help with a custom laptop.

ok so I'm looking into getting a new laptop, and nothing really tickles my fancy in any of the stores, so I was looking into buying a custom laptop online at hp.com.

I'm really looking for a laptop that's good with graphics for gaming and photoshop and all that good stuff and my friends that work in the computer dept at work say HP has the best graphics as far as laptops go.

I'm looking to get one for $1000-$1400 US I'd say $1500 is my absolute max that there's no way I'm paying more than that.

I'm probably going to get one in the dv9000 series, and there are a few options I need some help on from you guys that know a lot about computers.

-ok one thing is the difference between Windows XP Home and XP Media Center. The "upgrade" to Media Center is free. I'm running XP home on my comp right now so I know about that but how is Media Center different? Is it any better?

-anybody know much about Intel's new "2 Duo Core" processor? They have a Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T5500 (1.66 GHz) but for $50 more I can get Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T5600 (1.83 GHz). I'm really not considering this, but they also offer Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0 GHz) for $150 more than the 1.66 gHz. What would you suggest on this? Would I notice much of a difference when running intense programs on the 1.83 than the 1.66 gHz?

-I'm getting the 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600 graphics card (a $125 upgrade from the 256 MB one). Anybody hve any info on this? How's nVidia's cards? I got an ATI right now, and it works pretty well for me.

-I'm considering the 1024MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) of RAM, but would anybody suggest a $135 upgrade to 2GB? It's a really pricey upgrade, and I won't do it unless I absolutely need it. Any thoughts on RAM?

Right now, I'm ok with the price on a 1.83 gHz CPU with 1 GB of RAM, but I might go with the 1.66 gHz CPU so I can afford to get the 2GB RAM.

I cant answer all the question Qballer, but i have an older NVidia video card (GeForce FX Go5200) and it works perfectly and runs game by all means my system shouldnt...i've yet to have an issue

1. Media Centre just adds the ability to play movies and songs and stuff from a seperate program sorta thing, its not much difference but worth the upgrade if its free.

2. I think that the T7200 has 4mb fsb or something, id go for that if you can afford it

3. My mate has that card in his laptop and it runs everything without a hitch, i installed just cause on it and it worked fine. IMO, nvidia rules over ati period

4. if the ram is ddr2, 1gig will give you the equivalent performace of about a 2 gig ddr1 333mhz so i think if you have ddr2 ram, theres not much performance difference between 1 gig and 2 gig, so if you wanna save money just take 1 gig

2. I think that the T7200 has 4mb fsb or something, id go for that if you can afford it

what does the 4mb fsb do for me? I'm not familiar with that term.

oo it means front side bus, its just the thing that transfers the information from the cpu to things like ram and the video card

oh and I forgot one thing. would I need Wireless network card w/ bluetooth? there's a regular one but one upgrade with bluetooth costs $15. the only thing I could think of that I would use it for would be to communicate with my phone but I have a USB cable to do that.

do you think you would need it

With any possibilty, the Apple MacBook series are the better laptops on the market right now but if you want to play videogames on your laptop too, then get the HP with a 1.83Ghz or even better with a 2.0Ghz processor: A 1.66Ghz processor (even if it is Core Duo, blah blah blah) will not fully support 1 or 2 GB of RAM and a 512MB graphics card will not show its full potential with that processor.

if you want more mobility and fun, get a POCKET PC phone and a decent mega pixeled camera. laptops tend to lose their mobile factor nowadays cause of the advent of these smaller windows-based devices.

As a general rule, processor is really only needed for like, heavy video editing or 3d modelling, etc stuff. I don't think it would really be worth the upgrade. The 1Gig of RAM should be fine, especially if its higher speed. Do go for the graphics card though, the first one is even good so the 512 one will be amazing. I have a lousy graphics card and still play games fine. Also, the graphics card would make up for not having the 2 gigs pretty much.

One thing I would take into consideration is battery life, the higher spec something is generally the lower the battery life. If you're going to be using it for school I would recommend gettting the best battery possible (~3hrs I find is good for me, some people want even longer.) Also, keep an eye for extended warrenties, if the battery or something dies they can pay for themselves.

You can also buy an extra battery, which is something I would definitley do if I were you because an extra, charged battery is always very nice to have.

Aside from that, Cameron pretty much hit it right on. I would check to see how FPS rates and performance rates change when you upgrade from the 256mb 7600 to the 512mb 7600

battery life has to do with the cpu too, if you dont have the most power hungry cpu then you will have a longer battery life

I only have one thing to say.


RAM > Processor

yeah I guess a lower processoer speed won't eat up the battery life as much. It'll stay plugged in most of the time, but in cases I do need the battery, I might just go with an upgraded "high-capacity" battery.

and since you guys don't think the fastest processor is necessary, would you get the 1.66 gHz or the 1.83 gHz for $50 more? is it a good deal?

yeh if its only 50 bucks then why not, just dont go and buy a slab of bundy on the weekend to save for that one

And make sure you get two battery's you'll be happy you have an extra, trust me.

If you leave it plugged in most of the time, you don't need a second battery. Over exaggeration is also an art.

I leave mine plugged in most of the time & school has specially made outlets and internet cable plug ins for students with laptops, so no, a second battery won't make you jump with joy.

You don't have to make sure you get to batteries, just get a normal one to start off with, after you've been using your laptop for awhile and realise you do indeed need a second battery, then get it. Getting it right off the bat seems premature, given you don't know if you're really ever need it.

I'm getting a Toshiba M500. I reckon its a good laptop lol because it has 80gb HD, and is Vista ready. I'm looking forward to Vista and hopefully my school offers some sort of cheap program to get the laptop upgraded to Vista.

The 2 new laptops available have this thumbprint scanner thing as a security feature thing. Sounds neat. Too bad it costs $3500 lol. (AUD)

Core 2 Duo's have 4 MB L2 cache, not FSB (doesn't even make sense). They are the fastest desktop processors on the market right now, and I'd definitely recommend one. That graphics card is nice, and only a few games would ever require 2 GB RAM. Battlefield 2 runs much better with 2 GB, as does Flight Simulator X. So only if you play some really cutting-edge games would the 2 GB be necessary.

hey thanks for the help guys... I think I'm going to stick with the 1.83 gHz processor with 1 GB of RAM. I figure if I ever need RAM later, that's one of the few things you can put into a laptop. It'll help keep the cost down so I don't wind up paying that much. Rightnow, the cost of the computer is about $1450 but with tax, it should be a little over $1500. I will be a very happy camper soon, despite it taking over 3 weeks to get it to me.

Anybody got any good tips on tranferring fioles over from this comp to a new one?

ok so I'm almost ready to buy

HP Pavilion dv9000t customizable Notebook PC
EZ379AV
– FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows XP Media Center!!
– Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T5600 (1.83 GHz)
– 17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1440x900)
– 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600
– HP Imprint Finish + Microphone
– 1024MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
– FREE Upgrade to 100GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive!!
– FREE Upgrade - LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
– Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
– High Capacity 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
– Microsoft(R) Works/Money
– System Recovery DVD w/Windows XP Media Center
– HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


Product price does not include a $8.00 recycling fee per unit*

all for $1595 US including taxes and all that. A good deal in my opinion.

oh and they got a promo right now... with a pruchase of a computer from HP, HP is offering a free copy of Windows Vista when it comes out.

anybody got any info on Vista? I haven't heard much about it.

Apple recently released their MacBooks with Core 2 Duo processors. You can check them out here:

http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html

I've got the Pro version of them and it works perfectly, very light weight and the battery life it's pretty good for a laptop.

Mac OS X is the best O.S. out there, specially for graphic applications like Photoshop, Aperture, Final Cut pro, etc. If you want you can even install Windows XP on it, so you can have both OS's in the same computer. I installed windows once on my macbook and then I could delete it with no problems in less than 3 minutes.

You're starting to get boring with the Mac cocksucking. Give it a rest already.

That sounds like a nice peace of machine Q, for a reasonable price aswell.

CERVANTES, I totally agree with you with the fact that Apple has built the best OS on the market right now but anyone that wants to play videogames on a PC will need a Windows based computer since our dear Steve gives a shit about them.
As you said, you can run Windows on Macs too but I've tried to run a few games on a Windows-based-Mac and for some strange reason they ran really slow (though, that Mac had a PowerPC processor not the new Intel Core Duo one, so that might had been the problem.)
Anyways, I strongly suggest you buy a Windows based PC if you're willing to play videogames on it.
That laptop seems to be pretty nice Q and it's not actually as expensive as I thought it would be (that thing would easily cost €2000+ here in Italy.)

For Photoshop, graphic design, or multimedia, Apple is the way to go. Since you want gaming, you're probably going to want to get a PC laptop. I've always been a fan of Dell.