HELP IN BUYING A HP Pavilion zv5000t !!!!!! +ATI

Hello !
Well, first: I am planning on buying a HP Pavilion zv5000t series customized like this : Intel Pentium 4 3.20 GHz w/HT Technology ,15.4" WVA WSXGA+ (1680x1050)
,ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP, 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB), 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive ,4X DVD +/- RW/R & CD-RW Combo.

Now, i need to know few things before doing so, because i want to change some things after i get it.

1. the graphics card: Can i change this 9000 IGP to ATi Mobility radeon 9800 in this type of notebook? And if yes where can i buy one? I know that there are HP pavilion zx series notebooks with mobility radeon 9600 so i asume that it is possible to change. And can i doit my self? At least i would like to have a 9700 with 128Mb. But also i dont know what is exactly the IGP in this 9000 ATi and if its a good card for playing games.

2. the hdd: Well its not a must but should i buy hdd with higher speed?...i mean the 7200 rpm. Or is 5400 enough for gaming? And if yes where can i buy one? Best would be a 80Gb 7200rpm.

and

3. I live in Europe where we have 220 voltage and if i buy this laptop in USA where they have 110V , will i be abble to use it? I think yes because most of the adapters are made with a range of input like from 100 to 240 V and 50-60 Hz. But im not shure about this one. .....?

I will be very happy with any other sugestions. Thaks in advance to everybody for any information[ ].

Please forgive and dont mind my spelling.

 

1) You are stuck with the graphics card that come with the laptop. So pay whatever you can afford up front.

2) If you feel 4200 is adequate, there's no reason to upgrade. I personally have a 7200Rpm hard drive and could not live without it. My notebook was so slooow before the upgrade. It is often cheaper to buy the hard drive after purchase and upgrade it yourself. You will however have to re-install the operating system. You can either use the discs that came with the machine or make image of the old hard drive before putting in the new one. Put the old one in an external USB case for extra storage or sell it on ebay.

3) I'd be wary of buying a laptop here unless you are planning on staying awhile. If you go back to Europe and have a problem they may require you send the notebook over here to be fixed which I'm guessing will be expensive. You might want to check that out before purchasing. Unless you can get one with an international warranty like HP business class or IBM. There are adpators that converters that will allow to use you laptop over there. Hope this helps.

 

if you are looking for everything in a laptop then go for this my buddy got about 4 months ago its real nice its got the 9700 128mb video and he plays doom 3 on it.
http://www.addictpc.com/index.php?crn=124&rn=523&action=show_detail

 

I just took a look at my (US) power adapter for my zv5000z. It is rated 110/240 volts and 50/60 hertz.

I just succesfully upgraded my zv5000z to a Hitachi 7K60 60 Gb 7200 rpm with Norton Ghost 9.0. There are no 80 GB 7200 rpm drives yet (early next year there are supposed to be up to 100 GB drives from Seagate). While there were a few problems along the way, several were self inflicted. If you do get the new drive and for instance a USB interfaced disk drive enclosure to transfer the existing operating system and applications to the new drive:

1. Do not format or even assign a drive letter to the drive before using Ghost. It will be done correctly for you by Ghost.
2. On the USB enclosure you probably will have to use the (generally provided) two USB interface cables to supply adequate power for the 7200 rpm drive.
3. If you have any problems installing Ghost reinstall your Microsoft .NET Framework.
4. If you have a brand new notebook without a lot of installed software, the best approach is to start from scratch and do a fresh installation!!

Bill :::: zv5000z :: 3200+ :: 1GB :: 60GB 7200rpm :: 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) :: XP Pro