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    short zv5000z 3700+ review

    Discussion in 'HP' started by alekkh, Aug 23, 2004.

  1. alekkh

    alekkh Notebook Evangelist

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    Received my zv5000z! Short review included.


    1. System
    Athlon 64 3700+/RAM 512MB/30G 4200 rpm HD/GeForce 4 440 Go/Wireless/15.4" WSXGA+
    = $1288.00 after 50$ rebate and 90$ student discount, and 70$ credit card cash back. Such a price!!

    2. Shipping: Ordered on Aug. 11, shipped on 18, delivered on 23rd. 6-day in transit. Not too fast, but free [^]


    3. Appearance
    Looks very cool. But is very very very very big. I don't get why its width exceed its screen size by THAT much. Almost looks like the biggest SUV on the road.

    4. CPU performance: POVray render -> woodbox 1280x768, A=0.3:

    52 sec on Athlon 1500+
    38 sec Dathon 1.5
    30 sec P4 2.8
    25 sec Athlon 64 3400+ 3.4
    ***23 sec zv5000z Athlon 64 3700+***

    5. RAM: HyundaiRAM PC2700 CAS 2.5 clocks. Am I correct that this would equal to the PC3200 with CAS 3 clocks (calc.: 3/2.5*333 = 400), that people seem to purchase most commonly these days ??? If yes - I'm happy.

    6. Heat issues.

    No heat issue. Stays absolutely cold during all programs I've tried (mostly molecular dynamics and 3D apps.), very much unlike my ze1230. Very nice! The only hot spot is the display bottom where the LCD backlight converter resides.

    7. Noise issues: One fan is contsntly on, but runs quietly. Hard to hear, unless in a very quite room. My ze1230's fan would only start under load, but then it would be very loud.

    8. If BrightView was available I'd go for it. But the SXGA display (wthout a single dead pixel, BTW) is definitely a must have short of the BrightView option. As usual, HP shines in the LCD crispness department among all notebook manufacturers. (BTW, have you seen Toshiba's recent XGA LCDs? [xx(])

    9. 3D graphics: in my tests some 3D programs (not games) worked as fast as on a M505 gateway /centrino 1.4/64M Radeon 9600. One OpenGL task ran noticeably smoother than on the eMachines with Athlon 3400+/Radeon 9600. Even though zv5000 will not handle Direct3D games as well as zx5000, it wouldn't fail completely. But, I'd like to see at leat the GeForce 5700 here.


     
    alekkh, Aug 23, 2004
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  2. alekkh

    alekkh Notebook Evangelist

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    P.S.

    Forgot to mention that my zv5000z handles one very CPU-hungry app (Minimoog by Arthuria) very well. The same app causes big video and audio lag on my Athln 1500+ ze1230 and, more interetingly and perhaps, useful to someone considering pentium-equipped Campaq even a big audio lag on the Compaq R3000T/Radeon 9000/pentium4, 2.8.
     
    alekkh, Aug 23, 2004
    #2