Tom's Hardware > Forum > Laptops & Notebooks > General Laptops & Notebooks > Is this a good value?
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pous   06-25-2007 at 01:51:14 AM

Hi guys, I just put together an HP laptop through their site, and I'd like to get some feedback from some of you here before I go any further.

This is what's in it:

Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/4MB L2Cache)
Display: 17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1440x900)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Graphics Card: 511MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
Networking: Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection
Hard Drive: 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive: Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
Battery: 8 Cell Lithium Ion

My plan was to just reformat as soon as I get it and put XP on it, because they didn't offer XP. As for the 8600M GS... they don't offer a GT card, do you think there will be much of a difference?

As for the hard drive, the only 7200RPM's available were raid'd... and I don't really feel the need to have that in my laptop. Other than that though, what do you guys think? The final price came to 1728.98 with free shipping.

That price also includes 1 year of accident damage coverage... not sure if it's needed, but it was $99 and I didn't think that was too bad.

If this isn't a very good set-up, can anyone help me find a comparable one for roughly the same money (under 2k), I've looked at the Asus G1 and G2 series notebooks and they seem very nice, but I'm just not sure if I want to go with them or not.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

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Bronze Laptops badge lostandwandering   06-25-2007 at 05:53:30 AM
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It's not bad. I would wait (if possible) to see what Dell's new lineup is like. There could be a difference between the 86 GS and GT, the 8700m GT is coming out this summer so maybe wait for it ( supposed to be like the 7950GTX). I wouldn't advise RAID and you said you don't need it so that's good. On the other hand the speed of the 7200rpm drive is nice. Go to newegg.com and grab a new HDD if you want more speed. I would also upgrade to the WSXGA, I think 1440x900 is a small res for a 17'' screen.

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pous   06-25-2007 at 01:30:53 PM
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Quote :

It's not bad. I would wait (if possible) to see what Dell's new lineup is like. There could be a difference between the 86 GS and GT, the 8700m GT is coming out this summer so maybe wait for it ( supposed to be like the 7950GTX). I wouldn't advise RAID and you said you don't need it so that's good. On the other hand the speed of the 7200rpm drive is nice. Go to newegg.com and grab a new HDD if you want more speed. I would also upgrade to the WSXGA, I think 1440x900 is a small res for a 17'' screen.



Cool thanks. I'm not fixing to buy this until the end of the summer anyway, so that'll be fine to wait and see what happens. I guess I was hearing/reading that the 7900gt/7950gtx are much better than the 8600 etc... is that true?

Glad to know I'm not crazy for not wanting RAID, it just didn't seem to make sense for my needs. And I also see what you mean about getting a faster hard drive at Newegg, that was something that crossed my mind, but I wanted to see what others thought.

As for the resolution I can get one that's 1650x1024 or something like that... not sure exactly but it seemed really big to me. I've never used anything over 1280x800... and even with this laptop I don't play games at that res anyway... I'm used to 800x600 and 1024x768 (I think that's it anyway).

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. The idea of formatting/installing XP wasn't a bad one was it? I think that it'd be a better choice for me than sticking with Vista.

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Bronze Laptops badge lostandwandering   06-25-2007 at 03:30:05 PM
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Quote :

I guess I was hearing/reading that the 7900gt/7950gtx are much better than the 8600 etc... is that true?


Right now the 8600mGT is supposed to perform at about 7900GS levels. The new 8700mGT that just came out is supposed to reach the GTX level. Aren't many benchmarks out though so it's hard to say for certain.


Quote :

Glad to know I'm not crazy for not wanting RAID, it just didn't seem to make sense for my needs.


IMO, RAID in laptops isn't necessary unless you need massive amounts of storage or absolutely need the performance. Otherwise, they just waste power.

The resolution is personal choice. I like more screen real estate so my laptop is coming with the WUXGA which is 1920x1200. What you can do is go to a local Best Buy or Circuit City and look at the screens on the units on display to get an idea about what you'll be getting.

Quote :

The idea of formatting/installing XP wasn't a bad one was it?


It's not a bad idea at all. You'll get the performance and stable operating of XP while you want it and have the ability to upgrade to Vista with the disk that should come with the laptop. It's an even better idea if you already have the XP disk.

Hope this helps.

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