hp zt1000 general Q's

[jared]

Hello all, I recently purchased an hp zt1000. The decision to buy was based primarily on price once basic performance criteria were met. I am looking at using it for a while as I won't be able to afford a new one until I am out of school (up to 4yrs, but at least 2). Since I work in an eng lab, specs are a source of bragging rights so I want to know what my options are for upgrading the system. This is what it comes with:
Mobile Pentium 4 1.4 GHz Processor Speed by Step
512MB DDR PC2100 SDRAM Memory
30GB Hard Drive
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Optical Drive
15.1 XFT 1400 * 1050 SVGA+
56K Modem
10M/100M Net adapter
WIRELESS 802.11B Net Adapter
Lithoion-ion Battery (fully working)
The ram is on 2 256 dimms (system max of 1g), so any upgrade will include trading out a dimm. Proccessors on this model were sold up to 1.9ghz but were also made for other machines into the mid 2ghz range. I am particularly concerned with the cpu, ram, and wireless card, and whether or not uprgading any of these would drastically improve performance or be worth the cost. Regular tasks: internet (primary use) at a large university with wireless network (I don't know what kind), word proccessor, ppt presentations with animations and asst graphics, and some pretty advanced molecular modeling software. Any help would be much appreciated.
Jared

 

[jared]

No takers huh? How about these:1. I paid a little over $400, is that a decent price? 2. Can someone direct me to a thread on upgrading some of these items (cpu, ram, hard drive)?
Jared

 

[Bobo]

Thats a great price, whered you get it?

Did it come with a manual? If so, ccheck that.

Google it.

 

[jared]

Ebay. Used but the pictures showed it to be in good cosmetic condition and the seller had pretty good feedback so I took the risk. It's in transit now and my anxiety is still pretty high. I heard buying used laptops on ebay isn't that good of an idea but I work in an electrical engineering lab and the department has two fultime systems techs that fix/upgrade/setup anything we use in the lab for free so I figured if something goes wrong at least I get free labor.
Jared
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6723076048

 

[Praetor]

You have a decent system overall, a good system for that price but certainly no bragging rights (not that bragging right mean shit ... i work in engineering labs too .. the people who brag ... well .. i saw them last term and i dont see them this term).

As for upgrading, you'll be able to relatively easily upgrade the memory. Upgrading the HDD shouldnt be too hard depending on how messy the innards are but upgrading the CPU is a tad tricky and while doable, you'll want to make sure you know what ur doing. Upgrading the video is out of the question

 

[jared]

No manual, but the specs appear consistent with the PCworld review done when the system came out.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/chart_test_report/0,prodid,14169,00.asp
When you say "tricky" and "know what ur doing" can you be more specific? My understanding is that our techs build all the undergrad lab desktops from the ground up. But if this is something that is easily done wrong then I would rather have 1.4ghz than 0. I hear you on the bragging rights deal. The guy I am thinking of is about to get kicked out. But his comments made me think about the long term usefulness of the machine. Since this is going to have to last me 3-5 yrs, I don't want it to become obsolete if it doesn't have to.
thanks for the comments guys.
Jared

 

[Cromewell]

not the fastest p4 you could have in there, laptop cpu upgrades is one of the few I haven't done, video (provided it isn't integrated) and ram are pretty easy to replace, but I'll bet that the ram is the fastest the laptop can support so all you can really do there is make it a bigger number.

 

[Praetor]

CPU 1.9-GHz/1.2-GHz Pentium 4-M

Seems like you're getting a 1.4GHz proc instead fo a 1.9Ghz one....

When you say "tricky" and "know what ur doing" can you be more specific? My understanding is that our techs build all the undergrad lab desktops from the ground up

Trick and know-what-your-doing = whether or not you know how to open up a notebook, pop the heatsink/fan off it, replace the mobile CPU and put it all back together

Since this is going to have to last me 3-5 yrs, I don't want it to become obsolete if it doesn't have to.

Arguably it's already obsolete however since you're doing much gaming, obsolesence isnt as much of a concern. Since you're doing some fancy modelling work however (Solidworks i presume), you might be interested in a faster proc/more memory however since you've already purchased it, upgrading the amount of memory will probably be the most feasible thing. Not much point in worrying about the video card since you're notemphasized on gaming

 

[jared]

Yeah it dosen't come with the 1.9ghz. But the 1.4 was the economy version of this series and they came out around the same time. The zt1000 was offered with 1.4, 1.6,and 1.9 if I remember right. Yes, this is the fastest ram it will take. I am currently on the look out for a 1.9 or 2.0 for a reasonable price, and some 512mb ram. Since it appears this was a decent deal, I'm okay with spending a couple bucks on it if it will make it a better machine. On a different forum I was advised that upgrading the hard drive would boost performance too. I don't really get why, but I am checking them out. I'm confused though, I'm not really into gaming Praetor. Maybe your missing a few words in there?
Jared

 

[jared]

Maybe playful sarcasm?

 

[Praetor]

Upgrading the HDD will give you more space to play with and such but nothing phenomenal as an improvement .... an yeah i was missin a word there (you try thinking after 4 days damn near no sleep heehee)

 

[Bobo]

Sleep instead of replying to us....

At least for 1 day

 

[jared]

Well, it came in two days ago. It powers up without any problems, windows XP has been preloaded. No dead pixels on the screen. I have to wait until monday to get office loaded and set up on the network by the systems guys. He even threw in an 803.11g pc card (zt1000's only came with 802.11b). The only thing I can find wrong is that on the bottom the srew in covers that protect the cpu and ram are sratched a little and the srews are missing on the hard drive (it still snaps in though). In the system properties section, it says there is 504mb of ram (suppose to be two 256 dimms). I don't know how this is possible but I am pretty sure I'll upgrade anyway.
Thanks for the help everyone. This is a pretty cool place even for a novice and I plan on lurking around from time to time.
Jared

 

[Praetor]

Sleep instead of replying to us....
At least for 1 day

Cease this off topic banter.

In the system properties section, it says there is 504mb of ram (suppose to be two 256 dimms). I don't know how this is possible but I am pretty sure I'll upgrade anyway.

2x256 = 512
512 - 8 = 504
The 8MB is what is used by the video chip

This is a pretty cool place even for a novice and I plan on lurking around from time to time.

Glad to hear

 

[Bobo]

2x256 = 512
512 - 8 = 504
The 8MB is what is used by the video chip

Is that integrated video?

On laptops, it says "shared" RAM. Is that shared by the video and the comp?