HP Notebook for College Found?

Hey everyone- I just found this forum, its awesome. Anyways, I have been searching for a notebook for the past month and have reviewed just about everything. Anyways I have found this setup through HPshopping.com for $1,168.06 after student discount, and $100 mail-in rebate. Here are the specs....

HP Ze5700 series notebook

Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.80 GHz
Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home
Memory 512MB DDR SDRAM (1x512MB)
Hard Drive 60 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD/CDRW Combo Drive
Networking FREE UPGRADE TO 54g(TM) Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN !!
Display 15.0" TFT XGA (1024 x 768)
Graphics Card ATI Mobility Radeon(TM)
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money
Primary Battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

The Specs look really good to me... I was just wondering what you guys think about the Series, Processor, Etc... The main uses will be for downloading music, watching vids, and word processing. I want to be able to use the wi-fi spots around the college, but its not necessary all the time. as long as i get an hour or two with wireless on, and maybe a little bit more with it off. But really the main use will be music d/l and typing papers. So will this notebook work for what i need it for, and be decent for the next few years? Thanks- and ALL feedback is Greatly appreciated!

-Austin

 

Yeah the notebook should work well for what you want to do, you may be able to get a similar price on the zv5000 which will be pretty much the same thing except with a 15.4" screen. Either way, if it is an option go with the 12cell battery as it will greatly increase life for only a few more ounces and a few more dollars.

zx5000 :: 2.4M :: 512 DDR :: 40gb 4200 RPM HD :: 15.4" :: Radeon 9600 Mobilty M10 :: Aquamark3 22,856

 

This unit should be just fine for your requirements. About the AMD64 CPU's, I've read that they will be coming out with a 64-bit XP which the AMD64 CPU's should be able to utilize. Some people say that the 32-bit CPU's are obsolete and people should stop buying them, but even though they come out with XP 64-bit, they still have to come out with 64-bit apps for it to use to access the full potential of the CPU. It's just like what they said about Windows 98 after XP came out, but I'm pretty sure you'll still see a lot of people still using 98. Actually, I still use 98 in some of my systems [ ].

-Vb-

 

Any thoughts about different processors, i keep hearing that AMD 64 will be the new thing or what not in the futer, but i just havent had any hard facts on it...what do you guys think?

 

Would you guys go with the Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.66 GHz or the Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.80 GHz. And if I went with the Mobile Pentium 4, how much More battery life would i get?

 

the mobile 2.66 it will get at least an additional 1-1.5 hours of battery life.

Also, I disagree about the Windows XP 64 bit only due to a conference last week where Microsoft was talking about only releashing it to OEM's thus anyone with a 64bit processor now or who built one would have to use linux if they wanted 64bit support.

zx5000 :: 2.4M :: 512 DDR :: 40gb 4200 RPM HD :: 15.4" :: Radeon 9600 Mobilty M10 :: Aquamark3 22,856

 

Yeah, I heard the same thing, but I'm sure they're gonna release it retail because there's probably gonna be demand for it. I remember Microsoft doing somthing like that, say they won't and then later said they will. Can't remember exactly what thought, maybe I'm just imagining it.

-Vb-

 

At worst, you'll be able to buy the OEM edition at Newegg, MWave, etc, so long as you buy hardware with it (need a USB cable? A new mouse? That's hardware!). That's always been the cheapest way to get a Windows license anyhow. I wouldn't worry about this at all.

Interesting details here:
http://www.amd64notebooks.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=382

 

student discount? how do i get that. i am a student. i will be going to cal poly pomona and i want to buy a laptop before school starts. how do i get this discount?