Should I get this laptop?

Question

should I get this laptop? It will be $850 including s&h and tax with a mail-in rebate.
Specs:

* – Genuine Windows XP Media Center
* – Moble AMD Sempron(TM) 3300+ (2.0GHz/128KB)
* – 17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1440x900)
* – 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
* – 512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256MB)
* – 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
* – 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
* – 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
* – 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Link: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do#

I've never spent $850 before so I wanna be sure my money's well spent.

Answer 1

http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/press.asp?rls_id=390&cat_id=6& so Dell is out.

I got the HP zv6130us because I wanted to not be obsolete soon and 64 bit is the future in operating systems.
The HP display is sweet. I watch movies on mine.

I kick myself for not getting the lightscribe capable DVD writer. You can burn DVD labels that look commercial with lightscribe.

I got mine for $48 a month from Circuit City 2 years no interest. Total price was less than $1000. If you shop there be sure you dont miss special offers like a free printer and so on. Read all the stuff before you click -buy-

Answer 2

When purchasing a laptop I always suggest people consider their computing needs. How do you intend on using the laptop? E-mail, browsing the web, word processing, gaming, wi-fi, traveling. If the laptop is in one place then weight might not matter, but if you travel with it then size and battery life would be important. If gaming, then check out the minimum systems requirements for the games you will use so you can figure out the what CPU, how much RAM and if the ATI chip is needed. Once you have decided what you need and decided you really want to spend $850 there are a lot of options.

Your above laptop does not sound like a name brand? You should check out the reputation and customer support of the vendor. Call them and ask for tech support and you will get an impression. If you have concerns then you might stick with the major brands ... IBM, Dell, Toshiba or HP. If you keep a laptop for three years, typical life, then consider that in three years your needs will most likely change and it only cost you $300 a year.

Answer 3

nope, i woul not dare 2 touch it, with my hard earned money
1. Moble AMD Sempron(TM) 3300+ (2.0GHz/128KB)
>> this is the problem
an intel duo / solo core offering 2 gb l2 cache, against 128 mb as u posted
2. why do u need 17" screen, desktop better
>> not a portable device

address thse issues and we'll select exact !

Answer 4

well... your specifications are good and yes, rest assured that your money will be well spent. by the way try to get a laptop from a repected firm... and dont forget to see the battery capacity. you should try to get batteries with more than 6 hours capacity so you dont have to worry about power shortage !

check out ebay, maybe you will find what you are looking for at cheaper rate there

one more thing - i have heard there is some sort of heating problem in amd laptops while running movies or playing games.. dont forget to check this out.!
hope this helps !!!

Answer 5

That AMD Sempron CPU is scaring me a bit (its a cheap type of processor, perhaps due to its less functions). Also, the two RAM chips are small in capacity and are a bit disturbing. Good for the price though....get it if you dont want to spend more cash.

Answer 6

The config looks good, but i suggest rather than goin for the Semphron technology ( i personally feel AMD tried this on a laptop since it failed on the PC , again not good for Laptop too )

has some haeting and battery consumption problems , pitch in some extra cash and get a dual core intel pentium chip
http://dell.com has some good deals comin for the labour day

Answer 7

This is a great notebook for the price. I understand people either go for AMD or Intel. It's kind of a emtional decision. For most of the user, people can't tell if they are using a 3.8ghz CPU or a 2.0ghz cpu.

I would say Go for It!

Answer 8

I am not a big fan of HP. I had one of their systems and went *poof* 2 weeks later. I would recomend Acer for your system since they have one just like that. I own an Acer that is 6 years old and I speak from experience: they also care about every customer, too not like HP, Dell, or EMachines.

Answer 9

thats pretty good for 850 i think that if it is possible you should look for a larger hard drive even if it costs like 70 dollars more because it would be worth it. but only if you do alot with media things like movies music and photos.

Answer 10

the components are good,not state-of-the-art,but it will run most of applicatons nd games(not the latest ones).maybe to put some more RAM and a larger HD or better Video card?
for that money you can buy a better desktop configuration.it just depends what are you planning to use your computer for.