bought my hp notebook today..

Hi all, I decided to go ahead and purchase the HP dv2037 from Staples today. I had been considering getting a Lenovo Thinkpad, but I think I'll be happy with this - or hope so anyway. Basically, I didn't want to wait for the machine to be customized and then shipped out. I know I wasn't very patient, but I wanted a machine right away. The battery's charging now, so I will try it out at school on thursday.

Any of you own this model or one similar? I guess it's too late to get the HP student discount since I purchased thru staples right? I decided I had better get the extra protection, which will cover my notebook in the event of dropping it and breaking something or if there would be a liquid spill. I felt that the extra coverage was good, since this an investment for me.

So, I'm told that I get 60 days of Microsoft Office free. Does that mean I have to subscribe after that? If anyone has any comments about this model or one similar, that'd be great. Thanks, Greg

 

I had never seen this model in a store before, but here's a link to the specs for those who want to know.

http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Hewlett-Packard-HP-Pavilion-DV2037US-Notebook-PC

Basically, the system is a dv2000t with Intel T2050 Core Duo, 1 GB 533Mhz RAM, 100 GB HD, Intel GMA 950 graphics, and XP Home.

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To greg1:

Congrats on the purchase. The dv2000t series are some great notebooks (IMO). Yeah, you have to purchase the machine from HP's APP store to get the student discount, but if you need accessories, you can still get those from the APP store (not a great discount, but everything helps). I'm just finishing up my review of my dv2000t which should hopefully be up soon, but overall, I've been very happy with the machine.

As far as the Microsoft Office preinstalled on the machine, it is just a 60-day trial version. When that is up, you'll be asked to pony up to keep using the software. I removed the trial software along with most of the bloatware preinstalled on the machine as soon as I received mine, so I don't know if they will try to charge you full retail for Office or OEM pricing for Office -- it makes a HUGE difference in price. That said as a student you can either purchase the Teacher and Student edition of office available everywhere or an academic version that should be available from your campus bookstore. If you're going to upgrade to Vista, though, you may want to hold out for Office 2007, which should be out sometime in January.

Hope this helps, and let us know what you think.

 

OpenOffice is compatible with Office, free and works well.

 

I don't know how how much you paid for your dv2037, but the hp online store offers a dv2000t with identical configurations for $780 (plus taxes) with the academic discount. For $75 more, you can add webcam, bluetooth,and Nvidia 7200 instead of Intel 950. I post this just in case you got a worse deal.

 

Thanks that is good to know

 

I'm a student as well, and use OpenOffice on my laptop. Keep in mind that I also use Word sometimes on the lab computers because, imo, Word IS better.