Is this a good deal?

Ty44ler · March 18th, 2005, 03:15 PM

I'm a student in college and am looking to buy a laptop that combines top entertainment with basic word-processing needs all for the least amount of money. I wanted to know if this is a good price for the specs that it has. It is also refurbished and I am curious as to what more computer savvy people think of that.

HP Media Center zd7030us Notebook PC, refurbished

Price $1,429.99

Processor
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 3.06GHz

Operating system
Windows XP Media Center

Memory
512MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 256MB) at 333MHz

Graphics card
NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go5600 with 128MB DDR SDRAM (dedicated)

Hard drive
80GB Enhanced IDE [gigabyte is defined as 1,000,000,000 bytes, accessible capacity may vary]

Primary CD/DVD drive
DVD+R/RW and CD-RW combo drive

Display
17.0" WXGA+ WVA TFT (1440 x 900) display

Wireless connectivity
Broadcom 54g™ MaxPerformance 802.11g

Digital media
5-in-1 integrated Digital Reader for Secure Digital Cards, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick Pro, or SmartMedia cards

External ports
4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 ports; 1 port replicator connector; 1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port; 1 IFR (Fast Infrared); 1 TV-Out (S-Video) port; 1 TV-in (S-Video) port

Communications
Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector); integrated v.90/v.92 56KB modem

Dimensions
15.67" (L) x 10.94" (W) x 1.67" (front H) 1.85" (rear H)

Weight
9.3 lb.

I really dont know much about computers and any extra information or help is greatly appreciated

GiPilot12 · March 18th, 2005, 03:24 PM

for the price it looks good to me IMO

HeadBand · March 18th, 2005, 03:36 PM

being a student, i think you would appreciate the better batterylife of the pentium M

i just configured a new dell 9300 with pretty much the same specs, except for a x300 (128) video card and a 1.6 pentium m(performs a little better than the 3.06 p4) for $1324 ....there are some things that could save you some money though...like xp home instead of media center and take out the tv tuner if you don't need it.(you can get an external for like $50 if you want that) will save you $189 or going with a combo drive instead of a dvd burner will save $100...if you want to put that money back into it you could get the 6800 instead or speed up the cpu...or my favorite idea,add another battery

http://resellerratings.com/c-1/s-1/av1/id4727.html use these coupons...they work with the 9300 even thought it dosent day that

night_wolf · March 18th, 2005, 03:36 PM

I had a similar model not too long ago, the zd7000. I thought it was a great laptop while it was still working, but a short 2-3 months after I bought the dam thing the screen died and the harddrive burned up. While it was a great computer when it worked, I personally wouldn't ever buy that series again, especially a refurbished one. This is only my opinion and my experience, may have just been a fluke.

large_nostril · March 18th, 2005, 03:56 PM

The price on that is decent but not great in my opinion. This might be a better deal. It's got 512MB RAM, AMD A64 3200+, 60GB HDD, and a Radeon-M 9600 for $900. In most tests, the A64 will beat a comparable P4 and the Radeon-M 9600 will usually outperform the GoFX5600. The things the laptop I linked that are lacking compared to the one you listed are the display is smaller (15.4" vs 17"), the video card has less ram (64MB vs. 128MB), and the HDD is slightly smaller (60GB vs 80GB).

I'm not suggesting to get the one I linked either, just suggesting that there are probably better options out there. I found this one in about 1 minute of looking and I only looked at TigerDirect. I'd suggest to look at TigerDirect, Newegg, ZipZoomFly, and BizRate is good for finding other sites and comparing.

As far as being "refurbished" goes, you shouldn't have any issues. A lot of the computer parts I buy from Newegg are refurbished.

BTW, anybody know what the deal is with the "width" of the laptop vs. the "viewable screen width"? The one Ty44ler posted has a 17" screen but the width is 15.67"? And the one I linked has a 15.4" display but is only 14"?

Is there something I'm missing or is there something I'm missing?

haxxorpoop · March 18th, 2005, 04:14 PM

Refurb shouldn't be a problem. As for the price, I dont think it's that good of a deal, espically after you factor in the fact that it is a refurb. Take a look around your local store, and as nostril suggested, look on places such as tigerdirect and newegg. Many times, you can find some very good deals on these websites. Also, you should wait for dates like Boxing Day and "The day after Thanksgiving" (I dont know if there's a special name for it, as I'm Canadian). You can save big during these types of sales.

Quote:

BTW, anybody know what the deal is with the "width" of the laptop vs. the "viewable screen width"? The one Ty44ler posted has a 17" screen but the width is 15.67"? And the one I linked has a 15.4" display but is only 14"? Is there something I'm missing or is there something I'm missing?

Maybe it has something to do with the border around the labtop (the plastic part).

HeadBand · March 18th, 2005, 04:15 PM

the screen size is diagonal and the width is horizantal

Ty44ler · March 18th, 2005, 04:36 PM

Thanks for the info very much. I used to think that the higher the GHz was the faster it was but now I see that is not always the case! I will definitely look more into other computers.... Thanks!

Ty44ler · March 18th, 2005, 05:19 PM

Basically what I am really looking for in a laptop is:

Low Price (no more than $1500 or so)

Fast all-around

Burn DVD's and CD's

Watch and record TV (like TIVO) (windows media center maybe?)

Space for DVD's and recorded tv programs

Type term papers/research for school

Don't really care about weight

I probably wont use it for gaming much either

Average-Long battery life

I guess what I am looking for in a nutshell is a laptop that can double as an all around entertainment center and also be able to word process and research on. I don't have a lot of space in my dorm for TV, stereo, computer etc...so I figure I could buy a laptop that could be all of them. I also have no objections to buying a refurbished laptop.

Does anybody have suggestions on a specific laptop that could fulfill my laptop woes?

large_nostril · March 18th, 2005, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Space for DVD's and recorded tv programs

I'd suggest getting an external drive for that. If you just look around for each week you can get one at a decent price. Like this week Fry's has a 160GB external HDD for $90. I'd suggest just looking for ads from places like CompUSA or BestBuy, etc. each week. In the long run, it'll be cheaper/easier than getting a large internal HDD on a laptop.

Quote:

Watch and record TV (like TIVO) (windows media center maybe?)