HP Special Edition L2000

I realize that these posts may become redundant, but I couldn't help myself. I have purchased a L2000 Lance Armstrong Special Edition and can't wait for it to come. My estimated build date is 9-29. Ok, now that I have gotten my excitment out of the way. Once I recieve my new toy (First laptop, and first post here) I will be posting experiences and figures about performance with various games. I customized it as follows:

HP Special Edition L2000 Notebook PC

* – Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional with SP2
* – AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
* – 14.0 WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x768)
* – ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/productivity ports
* – 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)
* – 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
* – LightScribe 8x DVD+/-RW&CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer
* – 54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth
* – 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Correct me if I am wrong, I do not plan on upgrading my RAM so doesn't getting 2 512 sticks instead of 1 1GB stick, improve access time?

Also, this is not my first experience with HP, my first one went horribly wrong. I am trusting that I do not have a repeat.

:hp:

 

No, the AMD Turion 64 only has a single channel memory controller. What comes with the notebook should be fine.

Enjoy!

 

Thank you for replying. Thanks for the information. I do plan on enjoying my purchase..hehe... It is a desktop replacement for my desktop that I built, dont want to build another desktop, I want a laptop..hehe

 

Do you game at all? The XPress 200M is terrible for gaming.

 

I have been using my L2000 for about 3 weeks now and it does every thing I need it to do fast and well.

I even Game on it although I'm not an FPS player.

Your set up looks fine. I would get 1 gig or RAM in one stick so that its easy to upgrade later but 1 gig is good enought for most users so if you dont plan on upgrading then it should be fine.

P.S. I have had great service so far with HP.
:hp:

 

I do some gaming, I like to play HALO 1, and a lot of RTS. But abou thte most 3D I get is HALO 1 and Star Trek Bridge Commander. I realized when i bought this laptop that it wouldn't be a screaming machine for gaming, but I also realized that I could still do a little gaming, I'm not into doom and quake. I read somewhere on another threat the the XPRESS 200M could get 20 FPS in HALO 1 @ the 1027x (Cant remember the other figure)... Thats fine for me cuz i usually play in 600x800. My bad experience goes back to my old HP Pavilion Desktop a 6653C. It tore up constantly and I had to fix it. But that was because HP messd with core parts of WIN 98. Oh and do you reccomend me reformatting and installing XP clean when i get the laptop?

:hp:

I apologize if my sentances are incohenrient, my High School is having problems with our coaching staff.

 

1GB is more than enough memory.

 

I like to reformat just to get rid of all the extra crap HP loads onto systems. Just make sure you have all the right drivers. they are all on the disks your given but you should look for upgrades once you have it running.

I agree that 1 gig is good for most people. I happen to be a bit more of a power user so I like to have a little more but thats just me.

 

I have one other question. Is the XPRESS 200M, capable of doing a horizontal monitor span, similar to the Nvidia video cards. For example, having the left part of your screen on your laptop and have the right side out your s-video port?

 

I've had the L2000 for a while now and it's been great. Best price/performance out there.

HP has gotten better with their product the past year.

And unlike those crappy Dells, HP USB 2.0 ports support full bus power. That itself is a huge win.

The 12 cell battery is great too.

 

I posted a thread with some 3dmark numbers if you are interested in the 200m performance. its not horrible for gaming as some state, it just depends on the type of game you play
but I wouldnt get all that hp ram, its ddr333 and the system can use ddr400 so your paying for slower ram. the faster ram really helps the 200m as well since its shared. get the minimun amount and get some ddr400 yourself.

 

Well, its really too late now, the order has been approved and im not cancelling it. ill remember that when i upgrade it. Anyone know about the hirizontal span question?

 

Does anyone know if the XPRESS 200 M is capable of a horizontal screen span?

 

I got my L2000 today, and am very pleased with it. Although I will be more happy with it when I get home to play some games to test its performance.

 

humm, you may want to stop there as gaming performance isnt its speciality!

 

I just got my V2000Z today, and ordered on the same day as you. Have about everything the same except that I have 1x512 RAM and bluetooth.

 

My girlfriend got one of these things from Compusa... It is freaking awesome we did some research and decided the turion is the way to go and with the 12cell li-ion battery 7 1/2 hours of ACTUAL usage under regular surfing with wireless, etc made it a nice notebook... plus, check out all that connectivity stuff

 

Yes the 12 cell baterry on the L20000 is very good. If you use power mgmt, you can get a long time out of it.