HP ZT3000 : Should I buy it???

Hi there everybody

I'm here for asking for advices regarding the HP ZT3000 laptop... I would really appreciate if you could help me in deciding whether to get the laptop or not..

I live in Israel, and I can get one HP series ZT3000 laptop through a bidding site with these specifications at a good price:

- HP Pavilion ZT3447ea (european version)
- Intel Centrino (Dothan) 725 1.6GHZ /400Mhz/2M
- 15.4" WXGA 1280x800
- ATI Radeon 9200 64MB Dedicated
- 256MB DDR 2700 333mhz memory
- 60GB Hard Disk 4200 rpm
- CDRW/DVD combo
- 1 Year Warranty

PRICE: ~ 1300 $

It's retail price (im stores) is 1600 ... It might a bit pricey comparing to the US or other countries, but it's a great deal compared to prices in here...
Also, please do not advice for upgrades (except the memory which I'll upgrade immediately) or alternative laptops, since I'm asking about this product specifically...

As a way of comparison, my current (modest) desktop PC is:
- Amd XP 1600+ @1.4Ghz
- 512mb Ram
- ASUS GeForce2 GTS 32 MB

Here are some important points:

1) GENERAL USAGE:
I will use this laptop as my main PC... It will be turned on most of the day... Since I'm a student,I'll be using it mostly for vieweing powerpoint slides, writing Word documents in lectures, browsing the net etc... for this, I'm sure we all agree it is way enough [ ]

Besides that, I also sometimes make some photoshop projects, and I was wondering how good this laptop would perform in quite heavy designing work...
My Athlon desktop PC is far enough for this, so do you think it will work as good as my desktop PC???
Regarding memory - I will definitely be upgrading the 256 MB to at least 512 MB... So the performance will increase dramatically.
Also, I'm wondering if the not-so-fast 4200rpm 60 GB HD will be slow for Photoshop.. Sadly, I can't upgrade right now..

===> Do you think it's good for being a main PC, and good enough for designing??


2) DURABILITY:
I'm in the 2nd year of my Medical studies, and I have 5 years left until graduation...

===> Do you think that this laptop will be enough for the next 5 years, at least for the basic university needs??


3) GAMES:
I'm not that big gamer, I seldom play new games for a few days... But it would be nice to play sometimes new games...
I certainly won't pretend playing Half-Life 2 on it at full resolution, but do you think it will run new games at minimal-medium settings?
To give you an example, my desktop pc (who isn't surely ideal for games with a GeForce 2 32 mb card [:I]), can still run new games at good frame rates even at medium resolution (like 1024x768), even after 5 years.. I can run new games like NFS Underground 2 flawlessly..
Again, I don't care about the Directx9 eye-candy effects, since the Radeon 9200 doesn't support it..

===> Do you think this machine will let me enjoy games, even at minimal settings in the new future???


4) FUTURE :
Now that the new Sonoma processors are coming, do you think that it is worth waiting a few months, or maybe a year, until the new laptops are released, and prices become "reasonable"??
I've been postponing this buy for a year now, when I decided to wait for the current Dothan based laptops' prices to drop down... but now that the Sonoma ones are coming - I'm really confused!!!

Also, maybe I'm pretending too much - but do you think that this laptop would be able to run the upcoming Windows Longhorn OS in the next years???


Sorry for the long post, but I hope you can help with your experience... Any comment/advice/warning will be greatly appreciated..

Thanks very much in advance [ ]

 

1. Yes, this unit will be able to replace your desktop. The processor is faster and the video card is faster. You should notice an overall performance increase by using this notebook, but you will also notice a lage in overall performance because of the slower HDD.

2. The HP Pentium M units are generally fairly durable and should be able to last a few years, but I'd recommend buying the HP extended warranty. This will cover you for the next few years if anything goes wrong.

3. The unit should be able to run newer games. HL2 may run on this unit properly, but you may not be able to get all the benifits that the game will offer. Mainly because the ATI 9200 doesn't support (not compliant with) DirectX 9.0.

4. You could wait for the new units to arrive and become cheaper, but then you'd be waiting forever because new models are always popping up with better technology. If you're in need of one now, I'd go for the unit.

Personally, I'd buy a notebook that provides more power/features that I actually need. This way, years down the line, it'll be just right and still compatible with newer apps/games. Like I normally say, pay now or "Pay" later. [ ]

-Vb-