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General discussion

HP's zd8000; XBrite?; & Gaming Laptops Recommends?

Mar 30, 2005 3:19AM PST

I am just about to make my final decision on which notebook to purchase. So, far HP's zd8000 looks very promising. I will customize it so that it comes with: 100 gig HD, 1 gig of ram, & 256mb ATI x600 as the most noteable features under the hood. All of this for nearly 2 grand, which is a steal, comparing to what I was going to buy before which was 2700.

Btw, I must add that I finally saw an "XBrite" screen today. Wow, my intial comment was "amazing". What other screen technologies use this great feature and are there CONS to this screen? (for e.g. it's bad for games, etc.)

So, could I get anyone's opinion on this big purchase as this will be my first notebook buy! Or am I looking in a completely wrong direction and HP is not the way to go?

~Thank you in advance for your inputs!

Discussion is locked

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Maybe you should take a look at this...
Mar 30, 2005 4:21AM PST

First of all that is a awesome notebook and HPs are pretty good. BUT!... You should take a look at the Dell Inspiron 9300. http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=i9300S1&s=dhs

That has a pentium M processor. Even though its 1.6GHz (You can get up to 2.0) It actually performs as good as a pentium 4 3.0GHz. It also has the option for a Nvidia GeForce 6800 go!!! That is about the best mobile GPU you can get. Its 2x as good at the ATi x600 (which is good too). Also but what you really need to know is they had a 8 day deal where if you enter this coupon "PG4C$S21G58WSF" while in the shopping cart section, it will take off $800!!!

So you can get a 17in screen, 1.6GHz Pentium M, 1GB of RAM, 256mb Nvidia 6800 Go, the longer lasting 5-6 hour battery (The ZD8000 get 1 hour), a cd burner- dvd combo, a 100GB hard drive, and many other little things suck as a built in subwoofer for $1,400... no THAT is a steal. I suggest you hurry... that deal ENDS TODAY! I really really wanted to get that notebook but unfortunetly my mom was unable to get the money in time.

If you are unable to get that the ZD8000 is still a very nice notebook. The only thing not good about it really is its processor that creates too much heat and noise (3 fans!). Also because its not a mobile processor and it 2.8GHz, it only gets a 1 hour battery life.

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i was going to
Mar 30, 2005 5:26AM PST

I was gonna get the ZD8000, but
someone told me about how much better the battery life was with the centrino systems. From what I read it is true that centrino systems are 2x as fast as their rated speeds (2ghz centrino=4ghz p4). Also, I'd like my machine more portable than the zd8000 is. So, I'm gonna get the Laditude D810 (referbished to save money, and can buy the same warantee). If you want the big 17 in screen get the 9300, again, I'd do referbished. I've read great things about the 8000, but I think the centrino chip will be better.
Hope this helps

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Yah...
Mar 30, 2005 7:27AM PST

The cnetrinos (Pentium M s) do get awesome battery life and are very powerfull.... but it comes at a price. A pretty hefty price. Dell charges you $400 to upgrade from a 1.6Ghz to a 2.0Ghz... Also the ZD8000 has Hyper Threading which may be only usefull for people who multitask, but still... it's something the Pentium Ms dont have.

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Let's talk budget
Mar 30, 2005 9:04AM PST

Any similarly equipped pentium M system is going to cost more than its Pentium 4 counterpart. But as has been discussed here at LENGTH, the zd8000 may be the choice for some people. The Dell 9300 doesn't offer all the frills of the zd but if you value a quiet, light, long-lasting, solid computer, the Dell 9300 has more value.

Bottom line is, if you NEED top-of-the-line graphics, and you NEED a 17" screen, and you CANT spend the money for the Dell, then the zd8000 is what you should get.

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agreed
Mar 30, 2005 11:02AM PST

agreed, but if money is an issue check out ther referb systems.

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HELP! What is Pent. M?; Gaming?
Apr 1, 2005 7:45AM PST

Here's a little update on my notebook adventure.
I like to cram a bunch of questions into one post, forgive me.

So, to start off, what is pentium M? If I said 1 ghz, is it really 1.5 ghz? Help.

Anyway, my brother has gotten ahold of 2 Sony Vaio notebooks for a very affordable price. One is a "360P" and the other "140" T model I think.

Ok, the 360P has a 1.7 ghz processor w/ 64mb of video memory. The T140 model has a 1.1 ghz processor,..

The point is, is 64mb of ati video going to cut it for games these days? AND, since it's NOT the latest 64-bit ready processors, is that a downfall? As for gaming, I assume it won't be enough for Doom 3, but is there any hope to play it still?

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Uhh...
Apr 1, 2005 9:56AM PST

A 1GHz Pentium M (or centrino) would be more like 1.8GHz compared to a normal desktop computer. However, Pentium M processor's low end is 1.4 and 1.6GHz.

Also 64MB of anything isnt going to run any "good looking" game well. 128MB is almost a standard. Also the amt of ram a GPU has doesnt mean anything. For example, a ATi mobility x600 with 128MB of RAM is like 4 times as good as a intell extreem graphics 2 with 256MB of RAM. (lesson here is dont buy GPUs from anyone other then ATi and Nvidia).

However that ATi GPU will probobly be able to run modern games, just no where near its full graphics level.

And for 64 bit processors... not a problem. 64 bit technology is not even mastered yet. Also 64 bit isnt going to make a big difference.

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Ah.. I see
Apr 1, 2005 5:41PM PST

Ah, I see now. I always that that if it's 1 ghz, it's only 1 ghz.. but I guess it's way more than that actually in desktop form.

I'm pretty sure I won't be running any high-end games with it, ati 64mb should be quite enough. There are notebooks that don't even have this feature at all, just shared memory, which isn't so good.

After all, the notebook i'm looking at, is like 4 pounds, very thin.