New Compaq V5000z series

I could not find a thread about the new V5000z, which Hp offers right now so I decided to give it just as info for anyone who is about to buy a new machine.
Basically, this laptop is a mixture of M2000z and R4000. It offers the fastest Turion ML-40 like the M series but has the ATI x200 128 mb dedicated video card that R4000 uses. Still, the video card is mediocre (128mb shared + 128 dedicated memory) but definately better than the shared x200 version. It can run BF2 on med settings with a high end configuration but that's the max you can ask of it. ZV6000 and R4000 use the same card and generally the performance is better with only the dedicated memory on, so V5000R cannot boast with its 256mb of video memory nor can anyone claim it is a gaming machine.
V5000z seems like a destktop replacement notebook but it is not that heavy. HP says its 6.6lb, which is as much as M2000z and I know first hand that the M2000 series is OK to carry around. This would probably be a nice student laptop to go through 4 years of college. The larger screen and the mobile processor make it the larger brother of v2000z. I guess the reason Hp did not put ATI x700 as an options for this laptop, which would have been REEAALY great, is that they don want V5000z stealing v4000T's market, or as we call it product cannibalism. Too bad for AMD fans, however.

The sweetest thing about v5000z, however, is that it comes at a very good price:
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-40 (2.2GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB) !
80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
54g(TM) 802.11a/b/g WLAN & Bluetooth
12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

for just $1,252 after rebates, no taxes (have in mind this is 1gb RAM from HP and their ridiculous prices). This is a high end configuration (only RAM could be upgraded further if you don't count the LightScribe which I really dislike) for this laptop and I think the price is quite acceptable. For comparison - HP launched a twin of the v5000z in its Pavilion section - dv5000z. But guess what - the price for the same configuration is $1,452!! Nice 200 bucks to have, ha? (actually this is why I wrote about the V5000z ).

Unfortunately I cannot show any pictures because I don't think there are any reviews yet; at least I didn't find any. Yet, this seems like another low-priced fast-performing notebook from HP. :hp: They are really tearing apart the competition for budget notebooks with such products.

HpShopping

 

is the x300 any gud

 

Hmmm.... no firewire and only 2 usb ports?

r,
eagle07

 

The 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM) has productivity ports, which include one additional usb port and firewire

 

it seems that there is a HP equivalent too DV5000z

whats confusing is the 32mb shared memory is more expensive than the 128 dedicated with hyper memory
on the HP dv5000z when you do configuration. as of 6:00am PST 12/21.

perhaps its just a page-coding mistake

 

Yes, but look at the price for the same configuration:

I think HP is trying to promote its Compaq brand because Pavilions are not much better in terms of quality or anything

 

The DDR2 bit looks like a typo. The HP version says DDR. We won't see DDR2 until the new AMD socket design in 2Q2006.

I wonder why they don't offer Windows XP MCE on the Compaq model like they do on the HP?

Would somebody please take a cluebat to HP marketing until they understand that AMD CPUs deserve to be paired with decent GPUs? Idiots!

Other than the GPU, it's kinda tempting. It's significantly lighter than my zv5000z, and the GPU is slightly better (though I prefer nVidia over ATI for Linux compatibility), but... it's really not enough to justify upgrading. Good choice for people who do need a new notebook though.

Ooooh, check out the dv8000z page. They've added WinXP MCE and ML44 (2.4GHz) CPUs! And what's an "Ultra Brightview" screen?

 

Ultra Brightview eh? Hmmm, maybe these screens will be as bright and good as the Sony screens?

 

Interesting how the DV5000Z has the option for Windows MCE but not the DV4000s? Why not? And yes, it is stupid that HP's AMD notebooks have the crappy ATI integrated graphics, stupid HP!


Actually, why'd they have to release a whole new model? Why not just give the option of a DV4000 with AMD cpus and the Radeon X700 as well?

 

HP has yet to release an AMD notebook with anything other than the ATI xpress 200M. If they would add that x700 as an option I believe they would do much better. Their Intel models would probably hardly sell at all if they did this which is probably why they are not doing it. Oh well, maybe one day they will. This model looks basically like an HP DV8000 with a 15.4" screen. It is very similar to the zv6000 except that it has a Turion processor and is much lighter. Overall it looks like a nice model.

 

At least its better than GMA that goes with centrinos.

 

Yeah, I wish Intel could at least make integrated graphics as good as the Radeon X200M since so many **** notebooks unfortunatly are stuck with cruddy Intel integrated graphics!

 

The graphics was the main reason I chose the V2000Z over the V2000, even though I could have gotten a centrino for about the same price.

 

I think HP is not making a good margin on the notebooks with x700 because they are relatively cheap. Adding another x700 notebook will cannibalize on all the x200 notebooks, which I believe are the best selling items for HP.
I find HP's marketing strategy brilliant. They just make you return to their site over and over again even though you may have bought a computer the day before.

 

All they're doing is making me look at Acer and MSI. Given how Acer's sales have been rocketing and how they've been coining money on their Ferrari 4000 I have to wonder why HP doesn't appear to be paying attention.

With the glaring exception of the weak GPU the v5000z and dv8000z are both very nice machines though, especially for the money.

 

I've been waiting so long to be able to purchase a lappy. I like the new V5000z, that's a surprise. But crayppy gpu and low res choice of screen doesnt really make you happy. They still do not offer the high res like r3000 or old zv5000. HP is kind of clueless of what we want.........

arggggggghhhhhhhhhhh LOL

Can we do picketing in front of their office and in this forum - LOL

Eric :budget:

 

Dear Vasil_98

Can I ask you how can I make a non tax purchase to NY or Chicago?...
I certainly want it. You mention you dont have to pay tax to purchase this lappy, can you share it to me?..

tx
Eric

 

I think he is talking about when you purchase from HPshopping.com you do not have to pay taxes unless you live in certain states. I'm not sure what states those are but I know I did not have to pay tax in my state (North Carolina) when I ordered my laptop from HP.

 

Go to http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/terms.do and see the explanation. From what I've experienced, you do nothing special to get your notebook without taxes, given you are not in one of the states where you must pay taxes. Further, when I configured and bought my zv6000 I was able to use a Tax calculator because I bought it in NY. I can't find this right now but it probably appears somewhere in the buying steps; it was very helpful in telling me what real price should I expect (shipping, handling and tax).

edit: I just found the tax&shipping calculator; it is available in your Shopping Cart. If you are in one of the "taxfree" states it just shows $0.00