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General discussion

HP zd8000 vs. Dell Inspiron 9200: Advice please?

Feb 28, 2005 12:00PM PST

Would appreciate guidance on assessing above options, as well as any others respondant sees fit to recommend. Am in the market for a desktop replacement, minimal travel. Primary activities include photo / home video editing as well as work at home & internet. Would also like to set up system as DVR with internal or external tuner. Have had positive experience with Dell desktop, however HP zd8000 appears better suited to media-oriented activity. Primary concern is Pentium 4 (HP) vs. Pentium M (Dell)- have read the Pentium 4 runs hot & loud (fan), plus drains battery. Also have no service experience with HP (vs. good experience with Dell). Looked at Dell xps- seems like too much for my needs. Any insight would be welcome.

Discussion is locked

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P4M - The hot and heavy choice
Feb 28, 2005 12:51PM PST

Bottom line, the advantage of the HP is a TV-Tuner addon direct from HP, better keyboard layout (they give you a numeric keypad!).

The advantage of the i9200 is the battery life, the weight, and the quietness.

I used both recently. I never felt the heat on my fingers on either machine (this was a surprise on the HP), but I used the HP (briefly) on my lap. This is not a laptop. It is a foldable desktop. It's way too hot for your legs. And heavy. I also found both WXGA screens to be nice . . . but the Dell's was brighter.

Plus there was something stylish about the 9200. It's thin and light but big and beautiful at the same time. Put it to you this way: the 9200 made me jealous (i have an 8600), the zd8000 did not.

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My choices, too
Feb 28, 2005 10:16PM PST

I'm down to deciding on these two notebooks. I'm leaning towards Dell. I like the M chip, its stylish look and less weight. I've read some negative reviews re the WUXGA screen but noticed that Dell is not offering this option now - unless there's another method to order it.

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What about HP vs. Dell customer service?
Feb 28, 2005 11:49PM PST

I, too, have been comparing the HP ZD8000 (and its Compaq clone X6000) with the Dell 9200. There are several threads on CNET comparing these 3 computers. Most of the discussion is from gamers, and it seems that the HP is preferred overall for gaming(at least, that's what I get out of the discussion). This, despite the heat and noise from the HP. Some of the negativity re: the Dell was due to its WUXGA screen, which seems to no longer be offered.

How do HP and Dell compare in customer support? Both have horror stories. But, it seems that Dell may come out worse. Maybe, though, this is becase Dell has a bigger market share and more customers. Any comments? (I was leaning toward HP, due to seemingly better customer support.)

Also, for purposes of general computing (websurfing, office work) I was concerned about the suitability of a 17" screen with 1440 x 900 resolution. Will the finer resolution make for too much eye strain in reading text (compared to a 15" XGA 1024 x 768 screen)?Any comments?

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Customer Service
Mar 1, 2005 12:17AM PST

They say that a satisfied customer tells 3 people about his experience, but a dissatisfied customer tells 9 or more.

As you can see with the one guy who seems bent on keeping an anti-Toshiba thread on top of this forum at all times, people can get very worked up.

But you won't hear about the hardworking little 4-year-old Toshiba Satellite that my mom's boss's wife has used, abused, and pushed to the limit. That computer's never broken despite being shoehorned in a small drawer, overheating, being jostled, if not dropped, travelling, and being used by several small children.

You won't hear about a client of mine's new Satellite which is thinner and lighter than my Dell and has equivalent performance, great battery life, and has gone 14 months without any trouble.

You won't hear how Dell opted to replace my hard drive via next-day air to save me the hassle of doing a Hard Drive firmware update. Had I not already heavily customized the computer, I would have been able to replace the whole thing with one screw.

HP's and Dell's support systems are on par. Both are overseas, and both are better over email. If you have a problem, it's best to contact over email, you'll get the quickest response and best communication. For those with a little techinical knowledge, I have found Dell's service to be excellent.

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About Toshiba.
Mar 1, 2005 12:36AM PST

That's a recent issue in regards to their little static issue and lockups. Units from a year ago are very hardworking without that issue.

Since it takes time for the batch of units to work through the pipe my advice is simple. Just wait till midyear to consider Toshiba again. I'm sure they'll sort the issues out, but why should anyone want to gamble that they won't pick up some unit with that issue?

Here's the deal. Toshiba didn't issue a recall on the units. They just admit to the issue and have some replacement parts for those that call in.

With all the fish to choose from, why bother with Toshiba for a short while?

Bob

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more info please
Mar 1, 2005 7:18AM PST

you haven't told us some important factors to consider
I looked at both of these notebooks and I THINK I remember

The dell was more $$$$$
HP had MUCH better specs (especially CPU)
I'm probably gonna get the HP

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CPU Numbers deceiving
Mar 1, 2005 1:04PM PST

Actually we did tell you the most important factors to consider:

Battery life (4 hours or more on the dell versus 2 hours tops on the HP)
Weight (7 lbs+ Dell, 10 lbs+ HP)
Heat (The pentium 4m will run very hot)

In terms of processing power and other features the computers are on par. Read up on the Pentium-M versus Pentium 4 debate (search this forum).

Dell was probably more expensive due to the Centrino components.

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Any comments on the screen size/WXGA+ resolution?
Mar 1, 2005 10:10PM PST

For desktop replacement purposes, is the 17" WXGA+ resolution (1440 x 900) on both the Dell and HP going to be satisfactory, without too much eyestrain, vs. a standard XGA (1024 x 76Cool 15 " screen (when reading text from documents and webpages)?

As far as screen quality, most users seem to like the HP better than the Dell. But, there are also comments that the Dell screen is brighter. Could this just be personal preference?

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Have both.
Mar 1, 2005 10:20PM PST

And on the Compaq with wxga and one without, both are very nice. You can change text size in Windows so I don't see an issue.

Bob