Compaq Presario v2000z Review (pics, specs)

by Chinna, Washington USA

Overview and Introduction:

Compaq v2000z (view larger image)

I was looking for a thin-and-light style laptop for replacement of my previous Toshiba built machine.

My criteria for a new notebook was as follows:

• Weight: Around 5 pounds (So that I can carry around easily and hookup my GPS device in the car)
• Cost: Less than $1,000
• Screen: 14" Widescreen (or ideal is 13.3"), 12.1" is too small.
• Fan: should not run while browsing or when working on docs.

This Compaq V2000z model is built for HP by the major laptop OEM vendor Quanta using ATI Radeon Xpress 200M mobile chipset. This chipset has lots of potential and has reasonable integrated graphics. You can check ATI website for detail about this chipset.

Thev2000z Ibought has following configuration:

• AMD Turion64 ML-37 ( 2000MHz, 1MB cache)
• 256MB DDR333 SDRAM( I had 2x256 DDR333 with me)
• 40GB 4200RPM HDD
• DVD-ROM Drive
• ATI Radeon Xpress 200M with 128MB shared memory
• Internal Broadcom wireless b/g card
• 14" BrightView widescreen ( 1280x768)
• 6 cell battery
• Ports: USB x 3, 4 pin firewire x 1, S-Video, 6-in-1 card reader, Expansion Port 2, Lan, Modem, VGA, PCMCIA slot and one Kensington locking slot.

Reasons for Buying:

Laptops I considered when shopping were as follows:

• HP DV1000 series
• Compaq V2000
• Compaq V2000z
• Asus Z63A
• Dell 600M
• Averatec 4100/4200 series

The laptop I ended up buying was the CompaqV2000z, my reasons for this are as follows:

1. It is cheaper than all other models I was considering
2. It comes with 64Bit processor making it future proof for some time at least. (I keep trying new stuff)
3. For the processor speed I am getting it is relatively cheap.
4. Weight and sizewas comparable to the rest or lighter(only lighter one is Averatec)
5. 14" BrightView Screen
6. Has relatively good integrated graphics unlike Averatec SiS or Intel Integrated.

Why the Turion ML-37 processor choice?

1. Sempron is ruled out as it is not 64Bit processor (There are desktop 64bit processors though).
2. I want to have at least 1MB cache. It comes handy when processor is running at low speed.
3. ML-37 is 35Watts version of Turion but it is more power efficient when it is running at low speeds (other than 800 MHz) and has power when I need it. For Example: It only consumes 24.2 watts when running at 1600Mhz where as ML-30 consumes 32Watts and MT-30 uses 22 watts.

Some people might wonder why I'd buy a configuration with a 40GB 4200RPM drive? Well, I want to buy a retail 40GB 5400RPM drive later. This way I will get 3 years warranty instead of the 1 year HP and will have 2.5" spare HDD to use as portable drive also.

I liked the Averatec AV4155-EH1 looks with Turion64 MT-30 Processor, but thatwasabout $1,100 ($1,200 with Taxes) and it uses the SiS MB chipset vs. ATI in the V2000z and you're only getting the MT-30( 25 Watts Version of Turion). And I know the TurionML-37 at 1600 MHz anyway uses less power than that anyway!
.
Where and How Purchased:

I boughtthe v2000zfrom HPShopping.com and I think I got a very good deal. The product was shipped much faster than estimated date. It was at my door in less than 10-days once I place my order.

Build & Design:

For the configuration I took with a6-cell battery the weight is 5.38lbs. The dimensions are 13.15" (L) x 9.1" (W) x Front 1.29" (min H) Back 1.53" (max H) . It has a slim profile like the Apple PowerBook G4 series. The flat profileprovides good looks and the black textured top makes it resistant to slight scratches, or at least scratches won't be visible easilylike they are onthose silver colored smooth profile tops (such as the Dell 600m or HP DV1000). For added grip the slotted bottom comes in handy.

The build quality is I think average for thethin and light laptop category. Idon't think it is inthe same league as my previous Toshiba, but of course that was a$1,700 laptop where as I only paid $750 for this one, so I should not compare the two directly. What I'm basically saying is that I don't think the v2000zwould survivea 4 foot drop on to a concrete floor.

Heat and Noise:

For the normal task of webbrowsingthe v2000z is pretty quietand the fan is off mostly. But on warmer days it does turn on once every 20-30 minutes for a few seconds (typically for 20 seconds) and then stops. When the fan is running it is not loud at all, but I would not say it is whisper quiet either. The fan turns on when theCPU temperature reaches 55C and turns off when the temperature drops to 50C. While running with full load (at maximum speed and maximum load) the CPU fan turns on and off every 20-30 seconds. Not bad at all. It also looks like the fan has different speeds, but I'm not sure how much it varies.

I do not feel heat is a problem with this laptop. After prolonged use on warmer days it also gets warm, but never hot. One thing I observed is that the left palm area gets warmer after an hour or so. Thehard drivetemperatures arewarmer than I would like. After acouple of hours HD temps climb to 48C, sometimes hitting 51-52C, if you're doing any disk intensive tasks. Still though,overallthe v2000zpretty good in heat and noise department.

Screen:

v2000z Screen displaying Blue Angels (view larger image)

The screen is a 14" BrightView Widescreen with 1280x768 resolution and it looks wonderful. I did not find any dead or stuck pixels. (My previous Toshiba had one stuck pixel). Brightness is quite good and even in bright lightyou can see the screen fine.

The problem with BrightView optionis the reflections you'll get on the screen. It is like aglass surface without any anti-reflective coating. Initially I was not sure if I wanted this option, but it was a free upgrade and I can always return the laptop if it is really bothersome.

In shops under bright fluorescent lights I findthe screenactually appears worse and ismore reflective, but at home Ifind it is okay. Picture quality wise, it is really good. Video and photos look very smooth and colors jump out providing more of a 3D feel.Watching DVDs is really a joy on this screen. 720p WMV HD video samples from Microsoft are even wonderful.

Viewing angles are not great, but reasonable and the backlight seems to be even.

Checkout the sample screen shots I have taken with my camera while playing the DVD. The pictures do not do the screen justice asmy camera is unable to adjust exposure properly with the screen, but inperson DVDs and photos really look good on the screen. It was eye candy to play WMV HD samplers from Microsoft, they really look wonderful on this screen. You may see some Moir pattern on photo shots, but thathas to do with the camera, nothing to do with screen.

DVD being viewed on screen (view larger image)

I connected the VGA port to my 32" LCD TV and extended my desktop without any problems( 1280x768). But I could not get it work with TVs native resolution 1366x768 even using the PowerStrip, where as using my desktop nVidia MX440-8X video card I can do that. The video quality using S-Video is not bad, but not as good as my desktop.
I liked the display latch with two anchor points but with only one latch release button. On my previous Toshiba I need to press two latches release buttons simultaneously and open the screen.

Speakers:

This model sports Altec Lansing speakers which are front mounted in both corners (see the pictures). The sound is surprisingly good. It provides very nice treble, good tonal quality, and there is even a hint of bass. My previous laptophad Harmon Kardon speakers, but I find the quality of these speakers is actually much better. Especiallyfor thethin and light category I can rate these as top tier. (Compared to Dell 600M, 700m, Averatec 4100 series and Apple PowerBook G4).

Internals:

The bottom of the Laptop is marked very clearly where everything is. Really helpful for newbies.

If we see the close-up photos, you can see memory cover is marked with a memory symbol, the hard drive cover is marked with a hard drive symbol and even theDVD drive retaining screw is marked. This is the first laptop I've ever seen with these markings. I do not know why othermanufacturers want to make these things a big secret!

Bottom view of covers on laptop (view larger image)

If we observe the plastic housing inside, it has some bronze color coat. I am not sure what it is for, probably a heat resistant coat or maybe some kind of anti-static coat as plastics tend to build-up static electricity.

Once these covers are removed you can see memory, the Broadcom mini-PCI wireless card, and the hard drive. Installing memory and a newhard driveis straight forward. I saw HDD temperatures abit on thehigher side on this laptop, and that might be caused by the fact there is no ventilation close to the hard drive. As the HDD is below the left palm area, this also affects the left palm rest area temperature -- it becomes warm. It is nowhere near to being uncomfortable, but more than I would like. In between the HDD and palm area, there is a PCMCIA slot (Check the photos). What I found out is the PCMCIA slot dummy cover also gets warm. Removing this dummy cover helps somewhat in reducing the palm area and hard drive temperature (by 1 to 2 C). The hard drive and designis the same design as in the HP DV1000 and Compaq V2000 series.

CPU Fan (view larger image)

Replacing the DVD drive is just a matter of removing a single screw. One burning questionoften asked iscan we replace the OEM DVD drive with after market slim burners? If you see the detailed shots of DVD Drive mating surface on thelaptop chassis, it looks like there should not be any problem (I think, don't count on me on that). But again, theface plate will not be at the same level as current one, as the current drive face plate is custom made for this laptop. I am not sure if this OEM face plate can be fixed on after market drives. I always hated the standard slide-out laptop optical drives. You have to pull the tray out, carefully press the CD against the hub, and whenremoving a CD you also you have to be careful. For this reason I really like Apple PowerBook G4 slot drive style loading drive. Forget all the fiddling, just slide the CD in and take the CD out. By the way,if anyone wondering if the drive is Master or slave, it is running in Master mode. Someday I will try installing a slot loadingDVD burner, so that I do not have to worry about breaking the drive caddy.

Heatsink (view larger image)

The CPU heatsink is made completely of copper, which is good. No wonder the CPU temperature drops the moment thefan runs, evenin a few secondswhile at full load. The CPU fan grill is also designed in such a way; it can suck air from more area than actual fan size. If someone is particular about what kind of chipset they used for various things like FireWire, PCMCIA,etc. then please check the device manager snapshot provided.

Device Manager snapshot (view larger image)

Processor and Performance:

Performance is pretty snappy. It feels quite quick. The processor I chose was AMD Turion 64 ML-37 which is the top speed available through HP (There is anML-40 available, but HP does not offer it at this time). Currently with my 40GB 4200RPM HDD and 512MB DDR333 MHz RAMit is taking around 32 -33 seconds to boot (I took out all unnecessary software installed by HP). It takes around 8 seconds to get to bios and 25 seconds to get to Windows (when Windows loading screen comes on). I'm not sure how much it would improve with a 5400RPM drive.

So far I have not seen any glitches or any issues with hanging. I use this laptop mostly for web browsing, checking email, photo editing, home video editing, and for some personal software development using Eclipse Java version.

Andregarding games, I am not a gamer, but I do once in a while play Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004). UT2004 played at full resolution (1280x768 @ 32bit) color works great without any frame drops. I assigned 64MB out of 512MB for the video card. But again, that is more of a video card performance than processor. In several tests and benchmarks I conducted I found the ML-37 seems to be on par with Athlon64 3200+ in processor performance. It lacks dual channel memory bandwidth,but itreally depends on what application you are using as to whether this matters. In MPEG2 video encoding tests it was lagging behind my P4 3.06Ghz desktop. Maybe some fault lies with the slow hard drive and single channel memory (2200MB/s vs. 4200MB/s). My Desktop is actually a Pentium 4 2.4B @ 3.06 with 512MB DDR400MHz dual channel memory. I used TMPGEnc v2.56 to convert 6 min 04 seconds DV clip to MPEG2 @ NTSC 8000Kbps at default setting. Desktop took 10 min 4 seconds, and Turion ML-37 took 10 Min 28 seconds. It is known that Pentium 4is always stronger at MPEG2 encoding. DDR400 RAM and faster HDD would have helped at least to cover some gap. In many other though the v2000zdid beat my desktop.

Benchmarks:

The benchmarks runfor this laptop are rather extensive and so the content for this are seperated into another page:

Click here for Compaq Presario v2000z benchmarks

Keyboard, Touchpad and controls:

I did not see any keyboard flex as such. I find the v2000z is quite comfortable to type on. Iespecially love thefull size backspace and enter keys (the full size backspace key was missing on my previous Toshiba laptop and I really missed that). The keys arelight gray in color with black lettering. Some people prefer black keyboards, but I like this one as well because it is easy to see the keys when it is alittle dark.

Keyboard (view larger image)

The touchpad is good with it's vertical/horizontal scrolling and tapoption as well. The software has the option to increase scroll area as well, which I actually needed to use toincrease the vertical scrolling area. It also has a button withan LED light associated to itto turn on/off the touchpad when you're using a mouse. Turning off the touchpad also helps unexpectedcursor movementduring typing.

The left and right mouse buttons are okay, they're a little stiff to press and make clicking noises like those Dell Latitude series laptops. If you use a laptop in bed then your wife isdefinitely not going to like this clicking noise if they are trying to get to sleep! I prefer the soft press buttons with no noise. So I mostly use touch pad tap option for registeringleft clicks when ever possible.

On the top of the keyboard it has awireless on/off touch switch (all are tap/momentary switches instead of slide switches) and it glows blue when it is on. Also at the top of the keyboard is the power switch, Volume down, Up and mute switches, glows orange.

Function keys at the top of the keyboard (F1 - F12)also work as Media keys, LCD brightness controls in conjunction with the"Fn" button. The multimedia keys work with media player, powerDVD etc. These functions do not need any software, you can remove the HP software and they still work.

On the left top of the keyboard you will see a small gray pin, it is LCD latch switch. When you close the LCD, it presses this button and sends the laptop to sleep/hibernate.

Input and Output Ports:

DVD drive sliding out (view larger image)

DVD drive seated in place (view larger image)

In total it has 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 Firewire port, 1 VGA, I PCMCIA slot, 6-in-1 Media Reader, 1 Expansion Port 2.

Right side: you will see 6-in-1 card reader, Firewire, USB port, DVD-ROM Drive, S-Video Port and another USB (view larger image)

Front: Altec Lansing Speakers (surprisingly good for laptop speakers) Power, HDD, Charge indicators, Screen Latch, Mic and Headphone ports (view larger image)

Left side view 1 (view larger image)

Left side view 2 (view larger image)

Left Side: VGA port for external monitor (support dual monitor mode), Expansion port 2, LAN, MODEM, USB, PCMCIA slot, and Kensington locking port.

The Expansion Port 2 has lot of outputs built into it. You can use it with HP Expansion base (Docking station), or HP xc2000 media cable kit. It has digital audio out, stereo RCA audio out, S-Video, Composite Video out, Firewire, and USB out through single cable. It works as good as adocking station and it is quite reasonable at $89 and comes with a remote too.

Back: Nothing much here, just 18.5V DC power socket, Heaksink grills, and LCD hinges.

Under side view (view larger image)

Bottom: CPU Fan, Heatsink, Ram Slot cover, Mini-PCI slot cover, HDD cover, DVD-ROM removal screws, Battery latch and battery

I really like the battery latch mechanism, just push the latch all the way to left and it pops out the battery by itself. Just one handed operation. I remember how I struggled to remove the battery from an Apple PowerBook G4 when the locking mechanism broke.

Wireless:

The v2000zcomes with Broadcom wireless B/G mini-PCI network card and reception is pretty good. It has an On/Off momentary switch. I always got Excellent to very good coverage in my home, and I can not say that about all the wireless adapters/cards I've had.

Battery:

I have been getting around 3:00 hours for browsing, document editing, downloading and am happy about that because mostly I use it at home and I always have a power outlet around. You can upgrade to a12-cell battery for a mere $25 dollars and it gives you almost 6 hours of runtime. It will raise the back of the laptop, which is good for cooling. But it also adds half-a-pound extra weight, which I don't want and the 12 cell battery also does not run the complete width across the laptop thereby making it alittle inconvenient when it is on yourlap. The power adapter is also long enough so it is not a problem. If I use the laptop for photo editing and some other heavy stuff I am get around 2:30 hours, and that is the minimum I am getting. But I have been reading in the forums here at NotebookReview.com that not all are getting battery life like that. At any rate, if somebody isnot even getting 2:30 hours for typical browsing, I think probably there issome problem with the battery or laptop.

Operating System and Software:

The v2000z comes with Windows XP Home by default, but can be upgraded to XP Professional. It comes with many trial version software programswhich I uninstalled the first day without trying. But looks like Sonic MyDVD plus is useful if someone wants to capture video and make DVDs. It is simplistic and good for beginners. For DVD playbackthe v2000zcomes with InterVideo WinDVD. Quality wise it is good, but it takesa lot ofCPU for what it does and I am not fond of its control interface. I use PowerDVD and all the multimedia keys provided on the keyboard work for it.

Customer Support:

I did not need to use the customer support so far and hope I will not need it. I heard it is reasonably good.

Complaints:

DVD drive tray cover (view larger image)

Firstcomplaint iswith theDVD drive tray face plate. Instead of making it so that it tapers at thebottom part of chassis they added taper to the DVD drive face plate to match the sloped corners of the notebook. When you hold and lift the laptop on the sides the load goes on to the DVD Drive tray (caddy) which is very bad and could cause premature failure. I do not understand why they could not see while it was in design stage this problem would occur. Of course a work around is simple, do not hold and lift in the drive area, or better yet make sure you are holding in such a way that load goes on to the bottom of the laptop. See the photos.

Pointing to where load would be focused when laptop is tilted (view larger image)

Secondcomplaint is the power supply cord. The power supply it self is quite small which is nice. But I do not know why they have to make it grounded cable in AC side. Even if it is grounded they could make it a lot thinner or at least they could go with individual code design (like Dell 3 pin AC cable on the 600m). This is thick and un-manageable, more like ATX power supply cable than a laptop power cable. In fact the power supply is only 65watts, including efficiency losses it takes less than 1 AMP current on AC side, I have no idea why they have chosen standard 7AMP bulky cable (maybe they saved a quarter?). Of course you can get away with one of those slim retractable AC power cords for 9 bucks. But the whole point is to make it compact in the first place

Praises:

• Good balance of Power, Weight, and price.
• Good overall Value.
• Little more future proof than current generation centrinos.
• Excellent 14" BrightView Screen.
• Nice touch pad with vertical and Horizontal scroll.
• Finally full size backspace (to correct my usual typos!) and enter keys on keyboard.

Conclusion:

WouldI recommend this laptop to someone? Yes, without a doubt. Isn't there anything better than this? Yes there are lots, but not at this price!

Pricing and Availability: Compaq Presario v2000z

 

Nice review, Chinna.
I've been seeing a lot of Turions lately... many positive reviews. Looks like AMD is slowly catching up in the notebooks department...

 

Nice Review I just ordered one for my Neice for her Birthday I hope she likes it as much as you do.

 

chinna_n, thanks for the review

Would you tell us about that $9-slim-retractable power cord? Is it also a grounded three prong cord? I did a google search and turned up only a Kensignton $79 universal-retractable power cord.

I have been searching for a laptop for some time, but the grounded plug would kill it for me because I need to carry my laptop to several locations: none of which are guaranteed to have a free grounded plug.

P.S. What do you think of the sticky trackpad? I tried out the trackpad on V2000z machines in Best Buy and CompUSA. It was very sticky compared to a standard plastic trackpad (as on Averatec, IBM, and Apple laptops). The V2000z trackpad seems to be a formed piece of metal, that has been painted to be gray.

 

Well done Chinna! Enjoyed your review!

Very easy read, you have a nice uniform style throughout. Leads to a more flowing paper.

Congrats on your purchase, hope you enjoy your computer!

 

See the link for the power cord.
http://www.ziplinq.com/retractable-cable-pwr.html
The one I got from Fry's has Mickey Style 3pin to 2pin adapter on Power Brick side included for $9. It is slim, retractable, and has two prong connector to wall.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1216704&CatId=82

No, I do not think TrackPad is metal. But I felt this is better than all TrackPads I have used sofar. I was able configure and use left click, right click, drap and drop, Horizontal and Vertical scroll without using mouse keys at all. I used to have problem with my toshiba before with dry fingers. I had to wet my finger sometime with Toshiba. Not this one. Not even once I had problem.

 

After I wrote the Original Review, I replaced my Fujitsu 4200RPM 2MB Cahce HDD with Toshiba 40GB 5400RPM 16MB Cache drive.

This has very posivite affect on PCMark score especially. It increases the total score by 200+ points.

So, I ran PCMark05, PCMark04 two bench marks so users get an idea where it stands with other laptops.

BTW I also observed Graphics card performance contributes to PCMark more than anticipated, By changing default ATI control Panel setting to Max performance, the score is increased by 30 points.

PCMark2005 Score: 2125
PCMark2004 Score: 3331

I also ran Sandra bench Mark for this new Toshiba HDD to get a comparative figure.
Sandra Drive Index: 28MBs

 

I would like to share with you my two-day experience of using v2410us, which is a preconfigured model in v2000 series and available in major retail stores, such as BestBuy, Circuitcity, OfficeDepot, and OfficeMax. BTW, v2410US has AMD Turion64 ML-30 (1.6 GHz, 1MB cache).

I like every bit of the laptop except the way how the cooling fan works. Here are two pieces of information before I proceed
1. The fan is designed to be on at low speed at 55 C, and switch to high speed at 60 C. Once the temperature drops to 50 C, the fan is turned off.
2. According to my observation, when the computer is idle at 800 MHz with 0.950 V, it takes about 15 seconds for the fan to cool the CPU from 55 C to 50 C.

Before using RM Clock to manage the CPU, the fan comes on and off very frequently, i.e. every 30 seconds. After undervoltaging the CPU and fixing the speed at 800MHz, I noticed that the CPU idle temperature is barely below 55 C.

However, if the room is a little warm(i.e., 22C), and the CPU is idle at 800MHz with 0.95V, the fan turns on for 15 seconds by every 66 seconds(referred to as the period). The period is shorter if the laptop is being used.

I did a little test. With the same idle condition, a fan(60mm, 12 VDC) running at 6 V was put near the air intake of the CPU fan, and the period became 165 seconds. Be aware that 60 mm is larger than the diameter of the air intake, and only a small portion of the air flow goes into it.

My feeling is that it is annoying to be on for 15s in every 66s. The laptop will be more friendly if the period can be extended. My conclusion is that a laptop cooler is necessary, or get used to the way how the fan works.

An ideal scheme for the fan is that for instance,
1. The fan is off if T < 45C.
2. Low low speed if 45C T < 55C (thus low noise and extended period)
3. Low speed if 55C< T < 60C.
4. High speed if 60C < T.

I heard that the fans in ASUS laptops work in this way. I also learned from Compaq's technical support that the fan running scheme cannot be changed due to some limitation in design and hardware.
--------------------------------------------------------
Limitation in hardware? Then an idea crossed my mind.



Basically, a switch, a diode and a resistor are added to make the fan running at low low speed. This hasn't been tested yet, and I don't know if there will be any problem.

 

Chinna_n... How easy was it for you to change the HDD? This may be a newbie question but what does the 2mb vs 16mb on the different drives indicate? Also curious as why you chose only 40gb when upgrading as opposed to 80?

 

It literally took 5 min to change the Hard Drive. if you see the pictures above, you need to remove two screws and lift from end where there is a strap. If may be little tight, but it is alright. Now, you have HDD assy which is mounted in a cage.

HDD has special quick connector which you need to pull out(like any IDE connector) and mount it on new HDD. It will also be little tight, but you can use a flat screw driver and push it out, but carefully push it out equally on both sides.

Now you have to remove 4 screws which are holding HDD in the cage and mount new HDD in the cage. Now push the HDD assy into the HDD into it's place and push it with little pressure so that it sits in the special IDE connector and close the lid.

The procedure may sound long, but in the time wrote this reply, we will be done.

Ok, now the difference between 2MB vs 16MB of cache. It is nothing but a buffer to HDD. When any request is made to HDD for data, first it looks in buffer if it already there, if not it actually reads data from disk. Sameway if an application writes data, it first goes to buffer then to disk. But buffer speed almost equal to the Interface speed, something like 66MB/s to 100MB/s where as actual disk write speed may vary from 20MB/s to 35MB/s and also adds latency. (Please refer to HDD terminology.) This way drives with more cache may feel more responsive assuming everything else is same.

Now, why 40GB 5400RPM drive? Typically the configuration for laptop HDD are
40GB uses single platter - 2 Head design
60GB use 2 platter -3 head
80GB uses 2 platter - 4 head

Like that(determined by platter density). Typically, everything else being same except capacity of the drive, single platter design (40GB) generates little less heat, platter and heads are cooled easily as those are directly exposed to casing inside HDD. So, typically this may extend the life of the drive(read reliable), and less heat to laptop.

But there are exceptions, Some of the new Seagate drives use high density platters, so 60GB uses 1 platter and 2 head design, but it is relatively expensive(and uses 8MB cache).

Most new 120GB drives use 60GB platters, but most of those are 4200RPM drives(as data density is increased, read and writes should be more precise).

I hope this answers your questions.

 

Thanks for the nice info about how fan is controlled thru diode. I guess in your case reason for more frequency of fan turning on is ML-30. As we browse, edit, if you observe CPU keeps jumping around a lot between 800Mhz and 1600Mhz. At 800MHz CPU only uses 7.9watts where as at 1600Mhz it uses 32watts. which is 4 folds. That is the one of the reasons I choosed ML-37 which only consumes 24.9 watts at 1600Mhz. I am not saying, it is a justification, but rather a fact.

Based on howmuch power you can save at 1600Mhz is more important than what you save at 800Mhz. So, if you can reduce more voltage at 1600MHz , that reduces the heat.
Please see this thread for approximate value
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=27429
Oneway to control CPU jumping around is setting battery/AC profile to Minimal in RM CPU clock. And also adding a intermediate speed step( around 1200Mhz) may add fine grained speed steps and leading to less heat overall.

Check this thread for RM CPU clock setting details:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=20249

I also wish there is some kind of fan control in bios, or even if it can be controlled by Some software. I agree with you on when to start fan. If fan starts at atleast at 50c at slow speed and only increase speed when temp goes up. This way temp may not go above 55 (as fan is running slowly, but not enough to bringdown temp below 50 quickly) but will be in between 50-55C. Though fan is not loud at all( by comparison to many laptops I used sofar) it is definitely not very convinient to have it on/off frequently. I rather prefer running it at low speed.

I hope/wish hardware is not limiting factor in controlling fan speed and someday software/firmware can control the settings.

 

Here is the URL for the service manual for this series of notebook(it is same for V2000, V2000z, DV1000). It has diagrams and instructions to replace HDD and others.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00444244.pdf

 

BTW, after replacing HDD with 5400RPM drive and setting default boot drive as , boot time is 26-27 seconds. Actual time for Windows boot is only 19-20sec and 7 secs for Bios initialization, finding drives etc. It is pretty quick.

Another question I saw in some other thread is, can it boot with USB drive? Absolutely! No problems here. And I like the options of simply pressing "ESC" during bios initialization and able to select which drive to boot from(Floppy!,DVD/CD, HDD(any), NetWork etc. Much easier than even my desktop.

If you want you can have a drive with Linux installed and connected using USB and you can boot into linux on a separate HDD.

 

Good reviews, especially about the heat from CPU and HDD. The CPU has good heatsink and fan design, and I'm running RMClock also, but the HDD is causing my palm trouble after running for an hour.

I removed the plastic dummy card of the PCMCIA slot, get a 5V fan, connect the wires to USB header, and let it sit next to the opened PCMCIA slot. With the oped PCMCIA slot, that area on the left of touchpad still get hot althought slower. With the fan, it stays slightly warm all the time. I didn't measure battery time as I plugged the power cable in most of the time.

I open the laptop, right above the HDD is an ATI chip, don't know if it is northbridge or southbridge, but surely adding up the heat from HDD. I'm thinking about a PCMCIA fan, anything cheap?

Installed SuSE 64bit 10.0 on it, everything fine except wireless. Ndiswrapper + 64bit Broadcom driver can only make the wireless LED blink at 0.2Hz, any advice?

 

Hi,
I Have 1 question has any one Upgraded v2000z dvd drive to a dvd burner writer?? please i would like to know what type of dvd burner that i need to install in my compaq v2000z i just got.

 

That is cool, atleast you are able to get it working all other things. There is thread I started about 64bit linux on these laptops. Here is the link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=28816

Best of luck and pls let us know your ourcome.

Thanks

 

I think typical slim burners should work fine. If you really need one and you know it before hand it is good idea to buy with one as it is costing as much as HP is charging for the Burner.

You may or may not be able to mount the original Face plate on the new drive. So drive will not be inline with frame(though it should still work).

Let us know if you experiment something. It helps others too.

 

Okay guys,

Finally I bit the bullet and got 1GB DDR400 ram for my laptop. Corsair 512MB DDR400 x 2.
This one http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/produ...item=20-145-506

So, armed with 1GB DDR400 ram, first thing I did is, ran Memtest86 for 4 hours and Prime95 for 8 and 1/2 hours at CAS3 DDR400 1T timing.

Now I know it is stable, I was tempted to findout how much boost I got in benches.
Here are some:
(see the attachments).
Sandra: as I predicted it my review benches it is increased to 2761/2758 MB/s. (from 2241/2242)
PCMark05: 2199 (from 2125)
PCMark04: 3435 (from 3331)
PCMark02: Memory Score 7457 (from 6762)
3DMark2001SE: 5014( from 4423) Wow!
3DMark05: 634 (from 586)

in 3DMark05 there in substantial improvement in CPU score.

 

And here is PCMark2002

Super PI timing is improved by 4 seconds(from 1 min 47 sec to 1 min 43 sec) Wow.

 

I Have a question after i change the hard drive out do i have to go in to the bios for anything ? and make any changes??

 

Nope, nothing. Its just bois scans for changes and picks up the HDD. (It can work drive as Master or Cable Select based on your HDD jumper settings)

 

I also wanted to upgrade my ram by adding a 512 on there will this one work? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145484

 

Yes, it would.

But why would you want to go with DDR333 (2700) rather than going for DDR400 for 5-6 bucks more? When you have extra cash you add one more 512MB DDR400 stick.

It is cheaper here only $3 more for DDR400
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=property&item=20-145-506

I ordered several parts from these guys and they are good( I heard newegg sister company or something like that, even invoice is same, items stocked are same).

if you want only newegg, here it is

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145506

I found there verygood increase(average more than 15% improvement with DDR400 vs DDR333) with DDR400 .Across board from SuperPI to 3DMark!

Eitherway it would work.

 

What type of boost will i get by upgrading my memory ? faster load up? boot up what type of things. sorry to ask but i always wanted to know. because i could just get A other 256mb for $15 and add it and have 512 on the ram or i could just buy the 512 and add that to my 256 right now. I would like to know what should i do?

 

Typicall boost will across the board. Especially since Video is shared, it makes lot difference. 512MB is fine, but again more the better.

One this also applies to this memory is , Law of Diminishing returns.
You will see more boost when upgrade 256 to 512, will see little more(not as much first 256 you add) for 768, like that.

if you do not want to spend much then 512MB should be fine. Thats also depends on what you are doing with your laptop. Just browsing, editing, email, light gaming should do fine. But if you want to use Adobe Photoshop, Video editing etc, it make sense to have more memory.

 

I dont understand if i just add a other 256 to my other 256 to have 512 I wont see much diff. but if i keep my 256 and add 512 i will see a big diff.? is that what you are trying to say or is it the other way?

 

Sorry for the confusion.
I was talking in terms of total memory. If you add a 256MB stick, you should be fine with Total 512MB, which makes lot of difference.

If you add 512MB Making total 768MB it is even better. It gives you a chance to upgrade you total memory to 1GB in future in you need.

What I was trying to say was, there is a law diminishing returns. Like for example going from 256MB to 1GB makes lot of difference, but going from 1GB to 2GB does not add same improvement as first one(upgrade from 256MB to 1GB).

 

Thankx for all the help and info.

 

First off, let me say thank you very much for your review on this laptop. I am in the market for my very first laptop, and I've pretty much decided on the v2000z based very much on your review. I've seen the model at CompUSA (slightly different config), and I've enjoyed typing on it, navigating the internet, etc.

Additionally, thanks to everyone for your different questions/inputs here, again it's incredibly helpful.

My question is this:

I'm planning on buying the identical config as chinna_n. I need it for school work, and maybe some very low-level video editing (like taking from my TiVo, video camera and creating DVD file for export to my PC). I will upgrade my RAM/HD later, again based on the advice given here.

1) Now then, what would you think if I didn't go with the Turion, but instead went with the AMD Sempron(TM) 3300+ (2.0GHz/128KB L2 Cache)?

With the Turion, the total price w/ tax , student discount and rebates will be around $860. The Sempron3300+ will save me $125. I love saving money of course, but I don't want to "hobble" myself by doing this. In the future, I should expect to use Engineering programs for school (possibly including CAD). However, that's probably two years from now, so it probably doesn't matter.

2) I probably shouldn't complain about the $860 price, but when I add $110 for 1GB RAM, I start to get near the $1000 range. A HD takes me even higher. Is this something I should really worry about? You guys know the typical price for laptop purchases, so if you think I'm just complaining to complain, let me know.

Thanks again everyone!

 

I know your pain... my V2000Z came to exactly $800 after rebates. After memory and hard drive upgrades, along with a wireless mouse and bag... my total was almost $1200. Nonetheless, I think it's worth the extra $125 to go with the Turion. It'll give you much better battery life. Plus, 128KB of L2 doesn't sound too appealing. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will comment on that.

 

I my opinion you should be fine with Sempron 3300+. It makes up by MHz though it lacks big cache, especially applications those depend on MHz take advantage of 2Ghz of Sempron 3300+. As a nice bonus Sempron 3300+ is a 25watt processor vs 35Watt ML processor. Though Battery life difference may not be that much for typical browsing and editing, but lot less heat. If you can UNDERVOLT little bit, that would help little more for heat and battery life as well.

One main thing you may loose with Sempron is 64Bit support. That is one of my main considerations, but again if you are not planning to upgrade to 64Bit soon, you should be fine with that.

For Ram, I would suggest go with 256MB supplied and add one 512MB DDR400 making 768MB which should be suffice to start with. HDD you can think of later time.

Anyways, best of luck with you purchase, hope you will enjoy this laptop as much as I do.

 

Interesting, so the Sempron3300+ processor may be a good idea then eh? I have no idea what 64-bit stuff will be coming out, so I guess that means I shouldn't be concerned with it, lol. The cache thing is a different story. I'll head out to Staples, OD, etc and look for Sempron-based units to see if I can spot any noticeable differences between it and Turion.

Thanks again...If I do go Sempron and save the $125, drinks are on me!

 

64 bit applications and software won't be the mainstream for at least two more years. Think of all the people that are buying desktops and notebooks with 32 bit processors. They'll be keeping their notebooks for a while. I don't think someone who's just bought a $3000+ Dell XPS M170 will ditch it to get another notebook next year when Vista comes out don't you?

 

Wohao Chinna, that dvd shot you showed, I recognize the girl in the middle. Boomika Chawla I believe. And based on your name and most of Boomikas movies im guessing your Telugu dude (maybe girl). Im wondering which movie its from, as I dont recognize the shot from any of the recent telugu movies i've seen with here in it. Or Maybe its from a Hindi movie.

Anyway nice review, and look for my review of the Sager 5720 with Geforce 7800go GTX in about a week, right here.

 

It is from Hindi movie Silsilay. Not a great movie, not great quality either, but at that time it was in the drive and I just took some shots. Lazy to go down stairs and pick good english DVD.

Sure, will see your Sager review once its posted!

 

After some careful review/comparisons on the CPU and HD, I just bought the following online:

AMD Sempron3300+
256MB RAM
60GB 5400RPM HDD
DVD-ROM Drive
ATI Radeon Xpress 200M w/ productivity package
Internal Broadcom wireless b/g card
14" Widescreen (non-Briteview)
6 cell battery

Total price, $740 after MIR! Plus FatWallet gives me another 3% back! I'll be spending another $110 to upgrade to 1 GB RAM, then I should be set. Thanks again for this kick-ass review and reader input, it is EXTREMELY helpful

 

Hello. I am going to college next year, and although it might be too soon, I am looking for laptop computers. I have been told that Compaq V2000 is a good laptop for my needs (college life...etc). Anyway, I will be mostly using it for productivity work and some "easy" entertainment... here are the specs from hpshopping.com that I am interested in:

– Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
– AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-28 (1.6GHz/512KB L2 Cache)
– 14.0 WXGA Widescreen (1280x768)
– ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M
– 256MB DDR SDRAM (1x256MB)
– 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
– DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
– Integrated 56K Modem + 10/100 Ethernet LAN
– 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Any suggestions? My budget is about $850-$900
I have a few questions about this laptop:

1). Heat is not an issue, right?
2). chinna_n: do you think that the V2000 will last for years to come? I am on a budget, so whatever laptop I will buy now, must last at least 4 years...

Thank you....

 

I like the configuration for the most part - however, 256MB of RAM is too little - are you upgrading that yourself?

If you upgrade to the 12-cell battery, it will stick out the back but it doubles the battery life to 5 hours.

I'd bump the processor to the ML-30 - the 1MB of L2 will help in certain applications, worth the upgrade.

 

If those are your specs check out the V2410 at Circuit City. $849 after rebates and most of the specs are higher than what you have. If you configure it at HP it will be more $$$.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=133631&cm_keycode=85

Also, to save a few more dollars sign up and buy through fatwallet link

 

1. For me I did not see heat as an issue for this laptop. But again it seems to be a relative thing. I used, 600M(for work) and did not find it any hotter than that. But much cooler than my Previous home laptop Toshiba P10-S429. In my opinion, I do not think heat as an issue, but UNDERVOLTing definitely helps.

2. I felt it is in the same league as current dell consumer models, I felt it is not as good as my 2 years old Toshiba( but Toshibas are also not that quality any more). But I still think you need to treat these little careful(relative to Thinkpad I used long ago, which is rock solid). I only bought it 2 month ago, so I really can not comment much on that. But many people have V2000, it is same chassis, screen, keyboard etc. So it would be as good or as bad as that( even DV1000 is similar).

Go to local store(office depot,frys staples etc) and get the feel of it, so you get an idea where it stands.

BTW if you can dish few bucks more, go with ML-30 instead of ML-28.

Expect the battery average run 2:30 Min( I do get 3 hours with UNDERVOLT). So do not expect you can use it whole day at school on the battery. If you want, go with 12 cell($25!) which may last from 5 -6 hours.

If you do not need 64Bit support and do not want spend more, you could go with Sempron 3300+ which is pretty powerful( I am guestimating as much as ML-32 to ML-34) and consumes less power than Turion MLs.(25Watts vs 35Watts).

 

This one looks like a good deal to me.

 

My only issue is that it includes the 6 cell battery and the 4200rpm hard drive.

 

Yes, I am planning on buying a 512 MB memory stick from www.newegg.com. It is a Corsair-Value-Select. It only costs like $46.

 

The Circuit City model actually costs $35 less than configured on HP even with APP discount ($100 less without).

CrazyPerson - the CC model includes 512mb which should be ok for awhile. Save another $46.

 

Yes, the Circuit City offer is pretty sweet. However, I am not sure whether or not I should buy it...yet! I do need to have it by August 2006...so prices might drop till then...or till Christmas....

 

Yeah, I'm not desperate yet either - debating on waiting until post Christmas. My desktop is still holding up after about 4 or 5 years

 

Chinna.. in one of your earlier posts you mentioned that you have your old 40gb 4200rpm that you will keep as a spare , portable drive. What do you mean by "portable" can you access it without swapping it?

 

I already did the swap with 5400RPM Toshiba. Now old drive is in a 2.5" enclosure.

As per accessing, yes I can access it thru USB as a bootable drive. One neat feature I liked about V2000z is you can press "ESC" during bios initialization, and select which drive you want to boot with(HDDs,CD,Floppy, NetWork etc). But Ofcourse I did not try to install "OS" on as USB drive, but as it is already installed, so I booted with it. May be we can install also, but I am not sure.

 

I have a few questions:

1). Excluding perfomance, which processor makes the LEAST amount of heat: the AMD Sempron or the AMD Turion or Pentium M ?

2). I pretty much will use the V2000Z for productivity work and some "light" entertainment, so what do you guys recommend A Sempron or a Turion )?

I think that the Sempron would be better, because for my situation it will deliver enough power, and it will not make a lot of heat...but what do you guys think?

 

AMD Sempron and Turion MT series(HP only offers ML 35watts version) produce 22 watts to 25 watts of heat vs 27+ watts for P-M. Turion ML produces 32 watts to 35 watts depending on model.

So if you do not need 64Bit support best bet would be sempron 3300+(2.0Ghz) which is very power efficient and as powerful as ML-32 to ML-34. It is only little weak in games, but only if you have powerful video card. So in the case of V2000z it deos not matter.