HP dv5000z 0r dv4000?

Me again. I was about 99% sure I was gooing to get a dv4000, configured thusly:

Selected Features:
* Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 760 (2.0 GHz)
* 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (2x256MB)
* 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
* DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
* 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700
* 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
* 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
* Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
* Microsoft(R) Works/Money
* 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

but looking at HP's own site, they say that the dv5000z is better for things like graphics applications (which is one of the reasons I want it), plus it looks like I can get a quite bit more for my money with the 5000, configured like this:

Selected Features:

* AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-40 (2.2GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
* 2.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x1024MB)
* 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
* DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
* 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
* 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
* 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
* Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition
* Microsoft(R) Works/Money
* 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* None

I confused again. Which looks better? Is there a significant difference in the build or display or anything like that?

 

The x700 is a superior video card. Thats the different. What do you intend to use the laptop for?

 

I plan to do Photoshop work. Some web design, make and show slide shows, web surf and word processing. I'm told the video card only really matters for 3d graphics, games and video editing, none of which I anticipate doing. Altho I might watch movies on it.

Oh, and is it worth getting the TV tuner in the 5000?

 

Those are very similar notebooks (other then the fact your 5000 set up has 4x the RAM). I would go with whichever is cheaper.

Just keep in mind most laptops GPUs cant be changed... so if you decide you do want to play games, after you get the 5000, you will be SOL.

Some other things to consider is your dv5000 set up would be much better for Windows Vista with the 64 bit processor and extra RAM. Also with media center, if you get a TV tuner, you can watch and record TV on your notebook.

I'm assuming the dv4000 has better battery life though... and it will me much much better at anything that involves 3D graphics.

 

I would go with the dv4000. Perhaps Hp by saying that the Dv5000 is better at graphics editing they didn't factor the x700 into it, or they were comparing the Intel 900 GMA vs the 200M. 200m = 2x 900GMA. So definitly go with the dv4000. The graphics will be many times the power of the 200M.

 

This is just so confusing. I'm told that the video card only means something if I'll be gaming, which I'm pretty sure I won't be doing. Yet, you tell me that that the video card does matter for graphics editing.

 

You dont need a good GPU for photoshop. Thats mostly based on your processor.

However... if you want the new windows Vista, you would benifit from the x700. Vista has a bunch of snazzy visual effects that would give the xpress 200M a hard time.

 

I wonder how much that Vista upgrade will be. If its pricey, I might feel like I don't want/need to spend the extra $$$ so soon after I paid for XP. Also, not that I know 32-bit from 64-bit, but would Vista be as effective on the Pentium M in the dv4000? I'm hearing lots of talk about this right now, but I really don't know a thing about it.

 

I seriously doubt Vista will overly tax the Xpress 200M. It will be much more important to be 64-bit capable, which the Turion is and Intel isn't.

Between the two I'd definitely go with the dv5000z. Consider upgrading to the 12 cell battery and Bluetooth regardless of which you decide on.

 

why?

Also, I see that HP is in the process of changing the shopping part of their site, I haven't been able to get into the dv4000 configuration all day, and they list that computer at a starting price of $1500 +! yesterday it started at $699.

 

The graphics card does matter for photoshop. I have a 630m 1.73 1GB of RAM 60 5400 RPM HD, and the GMA 900. It is much slower then my desktop when I'm doing effects like the liquify effect and spearing things together. My desktop is a AMD 3200+ 1GB, 160 7200RPM, GF 6200. It does quite a bit better. Because the specs are almost equivilent... CPU , RAM , HD (7200 vs 5400, but shouldn't make too much difference) I'm quite sure its the graphics card that's slowing things down. So go for the X700.

 

Well, OK, but the ATI 200M is about 3x faster than the Intel GMA900. More than that in the dedicated memory configuration (dv5000z, dv8000z). As much as we complain about the 200M it's leaps and bounds ahead of the horror that is the GMA900 series.

You can never have too much battery life, so 12 cells are good... unless you aren't going to be on battery much and want to avoid the extra weight/size/expense. Bluetooth is nice for connecting to cell phones, Bluetooth mice, etc, and it's extremely difficult to add an internal Bluetooth transciever later. You can buy very good external Bluetooth transcievers for about $20 though (MSI Star Key being my favorite), so... maybe not too big a deal.

 

What would a 64-bit Vista have over a 32-bit Vista?

Granted 64-bit will be more common in the future but still even when Vista releases, 32-bit would be enough (IMHO)... I don't see 64-bit completely taking over until many years down the road...

I think forgetting about 64 bit and 32 bit would help...

If this laptop will be your only source of gaming...go for the dv4000. If you have a desktop and or console for gaming...you will be fine with a dv5000z.

For me, if I want to game I can play my Xbox (or Dreamcast) or even try the latest PC demo with my desktop.

 

Mostly you get a nice performance boost from having twice as many registers available in AMD64 mode than 32-bit mode, plus various other architectural improvements. It does wonders for Java, cryptography, video codecs, etc. 64-bit won't completely take over for a while but I expect applications that can take advantage of AMD64 to be ported to 64-bit Vista very quickly.

 

The HP DV4000 no longer has the option of the ATI x700 GPU. If it did I would recommend that one but in light of that you should go for the HP DV5000. If you can afford it you might try the DV5000t which has Core Duo and also the option of the NVIDIA 7400 GPU. Otherwise I would stick with the HP DV5000z option with the ATI 200M. Just make sure you get the 200M with 128 MB rather than the 32 MB option. Good luck!

 

That's right they changed. Thanks lappy. Sorry bout that!

Thanks Brian. I am glad I have a 64-bit processor!

 

That's what really upsets me. I was ready to order the 4000 with the ATI card the day they were changing it around. Now I can't. I went and compared 4000's & 5000's in BestBuy today and don't like the way the keyboard looked on the 5000, it looked like a toy to me, next to the other. I don't think I can afford the dv5000t. grrrr