Compaq Presario Notebook - ML-28 - V2311US at BestBuy

Actually, it is one of the first of the v2000 to have Turions, which trade efficiency for battery life. It is part of the v2000z line. I would recommend NOT buying it at Best Buy, but rather get it from the hp website, they are significantly cheaper. I would recommendany of these (If she is going to do video editing, make sure to get productivity ports):
Here is the one at best buy:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...computer_store

Here is a cheaper alternative with a 15" screen:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...computer_store

A cheaper alternative HP version
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...computer_store

For long battery life, though, I would get a 12 cell battery instead of a six cell. I have heard of people getting 3-4 hours of battery life out of these with the Turion. It seems on average to be between 2-3 hours, though depending on the battery.

Again, if you are looking for batt. life, upgrade to a 12 cell, but I donm't know about costco, I have hear about people having some problems getting their orders on computers from them. I think buying direct from hp online, or direct from inside an actual store would be best, because buying online can have large consequences.

The only problems with buying from the retail CTO keyosc is that if you have a problem some of the retail stores just send you to hpshopping.com and there is nothing they can do for you, basically that computer is that stores order and that's it. if you want my advice on buying a notebook do the following.

- Go to a retail store and look at all the models (not the specs) find one with a case you want to use, take size and weight into account.
- Look at hpshopping.com and for that models family (V2000z in this case, or the L2000 on the HP side) and look at all the available specs.
- get a price from HPS on exactly what you want to buy if it's way out of your range then revaluate what specs you want.
- take those specs and model and shop around in retail, see of anyone gives you a better price for the same or better specs, if you get a better price for lower spec, and you can live with the lower spec then go back to hps and reprice.
- BUY!

Way to many people start by looking at the price of a notebook and not the specs then they get tied up into little bullshit differences. any way you slice this it's a big item for someone to be buying and $50 - $100 one way or the other is nothing if it means you get what you want.

Ransome1d.
Sorry, I post this a bit late, but I also was trying to shop for a deal and I just got the Compaq Presario over Satellite A85-S107. I found a good deal at circuit city compaq presario v2312us. Search this in www.compaq.com. Good spec for $850 after $130 rebate. The problem with HP Pavilion ze2115us Notebook is that the screen does not display text with sharp view, it always seems a bit jagged-edged. Toshiba Satellite A85-S107 suffers the same problem. However, this compaq V2000 series has acceptable screen quality. (I'm talking about $650-900 range)
I read a review saying with 12 cell it can last up to 6 hours( review in... PC something website forgot). so with the stock 6 cells, I figure it could last for 3, which is decent enough.

CircuitCity! I get it without any of their warranty. That sales said the battery can cause up to 300 bucks. and tell me that we should change battery every 18 months, so with the plan, I can get new batteries for free if my old one fails. Hmm... the plan cause 250 at least for 2 years, or so? man... you do the math, and I know how much a 12 cell cost. so don't buy into their talk. Your $$$ is happier in your wallet than his.

I recently (1 month ago) got a Compaq Presario v2310us from CompUSA. its a good laptop for just general use, probably not a good choice for a gamer but decent desktop replacement. definitely get the 12 cell battery, my battery life for the 6 cell as about 2 or 3 hours, I can watch a DVD, but not much else. I paid 850 after rebate (before taxes) so it was really cheep considering all the features. its not the exact model you were asking about but its pretty close. the turion processor seems to perform pretty well, its my first AMD processor powered computer but I am satisfied. its also my first Compaq/hp computer and don't have any complaints so far, but it has only been a month. the deal I got has expired but I suspect it will come up again as it has already come up once after I got the laptop and my deal expired. here is the link to CompUSA