Want to buy an HP/Compaq laptop but can not figure

There are so many configuration options and models to choose from I am having a hard time deciding which on to chose.

My first most concern is getting something very top of the line that will be able to keep up with software and accessory technology for at least 3 years.

Video Editing on the Go: I will not do any hard core video editing or 3D rendering on it but would like to be able to do some light video editing on the go.

Gaming: I will want to game on this laptop I do not necessarily care if I can’t play half life 2 at top settings but would like to be able to smoothly play Half life 2 (and other games just using this as sort of a bench mark).

Size and weight of Laptop: Obviously I have been looking at the zd8000 and the x6000 as these seam to be the top of the line offerings at this time, however I do not necessarily like the 17â€? screens or the key pads, in other words I wouldn’t mind having a small rig then these. However I would go this way if it my only option for the gaming and light video editing.

R3000 series: I really like the look/size/weight of the R3000 series and have been looking at the R3000T. Could I play Half life and do light video editing on this if it was to be maxed out?

Sorry for this long winded post but I am absolutely confused as to which rig I should get.

Thanks for any advice.

 

yup the Zx5000/R3000T are good gaming machines, i have a Zx5000 with the 128mb 9600 Pro it plays Doom 3 and HL2 great. Yes max it out to the hilt if you can .

 

HMM I had not seen the zx5000 machines as they are not listed at hpshopping.com (I'm still unfamiliar with how hpshopping.com works with all the different models etc). I see a refurbished zx5280us model I can purchase and it looks like it has the Radeon 9600 128 dedicated card in it as apposed to the radeon 9000 IGP with 64mb shared in the R3000T notebook. I would assume that the zx5000 performs much better then the R3000t when gaming. No?

Has anyone played games on an R300t series?

thanks

neil

 

Well there were 2 3000T models Shared graphics and the ones with the 9600 in them. They have been discontinued, and so has the Zx5000 series. I'd go for the refurbed 5280.

 

If the 64MB GeForce 440 Go GPU is adequate for your needs, and it sounds like it is, get a R3000z variant with the AMD Athlon 64 CPU. By your "at least 3 years" test, buying a 32-bit-only P4 makes no sense, plus the Athlon 64 is a better CPU now, lower power consumption too. The P4-based R3000's should be avoided since the only ones still being sold have shared memory video (s-l-o-w).

 

if HP would have put a half decent GPU in the Zv5000, i would have bought one as soon as they came out. But for those reasons i went with a ZX5000 and i haven't regreted it, I had an emachines M6809/M6811 but due to the Cracked hinge issue i had to return them. But HP as far as proformance and reliability of the Zx5000 cant be beat. I have had Zero problems with this notebook ,and the Gaming proformance is good.