V2000Z I plan to order

This is the V2000Z I plan to order. I want to order at Costco because of their 6 months return policy.

AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-32 - 64 bit is important for me.
256MB DDR SDRAM (1x256MB) - I will buy more ram later.
60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive - No plan to upgrade anymore.
8X DVD Drive - RW is not needed for a laptop i think.
ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M - card reader no use, 1394 card buy later when needed.
FREE Upgrade to 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/125HSM!! - why not.
14.0 WXGA Widescreen (1280x768) - no need bright view.
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
Microsoft(R) Works/Money
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - 12 cell too big.
$765.99 before $50 rebate

Is this order reasonable? Does costco has tax and shiping fee? I stay in CA.

ANy comment appriciated.

 

for $25, I will get the productivity ports which includes, extra USB port, card reader, & 1394 port. It will probably cost you more than $25 just for the 1394 card alone, if you're gonna buy it later on.

I would get at least the DVD/CDRW, at least you could burn CDs.

It all depends on your budget.

Check Costco's website for their policy on charging tax.

 

As long as you are fine with those specifications, looks good. I agree that the 12-cell is too big...better off with two six cells if anything in my opinion (if you need the extra battery life).

That is a smart idea to upgrade your RAM aftermarket, save yourself a nice bit of money. How much do you plan to upgrade to?

Costco is an excellent store...6 months return warranty is unbeatable.

 

Unfortuately if you live in California (I know this firsthand - I ordered my HP zv6000 from Costco), tax is still applied mad: ) Sometimes I wish I lived in somewhere they don't charge tax, but I don't think I could give up the balmly weather.....

 

I think that is pretty good configuration. Only thing you may need to some OCZ DDR400 CAS 2.5 ram and you are good to go.

 

I plan to upgrade a 1 g ram from newegg. What brand is good for this model?

For the card reader, I dont know it well. But I think since all devices now got USB cable, why should I take out the card and put into laptop. For the 1394 port, I do not have a video cam now, and I dont know if I want it in the future. Furthermore, I think now with DVD camcorder, I dont need to transfer video to laptop anymore, am I right?

Thanks for all your comments and this is why I love this forum.

btw, the estimated shipping day is Jan.30, will it arrive earlier. I am travelling after Feb.6

How much is shipping fee from costco, hpshopping.com got free shipping.

 

OCZ DDR400 CAS 2.5 is good and proven to be working fine with this laptop. It is available on newegg and chaper than Corsair I bought which is only CAS 3.0, though it is listed as CAS 2.5.

 

Corsair ValueSelect DDR400 works in my V2000Z.

Mine took 7 days from day I ordered to day they shipped. And shipping took 2 days.

 

the 256M ram that comes with the laptop is DDR400 or DDR 333? Should I buy the same DDR***?

 

It comes wtith DDR333, but you can buy DDR400. By mixing the DDR333 and DDR400 it will run at DDR333 speeds, but when you remove your DDR333 stick, it will switch to DDR400 speed.

 

HP only puts DDR333 in their V2000Z. Doesn't matter how much RAM you configure it, HP still puts DDR333.

 

Let me clarrify it... HP only puts DDR333, but it doesn't mean it's only capable of DDR333. The V2000Z is capable of running DDR400.

Chinna is correct, if you mix RAM speeds, it will only run as the slowest module.

 

Yes, I am running both DDR333 and DDR400, running at the slower DDR33.

 

The only thing I would change, given your other preferences, is the processor. I would either downgrade it to ML-30 with 1mb l2 cache or up it to ML-34 again 1mb l2 cache. 1.6ghz vs 1.8ghz is nothing essential if you ask me.

 

ok good. I understand now. Thanks for all your inputs.

 

vassil_98, costco doesnt have the option for ML-30. The ML-34 is with 1 m L2 cache. Do you mean that 1m l2 cache make big difference from the 512K l2 cache?

 

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/SellAMDProducts/0,,30_177_4458_4513^1413^2128,00.html

the latest Pentium Ms for example have 2mb l2 cache and give significantly better/faster/ results in super pi. The larger amount of cache will give better performance in cpu intensive applications like encoding/decoding or gaming. Speed in GHz is not the only detemining factor.

 

There is some advantage for ML-32 than ML-30 as ML-32 uses less power in lower steppings( not substantial though) and has more raw power than ML-30. ML-34 would be even better option, but ML-32 good.