laptop recommendation

[Joe]

I'm looking to buy a laptop that will get me through graduate school the
next few years. My main goal is to have a laptop that will run Windows Vista
and future 64 Bit OS. Since Intel doesn't have a chip that runs both 32 and
64, it's ruled out. Since I want to run Windows Vista, dedicated video
memory is a requirement. I believe this card is dedicated memory.

I found the Compaq R4000 on Costco and Compaq web site.


a.. AMD Athlon(TM) 64 4000+ (2.4GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
a.. 2.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x1024MB)
a.. 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
a.. DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
a.. 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
a.. 54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth
a.. 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
a.. Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
a.. Microsoft(R) Works/Money
a.. 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery


I don't find too many web sites that offer customize-able AMD based laptops.
Any recommendations for another model based on my requirements?

 

[M. Saddy]

I'm looking to buy a laptop that will get me through graduate school the

I don't find too many web sites that offer customize-able AMD based
laptops.

HP does, I just got a zv6000 from them and you can customize it any way you
want! I love it and you certainly get alot for your money!

 

[Joe]

Thanks for the info. From everything I read, those devices are virtually the
same model.

 

[Large Farva]

HP/Compaq with an Athlon 64 is definitely the way to go. I have one each of
the Compaq R4000 and the equivalent HP..they are indeed almost the same. I
like the style of Compaq better (looks kinda like a Mac!) but the HP has
better speakers if that matters to you.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

HP/Compaq with an Athlon 64 is definitely the way to go. I have one each
of the Compaq R4000 and the equivalent HP..they are indeed almost the
same. I like the style of Compaq better (looks kinda like a Mac!) but the
HP has better speakers if that matters to you.

HP and Compaq both have the option on their website. In addition, you can
also customize one at CompUSA, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.

Bobby

 

[M. Lutfi]

Compaq is the good one.
Mine is Presario R3000z bought early this year. Its spec is below the
spec you listed below (it's AMD 3400+, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB 5400 RPM HD, 64MB
Nvidia 4400 Go, 54g Broadcom Wifi). It works great so far. There are
some weaknesses, though, on this laptop. First of all, it is too hot when
it is under full load for long time. Secondly, I don't like Broadcom WiFi
chipsets as they don't support Linux. The rest, this laptop rocks! I
don't understand why Compaq/HP still put RS232 connector in the back as I
never use it anymore (I doubt many people still use this kind of conn. for
their laptop). Another minor issue is the volume control. Seems the
volume buttons at the side do not control the hardware volume, but calls
soft-volume control under Windows XP (that's why I could never make it
work on Linux. Perhaps I need to download another driver? Let me know).

The most I like it the screen. I chose the highest res. Compaq offered at
that time (1680x1050, UWXGA).

I dual-partition the hard disk and install Linux 64-bit version (SuSE
v10.0 64-bit edition). Most of the devices were detected and work fine,
except the Broadcom. The workaround was to use ndiswrapper (and I had
also have to download the 64-bit Windows driver for the device).
Originally I installed SUSE Linux 32-bit, but then I changed it to 64-bit.
I feel the laptop slightly goes faster (well, at least for some
applications).

I am now learning how to migrate appl. to 64-bit.

Michael Lutfi

 

[General Schvantzkoph]

Thanks for the info. From everything I read, those devices are virtually the
same model.

The only difference between HP and Compaq equivalent models is the color.
However on any given day there can be significant price differences
depending on what promotions they decide to offer with each model. When
you buy make sure that you configure both an HP and a Compaq version on
http://www.hpshopping.com and then pick the lower priced one.

BTW I also have the R3000z with a 3400+ and a 1680x1050 screen running 32
bit Fedora Core 4. As a previous poster said the only real issue with the
laptop is HP's unfortunate choice of the Broadcom wireless chip. The 4000
has an ATI graphics chip instead of Nvidia which is also unfortunate
because the Linux support from ATI is much weaker then Nvidia's. However
since you are a Windows user none of that matters to you.

 

[tiny_book]

new laptop recommendation

In the market for a new laptop, there are so many shapes sizes and colors I don't know what to chose, I'm lost!

I found plenty of good laptops and recommendations here
http://www.fixya.com/best/pc_laptops

But i'm not sure which to chose, pls help me.

I need it for uni, that means: excel, word, PowerPoint, and internet.

Thanks a lot,
Tiny.