college student here. please be helpful :)

im going to be a freshman next year in college, and obviously its time to look for a notebook. there are probably a ton of threads on this, but im just trying to narrow thing down.

what i want:

i dont really know what to get as far as hard drive space and processor speed... maybe someone can help me out here? im gonna be using the computer alot so i want somthing to have good speed.

the only gaming i think om gonna be doing is through xbox live in my dorm.. so i think the only thing i need to do that is a ethernet jack from my laptop? so i can just connect directly from my laptop to my xbox via ethernet cable...??

i was looking at the HP Pavilion dv6000t, since it looks like a popular one with pretty good specs. remember, im a college student and im not sure what to look for in terms of performance.. please help me out here and answer my questions

thank you!

Bballer

 

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

There are quite a few notebooks that could meet your criteria. Please take a moment to fill out our FAQ. This will help other members to better understand your needs and make recommendations.

Thanks!

 

i dont want the price to be over 1200 dollars. and i was looking at other forums and they say dell, thinpad and toshiba are the best laptops (brand wise).... hows the dell E1505? or any other brands that you guys will suggest?

thanks again,

bballer

 

1) What is your budget?

no more than 1200

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
prob. 15.4"

3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in.
U.S.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
dont really know, i have heard dell, thinkpad and toshiba are the best brands?... im thinking about the HP DV6000t though..

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
some gaming, but i play xbox live... so im assuming i need an external ethernet jack?.. that i can just plug stright into my xbox via ethernet cable?..

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
taking it where ever

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
maybe, i havent really played or got into computer games, mainly xbox 360... but maybe?

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
prob around 3 + hours

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
i rather see it in person, but good reviews will swayde me

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
prob. XP since i have heard some bad thing about vista home??

Screen Specifics

11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
widescreen probably

12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
not sure to be honest.. something from the widescreen. maybe someone can help me out here?

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?

prob glossy since im assuming it looks more pleasing...

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
yes, i want it to look pleasing

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?

probably around august (since college starts at the end of august)

Notebook Components

16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 200GB?
prob around 80GB-120GB??

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?

yea, DVD and CD-RW. i will prob burn some dvd's and cd's




Glossy vs. Matte Screen

Glossy screens have a reflective coating. Colors appear sharper and more vibrant. They do however produce more glare. Some people like them, others do not. The glare problem is most acute in well lit environments, like an office. Glossy screens tend to be better for multimedia uses like viewing DVDs or photos. If you are unfamiliar with the screen types, we would highly recommend you check some of each type out before you buy. The screen is one of the more important parts on a notebook. You do not want to get stuck with something you do not like.


Screen Size & Resolution

Please note screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some can view SXGA resolution on a 14” screen all day while others think it is horribly small. Again, we would recommend you check some notebook screens before you buy to see what best fits your needs. (see notebook screen guide article for more info)

Where to buy?

Wondering where to look for that certain notebook? Consider SSJ3Goku's Mega-reseller thread.
__________________

 

IMHO Del's are way overpriced comapred to what you could get on the dv6000t. An E1505 built with the same specs as a dv6000t will cost a lot more even though Dell has seemingly appealing coupons.

For $1200 USD you can get a very nice DV6000t (if you customize it online vs buy from a Big Box like circuit city or best buy) Lenovo (makers of Thinkpad) are also supposed to be very solid performers but they are geared more towards businesses so the external design isn't as flashy and the little multimedia extras that the dv6000t has (quickplay, altec lansing speakers, glowing blue power cord connector ... etc etc) aren't present on those.

 

I think this thread should be moved to the What notebook should I buy section. That said, I think for you the HP DV6000t would be a good choice. you may want to consider getting the HP DV2000t which is a 14" model which I think would be better for college. 15.4" models really are quite big and are not the best for lugging around from class to class. Good luck and happy computing!

 

If you're not going to game on your notebook, then consider a business notebook such as the 15.4 inch HP nx7400, which will offer more build quality.

 

consider the lenovo R60 too
the dv6000t is also a good choice

 

should i buy from circuit city or from the net and customize it? -- or i think you customize it... what does this laptop usually cost?

 

and is there a need to upgrade anything anyway on the dv6000t?

 

you can customize your dv6000t on the hp official website
according to your budget and requirements

 

is this saying its only 600 bucks with 1 GB upgrade for free???

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...avilion&series_name=dv6000t_series&aoid=35252

that sounds pretty cheap..

 

i expect a laptop to be a lil more expensive... should i be worried? most of the ones i have been looking at have been 1100 and stuff

 

even though theres an free upgrade available
but as the customization goes it comes upto 1809$ here
alternatively you could try waiting another month for the santa rosa refresh too

 

Bballer3 -- Welcome to the boards.

You're budget should get you a solid system. If you want to take your notebook to and from class, I would recommend going with a smaller notebook, like the dv2000t, as anything larger is just too difficult to use on small desks, and to have to carry around that much. If its mainly going to stay in your dorm or something, though, then the dv6000t would be a good choice.

As a college student myself, I couldn't be happier with the size of the dv2000t. I take all my notes on the notebook and use it for just about everything. Going any larger would make that far too difficult.

On the XBox Live, you'll either need to get a second ethernet port activated in your dorm room (if that's an option), or get a router so you can use both your notebook and your XBox online. You can't just connect one to the other.

Again, if you carry the machine to class, I would think smaller than a 15.4". The downside, though, is that you won't be able to get as powerful of graphics, if you do decide to do some gaming on the PC.

To get 3+ hours on the dv2000t or dv6000t I'd recommend getting at least the High Capacity 6-cell battery. Using the basic 6-cell, I don't quite get to 3 hours, unless I turn my brightness down quite a bit. The 12 cell battery would be great, but it sticks out the bottom of the machine.

I would definitely recommend going to a store and checking out the dv2000t and dv6000t machines on display. But if you decide one is what you want, I would go online and customize one with the specs you really want. As a student you can also use the HP student discount to save some money on a custom-config machine.

You cannot get any of the HP consumer-line models with XP any longer. Personally, I like Vista A LOT -- and in the coming years, you would want/need to upgrade anyway, so you might as well get it now. And, yes -- avoid Vista Home Basic like the plague. Get Vista Home Premium, which is fantastic.

Definitely get a glossy widescreen if that's the way you're leaning -- that's the way the industry is going anyway. The resolution you want is dependent on the screen size you end up going with, and what your use is. The most common resolution is 1280x800 (and is offered on both the dv6000t and the dv2000t). Business-grade machines, that are designed for image/video-editing, desktop publishing, CAD work, etc. will often offer higher-res screens. You probably don't need that, though.

The HP's look great, and pretty solid for a consumer-grade machine. Definitely wait, at least temporarily, as the new Santa Rosa platform is set to launch soon.

Notebook hard drive prices keep dropping, and capacities keep expanding. I would think 120GB drives will be around the "sweet spot" by this August. Keep in mind you can't just add another "cheap" drive to a notebook to expand capacity, so definitely think about all that you may end up storing there. 120GB should be plenty. And, definitely go for DVD+/-RW drive. Those are pretty much standard now anyway.

I think either the dv6000t or dv2000t would be a great choice for your needs, but definitely test both out and decide how "portable" you want the machine to be.

Hope that helps.

 

oh, so i cant just use the wireless connection i get from my school, and plug in an ethernet cable from the laptop to the xbox? so its receiveing the wireless and tranferring it via ethernet?

well, i really dont know if i will do online gaming or whatever. cause i heard the graphics card on the 2000 one is really bad..

hwo do you get the HP discount? and how much will this santa rosa be when it comes out? and that link that that one guy gave me on customizing coming out to 1800!!!!!!!!!!! that link doesnt work... how could the price go up so much!

 

Well, if they only provide wireless internet, then you'll need to get a wireless adapter for your Xbox to game online. Hopefully, you would get ethernet access as well, and you can just connect to that.

The current dv2000t uses either a GMA950 (terrible for gaming) or an Nvidia GeForce Go 7200 (pretty lousy also). That said, on mine, I play many "laptop"-style games without any problems at full resolution. By that I mean games like Sims 2, Railroads, Movies, etc. Games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Half-life 2, etc., really need a separate mouse or controller, anyway, so I only really play those on my desktop gaming machine. All the graphics options are about to change, though, with the Santa Rosa refresh. Intel has a new (supposedly pretty decent) integrated part, and I would imagine the dv6000t will get an updated Nvidia option. The dv2000t, though, may ONLY have the new Intel option.

And, yes, the "base" price of most HP consumer notebooks is pretty low. Once you put in a decent amount of RAM and hard disk space, select a dedicated GPU, and put in a decent processor, etc., they go up QUICKLY. $1200 will get you a solid midrange system, with 2 GB RAM (definitely wanted for Vista), 100-120 GB hard drive, and a midrange Core 2 Duo processor, especially with the student discount. To get that, check out the stickied "student discount" thread in this forum for what you need to do to sign up. The new Santa Rosa platform will add some nice features, and, unless you buy when they first come out, shouldn't really add very much at all to the overall system cost.

 

I'd buy from the HP online store and customize it.. that way you only pay for what you need/want.

I would recommend upgrading the processor to somethihng like the T2350 or above, because it's a good idea to get a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo. A

 

I'd buy from the HP online store and customize it.. that way you only pay for what you need/want.

I would recommend upgrading the processor to something like the T2350 or above, because it's a good idea to get a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo. Also make sure you have at least 1 GB RAM with Vista (make sure you have Vista Home Premium... vista basic is basically windows XP with a new name from what I've heard).

Also, you'd probably want to upgrade to the Geforce go 7400 GPU since the GMA950 is a horrible choice in my opinion, even for non-gamers.

 

ok. could be post all the specs i will need when i buy a laptop?

RAM space:

2 GB

Harddrive:

120 GB


Processor:

??

graphics card:

Nvidia GeForce Go 7200

im still not sure if i want the 2000t or the new santa Rosa when it comes out...

which do you guys think??

and anything else....

I just want everything in pretty good order so when i do order it, i have everything i need in a list.. of course im assuming when the santa comes out, it will have its own specs that i need to go by

 

i really do not know anything about the santa rosa and if its going to be THAT much better than the 2000t

 

o. i c. so i was thinking that the santa rosa is a whole new laptop... but its just a performance upgrade that you will be able to get with the 2000t and 6000t and stuff correct? will the performance part say "santa rosa" or what does the santa rose include

 

The adventage of the CTO is that you can put anything you want in your computer (cpu, RAM, graphic card, battery, etc) while the pre-configured models dont.

 

bump. for someone to answer questions in my previous couple threads

thanks guys,

Bballer

 

ok. i'll combine everything into one post for you guyz.

what do i need in my laptop? i will be getting the santa rose when they come with these dv2000 models...

RAM space:

2 GB - does santa rosa need extra ram than this?

Harddrive:

120 GB -does santa rosa have certain amount of HD space?


Processor:

?? - does santa rosa have a certain processor?

graphics card:

Nvidia GeForce Go 7200 -- or is santa rosa coming out with a better graphics card?

im not tuned in on what th santa rosa actually is... is it just a faster processor? or what. because if you can list for me what i need in my laptop when the santa rosa does come out, that would be helpful.

thank you guys,

Dustin

 

Yes, you should wait for Santa Rosa in my opinion, since it is coming out in T-minus 6 days

Basically, Santa Rosa is just a chipset upgrade that includes better wireless (draft N support) and also a better processor. However, the biggest thing you'll probably gain from waiting for the dv2500t (the future name of the santa rosa version of the dv2000t) is a DX10 graphics card. I believe that all of HP's santa rosa notebooks will have new geforce 8000 series cards fairly soon, even though it seems they are only launching with integrated x3100 cards, which are similar to the current Intel GMA950's. It may take a few weeks for HP to start putting geforce 8 series cards in their laptops, since those cards aren't released yet... but nobody knows for sure; it depends when nvidia releases the cards.

Since you mention you need it for college, if you have the time to wait, it might be the better decision. Otherwise, by getting a notebook right now you are a generation behind in a way.

Now, if you *do* wait for santa rosa, you'll be able to get a nice new Core 2 Duo processor with a fast 800 MHz front side bus, in addition to a big 2MB/4MB L2 cache (depending which model processor you choose).

If you just get a notebook right now, you could choose either the T2350, T5300, or T5600 and be very happy. However, if you compare the T2350 with the T5300, you will notice they have almost identical clock speeds. The T5300, being a newer Core 2 Duo, is about 5-10% faster than the T2350, so you decide whether the extra price is worth it or not. Finally, obviously the T7200 @ 2.0 GHz is the nicest processor available, but also on the expensive side. You can't really go wrong unless you get a Celeron M or Pentium Dual-Core (in my opinion).


Hope that helped, those were just my opinions

 

what is the site where you get the HP student discount and customize the laptop?

 

This thread shows you how to signup for APP discounts...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=3766

Basically you login with the ID you created and begin shopping. The APP prices are indicated by a green logo right next to the price.