Here is my early review of the ZV6000, and some comparisons to an Inspiron 9300 I returned. I will highlight the 9300 parts in blue to prevent confusion.
HP ZV6000:
15.4 in glossy brightview widescreen
Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0Ghz, 512kb cache) Socket 939 .13um NewCastle
chipset: Radeon RS480, southbridge: SB400, HP motherboard model 3085
ATI xpress 200m 128Mb dedicated graphics
1Gb (512x2) Nanya DDR pc2700 cl 2.5 ram
80Gb 5400rpm Seagate Momentus
DVD/CDRW combo drive
Broadcom wireless b/g with bluetooth
HP standard 1 year warranty
price: $914 (after $200 rebates)
for comparison:
Inspiron 9300:
LG WXGA+ 17in non-glossy, Pentium M 2.0, 256Mb Geforce 6800 Go, 1Gb DDR2, 60Gb 7200rpm HD, DVD/CDRW combo, Intel 2915 a/b/g, dell case, 3 yr complete care warranty
price: $1868 (after $130 rebates)
So first of all, I'm not saying these are two equivalent systems in all aspects. Gaming wise, the zv6000 can't compare to the i9300, but for other purposes, they are both good desktop replacement systems. If you are a gamer who plays all the latest fps at high detail, then the zv6000 is not for you.
SCREEN:
I returned my I9300 because the screen had silver whites and an overall metallic quality that made some tasks very annoying. Darker colors were very vivid and punchy though. It was a non-glare normal LCD, but the viewing angles were very bad, with noticeable changes by just small head movements. So going into this purchase, one of my biggest concerns was the LCD.
My zv6000 screen is the glossy brightview version. Overall, it is a very nice screen and I am satisfied. It gives a nice liquid-like effect. The colors seem to be not as "punchy" as the LG on the dell, but the whites are solid and overall good color representation. Glare is only a problem on dark backgrounds or on low brightness. I haven't had a lot of time with the brightview yet, so I wouldn't say yet that I prefer it over a good non-glossy display. But, if the dell had this screen, I wouldn't have returned it.
Neither screen arrived with dead pixels.
PERFORMANCE:
Well, both are fast. Since I don't have the 9300 to compare, I can't run any identical tests. Also, the HP came stock with even more bloatware than the dell, so I might not have even seen its true potential yet. But neither system is lacking in the processing area.
On the 9300, the 60Gb Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm drive made slight ticking sounds even at idle. It wasn't enough to be a problem for me, but I notice the difference in noise now with the 5400 momentus.
The 80Gb 5400rpm Seagate Momentus in the zv6000 is silent by comparison with no ticking. You can hear some seeks if you listen for them, but still quiet. Some programs seem to take slightly longer to load, including the winxp boot. I don't think the rpm difference should be that noticeable between these sizes, so the extra bloatware might be to blame. I will have to see what happens after I reinstall the OS. Others have already reported dramatic improvements in performance after the fresh install on the zv6000.
I had thought this chipset was supposed to support dual channel, but all indications are that only single channel is functional. I don't know enough about the technology to know if this is something that can be changed with a bios update or the type of ram used.
The BIOS is one of the most basic I have ever seen, with hardly any options other than to add the extra shared 128Mb video memory, and almost no information about the current setup or devices. Hopefully, future updates will help out here.
SPEAKERS:
The predecessor to the ZV6000 (zv5000) had harmon kardon speakers, which were high quality according to other reviews and my own brief observations at a store. For the zv6000, HP decided to ditch the harmon kardons and added non-branded speakers. I think they are good quality, but not the best I have heard. Nothing I've heard so far from them has made me say "wow".
The dell 9300 had a subwoofer which helped out a lot and created a better sounding experience than the zv6000 with more bass and overall less mono-qualities. The 9300 wins here. If I had not heard the 9300 sound, I would probably think higher of the zv6000 speakers.
GPU:
No contest here. The 9300 has an NVidia 6800 Go with 256Mb memory. 3dmark05 score: 2970 if I remember correctly.
The zv6000 has an ATI Radeon Xpress 200m with 128Mb dedicated memory and an additional option for 128Mb more from the system memory configurable in the bios. Although this is technically not "integrated video" like the intel options, I think it was meant to compete in that arena. It is a much better performer than any integrated setup currently out there, and should run most existing games well. But the most demanding games will require you to lower the resolution or details to get decent frame rates. It is DX9 compatible, but its performance is below an x300, so don't buy this system for any bleeding edge gaming.
3dmark05 score: 673 / 3dmark03: 1435 / 3dmark01 SE: 5431
Heat, Fans, and Battery Usage:
The zv6000 is very cool for a desktop replacement. If you just surf the web or edit documents, it will stay very cool. The keyboard and touchpad area never get hot with casual use. The bottom of the laptop gets slightly warm, but using it on your lap would not be a problem whatsoever. It does get warmer on the bottom while you're charging the battery though. When you really stress the CPU, the exhaust heat will instantly rise, but it's still not very hot.
At idle, using mobilemeter, the cpu (at 1Ghz) shows 37 degrees, the hard drive shows 32 degrees.
At 100% CPU usage (2Ghz), mobilemeter showed 58 degrees. It took about 2 minutes of sustained 100% usage to make the fans ramp up higher. After returning to lower usage, the fans ramped down to base levels immediately.
I think the 9300 felt warmer to the touch, but the GPU was probably the culprit.
The fans of the zv6000 are not silent. If you are in a silent room, you will hear a low hum. It's not loud like a room fan, but it is noticeable. If you are in a room with a tv or music on, you won't notice it. The fans are also almost flush with where the laptop hits the ground, which seems like a design flaw to me.
The battery life is quite good for a desktop replacement with this power and a desktop processor. I either can't find the option to display estimated time left or it is not a feature, so I used a stopwatch. With casual use consisting of wired surfing the web, typing this review, and some streaming music on the 4th from the highest brightness level, I hit the following percentage of battery left at the times indicated:
with 8 cell battery:
1hr 7min - 50%
1hr 21min - 40%
1hr 34 min - 30%
1hr 47 min - 20%
2hr 1 min - 10%
2hr 7 min - 5% warning of impending doom
With the 12 cell option, you can probably expect an extra hour under casual use.
CONSTRUCTION:
I like the looks of the zv6000. It's not too flashy, but respectable. It also feels very solid and has an excellent keyboard with almost no flex. I am suspicious that some parts were skimped on to keep the price low, but so far I haven't found any except possibly the fan and speakers. It is a little larger and heavier than other 15.4 widescreen notebooks (~8 lbs), but for semi-mobile users like myself, it's not a problem. I wouldn't recommend it for heavy travelers.
The keyboard feels very similar, if not identical to the i9300 keyboard.
One RAM slot and the hard drive are user accessible with a screwdriver on the bottom of the laptop. The 2nd RAM slot is under the keyboard, which would require you to pop off a few panels and screws to disassemble it.
Click here for full specs of the HP ZV6000: HP site specs
My zv6000 also came with a 6in1 media card reader, IR port, firewire, bluetooth, and other options you can find listed on HPshopping.com, but since I haven't had a chance to use them, I won't discuss them here.
So for the price, I think it was an excellent deal. If it was over $1200, I would have went for other laptops with better gpus. But so far, I am happy with this purchase.
Ask any other questions you have, and I'll try to answer.
HP ZV6000:
15.4 in glossy brightview widescreen
Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0Ghz, 512kb cache) Socket 939 .13um NewCastle
chipset: Radeon RS480, southbridge: SB400, HP motherboard model 3085
ATI xpress 200m 128Mb dedicated graphics
1Gb (512x2) Nanya DDR pc2700 cl 2.5 ram
80Gb 5400rpm Seagate Momentus
DVD/CDRW combo drive
Broadcom wireless b/g with bluetooth
HP standard 1 year warranty
price: $914 (after $200 rebates)
for comparison:
Inspiron 9300:
LG WXGA+ 17in non-glossy, Pentium M 2.0, 256Mb Geforce 6800 Go, 1Gb DDR2, 60Gb 7200rpm HD, DVD/CDRW combo, Intel 2915 a/b/g, dell case, 3 yr complete care warranty
price: $1868 (after $130 rebates)
So first of all, I'm not saying these are two equivalent systems in all aspects. Gaming wise, the zv6000 can't compare to the i9300, but for other purposes, they are both good desktop replacement systems. If you are a gamer who plays all the latest fps at high detail, then the zv6000 is not for you.
SCREEN:
I returned my I9300 because the screen had silver whites and an overall metallic quality that made some tasks very annoying. Darker colors were very vivid and punchy though. It was a non-glare normal LCD, but the viewing angles were very bad, with noticeable changes by just small head movements. So going into this purchase, one of my biggest concerns was the LCD.
My zv6000 screen is the glossy brightview version. Overall, it is a very nice screen and I am satisfied. It gives a nice liquid-like effect. The colors seem to be not as "punchy" as the LG on the dell, but the whites are solid and overall good color representation. Glare is only a problem on dark backgrounds or on low brightness. I haven't had a lot of time with the brightview yet, so I wouldn't say yet that I prefer it over a good non-glossy display. But, if the dell had this screen, I wouldn't have returned it.
Neither screen arrived with dead pixels.
PERFORMANCE:
Well, both are fast. Since I don't have the 9300 to compare, I can't run any identical tests. Also, the HP came stock with even more bloatware than the dell, so I might not have even seen its true potential yet. But neither system is lacking in the processing area.
On the 9300, the 60Gb Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm drive made slight ticking sounds even at idle. It wasn't enough to be a problem for me, but I notice the difference in noise now with the 5400 momentus.
The 80Gb 5400rpm Seagate Momentus in the zv6000 is silent by comparison with no ticking. You can hear some seeks if you listen for them, but still quiet. Some programs seem to take slightly longer to load, including the winxp boot. I don't think the rpm difference should be that noticeable between these sizes, so the extra bloatware might be to blame. I will have to see what happens after I reinstall the OS. Others have already reported dramatic improvements in performance after the fresh install on the zv6000.
I had thought this chipset was supposed to support dual channel, but all indications are that only single channel is functional. I don't know enough about the technology to know if this is something that can be changed with a bios update or the type of ram used.
The BIOS is one of the most basic I have ever seen, with hardly any options other than to add the extra shared 128Mb video memory, and almost no information about the current setup or devices. Hopefully, future updates will help out here.
SPEAKERS:
The predecessor to the ZV6000 (zv5000) had harmon kardon speakers, which were high quality according to other reviews and my own brief observations at a store. For the zv6000, HP decided to ditch the harmon kardons and added non-branded speakers. I think they are good quality, but not the best I have heard. Nothing I've heard so far from them has made me say "wow".
The dell 9300 had a subwoofer which helped out a lot and created a better sounding experience than the zv6000 with more bass and overall less mono-qualities. The 9300 wins here. If I had not heard the 9300 sound, I would probably think higher of the zv6000 speakers.
GPU:
No contest here. The 9300 has an NVidia 6800 Go with 256Mb memory. 3dmark05 score: 2970 if I remember correctly.
The zv6000 has an ATI Radeon Xpress 200m with 128Mb dedicated memory and an additional option for 128Mb more from the system memory configurable in the bios. Although this is technically not "integrated video" like the intel options, I think it was meant to compete in that arena. It is a much better performer than any integrated setup currently out there, and should run most existing games well. But the most demanding games will require you to lower the resolution or details to get decent frame rates. It is DX9 compatible, but its performance is below an x300, so don't buy this system for any bleeding edge gaming.
3dmark05 score: 673 / 3dmark03: 1435 / 3dmark01 SE: 5431
Heat, Fans, and Battery Usage:
The zv6000 is very cool for a desktop replacement. If you just surf the web or edit documents, it will stay very cool. The keyboard and touchpad area never get hot with casual use. The bottom of the laptop gets slightly warm, but using it on your lap would not be a problem whatsoever. It does get warmer on the bottom while you're charging the battery though. When you really stress the CPU, the exhaust heat will instantly rise, but it's still not very hot.
At idle, using mobilemeter, the cpu (at 1Ghz) shows 37 degrees, the hard drive shows 32 degrees.
At 100% CPU usage (2Ghz), mobilemeter showed 58 degrees. It took about 2 minutes of sustained 100% usage to make the fans ramp up higher. After returning to lower usage, the fans ramped down to base levels immediately.
I think the 9300 felt warmer to the touch, but the GPU was probably the culprit.
The fans of the zv6000 are not silent. If you are in a silent room, you will hear a low hum. It's not loud like a room fan, but it is noticeable. If you are in a room with a tv or music on, you won't notice it. The fans are also almost flush with where the laptop hits the ground, which seems like a design flaw to me.
The battery life is quite good for a desktop replacement with this power and a desktop processor. I either can't find the option to display estimated time left or it is not a feature, so I used a stopwatch. With casual use consisting of wired surfing the web, typing this review, and some streaming music on the 4th from the highest brightness level, I hit the following percentage of battery left at the times indicated:
with 8 cell battery:
1hr 7min - 50%
1hr 21min - 40%
1hr 34 min - 30%
1hr 47 min - 20%
2hr 1 min - 10%
2hr 7 min - 5% warning of impending doom
With the 12 cell option, you can probably expect an extra hour under casual use.
CONSTRUCTION:
I like the looks of the zv6000. It's not too flashy, but respectable. It also feels very solid and has an excellent keyboard with almost no flex. I am suspicious that some parts were skimped on to keep the price low, but so far I haven't found any except possibly the fan and speakers. It is a little larger and heavier than other 15.4 widescreen notebooks (~8 lbs), but for semi-mobile users like myself, it's not a problem. I wouldn't recommend it for heavy travelers.
The keyboard feels very similar, if not identical to the i9300 keyboard.
One RAM slot and the hard drive are user accessible with a screwdriver on the bottom of the laptop. The 2nd RAM slot is under the keyboard, which would require you to pop off a few panels and screws to disassemble it.
Click here for full specs of the HP ZV6000: HP site specs
My zv6000 also came with a 6in1 media card reader, IR port, firewire, bluetooth, and other options you can find listed on HPshopping.com, but since I haven't had a chance to use them, I won't discuss them here.
So for the price, I think it was an excellent deal. If it was over $1200, I would have went for other laptops with better gpus. But so far, I am happy with this purchase.
Ask any other questions you have, and I'll try to answer.
