Question ~ Need your opinions!

Good afternoon NotebookReview!

This is my first time stopping by and posting. I need your assistance and opinions toward a buying decision I am about to make.

I am planning to buy a dv5000t with the following specs:

- Windows XP Media Center
- Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2600 (2.16 GHz)
- 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (BrightView?)
- 128MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7400
- 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)
- 80GB 5400 RPM
- DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive (A better one?)
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition Backup CD

I was wondering if these are good speculations for the dv5000t?

Italicized and grayed items are my current concerns. I hear a LOT of half & half situations about the BrightView (with the glare and egronomics but the excellent color contrast...this is currently a major buying decision for me). If you could drop your opinions on the BrightView, how it's working out for you, whether the glare is fixable or is too annoying and frustrating, etc etc.

I'm also not too sure if I should get a more up-to-date DVD-RW or faster CD player. I do not believe I will burn too many DVDs (if any at all). Just a little confused in those two areas.

Please shed some light if you could.

Regards - thank you!

 

- Brightview looks great in my opinion. I didn't have so much issues with glare. But my advise would be to try to use your lappy indoors and pull down the blinds/curtains when necessary.

- 2.0 gb of RAM costs too much to upgrade with HP. It'll be cheaper to order the parts separately from someone else such as newegg and install them yourself.

- Get the dvd burner. It reads and writes CDs as fast as all the other drives offered by HP. Plus it'll be very convenient when the need arises to burn 1 dvd as a opposed to several CDs.


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But in my opinion, with Core 2 Duo and HPs new dv6000 line in the immediate future, it's a bad time to get a laptop if you can wait. Wait for the dv6000t (they already have the dv6000z out, the Turion X2 version)

 

I ASSuME you are buying from www.shopping.hp.com?

I would get the T2250 processor for $150 or the T2400 for $205 rather than the T2600 for $455. I don't think the cost/value is worth that. That's a personal choice depending on how you will use it though.

$50 for the Nvidia card is worthwhile. I would go better than that if they offerred it, but they don't.

$225 for 2Gb of Ram is excessive. If you need 2Gb of RAM, you can get it for $150 from www.newegg.com and it's 30 seconds to install. $50 for the free upgrade to 1G is not bad, but if it were me (I'm cheap ) I would buy it with the 256M, buy one 1G stick from www.newegg.com for $75 - see how it does with 1.25 M, and then swap out the 256M for a second 1G only if I really needed it for performance.

80 Gb HD for $20 more than the 40 Gb is a no-brainer. If you don't need more than 80 Gb, you can upgrade later.

$25 for BlueTooth is useful.

Battery depends on whether you will need the 12-cell and whether the extra bulk will bother you.

This is very much a matter of personal opinion. From what others have said, I think the BrightView is probably better for indoors and movies/multimedia, and the matte is better for text/web/word processing. My wife's old laptop had the matte screen and my daughter's new one has the glossy. Personally, I think I might like the matte better, but that is also more what I am familiar with. I have also heard you adjust to either one. I would definitely recommend going to Circuit City or Best Buy or . . . and seeing both side-by-side and comparing that way.

They don't offer a faster CD player.

They offer:
8X DVD Drive - included
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive +$25.00
Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support +$75.00
LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer+$95.00

Note that all the drives probably have at least a 24x (write)/40x (read) CD drive (guessing).

The base drive will only play DVD's and CD's.
The Combo Drive that you selected with play DVD's and burn CD's.
With an 80G HD, I would recommend spending the $50 on the DVD-burner. Do you want to burn 100 CD-R's or 10 Double-layer DVD's to back up your data? I am starting to regret not ordering that on a recent computer. The only exception to that might be if you have a home network where you can burn your DVD backups off a desktop computer (or if you don't need to backup anything).
The LightScribe requires special media (for that feature) so I would only get it if you would take advantage of that, which it sounds like you won't.

 

I'd say get the dv6000z but it only has a GeForce 7200. If you're not gaming you don't care, and if you are gaming you want the 7600 that the 17" dv9000z comes with (announced but not on the HP website yet).

Another reason to buy aftermarket RAM: HP usually doesn't support DDR2-667 RAM. This doesn't matter much on Intel systems but it's important for AMD.

 

These are all excellent pieces of advice. Thank you for responding so promptly.

While you may think the 2GB RAM (and such) is excessive, it could be me lashing out at my current laptop (it's 5 years old, has <256 RAM, 16MB Graphic Card...I know...scary thoughts). I want to make sure as I become more demanding with work and gaming, my computer will be able to handle it. I am hoping this computer will last for a while.

The 2GB RAM & 2.16 GHz Intel are all within price range for me. I plan to spend around $1600, and with tax and rebates, this laptop goes for $1526 (without changing to the SuperFlex DVD Burner...which I decided to do thanks to Tiger).

The BrightView is still a concern. I went to look at the actual laptop today and it was seriously stunning with the BrightView. Glare, however, was apparent at the incorrect angle (so I assume it's easily fixable). I am wondering if it will be a strain on the eyes (I do a lot of computer work).

I -would- wait for the dv6000t, but I'm impatient. I cannot handle my current laptop any longer with it's----okay I'm ranting. ANY new laptop seems a Godsend to me...no matter how much you compare it to new systems or other current ones on the market.

Thanks again, you are all very insightful!!

 

I think it is worth to pay extra $20 to get 80Gb HD, but for DV2000 or DV6000 cast, not 5000t . This is for SATA cast, you can compare the price, 80GB is about $100+, and is pretty stable. When you consider the HD upgrade, you have to think of get a external HD enclosure($15+) , and another (80GB) HD, roughly $150 to pay to get upgrade. Why not just pay $20 more?

 

Not meaning to throw a wrench in the works but I will post some other options.

Okay, I could see that being frustrating.

If you want to make sure the laptop will last for a while (quality and longevity), you might be in the wrong place with a DV5000t. (Not that's it's a terrible choice, but probably not the best in either graphics or quality).

And the main drawback to gaming is graphics card, not processor or RAM. Look for a system with the ATI X1600 or better or the GO 7600 or better.

I think powernotebooks.com sells an ASUS or Compal (not Compaq) with these options within your budget.

For example - http://www.powernotebooks.com/configure.php?special=337 with lower-res screen (bigger text) and Asus S96J with 2G Ram, 80G HD and XP Home comes to 1596.00. http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=1480 based on the Compal HEL80 is a little out of your price range unless you dropped down to the T2400 or dropped to 1G of RAM.

We could also help you better if you answer and post the FAQ that is stickied in the "What Notebook should I buy" forum. - Although you might want to post there as you will get a better cross-section of replies.

admlam recommended the burner also.

You missed my points on the RAM. I didn't say "Don't get the two G's of RAM" I said spend $150 instead of $225 for it, and you could start with $75 for 1G and add a second only if you needed it.

Two important things to realize:

1) Unlike the graphics card, RAM is easy to upgrade down the road.
2) Adding RAM only helps performance if you need the RAM - See http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm and "Such a need for more than a minimal initial page file is the best indicator of benefit from adding RAM: if an initial size set, for a trial, at 50MB never grows, then more RAM will do nothing for the machine's performance."

But if you prefer to spend the $225 and don't want to be bothered with cracking open the case, that's fine.

I can't answer that for you. I am not sure how it would be "fixable" other than not viewing it at an angle or changing the lighting source, closing the blinds . . .

 

That is what I meant by fixable.

After much decision, and researching with the links you have given me, I decided to drop to 1 GB. As long as there is room to upgrade/fix in the future, it is good for me.

I'm someone who isn't particular to buying 3rd party products and installing them manually.

I guess I should add to the gaming note that I don't play super-high-end graphical games. I'm someone who is used to, and doesn't mind, playing on low-end settings. My current card is a 16MB Radeon 340 something...ghastly. And, yes, I do play games on that card. The GeForce GO 7400 with 128MB will easily handle anything I am currently playing, and maybe even room to upgrade some of the graphics settings I have to play at.

And by no means are you throwing a wrench into the works. No one is, for that matter. All of your opinions mean a lot and I take them all into serious consideration.

Thank you all again...I'll have to try looking at the BrightView screens next time I go...still preoccupied over that. If I do custom order from www.hpshopping.com, does anyone know how long I have to return the laptop if I do not like the screen and get a new one without the BrightView?

 

Why not use Costco if you want an HP laptop? I'll be ordering a 5000t later tonight myself, and it's slightly cheaper from them.

 

I think my reply got misunderstood.

HP offers EITHER a 60GB or 80 GB upgrade from the 40Gb drive for $20.
A 100 GB HD is $65 and a 120 is $105.

If Serenade will need a 100 GB, it will be cheaper to buy it now than trying to do something with an external HDD.

But, if Serenade can get by for a few years with the 80 GB - Let's say the 80 GB fills up three years from now, but the rest of the machine still works fine. In three years, I expect 500 Gb drives to be standard and around 200 dollars, so he can likely pick up a 160 or 250 Gb internal drive for around $150.

Of course, he just replied that he is not into 3rd party installations, so that points to buying the max size now.

 

Serenade - There are two contradictions in your replies, but one of them is okay and the other one I'll let you figure out . . .

Contradiction 1) I will run with less RAM, and upgrade later, but I don't like upgrading my system myself.

I can forgive the contradiction, b/c I assume you know someone or could pay (shudder . . . it's only two minutes with a phillips head screwdriver) someone to install it later, so that's what you mean.

Contradiction 2) I want the laptop to be able to play games well into the future, but I only need the GO 7400 b/c I can play at low settings.

Okay - let's look at the graphics card situation. (And I am not inherently anti-HP).

First off, I can relate to what you are saying. My wife (for the next three weeks until her DV8000z arrives ) is currently using an HP4420us (XP-M 2200 processor, ATI i320 Radeon - not sure of the memory 32M shared for graphics, 512M Ram, I think). And she plays The Sim 2 on it. And it locks up. And that is my fault for telling her it was a good laptop years ago when we bought it.

There is no question that the new laptop will play your current games much easier than your current laptop.

There are two ways to look at this:
1) if when I (or you) bought the I340 or I320 laptop - if say a Mobility 9100 was available and we had bought it instead, we might be able to play the current games (at reduced settings) on it and not need to upgrade now.

2) If instead of the Go 7400, you were to get the ATI X1600, you could play your current games at less reduced settings, but more importantly, newer games could be played at less reduced settings and eventually you will find newer games that are playable on the X1600 and not on the Go 7300.

I am not saying you should spend extra for a better graphics card for medium quality games, but if you can get it without spending extra . . . (more below).

At this point you might be wondering why I was suggesting alternatives to HP if I bought one myself.

I am only posting the price for reference as the deal is no longer available, but I spent less than $650 for it. At that price, it was a steal. For $1500, I would be looking at something else.

The Asus, Compal (and for that matter Sager) laptops that I mentioned earlier all have better build quality and better graphics cards, IMHO, (and optional 3-year warranty) for the same budget that you were planning to spend for the HP.

Again, I encourage you to go to the "What notebook should I buy" forum and post a FAQ, but if you don't want to do that, just scan the replies and see how often these three notebooks are recommended when a budget of $1300-$1500 is suggested.

Never heard anyone ask that, and I was surprised you can - http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...id=re_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/split/returnspolicy (looks like 30-days (if received before September), but you lose out on both their shipping and return shipping).

Derringer has a point with Costco and I think they have a six-month return policy.

 

Wow...sorry for being a bit confusing!

If I -have- to upgrade hardware manually in the future (i.e. RAM, hard drive), then I will. (The whole thought of OPENING and possibly damaging my notebook freaks me out. I know it's easy, but...I could just break the whole thing...then I'd be screwed).

I did post in the "What Notebook Should I Buy" section and got the same brands of laptops as you suggested (Compal, etc.) When I looked at pictures of someone who bought a Compal HEL80 (which I was eyeing), I noticed it had to be assembled. Not my kind of thing. (Unless I'm being mistakened and he ordered it to be bare-boned). I feel somewhat uncomfortable buying from a manufacturer I have never even heard of or seen in real life. It makes me feel better once I've seen/touched the physical form of the notebook.

Clarifying the contradictions:

1.) I will upgrade in the future if I have to. Otherwise, if I notice the 1 GB RAM is fine, I'll stick with it.

2.) This is confusing, and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I am so used to playing medium quality games on a low end graphics card...so if the GeForce GO 7400 becomes outdated, I would be able to live with it. I don't game TOO often or change many games, but the ATI x1600 is a good option. Are there any mainstream computers that have this graphics card?

I will most definately stop by Costco and see what they have. Thanks for the tip!

I have decided to not choose BrightView as I am beginning to see more cons than pros about it. "High quality color and contrast" isn't super important to me.

Thanks again!

 

No problem - sometimes when I reply, I ask questions for clarification, and sometimes to point things out that people may not realize.

Okay, at risk of being redundant - RAM is simple to upgrade. HD is more involved, so if you think you might eventually need a bigger HD, get it now. (Also avoids the problem of having a 80Gb HD that you paid extra for that you have to replace and then won't be able to use.)

Guess I'm not too far off-base then. (I looked up the thread).

I think I remember the thread and he did order a bare-bone - or just took it apart to show how it was made.

PowerNotebooks sells all three brands (Asus, Compal, Sager) and they build to order, and they are well-respected on the forum.

Understood, but just b/c you haven't heard of them doesn't mean they aren't good.

No offense (think of Jeff Foxworthy), but your argument is sortof like if I went to South Georgia (substitute Mississippi or Alabama if you are from South Georgia) and said, "I got a great deal on a BMW (substitute Lexus or Honda or Rolls-Royce or other presumed well-built car) for you". And you replied "I never heard of them, all my folks drive Fords or Chevy's (substitute other well-known but lower quality car)."

Asus has been one of the better manufacturers of desktop motherboards for at least the last 15 years. I didn't know they made laptops until I came here, and hadn't heard of Compal or Sager before, but keep in mind. . .

The guys on this forum KNOW laptops. Many of them have had 8 or 10 personally. When you look at this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=61970&page=3 (don't look at the poll results, read the thread, and the first ten reviews are Asus and the final consensus is:
IBM
Asus
Fujitsu
Sony - HP

Etc. - BTW, that Compal is a new model, and Sager is not well-known.

Unfortunately, not that I know of - You might look at Lenovo (took over for IBM). Office Depot carries them, but I don't think they have it either.

To get back to my car analogy - It's like going to the Ford or Chevy dealer and asking which models have turning headlights or predictive cruise control like the new Lexus does . . .

That may limit your options also as I think most of the higher-end laptops are going to the glossy screen

 

That made me laugh. I didn't mean to sound so blunt or ignorant, honestly. I know for certain and have seen ample evidence (including this thread) that people here KNOW laptops. I wouldn't doubt that for a second.

The Compal is highly tempting, and probably the best choice, but I still have uncertainty about not seeing the laptop first.

I think I have my computer just where it needs to be now, thanks to everyone's advice today!

Thank you all once again for your time and advice. I did a lot of research and took into consideration all of the options you presented me and I think I narrowed my laptop down very nicely! I couldn't done it without you!

 

Err...Costco Online has a simlar page to HP's. You don't have to go out of your way to see the store just for that.

http://www.costco.com/CTO/HPLanding.aspx?Prodid=10029570&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=