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General discussion

Hp zt3000 questions!

Aug 9, 2004 3:14AM PDT

Im going to order the zt300 tonight and i plan on getting the cheapest hard drive and memory they are offering. I plan to upgrade later and i want to know which of the two is eaiser to upgrade cause i dont really know much about computers and i plan on installing it myself or should i just let best buy do the installing?

Discussion is locked

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 3:21AM PDT

The memory is the easiest to upgrade. Just go to crucial.com or such and get the new memory. If you are thinking generic sticks, then some find out that today's memory technology is outstripping today's users willingness to learn about connectors, speed ratings, what works and more.

The hard disk can be troublesome since the owner may not be willing to buy a pair of adapters to place the new and old drive into a desktop PC to run GHOST to clone the drive. Or the owner may never have learned about BACKUP and will not be able to install a fresh copy of the OS and restore from their backup.

I think upgrading RAM is trivial.

Bob

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 5:07AM PDT

Go to X1000forums.com to make sure you are ordering the best configuration. You will also learn about submitting the $100 rebate instead of the $50 rebate and there are some coupon offers out there. Also, if you are a student you want to order through APP for another 6% off. The HPZT3000 is the same notebook as the Compaq X1000 series (just a different appearance) so the forum covers both

The Pentium M 725 1.6 Dothan is the best cpu to order custom as it is only $50 more than the Pentium M 705 (not Dothan). I think it may be $75 more for an ZT3000 so you should really price both the X1000 and ZT3000 unless you are in love with the HP appearance.

Note for RAM-- 1 slot is under the keyboard. This can be taken out but it is more difficult. The 2nd RAM slot is under the notebook and it is very easy to access (remove screw and pop off cover). .

As Bob said, a new hard drive involves the hassle of reformatting it and transferring data from the original hard drive.

You can order the 5400rpm option from HP/Custom or only a little more and this hard drive access is up to50% faster than the 4200. It is not as fast as the 7200 Hitachi some are getting themselves but it is still very good and it will be under warranty if you get it from HP/Compaq also.

Make sure you get the 64mb dedicated video (only 50 more than 32mb)

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 5:52AM PDT

so my best bet is to get the 60 gig hard drive at 5400 rpm, since i have a lot of music you think i should get an external hard drive to store my music. The laptop is for school use but i also want to have space for music and games.BTW thanks for the info on the APP discount.

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 6:46AM PDT

If you are technologically oriented you can get the 4200rpm hard drive and then put it into an external enclosure later (and buy the Hitachi 7200rpm drive).

A lot of the students that buy these machines also reformat them when they arrive to remove all the junk HP marketing and other programs you don't use off the hard drive.

I however did not do this (you can remove individual programs using the add/remore programs function in control panel) as that is taking a risk you will not reinstall some drivers or other data properly if you are not a techie.

So, yes, the 5400 rpm hard drive option is best if you are not trying to squeeze every dollar in value out of the notebook (by ordering later as you should do by ordering 256mb of memory from HP and adding your own 256mb or better 512mb later for less).

You can, of course order an external USB 2.0 or firewire (firewire port if 4 pin not 6 pin so you need 2nd USB port to power it if you don't plug the external hard drive in separately)hard drive for your music file use. There are 3 USB 2.0 ports and 1 4 pin firewire on the notebook.

Again, look at the general boards on X1000forums.com --it also shows you how to order through Fatcash to get an additional 5% cash back in addition to the $100 rebate and APP discounts (that is a portal pass through that will give you the money back via Paypal or another method later-- window pop up stays on while ordering at HP and then credits your account on Fatcash).

Also pay close attention to the postings about any new coupon (but some are not applicable with APP education 6% credit). Also note that some companies have an EPP credit of 12% with HP/Compaq but you can't get both (EPP and APP).

Here is my recommended spec for you:

Intel 725 Intel Pentium M 1.6ghz Dothan
(1.7 is $125 higher -- 1.8 and 2.0 are outrageously higher)2mb L2 cache (705 1.5 for $50 less only has 1mb)

5400 rpm 60gb hard drive

256mb RAM(cheaper to add your own 2nd RAM module later)

64mb dedicated video (only $50 more than 32mb and NOT Upgradable later)

Intel 2200 54g/b wi-fi (don't get slower Intel 2100 b for $ more) -- you can add Bluetooth option for only $19 more

XGA 15.4" LCD (you may be interested in moving up +50 to SXGA or $100 to UXGA resolution but make sure you know what you want. XGA 1200x800 (widescreen) is good for most people not doing heavy spreadsheet work and needing more pixels (but LCD's only have 1 native resolution). UXGA is extreme and SXGA sometimes have been getting the Hitachi LCD which you don't want (there are several LCD manufacturers on HP/Compaq and you want a Samsung or LG). You are more likely to be ok on the standard XGA.

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 7:08AM PDT

I left off the recommendation for the CD-RW/DVD ROM drive -- if you want a DVD burner it is $200 more and it is only DVD + -- look at the Toshiba M35S456 I mentioned below if you want a DVD burner (and it is multiformat).

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 7:43AM PDT

thanks for all the help

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 7:07AM PDT

By the way, you mentioned possibly ordering at Best buy versus ordering from HP/Compaq custom.

Best Buy through Saturday 8/14/04 has 2 years no interest financing on any notebook with an Intel cpu (Pentium M Centrino or Pentium 4M). They do have the HPZT3340US on sale for 1250.00 after rebates which is a decent price - and if you are a student who needs to $ now for other use then it is a good deal.

But note: this model has the 705 Pentium M Banias (1mb L2 cache) not the Dothan. It is not a huge difference but only get this at Best Buy if you want to get the free 2 year financing. Also, this model only has 32mb gb video and has 512RAM and a 60gb 4200rpm hard drive.

Also for the hard drive issue (ordering 5400 rpm custom or getting custom 30gb 4200 rpm hard drive (Cheapest) and then adding your own Hitachi 7200 later -- the 5400 rpm is up to 50% faster than the 4200 and the Hitachi is up to 20% faster than the 5400. Some students sell the smaller original 4200 on Ebay or add it to an external enclosure. The Hitachi 7200 can be purchased for $200 or under at newegg, etc.

I have an X1360US compaq X1000 series that is very similar to the Best Buy HPZT3340US but it has a 1.4 Banias Pentium M. But I got this in May 2004 before all the new Dothan cpus came out.

Note, Doom 3 will only play on 64mb video or above so if you will play games go custom.

One more option: if you want the Best buy 2 year no interest financing and you want a notebook that is very similar to the HPZT3000 but has the Dothan 735 Pentium M 1.7, 80gb 4200 hard drive, 512 mb RAM, 64gb dedicated video Nvidia, DVD burner (multiformat) 54g/b wi-fi and also the new hi contrast Trubrite LCD -- look no further -- it is the Toshiba M35S456 also on sale for 1850 at Best Buy. The DVD burner adds $200 and the 1.7 Pentium M adds $125 to what you could get for less on the HP (but without Trubrite).

Also, however, Toshiba has a 10% discount on all custom order notebooks on its website (so you can build it as you want) but I don't think they have the APP student discount.

Both of these notebooks are outstanding and both have the 15.4" LCD --the key advantage to the Toshiba is you want it is the XGA only Trubrite. The harmon/kardon speakers are slightly better but both are good for a notebook.

The Compaq/HP has a better keyboard feel, lower price (especially if ordering custom with APP).

The weight is 6.2 for Toshiba and 6.5 for HP/Compaq and both get similar 3.5-4 hours battery life using wi-fi 100% or more not using that.

The Toshiba has the DVD multiformat burner and HP only has the DVD+ burner but if you just order the CD-RW/DVD ROM that issue will not matter ($200 less)

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 8:07AM PDT

If i get the Hitachi 7200 dont i still have to reformat my hard drive. Wouldn't this be eaiser order the 30 gig copy the info to the external HD then replace the 30 gig with the Hitachi 7200 then transfer the info in the external HD to the Hitachi 7200. Is this even possible?

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 9:20AM PDT

As Bob (the moderator) stated you use Symantic Ghost or some other program to transfer the data.

Yes, what most people do is get the cheapest hard drive (the 4200 speed 30gb) and then use that to transfer the data to the Hitachi 7200 via Ghost (you could ask at X1000forums.com how to do that). Note that there is a proprietary connector you have to take off the hard drive you receive from HP and then you transfer that to the new hard drive when installing it for it to work.

Then, in theory they sell the old hard drive on Ebay)but you supposedly have to buy an enclosure for it do that).

So, if you want better performance (and the 1 year warranty along with the other notebook parts) then just getting the 5400rpm hard drive through HP is easier (you can still reformat it is you want without going through all this Ghost stuff).

And, of course, you can switch hard drives but it will not be under the HP/Compaq warranty and if you order the 5400 hard drive it will be under the same warranty coverage for 1 year (or 2 years with qualifying credit cards -- see below).

One caveat: the higher speed you go the louder the notebook will be. The X1000/ZT3000 does not even have any fan noise at normal use (turns on only with DVD drive, hard drive, etc) so moving up to the 7200 will likely lead to more noise (but those who want maximum performance don't care).

Last thing, if you order with a Gold or Platinum credit card that has the warranty doubling provisions you can get a 2 year warranty for no extra cost (1 through HP/ 1 though your credit card).

The combined American Express Platinum rebate card / Costco card (membership on back) had this so I bought it using that card (and you get back 1.5% cash back when you go over 5,000 purchases in 1 year also).

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 10:13AM PDT

I think getting the 60 gig 5400 HD would be eaiser and i'll just add another 60 gig external HD for my games and music. Would the 1.7ghz boost the laptops performance over the 1.6ghz or are they almost equal. Thanks for all the help.

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Re: Hp zt3000 questions!
Aug 9, 2004 12:26PM PDT

Yes, I think it is easier to just get the 5400rpm hard drive from HP.

No, you will not notice much of anything going from the 1.6 Dothan to the 1.7 Dothan and you will save $125 to use for more RAM (somebody saw 512mb of RAM for $69 after rebates -- PNY at Compusa. See X1000forums or your external hard drive.

Also, this 5400 speed hard drive has been certified by HP for use and the 7200 speed also works but HP is not offering it at all (Dell does).

If you are satisfied with 512RAM or 768 mb RAM order only 256mb RAM and add the 512RAM yourself cheaper (PC2700 -- 333mhz).

If you want 1gb order the 512mb 1 memory stick option (not 2 256mb) and then add 512mb yourself later.

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installing new hard drive on HP zt 3000 laptop
Dec 21, 2008 7:20AM PST

are steo by step instructions available for this procedure?
does it require an experienced technician to succeed?

thank you