Just Ordered a v2000z : Need some Advice!

New Here- great site/forum!
I got in on the recent Office Depot deal getting:

ML-30 turion, CDRW/DVD combo drive, wifi w/ bluetooth, productivity ports, extended battery, $45 shipping, $40 off $200 coupon the nice guy let me use = $650 AR

first AMD notebook I ever owned (upgraded from a POS gateway 1.3 centrino >_<).

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...anyways, here's my 4 questions:

1. What memory should I purchase? I've been reading how picky this notebook is about the memory and I want to make sure I get the RIGHT memory on the first try. I heard somewhere that the PQI one at newegg.com will work for sure

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141207

and it'll cost me a little bit under $50 for 512mb. This is the one I'll most likely buy unless you guys can tell me it's not a sure win ^_^. I'm really paranoid because if I order this, and it ends up blue-screening my notebook cuz i'll have to SHIP it back to newegg =(. I really want a decent stick of memory and it doesnt matter how much as long as its under $50 (no rebates).

2. Does the fan turn on often with this notebook? I'll be using this in class a lot usually word processing, surfing the web, chatting, and maybe photoshop (low-end)... if i were to hypothetically be doing all this at once, will it make the fan turn on? plus will it be noticable by the students around me? I been reading about undervolting the notebook but really don't want to unless the fan causes a disturbance. (I'll probably post another question later if this happens =P)

3. I decided not to upgrade to the 5400rpm harddrive under the impression it'll cause more heat (thus turning on the fans more) and cause more noise. Will there be a substantial lost in performance (remembering i will have 512mb+256mb and a turion ml30)? I been using a 4200rpm in my gateway notebook and didn't think it was that bad.

4. I'm gonna get the targus bluetooth mouse (found a semi-cheap deal), but it doesnt come with the dongle... I did get the broadcom wifi w/ bluetooth; will it be easy to set up with this mouse? I hear it takes up to 5 MINUTES to connect ?!

 

On the memory I'd say get a stick from Kinston, OCZ, Crucial, etc. Something that is a known brand and has a lifetime warranty. I would always stick with name brand RAM. Look for some Kingston ValueRam. It will run you about $10 more but will be well worth it.

Get the 5400rpm drive. You will be able to notice a difference. I think 5400 is the sweet spot for laptop drives. It won't cause that much more heat.

As long as you have Bluetooth on the new computer there is no need for a dongle. It should only take a minute or two to setup.

 

thanks for the quick reply I already ordered the notebook so can't change the current config =x (it should arrive in a couple weeks!)... but I guess that confirms I lost a lot of performance by getting the 4200rpm one

What I meant by the 5 minute connect time is that- will it take long for the notebook to recognize the bluetooth mouse once I turn it on or take it off standby? I hear it takes a while to connect with it...

Isn't PQI a pretty big name brand? do they make their own chips? If you click the newegg link provided on my original post, several of the reviews say it works great with the 2000z but I'm afraid they have different chips like kingston memory for example valueseries could be hynix, samsung, nanya chips, etc etc-- if PQI makes there own chip, it should be a definite match =x

 

4200 rpm drives aren't that bad. It really depends on your needs. If you won't be doing some intense things like heavy video editing, sound editing, photoshop, etc then a slow hard drive should be fine.

 

Well I have personally never used PQI. SO I am not sure. I was just recommending what I have had zero problems with.

As for the mouse it should take about 5 seconds after both the bluetooth on the laptop and the mouse are turned on.

 

Could buy a drive an install yourself. Put the old one in an external case for backups which everyone should have.

 

I did that with a 20gb notebook drive I had around- those enclousures cost like $20 (pretty cheap!) =) ..

oh well, my major concern is getting the right/best/fastest memory (under 50 bucks =P) for this notebook without worrying about switching it out or returning it (especially if ordered online!)

thanks everyone for the advice so far =)

 

Investing in a faster drive is one of the best upgrades you can make on a laptop. You could wait until the return period is over.

 

Easiest thing to do is buy Crucial PC2700 RAM. Micron chips, very AMD-friendly. I just put two 1GB sticks in my zv5000z so I could turn off virtual memory (my two old 512MB SODIMMs are on eBay if anyone's interested). I bought the 1GB sticks from Newegg.com.

Wait until the new Seagate 7200.1 drives become a bit more plentiful and buy one. They're a bit expensive and hard to find at the moment (zipzoomfly.com appears to have the best prices).

I use the Bluetooth radio in my zv5000z to connect to Microsoft's Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. You shouldn't have any trouble with your Targus mouse.

 

I think I'll wait on the harddrive (wanna save the $$$) and hopefully it'll go down (maybe by black friday!)-

The problem is the zv5000z uses a nvidia go card whereas the 2000z has the ATI 200m using shared memory (which I hear is causing the memory issues)- can anyone using the 200z confirm that micron chips will work? cuz I think ALL crucial ram is micron so I won't get shipped a random chip ^_^

 

Goto Crucial site and enter your computer. They will suggest a memory and that will be guarenteed to work. Then go to newegg.com and look for the same chip and buy it.

OR you can try to find some Infineon ram. (I KNOW this works.)

 

hmm i checked out the crucial site and they suggested:

CT473659 >> PC3200 memory. I was under the impression that the 2000z accepts PC2700- will the PC3200 work (just at ddr333 speeds)?

at any rate, crucial looks like +$50 :budget: .. so my search continues =0

 

Hmmm- at the moment, I'm leaning towards the Corsair PC2700 512mb at outpost.com for $48.99- there's a frys nearby me so I'm hoping they'll carry it; any opinions about this decisions?
S
hould I go cheaper and still try to order online? Will the notebook take PC3200 (at ddr333 speeds)? cuz it's about the same price i think-- thx for the help

 

Yeah it will take it but it will just underclock the speed of the RAM.

 

If you're not satisfied with the configuration you ordered, just cancel it. I ordered and canceled a v2000z and HP was really quite good about it (of course it didn't cost them anything because I canceled before the machine was shipped to me). It paid off for HP becasue I ordered a new Dv4000 last week on the first day it was available with the X700 GPU. They don't want dissatisfied customers and know if you chose HP once you're likely to do so again. This is a big purchase, you should be happy with it.

HP Pavilion dv4000
- Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
- Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz)
- 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen!
- 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700
- 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (1x512MB)
- 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG WLAN!
- FREE Second 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery!!

 

v2000z works at PC3200 speeds with the latest bios. dont waste $$ on PC2700.

 

woah really? sounds good to me =)

So since I just ordered the notebook- it should "hopefully" be flashed with the new bios (but if not im sure its not hard to do so myself).

I guess I'm set ordering the Corsair PC3200 512mb then unless anyone can tell me why I shouldnt =)


OH another question can somebody tell me how I can test if the memory is working fine? I'm sure it'll bluescreen or lock up at some point... but how can I test for sure it's working and will keep working?

 

Go here and download this,

MemTest86

 

ohh memtest... so even though the memory is potentially "good" memory (just not on the 2000z system), memTest will still spit back errors???

sorry about all the questions guys! =)

 

only if there are errors...
?

 

visit the memory conspiracy post and you'll find all you really need about the pc3200 and v2000z

 

I'm not super tech savy about how memtest computes errors... I do know it checks if there is bad memory or not.

Say you buy a stick of PNY memory that will work on most laptops. Error free, etc etc etc - ulitimately error free memory. The 2000z although isnt compatible with some memory- does not being compatible constitute having errors on memtest?

 

Yes. When I had trouble with the Corsair memory I bought, MemTest would error after about half an hour when both sticks were installed. With only one installed it wouldn't error. The memory wasn't "bad" so much as inadequate. I solved the problem by buying Crucial/Micron PC2700 memory.

If you see any errors with MemTest, you have a problem.

 

ahhh crap- so u had trouble with corsair and the 2000z or are u talking about a different experience?

 

That was with my zv5000z, in March of last year. Current Corsair sticks are probably a bit more friendly but I still advise buying Crucial PC2700 for the least amount of headaches or maybe PC3200 *after* reading the big Memory Conspiracy thread. Power users have more options, as always.

 

I have V2000Z with ML-37 Proc. Just for web browsing and word editing it did not turn on the fan at all in a 3 hour stretch. But probably will turn on if you work in Photoshop as Processor may jump to next step when do that.

Anyways, so far I really liked it. Hope you will like it.

 

thx chinna n (i'm chinese too btw if that's what ur user name stands for =p), did you upgrade your memory on the 2000z? if so with what brand and what chip, and from where?

 

All right, I noticed this thread for the past 2 days, I was too lazy to register until now after I saw you quite concerned about tricky memory

I added 1GB stick pc2700 corsair ram to my v2000z lappy. insert to bank 2 (bank1 is the ram that came with the lappie) It crashes. But then I thought, this might be the xpress 200m's picky issue, not the new ram and lappy issue. Since the video card typically borrows (shares) hi-end memory address region, I may have a chance, so I swapped corsair 1GB to bank 1, and the original ram to bank 2 (for xpress 200m to kiss), the laptop runs smoothly ever since for the past 1.2 month. I have posted this experience to other forums (not this site) b4.

I did a lot of adobe after effects work (much more memory intensive than most applications include photoshop etc), no problem w/ such memory setting. My bios is the F1.0A (I did not upgrade to F1.1 as the version is bigger but the date seems even more aged than my bios)


On a separate comment, I found this lappy is much warmer(hot) than my other 2 notebooks (Dell 700m and D610), I feel really pity for the fan. and I am planning to cancel my gas company service, as the lappy is warm enough for the N. California winter

V2000z, ML-37 CPU, 5400RPM HD, 1024+256M ram

 

Meerkat, don't you think that for such a memory intensive work PC3200 would be better? Or did you get pc2700 only for compatibility with the 256 stick?
I think the 5400HD generates much of the heat but you need it anyway for these applications.However, I'll probably get the slower HD

 

well, my other lappies are also 5400rpm, so all thing are being equal. As for RAM, yes, that was because I tried to reuse the 256m plus, 1.2 months ago, whether pc3200 can be used on V2000Z was pretty murky on th web). My final video production work always rendered on desktop, so the notebook is not something vital on this.

All my desktops I have had so far (I always assemble PC) are using AMD CPUs, pretty happy and cost effective. long time AMD loyalist

But for AMD based notebook, this is my first time, I should not say I'm unhappy, but I'm not impressed. (This happen to echo an article I read on why apple decided to switch away from powerpc to x86(partial reason), and when choosing X86, why they choose to stick to intel instead of AMD or both).

 

thanks for the help meerkat- do u know if memTest will detect errors in supposively "good" memory even though its incompatible with the system? I'm gonna try sticking with the corsair because I can pick it up locally at either frys or monarch computers for around $50. I guess we won't find out for a couple weeks when they actually deliver my notebook the results ^_^;

 

I did upgrade memory with Samsung DDR333 256 x 2. This is a dual channel memory I had from my previous Toshiba Laptop.( I upgraded my Toshiba to 1 gig DDR400 at that time). For now I am using those. But Probably when I need, I will upgrade with DDR400. Looks like Crucial and Corsair works fine.

Since this laptop does not support DUAL CHANNEL, better get 1 single stick. That keeps the upgrade options open, and compatibility is typically better with single stick.

 

I'm not sure, with my rearranged mem setting memTest does not complain

 

and with the original arrangement it did?

 

Since I have still not placed an order with HP for v2000z, I was wondering whether this notebook has one or two accessible slots for memory upgrade. I decided to buy my RAM additionally but suddenly realized I may void my warranty if there are no accessible slots. I presume that the memory that will come with the notebook will be under the keyboard, so I will not be able to remove it without opening up the laptop. This makes me ask another question. How noticeable is the difference between PC3200 /ddr4000/ and PC2700 /ddr333/ as long as I won't use it for video editing, photoshop or the like?
any ideas will really help me decide what to do with the memory.thanks

 

There are two slots for ram and you will NOT void the warrenty by upgrading the memory. It should be pretty simple, unscrew the screws for the memory slot on the bottom of the notebook, open the latch, and put the memory in. There shouldn't be any stickers that say "this will void" yadi yadi yada.

I think this is how the speed works:

The difference between pc3200 vs pc2700 is noticable only if both sticks of RAM are running at the same speed (if you have one pc2700 and one pc3200, they should run at 2700) and if the computer bios enables support for pc3200 (otherwise it'll run at 2700 regardless). In terms of performance difference should be minimal I believe but I really don't know because minimal to me may be a lot to someone else. I'm pretty sure the notebook wont be any more then 5-10% faster but people praise the pc3200 because its basically the same price as the pc2700.

 

That was surely most helpful. Thanks

 

PC3200 is good if you are going to be using the 200M video card for gaming at all. it realy helps that since it has shared video memory

 

Yay it just got delivered this morning to office depot. I got a MGT exam today, an EAS one tommorow, and a ISYE one friday though so I don't know if I should pick it up

 

I caved in (im gonna fail my test tommorow )

It's a pretty decent laptop. At first it was slow as crap b/c I havn't put the extra 512mb stick in so it was running fully loaded with the HP crap software and 256mb - 128mb for video! lol... but after I popped in more memory and set the video memory lower, it ran pretty fast =)

here's my complaints:

1. the fan turns on more often then expected BUT its really quiet so I don't mind as much

2. The extended battery IS very ugly even though I don't mind the feel of it... this is basically just a complaint about the appearance.

3. The top black lid gets dirty easily... fingerprint and smudges galore

4. The lid doesnt close very tightly.. seems cheap but the rest of the laptop seems fairly well built

5. This computer heats up like crazy! the keyboard and mousepad is super warm
----

i might make up a review later if I have time since I already took plenty of photo's of it... thx everyone for all your help- I'm gonna go out and buy some memory this week and I'll post which one worked out as well (currently using a 256mb viking stick from an old laptop alongside with the installed 256mb)

 

breezie, are you a computer techie? what major are you into? anyway, IMO v2000z is ugly. I've seen it in person, light weight but the encasing seemed to be a cheap built. But it is cheap though.