need help reviwing a r40000

i am looking to buy a compaq presario r4000 that i customized on there websight and i need to know what you think

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2


Processor AMD Sempron(TM) 3200+ (1.8GHz/256KB L2 Cache)

Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)

Graphics Card 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)

Memory FREE Upgrade to 512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256MB)!!!

Hard Drive 40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive

Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support


Networking 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)

Primary Battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

total price 775 is this a good deal, could i play games like halo one for pc, or maby doom 3????? plz help

 

Doom3 is going to be a tough job for this notebook. The m200 gpu is really intergrated as opposed to dedicated and borrows it's resources from the system's ram. If high demand 3D gaming is what you want you'd be better off looking for a computer with at least a ATI X300 and better a X600, Nvidia 6600, X700 or 6800. A HP Dv4000 with the X700 would be excellent and cost about $1200.

 

The 200M can be configured with 128MB of dedicated memory, and the R4000 does this. The smaller notebooks like the V2000z don't. Anything less than a X700 is going to be weak for Doom3 though. Acer's Travelmate 4400 would be a better bet... for a few $hundred more, and even then it only has the 64MB X700 version.

You definitely want the 12 cell battery option and I'd consider the Bluetooth option (if only because you won't be able to add it later, except as an external USB dongle). I'd also spring for an Athlon 64 just so you'll be set for 64-bit Windows Vista next year. A 5400RPM HD would be a very good upgrade.

 

but could i play some of the Medal of Honor or Halo one, if thats all thats running

 

would the 64 make it verry worm and i think it would suck up alot of juice. plus i dont have that much money. lol

 

My philosophy is if you get a certain laptop, get it with all the options. Same thing I do with all my cars. If you're going to buy a Mustang, don't get a base V6 model. Get the Mustang Cobra! You want to be able to sell it later wth ease.

 

Current machines are shipping with 90nm Athlon 64's that use the same core voltage as the Semprons, so the difference in power consumption should be minimal. If you're really concerned about that, look up one of the undervolting threads here.

 

what is up with this page
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2561&review=Compaq+Presario+R4115us+Notebook+Pc
in his Processor and Performance part he talks about it so i think i might get it

 

dose this look cool
Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
Processor AMD Athlon(TM) 64 3200+ (2.0GHz/512KB L2 Cache)
Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
Graphics Card 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
Memory FREE Upgrade to 512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256MB)!!!
Hard Drive 60 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
Networking 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

total 888

 

For the love of God, spend the extra money on the 5400RPM hard drive. It is only an extra $25 and will make a big difference perfromance wise. Good Luck.

 

This looks better than your original configuration. The only thing I would recommend is getting the 5400 RPM hard drive if it is available. I know sometimes it is not. This will increase the speed of your laptop. I have an HP zv6000 which is the twin of the Compaq R4000. These are very nice machines and I think offer the most "bang for your buck". There are better laptops out there but not at this price.

 

I am extremely happy with mine

 

I really hope you don't plan on any hardcore gaming. I just unloaded my zv6000 with the following specs:

AMD Athlon 64 4000+
100 GB HD
DVD RW+/-
1GB of RAM
128MB X200M
b/g wireless with Broadcom + Bluetooth
WXGA Brightview Screen

As you can see, I pretty much speced out my zv6000, but couldn't stand its poor Video Card. The X200M is the thing that really kills this notebook; if it had an X700 or even an X600, I would've kept it. The X200M is the really low-man on the totem pole when it comes to graphics and will easily be out performed by new GPUs in less then 4 months time. It barely ran Doom3 (which BTW was unplayable) and ran BF2 on low settings. If you want any decent games to run, do youself a favor and get a dv4000, which has an X700 GPU; an excellent card for gaming.

 

but i could play things like halo one right????

 

I don't know what the minimum sys req are for Halo, but find them on the website or something and compare it with what you want to get. If it matches or you comp spec are better then it should be good.