Why am I stuck on the ZV5000z?

I have been debating back and forth about what laptop to get and I will get one soon. I like the options available on the ZV5000z and after looking at them I like the case of this one better than the Compaq. My question is this: why am I stuck on this one? The GPU is really not up to snuff. While I can deal with that, why should I *deal* with anything if I am buying a brand new CTO laptop? I was attracted to it because at Fry's I saw one with an awesome 1680x... screen for only $1500 or so which seemed really cheap and the AMD64 is very fast. But why should I not spend the minimal extra $ and get one with a Pentium in it? I'm upgrading almost every option on the thing, and an extra couple hundred now will mean the computer will last me a lot longer before I need to upgrade, especially if it has a newer GPU.

So what are the other advantages of the AMD based computer? Longer battery life? Lighter? Cooler-running? What am I missing out on if I go with the P4?

Thanks.

 

Give up on the HP nad go look at Acer, they use the same vendor (compal) for their laptops and share many of the components. But most of Acer's line have already moved to the MR9700 GPU while HP/Compaq is still stuck in the dark ages with MR9200/Geforce Go 420.

 

Is there a retailer that carries Acer so I can actually pick one up and kick the tires? I have to like it physically. Also, do they offer the 1680x screens? Hi res is important to me. I'll look into it though, thanks.

 

Unfortunately the highest res scree nthey ofe is a 15" SXGA at 1400x1050. all their 15.4" wide notebooks are 1280x800. if you want WSXGA+ (1680x1050) or higher, look at the Sager 3790 with MR9700 128MB.

 

I'm looking at the Sagers now. How fast are the Centrinos in comparison to a similarly priced AMD 64? Am I really looking at something with 1.5ghz speed and comparing it to the AMD 3.4+? Or is Centrino something different entirely?

BTW if a moderator wanted to move this topic to the General WhatshouldIbuy section I would appreciate it. It's turned into a more general question.

 

Well, having looked at quite a few I think I will go back with the 'z. The reason is that I will not be using it much for gaming at all but I can get a great deal on it on Costco.com with option to return it for 6 months to their store (right near work) if I don't like it. I figure if I want to play games I will use my desktop which has a good kb/mouse, speakers, big screen, and I can slap in the latest gfx card if need be. As it is it runs Doom 3 comfortably.

Thanks for your suggestions, though. The most important part of my question was mainly, Why don't I buy one of the other HPs with a P4 and newer GPU, but all the P4s have crappy battery life comparatively and batt.life is important to me for what it will be used for.

Any more input is very welcome. I haven't clicked on the button to buy it yet but might tomorrow.

 

If you want AMD64 look at the Acer Ferrari line but the battery doesn't last 1/2 as long as a centrino. As for centrino speed. generally you add about 70%-80% to the speed and that will give you the equalivent of a P4 so a 1.5 will be about the same as a 2.6/2.7 range. That and since the GPU is going to be our bottleneck for gaming anyway. Any limitation you see will probably come from the GPU.

 

tekniq:

I also have been looking at this model at HP.com - I like it because it seems very customizable at a good price. I just started looking though and those are only my initial thoughts... I will probably wait til' around Thanksgiving or Christmas and see what new deals come up.... I'm targeting a price of around $1500.

I also would probably be looking for the WSXGA in the 15.4 inch... and I was fairly impressed with those screens on display at CompUSA. The Sony Vaio line also has very nice displays, however it seems they are slightly more expensive, everything considered...

What other ones are you considering ?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Wiz33

 

I'm not sure which ones I'm considering. I'm going to go to Fry's again and play with all of them again. Now that I know how much my CTO will cost I can comparison shop a bit better. I guess I should really post a "what should I buy, these are the things I care about" thread. I'll do that later.

 

Stefano:

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, however if you buy a new laptop and install a new hard drive (or anything else), doesn't that void the manufacturer warranty (because the case has been opened).

I would be comfortable doing these things myself also, however if that voids the warranty, don't know if I'd wanna mess with it...

 

I don't find the GPU a problem, but then I'm not into playing 3D games. For graphics, for screen design, for database work, the zv5000 with the 1920x1200 screen is great. It does run cooler, lasts longer, and adding a fast 7200rpm harddrive is easy (and a major improvement) and also a lot cheaper than if you were to buy it from HP, assumng they even had the sense to offer one instead of the 4200 rpm dinosaurs and the belated 5400 rpm token "performance" upgrade I've heard they finally made available. Get the 1920x1200 screen.

Stefano
HP zv5200 DP523AV: AMD 64 3400 2.2GHz, 2x512MB RAM, 60GB 7200rpm HDD (Hitachi 7K60), 15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200), XP Pro; Paradox

 

I would seriously consider the 1920 if I could get a look at it in person. I have a feeling that I would be okay with it but given that I might need to show stuff on the computer to others it could be difficult for them to read. People think I'm insane already with the tiny fonts I use on all my computers. I think the 1680 might be more versatile.

 

You can get to the HD without disassembling the notebook (they even document how to get to it), so there's no problem with voiding the warranty. They might not even care if you do something that requires disassembling, say replacing the internal SODIMM. If you break something while in the process of doing the upgrade, THAT might get you in trouble, but that's about it. Mostly warnings are meant to discourage people who don't know what they're doing.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by brianstretch

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by tekniq