Is this a good deal for the nx6325?

Would you guys mind letting me know what you think? I really want a Thinkpad, but it's hard to justify the price for the specs. But is this a good machine? I've never had an AMD processor before.... I'm not going to be gaming or anything, but I will be doing a lot of multitasking and I'm a doctoral student so I am on my computer a lot and am always taking it with me.

It's $899 before tax and shipping for this:

Product
HP Compaq nx6325 Notebook PC


Operating system: Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Processor: AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology Processor, TL-50 (1.6GHz, 2 x 256KB L2 cache)
Memory: 1024MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
Hard drive: 100GB Hard drive (5400 rpm)
Display: 15.0-inch XGA Brightview display
Optical drive: DVD+/-RW SuperMulti with Double Layer (Fixed)
Modem: 56K modem
Network card: NetLink Gigabit Ethernet Controller (10/100/1000 NIC)
Battery: 6 cell Li-Ion battery
Wireless hardware: Broadcom 4311AG 802.11 a/b/g
Security: Embedded TPM 1.2 security chip
Warranty Infomation: 1 Year Worldwide Limited Warranty

 

if the budget fits, you should choose the core duo or core 2 duo 1.6 ghz processors... as they will be much better than the amd in my opinion because amd's produce much more heat, give less performance, and less battery life as compared to the intel's which are overall better chips. also the hp is a nice design the nc8430 is a great buy but if you don't game then the x1600 will be useless... what i would suggest is that if you can find a similarly priced core duo at that frequency processor (can't go lower than a 1.6 with a core duo ... lol, yet) it will be a much better buy. the reason why i stress these points is because you stated that you are going to be mobile for much of the time... the amd chips are made as desktop processors and are trying to convert them into mobile processors that use less energy, but intel processors are made to be mobile and are doing a much better job of it. also if you look at the l2 cache the core duos have 1mb x 2 whereas the turions have 256kb x 2 which is a lot of power in terms of multitasking and speed of responsiveness in "HIGH CPU INTENSITY APPLICATIONS" not everyday uses... as a doctoral student i'd imagine one would have a need for such uses... unless your getting your phd in english... you also said you are on it a lot, well the amd heats up much more under heavy load then does the intel processors, but this all depends on which exact chip you are talking about... but on average core and core 2 duos are better processors for a reason and if you are looking to buy now go for one of those two...with tax and ship it should come out to 1000.
OH AND MAJOR POINT don't pay an extra 50 dollars to get 2 dimms when 1gb 1 dimm is only $70!!! it leaves you with an open space extra to add in 1gb dimm later on for total of 2gb's... and if you decide you want 2 gb down the road you wont be able to do it with 2 dimms, only reason i'd ever buy 2 dimms is because it was 50 bucks cheaper than 1 dimm... and even then i might not buy it. 1 dimm is worth more than 2 dimms... and dual channel ram is not all that great... not worth the 50 dollars in my opinion. i would much rather spend that 50 dollars and get a 15.0 inch xga brightview or sxga screen = MUCH MUCH MORE WORTH IT!!!

 

25 dollar lightscribe is not a bad upgrade...

 

wow... actually this is a really nice laptop, except for the processor, im thinking im gonna buy this!!! haha

 

Thanks for your thoughts. This was actually one of the preconfigured computers so there weren't a lot of options for customization. I think that's why it was on sale . I like that it's a standard ratio and that I wouldn't be paying for a graphics card I won't use. I'm sort of on the fence about it....

 

First off, the Turion X2's do not produce more heat than a Core Duo/Core 2 Duo. I have used both processors and they usually average around the same temperatures. As for as the derived from desktop cpu comment whats wrong with that. What do you think a Core 2 Duo(Merom) is? A mobile variant of the desktop Core 2 Duo(Conroe) - architecturally they are the same, much like the Turion and the Athlon. Also the cache is important but is heavily depends on the processor architecture. Intels need the large caches due to the lack of on board memory controllers. Also the Intel C2D's have unified cache, so it is not 1mbX2, but rather a single 2mb cache which is shared. The Turion has individual 256k cache memories. Any performance differences is in the 1 - 5% when compared to a Turion with 512k cache. Ofcourse if you want battery life Intels are a bit better.

Lastly, there is an EDIT button if you want to add something to your post...

What kind of battery life are you looking at. It should probably average around 2.5hrs+ on a single charge with normal use. It is a fine laptop for most uses. The ATi X1150 is much better when it comes to integrated graphics and should hold out longer than the GMA950 which is the most widely used in this proce range. However I agree wih hbomb that if you do find a Core 2 Duo with the same specification at the same price range, then it is a better buy than the TX2.

 

Thanks for your help. I'll take a look around their website. I noticed that the prices for Intel processesors were a couple of hundred dollars more with worse specs (less hard drive space and usually 512 RAM) so I don't know if the difference in processors is worth it.

ETA: I didn't ask your question about battery life. I'd like around 3 hours if possible.

 

I actually think that for your purposes the HP NX6325 would be a great laptop. This is a great value and being business class it will be a great build. For the uses you described the AMD processor will work great. You would likely not notice any difference between the two. As for battery life the NX6325 should be fine. I believe you could purchase a larger battery if you want more battery life or possibly get a spare battery. Anyway, good luck and happy computing!

 

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. I know it's not a super-expensive laptop, but it's still a pretty big investment and a big decision!