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Looking for something new

post #1 of 8
9/26/05 at 4:28am
Thread Starter 
A few weeks ago I started looking around for a replacement to my

HP Pavilion ze4000
15'' screen
AMD Athlon 2800+ 2.12 ghz
512 MB DDR (added a second card after purchase)
60 GB 4200 RPM HDD
64 MB Integrated ATi 320M

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A little info about me, I am working on my Masters Degree and have busy job.

I started looking into some of the Sager lines, the NP 3880 caught my eye because of the styling. The set up was ok, but I am not really a gamer. I am more of a programmer/systems/white hat, but have been known to go black hat.

I don't play alot of video games, but I do hang out with some gamers though. So I really didn't want to hear any things about a weak graphics card, but when it comes down to it I am a business oriented guy so...

The Asus lines caught my eye, especially the Z70a,V, Va. I like the sharp and professionaly disign to it.

What I am wondering is would this be a a good trade off, my old notebook weighs about 15 lbs and gets real hot, my palms sweat when I use the thing.

I am not cheap when it comes to PCs, but I don't believe in paying out the butt for something, I look for the best deal.

Here is what I am looking at:

Pentium M 730
1 GB DDR2 Ram
60 GB HDD (I am a big fan of seagate)
wireless

How is the graphics of the Z70A? I dont' really like integrated, but if it performs well and doesn't still performance from the CPU then I am up for it.
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post #2 of 8
9/26/05 at 4:48am
z70va's great in my opinion. Graphics are good and it gets pretty decent battery life if you need it to be portable.
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post #3 of 8
9/26/05 at 12:37pm
Z70A's integrated graphics do not perform well for gaming or any graphic related task. Also, the screen on the Z70A is only a WXGA, and you will probably want the higher resolution WSXGA+ on the Z70V or Z70VA.

Games really determine which one of the two you should get though. If you play graphically intense games, like BF2, Doom 3, FC, HL2, etc, you'll want the Z70VA. But if you're just playing older games, the 64MB X600 in the Z70V will work just fine.

Also, the Z70VA comes equipped with internal bluetooth, whereas the Z70V does not. This may be a selling point for you if you want to use a bluetooth mouse, as you won't have to deal with a dongle sticking out the back.

But in all honesty, the price difference between the Z70V and Z70VA is minimal for what you get. There really is little reason to choose the Z70V anymore, as the Z70VA gives you a much better graphics card, as well as internal bluetooth, all in the same chassis, for only about $100 more. It's hard to beat that.
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post #4 of 8
9/26/05 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
I am leaning toward the Z70Va. I can afford it, I just don't know if I want to be throwing the money out for it when I don't pay games (at all), purely DVD, Programming, Net, etc.
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post #5 of 8
9/26/05 at 2:53pm
How much are you going to travel? With your requirements, you could easily get a smaller and lighter notebook than the Z70 series that performs perfectly for what you're going to be doing. (Z63A or W3V, which are 14" widescreen models)

If watching a current generation DVD will be the most graphics intensive task you do, integrated graphics will work just fine. However, high definition DVD's are the future, and if you want to watch stuff like Windows Media HD Videos, you're going to need a graphics card for that.

The Z70VA's 128MB X700 is definitely overkill for your needs. But the X600 in the W3V or Z70V would work perfectly if you want a graphics card. If you don't and you think you'll be fine with intgrated graphics, go with the Z70A, or the Z63A.

Oh, and it also depends on what kind of screen you want. The W3V and the Z63A have Colorshine, or glare-type screens. The Z70A and Z70V have a matte screen.
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post #6 of 8
9/28/05 at 3:42am
Thread Starter 
I am still very interested in the Z70va, but I hear so much about fan problems.
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post #7 of 8
9/28/05 at 4:19am
The fan noise is subjective.
Personally I do not think it's bothering, but some people want noise level specs...
If you're an audiophile like myself, you will know specs mean nothing in the Audio World.
Listening first hand will give you the best results.

Most resellers offer a fair return policy.
If the noise is completely unacceptable, we will take it back within 15 days.

Also, some people here posted about this "issue":
http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=106819

Hope this helps!
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post #8 of 8
9/28/05 at 7:51pm
In your case, I'd say the Z70V is more than adequate. Really the only thing the Z70Va gives over the non-refresh is the X700 and in some cases, Bluetooth. If you're not into gaming much, the X600 will be more than enough. And you save some money going that way as well.
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