I just bought a notebook!

z-component

For university, I've decided to buy a notebook PC. I have an HP desktop now so I'm staying with HP. I placed an order for the HP Pavilion dv5000z. Here're the specs:

OS: XP Home with SP2
Processor: AMD Turion 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
Display: 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800)
Graphics card: 128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200M w/Hypermemory
Memory: 1GB DDR 400MHz
HD: 80GB 5400 RPM
Optical drive: DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
Network card: 54g 802.11b/g WLAN w/"SpeedBooster"
Battery: 12 Cell Li-on

I also got a free HP All-in-One printer (after rebate).
Since it's usually cheaper to buy memory aftermarket, I did just that and saved abour $100. My grand total came to about $1100, which is right on my budget.

This is a budget notebook for general purpose and will be perfect for what I need it to do. This makes my current 1.2GHz 60GB 640MB RAM HP Pavilion look so ancient.

Now I just have to wait until mid-April for it to be delivered. :(





http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/d...07&part=glance
Visit for a full review and some more pictures of this handsome notebook.

ranger

I envy you Thats a great notebook z.c. Mayb you should have opted for XP Pro instead of XP Home though.

Evo

Very nice z-c!!!!

z-component

Thanks ranger and Evo! I'm so excited but I have a week before it's even build. I've only owned a notebook once before and only for less than a year (it was a Dell Latitude I got from eBay) and nothing was wrong with it, but I sold it later on. While I'm not new to computers, shopping for notebooks is a new experience. I like how HP lets you customize your notebook so you can pick your hardware and even save some money, but at the same time I had to consult a special online forum just for notebooks in order to get my questions answered. I had no idea if a Pentium Core Duo is better than a Turion 64 and I had no idea that most PC manufacturers overcharge memory as much as they do. So for anyone who's buying a new computer, you should usually order the cheapest RAM they offer (unless it's some great deal) and then buy it aftermarket from places like NewEgg and mwave. That's an important lesson I learned without making that mistake myself. I also learned that, for me, computer shopping these days is much different than it was 5 years ago! I'll never buy retail notebooks again! Customization all the way! Are there any of you out there who bought a notebook recently?

FredGarvin

That's pretty much the same laptop I have. It is pretty sweet. I have run some pretty big Mathematica computations on it and it doesn't skip a beat. I love mine so far. I have had no issues with it. I must admit, I am hooked on the widescreen too. It's pretty sweet.

ComputerGeek

Should have gone with the Core Duo. Intel has the lock on the power efficiency with its Centrino platform. AMD has to catch up in that respect.

Ivan Seeking

I just got a new D810 - Dell Latitude. In fact, this is only my second time on the internet using it.

I have learned that for my business it's better to max out now and make the machine last three years rather than buying down and more often. So for the next six months, I be bad: Similar but 2GB ram, 100 Gig drive at 7200 rpm, 8X DVD+/-RW [double density], wireless... I was still on USB 1 as well, so this should be much better.

I'm really glad that I bought that 1394 port last time. That came in really handy...NOT!!!

z-component

The Turion is the perfect balance between budget and efficiency, in my opinion. Besides, the Intel model came with a SATA hard disk, which would only make things more complicated when I reformat as soon as I get my notebook, as it requires a floppy drive or a modified Windows CD for installing special drivers, and I don't feel like doing any of that!

That's cool, Ivan. I made sure to order a whole 1GB stick and not two 512's so that I can buy another gig if I need to later on. Or I should say, if I want to, since I doubt I'll need 2GB. :)

Ivan Seeking

For me, in two years I'll probably be running into memory limitations. My experience has been that the hardware barely keeps ahead of the software. Not to mention that I often end up with five or six memory intensive programs open all at once! And the worst of it is that as RAM and HDD run out, the price is time; waiting, and waiting, and waiting... A gutless machine once cost me a big customer. That won't happen again.

Have I given sufficient rationalization to justify this to my wife?