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New laptop buyer needs help!!

post #1 of 12
2/15/05 at 9:09pm
Thread Starter 
Hello everybody! I will be buying my first laptop here in the next couple of weeks...I do not know enough about computers to make the purchase on my own, and I was wondering if someone with some expertise could help me out! I have decided on the hp zv5000 series, but had a few things I wanted to know before I purchased it. I keep hearing good things about the AMD Athlon 64 processor, and was wondering if the AMD 3400+ is comparable to the Pentium IV 3.2 Ghz. If it helps, I will be using my laptop mostly for school applications (grad school work as an intern in a hospital: requires basic applications such as word, excel, etc.) and for multimedia! I don't play video games, but would like the best quality possible for DVD and Music playback. Does the graphics card in these computers determine the quality of movie playback, or is it exclusive to video game graphics....The AMD 3400+ model comes with a 64 MB Nvidia, whereas the Pentium IV 3.2 comes with a ATI radeon 9000 IGP. I am in a bind, and don't want to make a mistake on my first laptop purchase. Can anyone please help me out? What would you do?

Thanks in Advance!!

Mike
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post #2 of 12
2/15/05 at 9:26pm
I have some of the same questions as you do. I hope someone replies.
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post #3 of 12
2/15/05 at 11:58pm
I just bought an R3000Z with an AMD64 3200+ which is comparable to the Pentium 3.2 Ghz so the AMD 3400+ is faster then a Pentium 3.2. I love my R3000Z, the AMD processor is very fast and the NVIDIA graphics card is decent for playing games. I would highly recommend the R3000Z over any Pentium 4 laptops. I hope this helps you with your decision.
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post #4 of 12
2/16/05 at 1:49am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the feedback......Do more of you think the same? Any input would be awesome! Thanks again everyone!
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post #5 of 12
2/16/05 at 2:49am
The Whole AMD and INTEL debate from what I read is just a personal preference. Both the Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 are good processors. I have noticed that the A64 doesn't use as much power so if the notebook has a desktop A64 it would require less power and perhaps have a little bit better battery life over a desktop p4. The graphics don't matter with DVD playback.

Here is a list of things I look for when buying a notebook.
1. Brand reputation.
2. Processor inside
3. memory type and amount
4. HD space
5. Speed of HD. 5400 mainstream now. 7200 is best.
6. OS (personally I will only buy pro)
7. Battery life (especially important if traveling is needed), capacity (MAh) and cells.
8. Graphics (I will only buy one with a ATI, NVIDIA, or Intel)
9. Screen size
10. Weight
11. Don't trust retail stores, do your homework before making a decision. I made that mistake and I bought a lemon with a very poor graphics.
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post #6 of 12
2/16/05 at 6:30am
Any laptop with widescreen display would be excellent for watching movies! Since you do not play video games, any graphic card in today laptop will do. I would recommend: 15.4 widescreen display if you want to carry it around, if not than a 17 in. widescreen display. Also if you want longer battery life and light weight laptop than get an Intel Centrino.
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post #7 of 12
2/16/05 at 7:34pm

Athlon versus Pen on a laptop

Take look at the threads that came as a response to my recent post which was titled as follows, its on this same page as your post

"compaq R3000T series--any comments?"

The Pen will produce more heat and use more of your battery life. In desktop doesn't matter, in laptop it does matter.
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post #8 of 12
2/16/05 at 9:36pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all of your responses.....I guess I have pretty much figured out everything I want in a computer.....I am ready to purchase after I have one more question answered for me.....do I need 100 GB hard drive, or would 60 GB be adequate. I keep hearing that If I store a lot of video clips and music on my computer than I should go with the 100.....I guess what I want to know is what is "a lot." I'll probably keep some music on it at all times, as well as all of my pictures.....however, I am not a photographer with 1000's of pictures, and all of my music collection is on CD's.....I can afford to pay the $125.00 for the upgrade, but I don't want to if I don't have to I guess! Any feedback on this should help with my final decision! Thanks again everyone!

Mike
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post #9 of 12
2/17/05 at 12:30am
go smaller, you can get an external hard drive and enclosure for less than $125
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post #10 of 12
2/17/05 at 1:59pm

hard drive size

I concur, if you don't need to have daily access to all your stuff, go with an external harddrive, these days you can buy a 4.4 gigabyte flash or jump drive that literally fits in your pocket (just bumped into one on the web the other day, didn't know they made such things:, additionally with a cd burner on board you can burn and store you photos on disks, easily. Good luck, I just ordered the compaq presario R3000Z after hearing lots of positive feedback on this website, additionally, if you are grad student, or postdoc, you will get an educational discount from compaq.....every little bit helps!
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post #11 of 12
2/17/05 at 3:03pm
www.notebookreview.com
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post #12 of 12
2/24/05 at 7:47am
I bought my first laptop a few months ago from HP and the product was fine. Just pray you never need service from them. Whatever you spend your money on, get some input on their service.
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