Ken,
your post is timely as I did receive my Costco coupon and am in the process of buying a new notebook.
You stated >>don't need dedicated video RAM<<....and thus my question.
I want to use my notebook to do video editing of movies from my camcorder. will this create a problem?
Gail Jorgensen
For those of you who want a notebook under 5.5 pounds and don't need dedicated video RAM the HPDV1000 (with remote control and instant on DVD/CD functions) and the similar Gateway Pentium M are great options (but no remote or instant on for Gateway I think)..
Here is the deal ---Costco just mailed out a coupon to Costco members good for the week of January 31-Feb 6 (Monday-Saturday). The HPDV1000 series model there was sold for a very competitive $1299 over Christmas. Now, if you buy during the period above you get a $150 instant discount (not a mail in rebate) so the final price is $1149 out the door (and this is at retail so you don't have to wait for a custom order).
Costco has a 6 month return policy (for any reason) on top of the HP 1 year limited warranty.
Specs include the Dothan Pentium M 735 1.7 mhz cpu (which is a bit faster than the 1.6 725 and worth about $50 more), a DVD+ burner and CD-RW, the 14" Briteview LCD, a 60gb 4200rpm hard drive, 512mb PC2700 notebook RAM (could be 2 sticks or one)and the HP quickplay and remote as mentioned above.
The reason for this outstanding pricing at retail is that new Centrino Notebook models with the upgraded bus speed, memory speed, etc will be coming out soon after in February-March.
But for those who like this notebook it has everything and you won't beat that $1149 price at retail with a Costco 6 month return to boot (Best buy, Circuit City, etc is 14 days return with a restocking fee unless defective).
The only drawbacks are that the DVD burner is DVD+ only but that is only a drawback if trying to play a burned DVD in a player that only plays DVD- (multiformat is preferable). But for this price a DVD+ burner is better than no DVD burner at all.
And, this does not have dedicated video memory but you won't find that on many notebooks under 5.5 pounds.
Again, this coupon is in the Costco Wholesale wallet mailed out this week and good from Jan 31-Feb 6th only--if you join costco or are a member and don't get a wallet mailed to you (with many other discounts also) than request one from the customer service desk

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