To buy or not to buy V5000Z

Hi I was thinking about buying a Compaq v5000z. I can get one new with the following specs for @ $533.00
• AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-32 (1.8GHz/512KB L2 Cache)
• – 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800)
• – 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
• – 256MB DDR SDRAM (1x256MB)
• – 40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
• – DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
• – 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
• – 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
The only pay upgrade I did is the 64 bit processor for Vista x64 and the dedicated 128mb video. This PC will just mostly be a web surfer, some MS Office use, and maybe some very light World of Warcraft playing. For any thing big I have 2 gamming PC’s. The main reason I am choosing this one is the for the price and the 64 bit ability to future proof. Also I plan on adding 512mb – 1gig of RAM immediately on my own once it arrives. I just wanted to know how durable the laptop is. And if anyone has any suggestions. I have heard really mixed reviews of this laptop and just wanted other opinions before I buy it, thanks

 

hi,

i just purchased the presario v5000 the past weekend and a LOVE it! i've actually read good reviews on it and the price is right! i play some cod on it and it works fine!

 

I will have had my v5000z for 2 months the 21st. I have had no complaints with this machine and it has worked very well. Very good computer in my opinion.

 

What is the big difference between the dv5000z and the v5000z? Besides color? I have heard conflicting reports, that they are the same, and then I hear that the Hp has better keyboard, speakers and a monitor. Also is the touch pad on them easy to disengage so you can type more freely?

 

I bought mine not too long ago, but from what I understand, the main thing that goes out is the memory or hard drive. (the memory in some of them is of a cheap/****py brand) The way I look at it, that can be remedied alot easier than other parts.

 

The dv5000z has HP Quickplay (although I lost mine through reformatting, plan to get it back someday soon). As far as a better keyboard, speakers, and monitor, I don't think that's true. I'm not sure if the build quality is different between the two, so as far as I know, there's not much of a difference. I like HP's colors better.

 

Aside from from styling and the noted quickplay features they are the same notebook. You might want to consider bumping up to the 5400RPM hard drive as it will offer much better system performance.

 

Hi Z5Sharp,

Lately we hear more complain of DV5000z and V5000z. Pardon me for my question. I'm just wondering with their quality now. I'm sure they produce identical monitor and keyboard. But the bad QC of their LCD screen and troublesome power brick are annoying, perhaps somebody can give input on this...

I'm tempted to but the V5000z too myself.

tx

 

Hey there guys. I just bought myself a DV5130CA(which is about the same thing, only Canadian and such). Out of the box it ran about as fast as a P2 266, it took well over 6 mins to boot up and when ever the cpu was in use it would max out. No matter what I did the CPU always maxed it self out. After a few tests I found that opening IE took 8 seconds and threw my CPU at 100%.
I knew something had to have been wrong. I myself am coming from a Dual Core desktop and was not pleased with how its little brother was preforming.
After removing all the ****ware and doing a bit of more testing I still couldn't get it to work right. I reinstall the OS from the backup sector on the drive and it seems to be running much better now. There is still some lag here and there but I think that is because of all the ****ware that is on from the restore. I'll post again when I remove all the ****ware with some more results.
All in all I really like this laptop, even if out of the box it didn't impress me. The screen is nice and bright but I find there to be some overglowing bright area's when not at the most perfect angle/on a totally black screen.
The keyboard is wonderful. Coming from a desktop world I thought that getting use to a notebook keyboard was going to be hell. Turns out I was wrong. The keys have a good amount of spring to them and do not sag in any way.
The sound is pretty good for a notebook, loud enough to watch a movie or listen to some tunes. Also, compaired to my friends Dell E6000 I find they sound much more full.
I'll be writing up a review for this notebook sometime in the near future when I have time to do some real tests.