HP ze2308wm Walmart $378 specs

Did you try changing the wireless channel?

 

Not sure how to do that..I guess I'm more of a newbie than you are...hah

 

Also Atomic Ed, does your notebook get pretty warm on the bottom?

 

Hello, actually I am not a newbie other than to this site as I just signed up. I am an IT Pro and systems engineer. Been doing this since 1983. Anyhow if you go into device manager and then select the properties for the wireless network adapter, you will see an advanced tab. From here look for the ibss channel setting and just pull down a different value. My guess is you have more than this on the same channel thus causing your problem. Good luck.

 

Not any warmer than any other laptops I have used before. However make sure you do not block the intake vents on the bottom or the exhaust vent on the rear or you could cause it to overheat.

 

Hey Ed, thanks for the advice.

Yes, I keep the laptop level, and the vents aren't obstructed. Just making sure it will get somewhat warm.

I will try adjusting the parameter you mentioned, at least I have the new card on the way.

Thanks!

 

Is this memory a good deal

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=5958911&type=product&id=1064001118794

i think it work for this laptop

Is there a video tell you how to install laptop memory?
i was new for laptop.

 

Its not a great deal but isnt to bad your really only talking about a 10 buck difference max if you buy that memory online.

 

I got this laptop at the walmart and add another 512MB pc3200(ddr1 400mhz, compusa 39.99-ar). it works great!! I undervolt(4x-0.975, 8x-1.20) after watched DVD for 90min and 10% battery left. it is great product and deal.

 

My girlfriend and I were at Wal-Mart at 2:30am and was about #40 in line. when the doors opened, I was lucky enough to be able to run past the crazy crowd and was the 1st one to the stack of notebooks. they only had 10 available for the 500 or so people wanting one. They were just sitting there on the counter. I picked up 2 out of the 10. Great for the money!! Does anybody know of a good, cheap case that fits this laptop? Also, some Memory recommendations? should I add 512 or just 256?

 

Does anyone know the capacity of the memory slots? I know it is rated for a total of 1 Gig with 2 slots available. Will one slot hold and run 1 Gig? or must it be divided into 2 - 512 MB each to reach the max?
Does anyone know the manufactuer of the motherboard?

 

This processor downclocks automatically to save battery life. Don't worry, when needed it will automatically shoot back up to 1.6. Enjoy!

 

Can anyone verify if the ze2308wm can use PC3200 RAM? I've read a few scattered reports that it supports it. What im wondering though is it supporting it but just running it at 2700? The reason I ask is 512 PC3200 shared w/ the video card should offer a bit of a preformance bump.

 

i bought centon 512MB ddr400(pc3200) from compusa but it works ddr333(pc2700) so, i have total 768MB RAM.
it is still share with video card memory.
i was setting 64MB for video, and windows have 704MB RAM.
it is enough memory for windows.

 

If anyone cares, I listened to Ed's advice on how to resolve the wireless connection issue.

My computer picks up 2 wireless networks upstairs, so mine wasn't connecting. I changed the wireless channel, and now it seems to be working great. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I also upgraded another 256, and it definitely made it faster.

Cheers

 

I am glad I could help and that it is working good for you now. I also added another 256mb as well since right out of the box it was using 280mb of ram and it only had 256mb. It was using vitual memory just to boot up. That was the one weak part of the laptop but also the easiest to rectify by simply adding sufficient ram.

 

Try taking out the original 256mb chip and just leave in the ddr400 one you bought and see if it will run at the full speed. It might if the bios is setup to acknowledge it but it never will when you mix ddr400 with ddr333, the ddr 400 will always clock down to the slower chips speed to run. But if you remove the slower chip then it may just run full speed. Easiest enough to test and try.

 

i bought the laptop as well. I was out there a little before 3. when the doors opened i beat out probably 15 or so people (slow bastards). so far i like the laptop a lot. the biggest issue with it was the garbage software hp had on it. Once i reformatted it ran a whole lot smoother. my 512 stick should be coming in tomorrow. hopefully that'll make things a whole lot faster. if that don't work, ill try to get a 7200 rpm drive. for 404 after taxes though, you can't beat it. i played mario 64 on it and it ran great. my battery life seems low as hell though, around 40 minutes. i didn't have cool n quiet installed until today though, so hopefully that'll fix the battery time. the left palm rest gets a little warm for my taste, but not too big of a deal. All in all, i'd give this machine 9/10!

 

so is the consensus that PC3200 will run at full speed assuming you dont mix in the old 2700 stick? Can anyone verify this somehow?

 

Oh and where do you find cool'n quiet for the sempron proc. Anyone have a link?

 

Cool n Quiet(or PowerNow) is included in the processor driver for Win XP based systems and is enabled by default. If you are using older operating system(Win 2000, 98, ME...) then you"ll need to download extra software for it to work.

If you want to enable CnQ then set your power schemes to "Portable/Laptop". If you want to disable CnQ then set it to "Always On".

Check the link below for updates for your drivers and other monitoring software...
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_11687,00.html

 

Has anyone noticed there power adapter getting VERY hot. Mine was so hot I couldn't actually hold it. I wonder if I have a bad one.

 

anyone? I'd really appreciate it.

 

Good price for the HP, too bad it was only a one-day limited sale.

 

I noticed that my ze2309wm came with a 5400 rpm 40 gig drive. (WD), although the box said it was only supposed to be 4000 rpm. Was I just lucky, in that they might have run out of the other ones? Most of mfg dates are october, so they cut it quite close.

Also, downloading the maintenance manual (cause i wanted to take out stuff-fromthe hp site), they have 2 motherboards and 2 usb boards for the ze models covered.. ie if you have just the minimum features (eg 2 usb, no svideo ), you get the min bd; if you have more you get the other. Now the svideo is mentioned as more than the minimum, so perhaps we have the boards with other features. I think there are 3 usb shown in the bios, (only 2 on the unit ).. You have to take most everything out to examine the board. I only took out the hard drive, and memory (upgrading to 80 gig and 768.)..(got an external 80 gig at best buy on sale, and swapped the drives--so i now have an external 40 . Has anyone taken it all apart and determined which of the 2 boards it has (see bill of materials in the maintenance manual).

Nice unit.. the video card supports my dell2005 20.1 inch wide display nicely for movies while i surf, and the speaker is a lot better than my old dell 110L. I like the usb and vga on the side also.

 

I was also at walmart in ocala on that fateful night and i was 38 in a line of like 300, i got there at 3:30 after a last minute ditch of waiting in the best buy line. anyway, great laptop, i did upgrade the memory to 512 x 2 and it flys now!! i do strongly reccomend the memory upgrade. i am now in no need of the original 256mb card that originally came with the laptop. this is from hp and guarenteed to work with the hp from walmart. i am selling it for $35 which includes next day fed ex delivery. first person to email me at theloustore at aol dot com and pay through paypal will be the lucky winner. good luck

 

Yep, I wish it was a single mobo.....I was looking to add the card-reader and firewire internal options later but I guess not now.

 

Yes it is a good deal.Just got one myself but haven't put in yet

 

Okay, so I bought one of these. I am going to buy two of the 512 MB Sticks, and I am looking at other things to upgrade. Someone a few posts above me mentioned something about replacing the hard drive. How hard is that? Is a standard 2.5" (9.5 mm) drive what I should look for? Is there a limit to how large of a drive I can add?

How hard is it to replace the video card and the processor? I want this to be a gaming computer. What are some opinions on what modifications I should make to use this computer for games?

If someone could post an in-depth how-to on the hard drive replacement and maybe some good cheap parts sources, I would really appreciate it.

I realize that this is a long post and lots of questions, but thanks for your responses in advance.

 

Impossible.

Pretty easy, even for a first timer, if you're a bit careful. A walk in the park if you have built any PC before. Go grab the Maintenance and Service Guide from HP's website. It's pretty detailed.

First and foremost: More RAM. It will never be good for the latest and greatest fast-paced FPS games, but a bit older stuff and games with a more relaxed pace like WoW will be fine if you turn down the graphics options a notch or three and give it some more memory to work with.

Again: See the Maintenance and Service Guide.

 

So the hard drive to buy would just be a 2.5" (9.5 mm)?

And the higher RPM the better, right?

 

Yup. Hitachi's 7K100 series IDE/ATA drives (not SATA!) are about the best deal going. See zipzoomfly.com. Seagate's 7200.1 series is great too but usually more expensive. 5400RPM drives are a lot cheaper though, slower access times but similar throughput. Either will be a huge improvement over the 4200RPM HP probably sold you.

 

I have this laptop on layaway and have a couple of questions.

I saw on Cruical that this laptop supports up to 2 gigs of ram. Can anyony confirm this?

Also does the Cdrw have Lightscribe?

Thanks.

 

Only the double-layer DVD burner drive can have Lightscribe - there are two variants, one with and one without it. I'm not sure that it is even offered on the ze2000z.

No - the ze2000z supports up to 1GB of DDR333 PC2700 memory. I got the specs for it here: http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=712&cid=10

 

I could swear someone mentioned 2GB (two 1GB PC2700 SODIMMs) working. I'd be very surprised if it didn't work. Crucial RAM is the safest bet. It's often cheaper to buy from Newegg.com than Crucial.com.

 

Yeah, I just posted what I saw. I also remember seeing 2GB mentioned, but I thought it best to play it safe and say 1GB...

 

Mine, even after hours of use, only gets slightly warm. Never Hot. Maybe if you are using the lappy while the adapter is charging the battery......may cause it to be hot?

 

That's normal for the AC adapter to get hot. I wouldn't worry about it. It might be due to the fact that the ze2308's adapter is only 65W, and if it is drawing the maximum current (perhaps while charging the battery as Salman said ), it's going to be toasty.

 

the notebook isn't limited to 512 sticks, I run a 1 gig stick in one slot. I installed pc3200 though, it automatically runs at 400mhz when you install it.. the semprons are 333 or 400, don't cut yourself short and replace with pc2700.. if you're gonna do it spend the extra couple bucks and get a 25% increase... mine ran at 159(318 DDR) with the stock chip, and 199(398 DDR) with the new PQI chip:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141208

the PQI chips are awesome... If you are a budget shopper they are the way to go, running low timings and being practically identical to the expensive ones. Only thing bigger named chips have for them in the PC world is that they are usually more overclockable... but who's overclocking their ze2308wm?? If you figure out a way how please let me know .

 

That's nice to hear. We got similar laptops (ze2315 and M2305) at work, which we may need to upgrade the RAM in the next few months.

At first we were disappointed that it's max RAM is only 1GB. but after seeing this thread, we're glad we bought the laptops.

 

I was able to get my hands on a Walmart special and am now looking to upgrade. I have purchased a 512MB stick of ram and it has made all of the difference in the world. I now need to look at hard drive and cpu options. I am getting ready to purchase a HITACHI Travelstar 7K100 60gb 7200rpm drive and I am now looking at the cpu.

Question: Has anyone attempted to upgrade the cpu and if so what was the result? I am looking at the Turion and the mobile Athlon 64 processer, but I am unsure what cpu will work with this laptop.

 

A Turion MT40 would be about the best way to go. ewiz.com sells them. Mobile Athlons won't work, the cooling system and power brick can't handle the extra wattage.

 

Upgrading to a Turion ML series shoulnt not be a problem. The Turion MT series might require BIOS support. Its not as certain to work as the upgrade to the ML series. No one really will know until someone successfully does an upgrade to an MT series cpu.

The mobile Athlon64's(~62W) consume twice the amount of power as the mobile Semprons and the Turions(25W/35W). So the cooling system will not be able to handle the heat and the power supplies most probably wont be designed to voltage requirements.

 

So, the Turion ML series would be a better choice. Where can one be bought, and what would the particular part number be?

Also, I was just about to buy a 7200 RPM hard drive, but a thought occurred to me. Will I have to completely install the operating system onto the hard drive? Do I just install the hard drive and then boot it wit the XP CD, then install drivers/etc.?

Thanks!

 

I am 99% certain that the Turion MT will work. It uses the same core, it just reports different voltage defaults. See ewiz.com to buy one. Just make sure you're comfortable enough with the amount of work it'll take to get to the CPU socket. If I were to go through all that trouble I'd definitely want a Turion MT. Pick up some Arctic Clean and Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound while you're at it and read the instructions on arcticsilver.com.

Yes, just boot off the WinXP and install the OS. Or make an image of your current HD and restore it to the new one... but it's generally a good idea to do a clean install without all the bloatware HP loads on anyhow.

 

I wonder how much would HP charge for a notebook with only a MB in it and a list of supported hardware?

 

OK, I bought one of the walmart computers and I just installed a new 512 stick in the bottom Dimm slot and left the original 256 in the top slot. When I check system properties it only lists 448 MB or Ram. When I check the Bios, it says total system memory is just 512. It seems to recognize the new stick but not the original. The new stick is 512MB DDR PC2700 SO-Dimm 200 pin. The computer is definitely faster than it was before, but I think I should be getting more. Any ideas?

 

Can anyone else confirm this? Sounds odd.

 

I was one of the lucky ones to get one of the 20 HP's Walmart had. It's been 2 weeks now and I've tried most tasks with it and so far, no problems. It's handled everything I've put on it including some moderate gaming. DVD's ran with no problems. I haven't upgraded to a full gig of RAM but plan to shortly.
Does anyone know what other processors the MB will support?

 

Never mind, I reread some of the earlier replies and found the answer to my question.