ze2113? Circuit City for $699 (rebate)

I'm a total newbie here, so please excuse any faux paus I make! Anyone heard of or seen the model I listed in the subject? I've been looking for a laptop with DVD burningcapabilities and 512 mb ram, which is exactly what this model features. I couldn't find anything on the net about this exact model, but I think it's just a "manufactured to buy" configuration of the ze2000z line. This one features an AMD Sempron 2800+ CPU, 512 megs ram, 60gig hd, and DL DVDRW drive. Obviously, at this price those features seem great, but I'M a little concerned that 1) it won't be as durable as a higher-priced laptop, and 2) that the processor isn't enough to perform the tasks that one would NEED a DVD burner for (video editing, burning movies, etc).

At any rate, any input/advice would be appreciated. I'm gonig to go play with it tomorrow at Circuit City. here's the link, btw: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-P...sem/rpsm/oid/126345/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

 

Yep. Its a retail version of the ZE2000Z...Good specs for the price. Quality will be reasonable, it wont be the best but they will have HP standard quality. The Sempron is fairly powerful for a budget processor and in my experience video editing or burning should not affected too much. It wont match the newer higher end processors but it will definately outrun the Celeron & the Celeron M. It is probably equivalent in performance to a 2.2 - 2.6GHz Pentium 4. Only thing that might hinder your performance might be the 4200rpm Hd. But at this price range there are practically no other options with faster hd's.

If you do need a more powerful processor then custom build the laptop at HP.com with the Turion processor & DVD burner around at around $900.

 

Thanks for the quick and useful reply--I appreciate it. I did read some good things today about the Sempron 2800 CPU, especially in comparison to the Celeron M (which is what accompanies most laptops under or around $1000 that I've seen). Anyway, that's good news at least, and I don't think it's worth the $200 to upgrade to a Turion. I'm not worried so much about the speed of processes as I am with the mere capability. I don't game much, and I imagine my burning will be a "leave it and go" sort of thing.

THanks also for the word on the HD rpm's--I couldn't find that information (how did you locate that?). That concerns me a bit, but as you mentioned, it'd be tough to find faster for that price. I'll play with it and see what I think. I'm concerned also that there's no firewire port. I'm gonna bring my firewire pcmcia card over there tomorrow and see if they'll let me stick it in and test it out.

Thanks again miner. Anyone else have iny input? I'd be interested to hear.

 

4200rpm Hd's are the only option HP provides if you want to custom build the laptop and I dont think that it would be any different in the retail models. If you do need a faster hd you also have the option of buying thr HD retail and installing it yourself....

 

Just wanted to say thanks agian, and that I bought the machine last week. It works fine for everything I wanted to do. The processor and RAM seem to be holding up fine, as I edited a bunch of video last week. It doesn't have a firewire port, but I stuck in a firewire card and everythign worked just fine. The only things I may do are upgrade the hard drive (to 5400, 80GB) and stick in a little more memory...but overall the machine is nice. Great resolution (no dead pixels!) screen too...great for wathcing video and DVD's. I've made a couple CD's with no problems, but haven't tried the DL DVD burner as of yet.

By the way, for those who are interested, Circuit City has now added an extra $50 to their rebate on this machine to bring the total to $200 ($150 CC & $50 HP)!!! At $649, I would say this machine is a STEAL!!

 

Cool! Good choice. Great to know you are are happy with it.

 

what is your battery run time? I got this and I don't get better than 1.5 hrs doing surfing. Can't watch a complete dvd... how much battery life should i get? they claim 3.5 hrs?

thanks in advance

 

Use MobileMeter to check your battery wear level. You may have a bad battery.

 

is there something in english or a professional site?

 

The program itself is in English.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/release/0310/mm0310.zip

 

what is the normal battery life for these? what should i expect cause 1.5 isn't enuf for me to spend that much money.