larger electronic purchase. I hope so because the search has gotten exhausting at this point.

 

Well, I guess this sort of thing is pretty subjective, but I don't find the feel of the DV1000 to be cheap. I used mine for 10 months before it was stolen and it seemed plenty solid to me. I have felt that most Dells I've seen recently have seemed very cheap and plastic to me. I'm sure the Sony feels more solid, but I'll bet it might cost as much as $500 or even $700 more, so I guess it should, shouldn't it? I sort of liked a Gateway one I saw, but two different salespeople told me that many people complain about their build quality and that they use cheap parts, so who knows? I am not an expert but I thought my DV1000 was pretty well made.

The QuickPlay feature is really cool. There are only a couple of similar offerings from competitors and none at this price point and screen size. The DV1000 is definitely not a high-end machine, but considering everything, I think you get a lot for the $$.

 

I reconfigured slightly with the HP education discount and here's what I came up with:

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


Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz)
edit

Display FREE Upgrade to 14.0" WXGA BrightView Widescreen!


Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)


Hard Drive 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive


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


Graphics Card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900 - Pentium


Networking FREE Upgrade to Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG WLAN!

Primary Battery Extra 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery


Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money


Accessories Earbud Headphones with In-Line Volume Control

HP Mobile Remote Control


I now get a price at $1479.00 after the $50.00 mail in rebate.

I think I have decided the base is a waste for me. All I really want it for is to have the machine elevated and supported when I use it at home with a cordless mouse+kyb. That being the case I think a regular riser would be sufficient for me. You all agree?

Jim, I do agree with you that the Sony has a better buikd quality because of the inflated price. I guess I was just very surprised at how big the difference really was.

When I started looking at a replacement notebook I targeted Sony S series, AlienWare Sentia, and Acer Ferrari.

Price is not really an issue with me in that I can spend what I need to in order to get what I want. However, I am pretty tight and don't like paying for things I don't need, nor for name or prestige.

In the end, the Sentia was too small (I really can't work on the 12"'s, Sony's service and cust service scared me away, and all three ended up being more expensive than I needed to spend on what I wanted to do.

This machine will travel with me a lot, and be used for basic multi-media, research, and school activities. I am a harcore gamer but game on a console and so that's no issue.

I really felt like with the Alienware and the Acer I was paying $400 for literally nothing but the case.

This lead me to the w3v, and the dv1000 and anything else in the 14" wide class, but primarily these two.

Zazonz,

How will I notice dropping down to the 1.73 in production, and how much less heat and battery life? It's only a $50 difference between the two but if you really think I'm better off I'll very strongly consider it as I don't really want to pay more for less.

Thanks guys, I'll let you all know what I do when I do it.

 

My suggestion would be get what you can afford. Umm what kind of production because if its video then the integrated graphics are going to KILL you.

 

I still think you're paying too much.
I got the slower 725a chip but I got bluetooth.
You got a better DVD drive; I got the 12 cell battery.
I got the same hard drive.
I got 512k memory, you got 1G.

I paid $900 after the $50 rebate. Offhand, the upgrades to your system just doesn't look worth $500 to me. And I, too seriously doubt you're going to see the difference in CPU performance. Maybe a little but not much. You've got plenty of RAM, that's going to make a big contribution.

You need to go check Staples if there's one near you, I think you'll save money on the system you want.

 

I should probably mention that in addition to the config shown this also includes a $20.00 tripp lite surge protector and a 3 year warranty at $179.00.

Is this a bad deal?

Thanks again everyone.

Staples isn't really an option for me. The closest one is 15 or so miles away and I'm not generally too big on buying computers at retail outlets that my experience with in the past has been tiresome at best. Circuit City or Sam's would both be options as they've treated me well but I've had too many issues at Staples, same way with Office Depot.

If this is a bad deal where else should I look?

I'm not married to the HP but I want a 14" or bigger under 5.5lbs with the basic config shown. Important specs are:

Widescreen (I do a lot of spreadsheets plus for multimedia)
5400rpm HD
1 Gig ram (rather initially or via crucial)
>1.73 processor

The thing that's really limiting me is the size. I can't do a 12" and most 15" are too heavy so 14" seems perfect.

Open to anything, thanks!

 

Yes, the 3 year warranty might make the difference in price.

You don't really get the actual computer at Staples. You just build-to-order it there. They send the order to HP and it gets custom built for you in China and sent directly to you. Sam's, Costco, and most of the other stores do the same thing.

 

I don't think you'll notice any difference in the CPUs. When you are surfing or doing office, anything over 500Mhz is overkill. Only the 1.6Ghz is a Dothan. The faster hard drive will make more of a difference perfromance wise.

 

What is the advantage of the 12cell battery over the two 6's?

I know with the two six's I'll have to switchout batteries sometimes.

Is that the only advantage the 12 cell has?

Because I think for me, the fact that the 12 cell is heavier and sticks out and causes the notebook to tilt is a bigger negative the the aforementioned benefit is a positive.

Thoughts?

 

I picked up this thread while googling for an expansion base. I have last years dv1040 (good machine). I want to add an expansion base / port replicator / docking station, something that allows the monitor and other peripherals to be hooked to teh expansion slot on the left side of the unit. Does HPs expansion base do that? I can't tell from any of the pictures I find online.