Hp Zd8000

[platinumsuperman859]

I found a computer I really like on hp.com. It is a hp zd8000 laptop, customized a little. The total cost would be 1300$. The processor is Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 530 w/HT Technology, 3.0GHz. Someone told me however that pentium processors for laptop would be noisy. Is this true? Or are they ok?

Does anyone know if this model is ok? It would have that 3.0 ghz, 512 mb ddr (2x256), 256 mb dedicated video radeon x600, 12 cell battery, bluetooth and wireless internet, dvd burner, and 60 gb 5400 rpm hard drive, and 17 inch brightview wide viewing screen. Would this be a good deal for 1300$ or is it not worth it? It seems ok to me but I am new to laptops and am looking to get my first one.

 

[kof2000]

looks good, mines cost like 1300.

 

[platinumsuperman859]

The biggest thing I am trying to decide on when picking a laptop now is the processor. If this one isnt too noisy and runs fine and doesnt get too hot and everything is fine, then this is the computer I will get...

 

[Explode_ADX]

I have done a lot of research and I have been looking into laptops constantly trying to find a good one and still I am out of luck, but I have heard that this one is very powerful but might be a little to hot for most and most claim the noise is not bad. I suggest that you just buy a laptop cooler for about $30 and then you can do away with that problem. If I could purchase the zd8000 I would but I live in Ontario and they wont ship it to me and it is a very nice looking system for the cost of everything. I suggest you get it and if anyone finds a good quality laptop for the same price that can be shipped to me I would be greatful.

 

[alanuofm]

i highly don't recommend that system. i suggest you go to dell and look at their inspiron 600m. the pentium M processor's kick a$$. you will get around 1.5 hours battery life on that tops. i have a dell inspiron 9100 with 2.8 ghz w/ HT and i dont like it that much ( it plays counter strike though really well). i just ordered the inspiron 600m for my syster and it gets 5 to 6 hour battery life. i couldnt believe it. and i installed counterstrike on it and it was getting 250 fps. i was amazed.

heres what she has on it. pentium M 1.6, radeon 9000 64 mb video card, 256 mb pc2700, cd-rw, only weights 4.9 lbs i think. all this for 824$. if you are a hardcore gamer just throw on more memory and you will be very happy.

 

[platinumsuperman859]

The thing is, it seems when you get faster Pentium M's it gets pretty expensive. Also, they clock much slower (but I hear they still run faster than clocked). I want a very fast machine. I like the widescreen on the vd8000 as well. For the price I have, it comes with a 12 cell battery instead of a 6 or 8 cell. I have never had a laptop so I don't exactly know much about these batteries or anything, but most Ive seen have a 6 cell, and 12 is twice as big as 6...so I would assume it is a larger battery! Maybe because it is a bigger machine? Also, the options on hp.com when customized the computer with pentium M arent as good. The hard drive is slower, the memory is more expensive to upgrade, and the video card option is an integrated card..and doesn't even say how many mb's it is...the vd8000 has a radeon 256 mb dedicated. I could look for a laptop cooler that works well for this and wouldn't mind if its only 30 bucks.

I don't need an extremely large battery life, but an hour wouldn't be long enough. I am going to college in the fall and this will be my main computer (well...maybe...lol I will probably take my desktop as well..haha). But most of the time I have it would be in my dorm room or something, no long periods at a time where I couldn't charge the battery I dont think...Does battery life increase if you aren't doing intense game playing and all that? Would I get more use out of the battery if I was just surfing the internet and talking online as opposed to playing a game? If I am playing I game, I would most likely be near an outlet and could just plug it up. It seems very unlikely I wouldn't be near an outlet for a very long time using it.

 

[alanuofm]

i have a 12 cell in my dell 9100. i get 1 hour 15 minutes of battery life tops if im just surfing the net. gaming probably around 30 minutes. get a desktop i suggest. pentium M's are clocked slower but you wont notice any differences. Pentium M's have a different architecture than the pentium 4. pentium M is like pentium 3's son. i suggest the pentium M. if you order under dell education they take off another 4 to 12% depending on the system.

 

[alanuofm]

also the major differences is how much current is drawn. a pentium 4 draws the same around of current the whole time and the huge fans draw a lot of power too. thats why they require a 12 cell and still only get an hour and a half worth of battery life. pentium 4 is a power eater.

like i said my sisters inspiron 600m will run anything you can think of. HL2 and doom 3. runs cs 1.6 with 250 fps. not to mention 5 to 6 hour battery life. if you are in a lecture its great for taking notes. if you are going into cse, its great for programming in class.

when i first got my laptop i was kind of like you. i wanted widescreen and a sweet processor. my huge a$$ inspiron 9100 is not my idea of "lap"top. i can cook eggs under it. i am now into portability and performance. if you want a widescreen get another monitor and use dual monitor to watch movies or what not.

 

[Explode_ADX]

I like your input on this laptop it is really built up in most areas but if you are saying that gaming is better on a smaller monitor with a Pentium M I might consider a Dell but I think their laptops cost a bit much.

 

[platinumsuperman859]

What about something like an AMD 64 3800+? Would this have a horrible battery life as well? The laptop isn't widescreen like the zd8000 (its a zd6000 I believe).

Where can I find a good pentium M computer? HP only has one listed on their site that I see, and the choices for graphics card arent good or anything. In fact, the only choice is Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900. I dont know anything about it but from what I would assume it wouldnt be anything special, without dedicated memory or anything.

 

[Explode_ADX]

I am not sure about the Graphics card but if you are looking for a pentium M then Dell has a wide selection of Pentium M Laptops and quite the opposite of Hp it only has 1 or 2 P4 Laptops