Miscellaneous laptop discussions : Looking into an HPdv8210us to replace desktop
Looking into an HPdv8210us to replace desktop
by dcardozo - 6/25/06 7:56 AMI use my PC mostly for websurfing, emailing, blogging, purchasing and such--not into gaming. Would like to handle photos and music downloads, but my current PC & system is a TigerDirect clone from the Flintstone era. I'm also a webmaster for an adoptive parents support group, learning FrontPage as I go along. My daytime job (with USPS) leaves me precious little time for anything else evenings/weekends. Anyhoo, I've been looking forever for a desktop-replacing notebook, and I saw this HP dv8210 at CompUSA that looked absolutely right, xcept pricewise. I'd like to buy it online, but am concerned about extending service warranty, expanding RAM memory, and generally stretching the bang for my buck. Your thoughts?
Not a gamer machine.
by R. Proffitt
- 6/25/06 8:15 AM
In reply to: Looking into an HPdv8210us to replace desktop by dcardozo
The RADEON XPRESS 200M IGP is not good for gamers. All the rest of your list will be just fine. I've seen this model as well as the v2000 similarly equipped in the near 1000 dollar range. You can extend the warranty directly with HP which I suggest not buying at the time of purchase.
Bob
what makes the card not good for gaming?
by bklynrickel - 6/25/06 10:33 AM In reply to: Not a gamer machine. by R. Proffitt
i have the hp 6130. haven't played many games but nba live 2006 (which is fairly graphically intensive). it plays decently. what makes the card not good? curious. isn't it pci express with 128 megs?
thanks
richard
Shared video memory.
by R. Proffitt - 6/25/06 10:41 AM
In reply to: what makes the card not good for gaming? by bklynrickel
In every case, those that are gamers such as Q4 or other intense video games don't like such a machine. This is well discussed so I'll stop here except to note that without dedicated RAM and GPU, gamers won't accept it. "Decent" is not a word they use.
Bob
the 6130 had dedicated ram not shared and
by bklynrickel - 6/25/06 10:52 AM In reply to: Shared video memory. by R. Proffitt
has an athlon 64 processor. i imagnine those to be factors, no?
Yes. The HP dv8210us was under discussion so...
by R. Proffitt - 6/25/06 11:02 AM
In reply to: the 6130 had dedicated ram not shared and by bklynrickel
It's not a total downside since shared video ram also has an upside on more battery time (if same size battery), less heat and less dollars. For those that won't play those 3D intense games the simpler, cheaper, less power hungry setup is just fine.
Bob
Fine by me 2.0
by dcardozo - 6/25/06 1:25 PM In reply to: Yes. The HP dv8210us was under discussion so... by R. Proffitt
"the simpler, cheaper, less power hungry setup is just fine"... yep, that sounds like me right now. Thanks Bob.
Fine by me at this stage...
by dcardozo - 6/25/06 1:22 PM In reply to: Not a gamer machine. by R. Proffitt
...I've got a 7 yr old & she's into Raven, SpongeBob and other Disney/Nick stuff, so I'm not in a hurry for her to move to anything harder (caught her 9 yr old cousin tutoring her on Grand Theft San Andreas). So I'm overprotective. Sue me.
I own an HP DV8110US
by jgvillan - 6/25/06 8:26 AM In reply to: Looking into an HPdv8210us to replace desktop by dcardozoI've been owning an HP DV8110US for since the beginning of the year. I would agree thta it's not a gamer's laptop, however, the ATI Xpress200 is not as bad as one may think. you can play games on it, but don't expect to have 'high' intensity graphics....you have to tone it down alittle. Other than that, it is a perfect desktop replacement. The 17" wide-screen is a jem, very bright and clear. You can take this around with it's 4-5 hr charge. Mine would last about 3-4, that is when I go through heavy wireless and other computer related activities. Using it for basic surfing and multimedia related jobs would work wonders on this. The one main thing I got this thing, well, among others...is the full size keyboard. Very convenient when you have the 10-key keypad installed into a laptop, especially when you are trying to crunch numbers all day. depending if you get the AMD or Intel version, but i think the one you are talking about is the Intel Duo, has the capacity to hold two physical SATA hard drives, at a max of 240 GB hard drive space. AMD versions have ATA hard drives. Also, with the intel version, you have the option of the better NVidia graphics card, AMD has the ATI only. I would suggest that, instead of looking for it at CompUSA, try looking at Best Buy or even at HP.com. You may get a better deal out of it.
I hope I didn't ramble too much.
I hope that this helps and good luck.
Good comparison to dv8110us
by dcardozo - 6/25/06 1:36 PM In reply to: I own an HP DV8110US by jgvillanThanks jvgillan, the screen is lovely to look at, and the 10-key keypad is almost a dealmaker in my case. I've been looking offers at hp.com, also several vendors on Froogle and even a couple ebayers (one went this week for $800), but I'm worried whether I can purchase the extended warranty say, directly from hp or CompUSA/OfficeMax (the only two big box stores currently in PR), or should I stick to hp.com for purchase at top dollar? BTW, I'd be getting the AMD Turion 64 (512 ram, 80gb hard disk).
i bought an hp in april at compusa...
by bklynrickel - 6/25/06 4:21 PM In reply to: Good comparison to dv8110us by dcardozoand purchased their two year extended warranty.
got $250 in rebates. i don't know if you can get that on hp.com. things look more expensive there as far as i can see.
Wow, that was a good rebate...
by dcardozo - 6/25/06 7:22 PM In reply to: i bought an hp in april at compusa... by bklynrickel...right now hp has a puny $50 rebate going on, nothing to write home about. I'm thinking about going elsewhere to buy the extra RAM and maybe the accessories. I did look up compusa.com & it was $200 cheaper that at the store, but that's because the store price is $1249, yeahright.
So, are you happy with your HP widescreen notebook? Any insights into their tech support so far?
very happy with my machine
by bklynrickel - 6/26/06 4:20 AM In reply to: Wow, that was a good rebate... by dcardozoonly needed tech support for a newbie question after takng it out of the box. they were right there. no long wait on the phone.
got my rebate from hp in a flash as well. couldn't believe it.
regards,
richard
Got mine from Office Depot
by jgvillan - 6/25/06 7:34 PM In reply to: Good comparison to dv8110us by dcardozoCompuUSA is good in dealing with Warranties. If something goes wrong, just drop it in one of the stores with your warranty records, or just have them look it up on their computer. They can either fix it there or take it to HP themselves to get them to repair it...within the plan of course.
Like I said, I got mine from Office Depot, with their extended 2 yr warranty (3 years all together). Also with the Turion64, 512MB RAM and 80GB hard drive. I since then upgraded to 1GB of RAM and threw in a 2nd hard drive for a total of 160GB hard drive space (2x 80GB). Not hard to throw in a 2nd notbook hard drive into the DV8000's. But you have to make sure that you set the 'origional' hard drive as a master and your new hard drive as the 'slave'.
You can go for top dollar from HP, if you like. Total I spent on my DV8110us from Office Depot was $1600. You can certainly buy it from Ebay, and get the warranty from HP. That is assuming that the laptop is still under the origional 1st year warranty. 1st year warranty can be upgraded to the extended/accidental plan (only). After it's first year experation date....you'll have to get a 3rd party warranty. I made sure when I was looking at my HP laptop warranties.
No matter what laptop you get...you will be better off with some warranty of somekind. It will save you alot of headaches. 
I hope that this was helpful and good luck.
Question about cache
by dcardozo - 6/25/06 1:39 PM In reply to: Looking into an HPdv8210us to replace desktop by dcardozoMy nephew the gamer said that this notebook's 512K cache memory was weak. Given my nongamer user profile, should I worry about this?
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