HP DV 1439US Help, Please.

I bought a HP DV1439US tonight. I usually take a long time to research and compare purchases and this aggravates my husband to no end. This is a present for my 14 yoa daughter for X-Mas. We did not bring it home today because we were in a big hurry. My husband pushed me into making a quick decision at the store. I asked the salesperson about the video card and he said it had a Radeon. I now know that it does not. Below are the specs on it. It does have 100GB, but only 4200RPM's. The card is the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900.

As we have not brought it home yet, I could probably change my mind about it.

My 14 year old is into Sims games now but will eventually get into more games, I'm sure. I thought I was buying a laptop that would be sufficient as she gets older. She will love the CD/DVD capabilities this one has.

Thanks for any help you can give me.



doedv1439us
US Product Number EH451UA#ABA
Microprocessor 1.73 GHz Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology featuring Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740
Microprocessor Cache 2MB L2 Cache
Memory 1024MB 333MHz DDR System Memory (2 Dimm)
Memory Max 2048MB
Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Video Memory Up to 128mb shared
Hard Drive 100GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive
Diskette Drive External USB Floppy Drive available for customers via hpshopping.com or local retailers
Multimedia Drive DVD±R/RW and CD-RW Combo Drive with Double Layer Support
Display 14.0" WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 768) Display
Fax/Modem High speed 56k modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Connectivity Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 802.11BG WLAN
Sound Altec Lansing
Keyboard 101-key compatible & 2 Quick Launch Buttons
Pointing Device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad; HP QuickPlay(o) Music and DVD buttons
PC Card Slots 1 Type I/II 32-bit card bus (also support 16-bit)

External Ports 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
1 headphone-out
1 microphone-in
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
1 Expansion Port 2, 1 IEEE 1394 Firewire (4-pin)
1 Consumer IR (Remote Receiver)

Dimensions 13.15"" (L) x 9.24"" (W) x 1.18"" (min H)/1.52"" (max H)
Weight 5.33 lbs
Security Kensington® MicroSaver lock slot
Power-on password
Accepts 3rd party security lock devices

 

Sorry to tell you, but the salesperson was lying. The dv1000 only comes with the Intel GMA 900, as you mentioned above. This is NOT good for gaming at ALL, unless you're into games that are about 2-3 years old. Unless your daughter needs the notebook now (which I highly doubt - I'm a sophmore and I just use the family desktop when my laptop in dispose), I suggest waiting just 4 weeks for Intel's new, Dual-Core chip, Yonah or NAPA.

 

There are very few 14" laptops with good dedicated graphics cards as they are made for mobility and not gaming. The ones that have them tend to be expensive. If you are set on a 14” model, the Asus W3v, Compal 2030, or Toshiba M50 would be some choices, with the Asus having the best quality. If you go with a larger screen, you’ll have more choices. I would look at something like the Compaq v4000t. It has the Radeon x700 which is a very good graphics card, better than the ones on the 14” notebooks. It is a little bigger and heavier than the dv1000. You can configure one on HP.com. I would recommend the 5400RPM hard drive for better system performance. HP.com only charges tax in a few states and has a 30 day return policy. A decently configured one will cost around $1100-1200. If you would like something with better quality, the Asus Z71v is another good option. It has the 6600 go card which is close to the x700.

Yonah is being released in a few week, but I would not expect to see a large selection of models until the Spring. People who are heavy multi-taskers will see the biggest benefit from Yonah. Good Luck.

 

So, does this mean we can expect some nice price cuts in the near future for current notebooks?

I don't wish to jump to conclusions or anything, but does your daughter really need a notebook? Won't she be content with a desktop? Gaming notebooks are harder to find and much more expensive than similar desktops. Maybe you should get her a cheaper notebook and use that saved money to buy a gaming desktop.

 

Get your money back if you can. If you/your daughter wants a notebook the ones already suggested are very good. You could also get by with a Hp/Compaq V2000z which has a Turion processor and a graphics processor that while not as good and the ones previously mentioned, is still good enough for Sims and lower demand games. The advantages of this machine are that it is relitively inexpensive and it has a 64 bit processor that was madde for mobile computing. These machines cost a lot of money, don't get stuck with something you don't want...Oh, and I'd ask to speak with the manager at the store and tell him about the mis-information giben you by his employee. Good luck.

 

If you haven't received the product, then you should be able to get your money back WITHOUT a return penalty. I sure hope not. Some stores charges up to 15% on returns.

Thanks,
eagle07

 

I think the best place to shop for a laptop is Costco where you can return it with full money back within 6 months. Anyway, if you like the feature of DV1000 but want a good video interface, the only thing you can get is a DV4000 with ATI x700/128MB video. The price is about the same as for DV1000 (plus $150 for the video upgrade) but it is a 15.4" one instead of 14".

 

Sams Club also has a similar return policy. Take a look at the DV4000.

 

My husband did get our money back. They argued over the labor for the installing of the programs service (whatever that is called). My husband told them that the salesperson misrepresented the video card and that I asked him to check the card and he did not. He also told them that I made it plain that I wanted a Radeon video card.

Now I must decide what to buy. I am going to look at the Compaq V4000 and the Asus6600. I was building a Dell online before we bought the HP1439. It was a 9300 with video card upgrade (I think one of the choices was a Radeon), 1GB dual channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz, DVD +-RW/+R 8x double layer write and Windows Media Center. Is there anything I need to be aware of with the Dell 9300? I will read the posts about that one How does it compare with the aforementioned V4000 and Asus Z71.
Thanks for everything!

 

You don't want the Compaq v4000, you want the v4000t - that's the one with the discrete x700 card. The v4000 has the GMA 900 that you just returned!

 

Arg - just so you don't get confused dmj4, Slappy means the Compaq V4000T. I recommend customizing it on HPShopping.com and buying it there.

 

Yeah, check out the Compaq V4000 and HP DV4000 series. Both are very similar machine except for their exterior cases and that the DV4000 has the QuickPlay feature, which lets you play DVD movies and music without booting up to Windows and it has the option of a small remote (which fits in the card slot and can control music/movie playback, powerpoint presentations and power on/off the notebook) and earbuds. It usually costs more however than the V4000T but not by much.

The V4000 is the one that comes with Intel's GMA 900 graphics that were in the DV1439US. You want the V4000T. Older DV4000s also only came with GMA 900 graphics such as the one I have and so newer DV4000s and newer V4000s, called V4000Ts now have the option of being outfitted with the Radeon X700, a very good graphics card. HP doesn't call their DV4000s with the Radeon DV4000Ts though, still DV4000s but thats beside the point.

A notebookreview user, Slappy, had just recently posted a review of his DV4000 with the X700 here. You should read it and check it out. Remember that the DV4000 and V4000s are basically the same machine inside due to HP and Compaq's merger.

Currently, all DV4000s and V4000s I've seen in stores only come with GMA 900 graphics, to get the Radeon X700, you'll need to customize them on HP's website at www.hpshopping.com

Anyways, both are great machines and you can't go wrong with either one. Good luck on your purchase!!!

 

Indeed I did! Here's my review, and Togus just did a review of his dv4000 with a different processor that's on the front page of NotebookReview today!

 

If you are member of Costco, you can also config a DV4000 on Costco's website and still has the 6 month satisfaction guarantee. The price is slightly cheaper at Costco but sales tax applies.

 

You also might want to get the Compaq V4000T from Costco, since they sell it, fully customizable, with the HP dv4000.

 

Well, my dad bought me my DV4000 from Costco and he said he wasn't charged sales tax.

 

Online or in-store? If you buy it online you might not have to pay sales tax, but in certain states like CA ( ), you do.

 

From your first post it seems that you're already aware of this, but for any other shoppers who stumble across this thread, it bears repeating:

You want the 5400 r.p.m. drive, and currently the only one that HP offers with the dv4000 or the v4000t is 80GB. That's the drive to get - the speed increase is way more important than that extra 20 gigs! Store your bulky media files on an external drive if you have to, but don't take the speed hit if your daughter will be gaming.

 

Are you sure a 4200 rpm drive would really cripple gaming? Aren't the games mostly run off of the optical drives anyways? I think only loading and saving games may be a little slow but I'd still HIGHLY recommend the 5400 rpm. I personally have a 4200 rpm drive and its speed hasn't bothered me in the least, I find it quite speedy. Of course, all I do is simple tasks such as web surfing and typing documents.

 

Most games load quite a bit of content onto the hard drive, and access it pretty frequently during a game to grab textures and the like. It won't cripple gaming, but it is noticeable!

 

Yes, the 5400RPM HD upgrade will give the highest performance gain than others at the same cost.