how about hp ze2120ca?

1299.99 CAD
pm-1.6, 512ddr, 60G 4200 rpm, 3 hour battery life

 

What are you trying to ask? Is it a good deal? Is it a good unit? Does it fit your needs?

You need to check the below link, it's an FAQ that will help you list off the type of system/features you're looking for. After that, we'll be able to tell you if the system is a good match for your requirements.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=3244

-Vb-

 

sorry. I want to make sure whether it's a good deal for its configurations. I want to know whether this model of hp is better than the other brands' laptop based on the same configurations.
I checked its configurations:
1.6GHz Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology featuring Intel® Pentium® M Processor 725A, with 400MHz front-side bus and 2MB L2 Cache
512MB DDR SDRAM at 333MHz (2 x 256MB), expandable up to 2GB
60GB 4200RPM Hard Drive
DVD±R/RW and CD-RW Combo Drive with Double Layer Support
15.0" XGA TFT Brightview Display (1024 x 768)
Intel® graphics media accelerator 900 with up to 128 MB shared video memory
Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 802.11b/g integrated wireless LAN
I'm not familar with some specifications. I want to know whether its video card is suitable if i want to play game, such as age of empire. it's a shard card, although it has 128m. Thanks.

 

The Intel GMA 900 is one of their newer graphics chips that support DirectX 9, but the overall performance lacks quite a bit vs a graphics card with dedicated video memory.

If you want to go the shared video memory route, you may want to look for something with the ATI 200M (or was that M200) graphics processor. This is WAY faster than what Intel offers and will therefore give you better gaming performance.

You might be able to play Ages of Empire, I'm not sure of the graphics requirements of the game itself. New games like Battlefield 2 might not play on this card, but if it does, it'll probably only work at lower res/quality.

I'd recommend spending a bit more money and get yourself a unit with a dedicated video card. This way, you'll be able to play newer games in the future. Just remember, the graphics card is one of the parts that CAN'T be replaced, so get yourself a good/great graphics card with dedicated video memory and you'll be fine.

Like I say, you can pay now or you can "pay" later.

-Vb-

 

Thank you very much. Is it enough if i only use notebook to play DVD films? Are there differences between shared video card and dedicated card? It will cost more money if i only add to play game. If too much, i can play game in my desktop. Many thanks.

 

Basically you want to find the AMD Turion version of the ze2000 series. That has the ATI Radeon 200M video chip and might even be cheaper (no Intel marketing tax). There's really no advantage to the Intel-based ze2000's.

Dedicated memory video is superior to shared memory video. It's also more expensive. For your purposes a ze2000z variant (Turion/Radeon) will be fine. Check out the Compaq V2000z series Turion machines (similar, but with a 14" widescreen) too.

 

Brian,

When you said there's "...no advantage to the Intel-based ze2000's." did you mean the Intel CPU or Intel graphics card? If you were talking about the Intel CPU, I must disagree. Currently, the Intel Pentium M CPU's are the most power conserving CPU's in the market. The AMD Turion operates at 25W or 35W depending on the CPU model, while the Intel Pentium M's operate at 27W. So, power consumption would be the advantage. Not only that, but because it consumes less power, it will run cooler than the AMD's which is another plus.

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Raineed,

1. Any notebook these days will play DVD's without any problems. You just need to decide if the DVD's will be played on battery or while connected to the AC. For playing while on battery, you'll probably want a system that doesn't consume a lot of power, therefore an Intel Pentium M would be the best choice.

2. Yes there's a difference between Shared video & dedicated video. A system with Shared video memory doesn't have its own video memory built onboard, so it pulls/shares from system ram. This sharing of system memory will make the computers less expensive (since there's no need to add additional video memory), but it reduces overall system performance. If yo uhave 512MB of ram and 128MB of shared video memory, that means you only have 384MB of system ram available to be used by your programs. Plus, the graphics processors in these shared video memory systems are also not the most powerful graphics processors in the market (low-cost versions).

Systems with dedicated video memory usually have better grapgics processors and also its own video memory which is separate from the system memory. This allows processing of graphics to be separated form the CPU and system ram for increased performance. But as indicated previously, it is more expensive to have dedicated video memory, but this will give you the best graphics performance when playing games. Also, it'll allow the notebook to last a bit longer since the graphics card will still be able to play newer games without becoming obsolete. Since you can't upgrade a video card or its memory, get the best video card you can afford (or maybe even better that you can afford) because you're gonna be stuck with whatever graphics card you choose.

The only graphics card with shared video memory that is good is the ATI 200M. The performance of the card is better than the Intel and other shared video memory cards.

3. Although it is more expensive to have dedicated video memory in a notebook, you can always look at different brands/models to balance out the price difference. There's a lot of other good brands/models in the market that have great video cards with dedicated video memory, but it just needs a bit of shopping around to find the right unit.

Personally, I'd recommend going the dedicated video memory route. Since you're already considering playing games on your notebook, going with shared video memory may just disappoint you in the near future.

-Vb-

 

Well, OK, Pentium-M's have a small advantage in battery life over Turion ML's, but I still think it's overrated. The Turion MT's are finally starting to show up more though not from HP yet (MSI's new 12" and 15.4" notebooks require them), those should negate the P-M's battery advantage. For a big, low-end notebook like the ze2000 series the ATI GPU is worth a little more heat from the Turion ML CPU under load. In average use I don't think the P-M has any advantage at all.