KaixSebastian

hey watsup all! new here. after waiting for good deals to come so i can save big on my laptop for college(i'm paying for it that's why ) i finally stumbled across this sale hp is having. so far after i got everything i want it came to about 750 bucks total. thats the price i have to pay on the bill. since i dont have that much experience with laptops i was wondering if you gurus can point me to the right direction and help me out here if i took the wrong step,

heres the spec

* – Onyx
* – Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
* – Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T5800 (2.0GHz)
* – 50% OFF!! 15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1280 x 800)
* – FREE Upgrade to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* – Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
* – FREE Upgrade to 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* – [For BrightView Infinity Display] Webcam Only
* – HP Color Matching Keyboard
* – Wireless-G Card
* – No Modem
* – SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
* – No TV Tuner w/remote control
* – 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* – Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
* – HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
that includes 1 year accidental warranty pickup and return.



1. Budget: around 700

2. Screen: around 15inch

3. Brands: hp or sony prefered

4. Mobility: as long as possible.

5. Durability: semi-durable

6. Multitasking: yes i should be doing a fair amount. mostly adobe audition and logic express and other video/audio editing program

7. Gaming: na. got my desktop for that

8. Calculations: multimedia encoding yes.

9. Storage: mostly huge wav format file

10. Optical Media: not really. oh actually yeah i do. in a band and might be using this for recording and stuff

11. Operating System: vista

12. Location: usa

jcgriff2

Hi -

I like and own both Toshiba and HP laptops and 2 of each are running Vista x64 SP1.

I found one Toshiba at Circuit City that looks good to me -

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshi...oductDetail.do

2 HPs -

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-Pa...oductDetail.do

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-Pa...oductDetail.do

I would not go w/ Vista x64 with less than 4GB RAM - which all three are. If HP, make sure to un-install HP QuickPlay via program un-install and to disable the QuickPlay boot driver located in Device Manager under the View Tab/ enable Hidden Devices - look for the GUID beginning with 22 (# will be in brackets {}). QuickPlay IS NOT compatible with x64 and will cause the system to hang during boot-up.

With sales tax, they will be a little over your budget. Also - my preference - make sure you get an Intel wifi card. I would not settle for Broadcom. The Intel has a greater range.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

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KaixSebastian

ahh they don't offer paypal...actually that is way over my budget since they don't have 1 year accidental warranty :/ as for ram i can always pop some more in there. thanks for the advice on the hp quickplay. yes i'm definitely getting the 64bit. been using 32 my whole life wanna see what the big difference is :D. btw how do i check if my programs are 64bit compatible. ie logic express and adobe audition3 and how do i get this intel wifi thing. is it like a card slot?

jcgriff2

RE: Intel wifi - ask them. I can tell you that I had system here w/ Broadcom and internet kept going out. Solution from HP was to un-installing drivers and re-boot -- every 15 min?? Upgrading to system with Intel 5100 saved the day - not one single problem w/ Internet connectivity since.

Sorry to hear those systems not an option for you. Still, 2GB RAM not enough on x64 - in my opinion. I constantly run ~3 GB here (not including the ~300 MB kernel memory).

You would have to check web sites to see if your programs are x64 compatible - but vast majority are. Even apps like MS Messenger run x86 under x64.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

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KaixSebastian

ok it seems i definitely need that intel wifi card. unfortunately it's too late to place the order, is it possible for me to buy the intel wifi card and install it myself?

jcgriff2

I wouldn't say you definitely need the Intel card - it is just that here in this house where my office is, the Intel is much better reception-wise. Other systems here have Broadcom/other cards and do just fine - but they are closer to the router.

I would see how the wifi card you have works first b4 considering any hardware changes that may void warranty. If you happen to find that your systems wifi inadequate, there are always USB wifi devices as well. I recently bought a Netgear USB wifi for another system - very pleased with it. And it is very small in size.

jcgriff2

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KaixSebastian

awesome thanks alot.

jcgriff2

Hi - you are most welcome.

I wish you the best at college and whatever you do - STAY WITH IT !! You will never, ever regret having an education and your degree as you progress through life. Here I am in systems now, but w/ degrees in Accounting and Finance. I have been in Accounting Policy/ Taxes and even traded stock options on CBOE & NYSE for last 20 yrs since I was in college. I once worked on FASB 33 - Inflation Accounting. So you never know what or where you will be. But get that degree!

Good Luck to you. Keep in mind that TSF has numerous other Forums - many others within Hardware here, Microsoft Vista, Office, IE (IE7/ IE8), then there is Networking, Security, etc... point being - come back and start a new thread in appropriate forum if questions, concerns or problems arise. You'll be too busy to concern yourself deeply with them. Get through your course work for now - we can help keep your system up and running. Then you can teach me new tricks after graduation!

Regards. . .

JC

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