HP Pavillion zv5000z Review

Normally, the notebook runs at 800MHz and jumps to full speed as needed. Some people are confused by this, and some people appear to be having genuine problems. Mine works as it's supposed to. WinXP's broken clock speed readout isn't helping (use MobileMeter instead). I suspect there are a few notebooks out there that HP didn't properly install the heatsink on, that would force the CPU to stay in low-power mode.

Games: they'll run, they just won't look very good. This is a notebook for getting work done more than gaming.

 

i am going to check the 797Mhz problem out. Mine seems to lack speed I think. The good thing is the battery lasts me 4.5 hours streaming music and compiling software (less than 2000 lines of code) constantly. & occational surfing when i get tired of programming.

I have half life 2's SOURCE engine on this machine.

I play counterstrike SOURCE on this machine which is the same engine as half life 2. It runs "OKAY" enough to play but not like my desktop. which has the same video card except its 128mb. I range from about 40-70 fps on my laptop depending on load of game at the moment.

If i get a faster hard drive and resolve the cpu issue i think this machine will handle it well.

 

Just to add my two cents on CPU speed--I have my notebook set up to always run at full-speed. I rarely use it just on battery, I primarily use it for portable video editing or photo editing. Adobe (Premiere) recommends at least a two drive system, therefore I almost always have one of several 120GB external USB 2.0 3.5" drives attached. These drives have to be AC powered.

Brianstretch, I am still operating very satisfactorily with F.01 BIOS. Do you know if there any essential reasons to upgrade, I have looked at some (but not all) of the release notes but have not seen any truely necessary reasons to upgrade.


Bill
zv5000z :: 3200+ :: 1GB :: 40GB 4200rpm :: 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) :: XP Pro

 

F.01? I didn't know that BIOS made it out to the field. I started with F.03. K8 Errata #93 got fixed sometime after F.03, that's very important for 64-bit Linux. Memory compatibility has been improved, but apparently what you have works. I suppose it isn't critical that you upgrade but it probably wouldn't hurt either. Just be sure to reload the BIOS defaults after you're done.

 

Hello everyone,

I just ordered the zv7000z and I wanted to say a very big thank you to everyone for their posts. I learned a lot from reading this thread and wanted to share what I found as a summary for anyone thinking of buying.

Thanks to one of the links above I found a coupon code from www.TechBargains.com (Code NB8384) which gave me 10% off. The coupon expires according to the site on 10/25/04. I ordered online and got my $140 off I think on top of that I can still get the $50 rebate, but since I haven't received it yet I'm not sure.

I was going to order from Costco for the 6 mo return policy - but they charge both tax and shipping (~$160) and HP doesn't so I didn't think was worth it.

Thanks to everyone's suggestions on this board - I knew to order only 256MB RAM and the 40GB HD and plan on upgrading to the Hitachi 7K60 7200rpm 60 Gig Drive from NewEgg ($161 compared to the slower 5400 rpm 80 gig for $150). I searched high and low and couldn't find any faster notebook hard drives and this one is battery optimized.

I'm also thinking of getting 2x512 PC3200 SODIMM direct from Crucial ($228 compared to slower HP PC2700 ram for $225). I considered buying the Kingmax RAM from NewEgg (1 Gig $240) but read a review somehwere where it was the brand with the most trouble for various motherboards. I'm also electing to use 2x512 instead of 1x256, 1x1024 since apparently (as I learned here and confirmed elsewhere - the computer would only use the slower speed if I left the 256MB PC2700 in).

There were other memory brands that were a little cheaper but earlier in the thread someone suggested Crucial was the easiest to add - is this still the consensus? If Kingston is just as good it's $22 cheaper so I could get that instead if it'll work without headaches - any help here is appreciated.

I of course got the 12-volt battery and 64MB video card with the 5-in-one reader and the wireless with bluetooth.

I also need Powerpoint so instead of getting Office SBE for $249 from HP, I'm getting the student-teacher edition for only $148 (including tax/shipping). You can get it for $126 but I didn't recognize any of the vendors and just got it from Costco instead.

For anyone interested - I picked this laptop because I use computation intensive programs and am at most a casual gamer. There weren't any other laptops that I could find with the 3700+ DTR chip (it is the DTR chip that's being used as confirmed on this thread and elsewhere) for anywhere near this price with all the perks (e.g. s video, card reader, 3 USB's, 12-volt battery, internal wireless with bluetooth, brightview monitor, stereo speakers, dual wireless antennae, etc) altogether for anywhere near this price, and I looked extensively. The trade-off of course is the video-card but even that gets mixed reviews (ok vs poor - ok is ok with me). The nearest prices were $2400 and most were over $3000.

The net cost of my system will be: 1,259+161+228+148-50 = $1,646

Not bad since if I got everything I needed from HP (including the Office SBE) I would have had to spend $1,770 and I would've had a slower hard drive and slower memory.

The nice thing about the 3700+ DTR btw is according to another review there is really no performance deifference between the desktop chip and the DTR chip except for the optimized battery use and the 3700+ outperformed the Pentium 4 3.4GHz EE chip for most benchmarks - particularly the science ones.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting everything within the next few weeks and just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted here.

Sincerely,
MFI

 

Sounds like you found everything. Newegg carries the Academic edition of Office Pro, that's what I bought, in case you need Access as well as the other stuff.

I prefer Crucial but Kingston should work. Kingmax is bad. The HP tech I talked with said they test against Crucial.

 

I am new to this forum and appreciate all the feedback regarding the HP zv5000z. I have decided and ordered one with the AMD 64 3700+ chip. Am planning to do the memory upgrade. If anybody has successfully installed 2GB of memory, please detail any problems I should watch out for regarding this endeavor. Any info would be highly appreciated.

 

I think, but am not certain, that this will work:

https://www.dallasmemory.com/estore/prodView.asp?idproduct=850

PC3200 would be better but the price diff is significant. You should ask them what they think and what their return policy is if it doesn't work. Again, Micron memory (with or without the additional Crucial sticker) is your safest choice.

 

mattewilliams: congrats - I hope you used the coupon code if you bought it from HP - if not you can either call and add it, or if they don't except it cancel and reorder online.

brianstretch: thanks for all the memory information, it's been very useful.

I am new to a lot of this but I read a bunch of stuff while trying to determine the best configuration for my needs and notebook and came up with the 512x2 PC3200 decision. One thing I was debating was how much memory to buy and I read in a couple of places that it may be faster to have 1GB than 2GB because having more memory than you need actually slows the computer down when you're not using it (they said it increases latency). I also understood that the speed of the memory may have a greater effect on the performance than the amount of memory once you get over 512MB. Did I misunderstand correctly? I haven't bought the memory yet so I'm still flexible. If 2GB will make a big difference, then I might buy a single 1GB chip for now and remove the 256MB one so it doesn't slow it down. Any thoughts?

By the way - most of the reviews with the 64MB video card were with the slower processors - will the 3700+ with the 7200rpm drive help to overcome the card's weakness? Is there a way to overclock a video card?

Thanks again,
MFI

 

Oh - and it looks like you can get a Micron PC3200 SODIMM 1GB chip for only $10 more than the Dallas price (i.e. $285) at Memorysuppliers.com:

http://store.yahoo.com/memorysuppliers/mi1gbpc40200.html

 

MyForumId,
Thanks so much for the info on the coupon code. I did not have that number when I ordered so I called today. HP customer support gave me a hard time. They said that the way to do it is to cancel the original order and put in a new one with the coupon#, which they said has already expired (I told them that according to Techbargains, it is good till the 24th of Oct.). They also said that the cancellation will take 5 - 7 business days and that my credit card will still be charged the original amount but will eventually be credited. A new charge will then be placed for the new order. I asked to talk to a supervisor and told them that our company do a lot of business with HP hardware and that I have a say on those orders, which is true. I asked them not to antagonize me if they wanted my good faith with HP. Anyway, everything got settled and they will credit my card with 10% of the total amount that I bought.

You mentioned that having 2GB of memory has a downside? Can anybody confirm this? My primary use for this laptop is for portable video editing and presentation of those edits. My regular workstation seem to do much better with more memory. Why do you think that this notebook will do otherwise? I would appreciate hearing your opinion or anybody's regarding this issue. Thank you.

 

More memory adding latency is a new one to me. Finding 1GB SODIMMs that can do the same speed and CAS latency as 512MB parts used to be tough, but not anymore. With 2GB RAM you could shut down WinXP's virtual memory, that'd help performence. I've done that with "only" 1GB RAM, but it's tight.

Will a 3700+ make up for the weak 440 Go GPU? Nope. Can you overclock the GPU? Yup, same trick as you'd do with the desktop cards. 250/500 (from 190/400 stock) works for me. That's enough to make UT2004 tolerable at 1280x800 res, but it still doesn't look as good as it does on my desktop's GeForce 5900XT.

The GPU trick: set registry key HKLMSOFTWARENVIDIA CorporationGlobalNVTweakCoolBits to 3 (REG_DWORD). That will enable the Clock Frequencies page in the standard nVidia settings control.

IIRC, Memorysuppliers is NOT actually shipping Micron memory. That's why it's so cheap. Avoid them.

 

Like I said before, much of this is new to me and so I can only regurgitate what I read. In my defense though, I really tried to research this purchase as much as I possibly could before I decided on this laptop and its processor and with these settings. Below is a list of some of the many reviews I read that really helped me narrow it down to this computer starting with the processor.

I can't even remember all of them but here they are. This thread is clearly included on the list and was extremely helpful. All were found with Google. The first actually listed is the one about the extra memory. The review is from 12/03 - have things changed enough since then that the review is wrong?:

Debunking DDR-400 Myths : Common Questions Answered

Mobile CPU Showdown : P4 vs. P4EE vs. P-M. vs. Athlon64

Clawhammer To Go : AMD’s Athlon64 3700+ DTR Processor

Intro HP Pavilion zv5000z - ZDNet Reviews

AMD Athlon64 - 64-bit vs. 32-bit Head On Comparison - PCStats.com

hardwarezone - Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 (7200RPM)

Tom's Hardware Guide Motherboards & RAM THG Puts 13 Bleeding-Edge Memory Modules, 14 Mobos To the Match-Up Test

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
MFI

 

Oh, and one thing I couldn't find: Is there any performance difference between 1x1024 and 2x512 if both have the same specs and are PC3200? I might be willing to spend the extra for the 1024 if it's the same or faster just to keep room for the extra gig if I ever need it. I found somewhere that said 2x512 was but that was comparing dual-channel to single-channel so the results don't apply.

Thanks again in advance.
MFI

 

1x1024 and 2x512 should perform the same. Unless you actually have an application in mind that requires more than 1GB RAM, buying 512MB sticks makes the most sense. By the time you really do need more RAM it will be cheaper and/or better/different (lower latency, etc).

The GamePC article was interesting. I wonder if you'd get the same results in Linux, or if it's just Windows memory management at work. The article didn't specify identical CAS latencies but it was implied, I think.

 

I use Vegas for video editing and the application needs less than 1GB to run, however, when I increased the memory of my Desktop from 1 to 2 GB, I had better response from the application and quicker rendering times especially with transitions. I also noticed the improved performance with Photoshop CS when using filters.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by brahmachari99

 

CSR,
Your problem with BlueTooth & Wi-Fi being on all the time should not be a problem. Try creating 4 profiles, 1 with only BlueTooth enabled, another with only Wi-Fi enabled and BlueTooth disabled and thee third profile with both enabled in case you may need both and the last profile with both disabled. I can't say that I have done this with my Zv5000z as I am waiting for it to come, however, I did this kind of setup with my TabletPC.

 

That price from Egghead is cheaper than Zipzoomfly of ($164.00 shipped). Is that the Hitachi Travelstar E7K60 60 GB with the 8MB buffer?
Here is the Zipzoomfly link where I got mine. Very fast service.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100519-1
That Hitachi drive is very quiet, I can't even hear it running. According to Mobmeter it stays pretty constant at 36.0 (c). Speed wise it sure is different from the original 4200 RPM drive.

WinginHunk, www.wills-domain.com
Focus your eyes to where you want to be,
Not to where you are afraid of falling to....

 

Matte, That's an interesting idea. I was just wishing for another on/off button for bluetooth.

Wingin - The 7k60 is from newegg not egghead. It's $161 shipped. I don't know the difference from E7k60 and 7k60.

oh, by the way, the memory is Hyundai PC-2700

 

They shipped my notebook yesterday That's just 3 days after it was ordered. I also got my Academic Office 2003 yesterday and ordered my memory (Kingston PC3200 512x2) and hard drive (7K60) from newegg.

In preparation for everything's arrival, I was wondering if there is a list of tests/benchmarks/etc., e.g. Prime95, of things that I need to run my computer through and how long I need to check them when I they arrive to make sure I got everything I asked for and that everything is working perfectly.

Does anybody have a list of things they put their hardware through when they first get it?

Thanks again in advance,
MFI

 

MemTest86+ and Hot CPU Tester. Run MemTest for about half an hour first (boot off the CD image).

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by MyForumID

 

At first sight, both the Hitachi Travelstar E7K60-60 (60GB 7200RPM) hard drive and the Hitachi Travelstar 7K60-60 look the same on shopping sites, except for the price.

You might want to take a moment to go to Hitachi's website and make a product comparison:

http://www.hitachigst.com/hddt/dlocator.nsf/comptool/comptool?opendocument

Apparently, the E7K60-60 is more suited for Blade Servers than for laptops. Also, Hitachi adds the following note:
"Due to the ABLE power management feature being disabled in the E7K60 products, power performance will not be optimal when used in a laptop environment".

After reading this and having in mind the price difference, I'm gonna stick with the 7K60 model.

 

It also looks like operating ambient maximum temp for 7k60 is 55 degrees (C) whereas E7k60 is only 40 degrees.

Overall, 7k60 seems like it's better suited for a notebook application.

 

I am waiting for my zv5000z and will replace the drive with the 7200rpm one. The Newegg site describes the drive as:

Hitachi 60GB 7200RPM Notebook Hard Drive, Model HTS726060M9AT00 PART# 08K0939, OEM Drive Only.

Checking the Hitachi site http://www.hitachigst.com/hddt/dlocator.nsf/comptool/comptool?opendocument

the E7K60 and 7K60 are both listed as Model HTS726060M9AT00. Does anybody know which one is being sold at Newegg?

Also, has anybody successfully installed in their zv5000z Mandrake 10 or Mandrake 10.1(Beta)? I will install this distribution in my machine as I have found it to be the most user friendly.

 

7K60 starts with HTS... and E7K60 starts with HTE...

I just received my 7K60 from Newegg and it is HTS...

 

7K60 is quite fast. It's a great upgrade to improve the system speed. When in use, it seems to be staying around 38-39 degrees C.

Also got the DL516A expansion base today which I had purchased on ebay from Techexcess for $92 plus $25 shipping.

The unit's box had been opened but everything in the box was brand new.

The expansion base makes the wire organization and ergonomics of the diaplay quite nice and neat. Good for DTR unit.

Only negative about the base is the built-in Altec Lansing speakers are kind of cheesey. Otherwise, the based works great with only one cable connection.

 

Your notebook is working properly. When power management is enabled, the notebook runs at 800MHz until you do something that requires lots of CPU power (play a game, data compression, etc), at which point it jumps to full speed. With the power scheme set to "Always On" you'll run at full speed whether you need it or not, wasting electricity. MobileMeter will graph your CPU speed history so you can see PowerNOW! in action.

Full speed for a 2800+ Athlon XP-M CPU is 1600MHz. The rating scheme for the XP-M and Athlon 64 CPUs was designed to make it more comparable to the grossly inefficient Intel P4, which was rigged for high clock speed in order to fool newbies into believing that Intel had the highest-performing CPU. An Athlon 64 3200+ running at 2GHz is roughly comparable to a 3.2GHz P4, for example. I'm less certain about the XP-M rating scheme, it might be to compare against the Celerons rather than the P4.

 

I'm not sure if someone has corrected this issue about the CPU clocking at the wrong speeds for the HP Pavilion zv5000, but I just spoke with a representative and by default the laptops are setup to save power. This is why the CPU is split almost more then completely in half. Try this and see what happens. It's not a problem in XP's detection for CPU, I've never even seen such a problem nor herd of such a rumor.

1. Click Start-> Control Panel
2. Open Power options
3. Set Power Scheme as "Always On"
4. click Apply and Ok
5. Restart the notebook.

Now, instead of my machine clocking at 800Mhz, it's clocking at 1600Mhz, which is still not enough considering this is an XP 2800 processor so there must be another fix, I'm still chatting with support on this issue. I will update once notified.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by brianstretch

 

Hi everyone,

I just got a zv5000z and fankly it's driving me crazy. It's making a static-like sound whenever changes are made on the screen. The sound is only present when the nvidia driver is enabled.

It's almost always present as screen changes are made but is easily reproducible and relatively loud by doing following in XP: Click properties on the task bar and then got to the customization option for the notifications. Now slide the bar, |, between the Name and Behaviour back and forth. The sound comes from the upper left corner near the hard disk and is loudest through the card reader. It is present even when all sound options on the computer are turned off.

I was told it might be the hard disk, the driver, the video card or because the video card is too close to the sound card. If it's the latter then it doesn't bode well for a fix.

Hopefully this is a fixable problem, but I'm really curious if others are having this problem as well and if anyone's found a fix.

Any help is appreciated - thanks.

 

I have had my zv5000z for about three weeks now and found it to be one of the quietest laptops around. I have replaced the stock 40 gig drive with a 60 7200 rpm drive, it's still just as quiet. No static sounds or anything like your describing. I recommend you give HP a call.

WinginHunk, www.wills-domain.com
Focus your eyes to where you want to be,
Not to where you are afraid of falling to....

 

Does anyone have Direct X loaded in this laptop...?? Does it work properly, or is the incompatibilty just a rumor..??


Barry

 

It works, it's just that the GeForce4Go only goes up to DirectX 7 in hardware, so newer features are done in software or not at all. Games don't look as good as they do on more modern GPUs. I'd recommend waiting for HP's next-generation laptops at this point if you're seriously into gaming, but the zv5000z has picked up most of the other interesting component upgrades if you just want to get work done.

 

hi....can anybody please tell me where can i buy 7200rpm 60Gb or 80Gb HDD for HP pavilion zv5000 series? + anybody knows if its possible to change a ATi mobility radeon graphics card on th HP pavilion zv5000 series notebook, and if yes then where can i buy ATi mobility radeon 9800 or at least the 9700...
thank u [ ]

 

I have the zv5000z and installed the Hitachi Travelstar E7K60, it is a 60 GB, 7200RPM drive. I purchased it from ZipZoomfly:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100519-1

I am very pleased with the drive and the service from ZipZoomfly.

WinginHunk, www.wills-domain.com
Focus your eyes to where you want to be,
Not to where you are afraid of falling to....

 

thank u for helpful info[ ]

you said you have zv5000z ,will it work on zv5000t series? and how do i know a hdd is good for my type of notebook?

thanx again[ ]

 

This seems like a pretty good deal at eCost, it is a HP refurbished Athlon 64 3000+ 512MB, 60GB, DVD+RW, 802.11b/g, 15.4" WXGA, NIC, modem for $899 after rebate.

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?DPNo=454692&adcampaign=email,EWB06509

Bill
zv5000z :: 3200+ :: 1GB :: 40GB 4200rpm :: 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) :: XP Pro

 

Guys, I just got my HP Pavilion with the Athlon64 3700+ chip. I thought this was model zv5000z. How is it that in the computer itself it states the model as zv5200 ????

 

I just recieved a zv5000 with WUXGA (1920x1200) screen, but I cant set the resolution above 1680x1050... what gives?

 

I just attemped to install my new 7K60 drive. I am using Norton Ghost 9.0. It copies the drive over fine, and the computer boots off the new drive until it gets to the blue screen (top and bottom have dark blue stripes) with the Windows XP logo. It will not go beyond this screen. The cursor is there and operational. Any ideas what is wrong or missing? The same thing happens in safe mode.

Also even though I am subscribed to this group I no longer receive the notices. I am wondering if somehow my email ISP is blocking them.

Bill
zv5000z :: 3200+ :: 1GB :: 40GB 4200rpm :: 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) :: XP Pro

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by brianstretch

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by peaches

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by wgehrke

 

wgehrke: go into BIOS setup. There is an option to reload the default settings. Doing this is a recommended practice for all BIOS updates.

Please let us know what HP says after you've pointed out their support page confusion.

 

Thanks brianstretch!

I finally solved my problem with Norton Ghost. You cannot have labeled the drive with a drive letter before doing the drive copy business. Or more precisely if a drive letter has been previously assigned it is necessary to remove it before copying the old drive to the new drive. I am now fully operational with the 7K60.

I am not getting my notifications of new replies in this topic in the forum. I have turned off the spam filter that AT&T has for my email and been checking several times a day. I have unsubscribed and resubscribed and still no notices of new replies. Any one else having problems? Guess I will subscribe to another topic and see what happens. I have notified the management.

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

 

You're welcome!

I haven't been receiving topic reply notifications lately either, but I've stopped requesting notifications for new threads. I prefer to leave this forum open in a Firefox tab and refresh the page every once in a while. I suspend my zv5000z at the end of the day so I still have all my tabs waiting for me the next morning.

 

Lighter smaller amd64 laptop? OFF TOPIC

Hi-
I love my zv5000v (amd64 3200+ 2gb memory suse 9.2 and windoze xp) at the office but its a pig for weight and size when traveling especially in coach when the person ahead of you reclines their seat and even in first and business the power draw is too much for the airline outlet with my 12v to 110 converter + the HP brick power adapter (I know about the targus but my power supply says it puts out 120W).

Question is does anyone know of an amd64 laptop that is lighter < 2kg (4.4 lb) with like a 12 inch screen? (all seem to be 15" or larger eg http://www.amdboard.com/athlon_64_notebook.html)
I'm an engineer not a gamer and while the unit is has outstanding performance it dones not IMHO make a good traveling companion.
Thanx

 

Topic reply notifications are working again, what d'ya know.

I don't know of any lightweight A64 notebooks (maybe they're waiting for the 25W A64's this Spring), but if you use ClockGen to force 1GHz @ 0.85V or 1.4GHz @ 1V you'll keep your power consumption well within the limit of what the aircraft power plug provides, assuming you really need more than 3-4 hours of battery time.