Need help deciding on where to buy zv5000z

I found this site after the laptops I relied on to get me through law school decided to die--within two days of each other. I'm in the market for a new laptop with a hard keyboard and a 3 year warranty. I need the warranty because, despite being reasonably proficient with computers, I lack the time to deal with any technology failures.
For the past couple of weeks, I've been looking at new models. Its use would be limited to taking notes in class, occasionally doing research on the internet, listening to music and watch the occassional DVD. Originally, I was drawn to Acer's 1355 or 1362, but was turned off by negative reviews of their warranty and service. Yesterday, I went to Staples and found the ZV5000Z (it had exactly the keyboard I wanted). An employee helped me custom configure it there with 15" regular screen (I really hate widescreens), the 2800+ 128K cache, 256 megs of ram, 40G @ 4200 hdd, dvd/cdrw combo, 8 cell Li-Ion battery and the 32 MB GeForce4. Concerning warranties, staples has two price schemes; the threshold was $1000. I cut back on features enough to get the price under $999. "Hurrah!" I thought. After factoring in the $50 rebate, I was lighter by $1,300. One day later, I've done some more reseach on the unit and am having some buyer's remorse.
Turns out I can go to HP Shopping and step up on the processor, video card, battery and RAM, add the SD RAM built in bay (though I'm wondering if I really should get the floppy drive) and take HPs warranty for practically the same price I paid (given the academic discount and rebate).
My questions concern tradeoffs. Is it worth all the upgrades I could get with HP to go with Staples' warranty and support? Does anyone have any experience with Staples' support (done through Assurant Group, the offices and call centers of which are solely in the US) and know whether it's that much better than HP's in house support? Concerning the unit itself, is this really the best deal for me for $1,300? I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

I thought of one more thing. I don't think i really need the 64 bit AMD processor because I'm not going to be purchasing XP 64 anytime soon. None of the applications I need require a 64-bit processor. So, with that in mind, please reply! Thanks!

 

Well, I think HP offer a pretty good deal directly from their website. Also you can wait around a bit and check up with this website, they could have a couple more 10 percent coupon you can use and then you can add it up with one of their 100 dollar "cool" rebate they have. If you can really wait, then may be check up with Office Depot around holliday time, may be they have one of those sweet HP deal again for 599 or so like last time on labor day. If you need your computer now, it's probably best if you used the Academic Program they have and then combine it with the 100 dollar mail in rebate. That would at least cut it down a bit more. Good luck.

thietlong

 

OK, to follow up. After thinking it over, I decided to get it from Staples and rely on their 110% price match guarantee to get the laptop of my dreams at a price that's better then the HP Academic discount price.
I decided to go with the extended warranty from Staples rather than from HP. HP would have been good because for $299 they'll give you three years coverage and an accidental assurance program. So if you leave the laptop on the roof of your car and drive off, they'll replace the computer. The drawback from the HP plan is how many times they'll replace it. As I was able to divine, if something breaks, HP will replace it for free once. If it breaks again, regardless of fault, it's on you. Considering my infamous history with IBM (Hitachi?) TravelStar drives, that sucked. With Staples, if the part fails within the warranty period, they'll replace it. If it fails again, same deal (save the LCD panel). If it fails a third time, they'll send you a new computer or give you a Staples cash card for the price you paid at the store. Sounded like the best deal for a traveling student without a lot of cash to keep buying replacement parts.
A couple more things about the Staples difference. You go through their techs, but all calls are handled within the states (no outsourcing). Second, the warranty plan is renewable, something I'm not sure about with HP.
So anyway, I'll ride this out and let you all know if I have any problems. I'm looking forward to getting my zv5000z with new and upgraded specs (64M vid card, Athlon 64, floppy drive, 12 cell)
Thanks for providing a great forum!