Compaq v3000z Review (pics, specs)

Overview and Introduction:

The Compaq Presario v3000 series is one of the newest in HP's lineup of consumer notebooks. It features dual core power and is primarily aimedat being a goodall-round mobile solution. It weighs around 5.3lbs with the 6 cell battery and has a 14" widescreen display. It is also available with a choice of both AMD Turion 64 X2/Sempron and Intel Core Duo/Solo microprocessors. The laptop is currently available at HPShopping.com with a base price of $699* for the AMD based version and $899* for the Intel based version. The launch of this laptop also coincided with HP's new marketing initiative of "Making the computer personal again" and with its new design philosophy, HP aims to transform the computer from being just an electronic utility item to more of a personal tool.

Compaq Presario v3000z (view large image)

*price after $100 mail in rebate.

Reasons for Buying:

I was looking for an affordable laptop that costaround $1,000 which would last me 3 years or more, have good design and be capable of 64-bit computing. All of this plus it should not sacrifice any features. The v3000z struck the right balance for my requirements.

A list of similar/Competing laptops to the V3000Z are:

• Dell Inspiron e1405/640m
• Toshiba Satellite m100
• Lenovo 3000 N100 (14")
• Gateway M255-E

A typical buyer of such a notebook would probably be looking for a laptop which is both mobile yet does not sacrifice performance or important features.

The lid does show some reflections yet hides fingerprints quite well (view large image)

Where and How Purchased:

I ordered the laptop online through HPShopping.com. The ordering experience was pleasant without any issues. I placed the order on June 10<SUP>th</SUP>, the order was processed and completed on the 21<SUP>st</SUP> and it shipped on the same date and arrived on the 26<SUP>th</SUP> of June. The time taken was a bit longer than I expected but given that the laptop was just introduced, longer build time is to be expected.

Technical Specifications:

The V3000z is available in custom build to order and also pre-configured versions should be available in retail stores soon. Since I ordered mine custom built from HP, the specifications will vary.

• AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-52 (1.60GHz/512KB)
• 14.1" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800)
• NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150
• 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (2x256MB)*
• 60 GB 5400 RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
• Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
• 802.11b/g WLAN
• 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 1-yr Standard Warranty
• Dimensions: 13.15" (L) x 9.33" (W) x 1" (min H)/1.54" (max H)
• Weight (6 cell): 5.5lb
• Total Price (after MIR &amp; student discount) = $960 including tax

*The v3000z I purchased was upgraded to2GB of RAMaftermarket.

Build &amp; Design:

The build quality is very good for a laptop in this price range. There aren't any little squeaks or creeks when the laptop is picked up from any corner, but the screen produces some ripples when the lid is pressed hard from behind. The hinges are covered in plastic and I am not sure if it runs through the entire length of the laptop, but overall the hingesdo feel solid and there is no movement in the screen when typing and it holds its position even when shaken a bit hard. Having used a Compaq v2000 series laptop, I must say the v3000 is a definite improvement in the build quality department.

The laptop is colored with a combination of grey and black with imprinted lines all over the visible surface. It looks conservative and yet comes off as being an extremely stylish looking laptop. The screen which is surrounded by a high gloss black surface is more prone to fingerprints. Most of the laptop is built of polycarbonate with an imprint finish developed by Nissha Film Products. The imprint can be seen clearly and is protected by a coating of clear plastic material which helps in avoiding scratch marks.

Screen:

The screen is almost perfect, I had no issues with any dead or stuck pixels. It has good horizontal viewing angle but the vertical angles could be better (this is typical of most notebook screens). The 14" widescreen is a very popular format and is perfect for everyday use. The text looks clear and sharp and the screen viewing area is perfect for surfing and typing documents. The only negative against the screen would be the light leakage. Some amount of leakage is to be almost expected in any laptop and the v3000 isn't any different. The leakage is only visible in the bottom of the screen and is only apparent when looking at a screen with black background. Do remember that light leakage is individual to a particular screen and some others might not have the same amount as mine.

Note the good viewing angles as well as the reflection due to the glossy screen (view large image)

Speakers:

HP has replaced the position of the speakers from the front of the laptop in the previous generation to a place right above the keyboard. The speakers are branded as Altec Lansing and have decent bassthat areslightly better than the average laptop speaker. The sound gets a bit distorted when the volume is at the highest. If you are an audiophile headphones are recommended, but otherwise I found the speaker to be of acceptable sound quality.

Speakers located right above the keyboard (view large image)

Processor and Performance:

The Presario v3000Z came equipped with the AMD Turion 64 X2 TL52 running at 1.6GHz. This is the new range of dual core processors by AMD aimed squarely at the Intel Core Duo's. It has one distinct advantage of being able to run 64-bit operating systems and applications. Of course currently this is not of much use to the general public since there are hardly any mainstream 64-bit operating systems and applications. But the future of computing seems to be headed towards 64-bit and it is nice to have a processor which is capable of handling such instructions. Being dual core it performs best when multitasking and I was able to run my antivirus in the background and not notice any slowdowns as I was surfing the web, typing this review and also listening to streaming music.

Benchmarks:

Below are some of the standard suite of tests that should be able to give a better idea about the performance the Turion X2 is capable.

Super Pi

Nothing surprising here as the Core Duo's have made this benchmark their own.

Notebook	Time
Compaq Presario V3000z (1.6GHz Turion64 X2)	1m 57s
Dell Inspiron e1405 (1.66GHz Core Duo)	1m 22s
Gateway M255 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 15s
Lenovo Z61m (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 16s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
IBM ThinkPad Z60m (2.0 GHz Pentium M)	1m 36s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
HP Pavilion dv4000 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
Asus V6Va (Pentium M 1.86 GHz)	1m 46s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s

3D Mark 05

This benchmark primarily compares the performance of the graphics subsystem.

Notebook	3DMark 05 Results
Compaq V3000z (1.6GHz Turion64 X2, nVidia GeForce Go 6150)	613 3D Marks
Averatec AV2150-EH1 (AMD Turion 64 1.6GHz, ATI Xpress 200M)	442 3D Marks
Gateway M255 (2.0 GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA 950 Graphics)	523 3D Marks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60 nVidia GeForce Go7800 GTX)	7,078 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Intel T2500, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,273 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)	2,090 3D Marks
Acer Travel Mate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,157 3DMarks

PC Mark 05

	Compaq v3000z	Averatec 2150	Dell e1405
HDD XP Startup	6.33 MB/s	6.0MB/s	5.36MB/s
Physics and 3D	68.19 FPS	48.83 FPS	67.64 FPS
Transparent Windows	236.88 Windows/s	169.24 Windows/s	202.96 Windows/s
3D Pixel Shader	Test failed	6.85 FPS	12.84 FPS
Web Page Rendering	1.66 Pages/s	1.79 Pages/s	2.55 Pages/s
File Decryption	27.69 MB/s	27.23 MB/s	41.41 MB/s
Graphics Memory 64 Lines	449.28 FPS	258.76 FPS	475.65 FPS
HDD General Usage	4.1 MB/s	4.02 MB/s	3.68 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 1 / Audio Compression	N/A	N/A	1732.89 KB/s
Multithreaded Test 1 / Video Encoding	Test failed	Test Failed	245.19 KB/s
Multithreaded Test 2 / Text Edit	93.78 Pages/s	48.38 Pages/s	88.07 Pages/s
Multithreaded Test 2 / Image Decompression	18.36 MPixels/s	8.51 MPixels/s	19.67 MPixels/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / File Compression	2.83 MB/s	1.59 MB/s	6.3 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / File Encryption	23.09 MB/s	8.11 MB/s	14.98 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / HDD Virus Scan	19.93 MB/s	9.85 MB/s	23.3 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / Memory Latency - Random 16MB	8.63 MAccesses/s	8.41 MAccesses/s	7.32 MAccesses/s

Test Laptop Specifications:

Compaq V3000z -- AMD Turion64 X2 TL 52 (1.6GHz, 2X512KB L2 cache), Nvidia Geforce Go 6150, 2GB DDR2 533, 60GB SATA HDD.

Averatec AV 2150-EH1 -- AMD Turion64 ML 28 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache), ATI Radeon 200m, 512MB DDR 333, 80GB PATA HDD. (Full Specs)

Dell Inspiron e1405 -- Intel Core Duo T2300 (1.66GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache), Intel GMA 950, 1GB DDR2 533, 80GB SATA 5400rpm HDD. (Full Specs)

HD Tune

The results for the hard drive test are very encouraging. The 60GB 5400rpm SATA Western Digital HDD turned up surprisingly good benchmarks and compares favorably with the 100GB 7200rpm SATA Hitachi HDD.(See here)

(view large image)

Keyboard &amp; Touchpad:

The top row buttons and the right shift keys are the only small size keys (view large image)

The keyboard has also received an update along with the rest of the laptop. The keys have good feel and have good travel and the key press is registered at first stroke. I haven't run into any major issues and unless you have typed on a ThinkPad, this keyboard should do fine. The keyboard is not full size as in many earlier HP laptops, but HP has done a fair trade off. Only the right Shift and the top row buttons are smaller. The other keys are of standard size for a laptop. There is little bit of flex and this is noticeable around the right lower corner (area of the arrow keys).

The touchpad is located in the centre of the laptop and is slightly to the right of the space bar. It is a bit short but makes upfor thisby being wider which makes it perfect for the 16:9 ratio screen. It is very smooth and easy to maneuver the cursor around the screen using it. The touchpad also has a dedicated scroll area which is clearly marked. Another thoughtful feature is the touchpad on/off button which is helpful to avoid accidental cursor movement, especially when using the keyboard. Thetwo mouse buttons have a good feel and don't have the typical click' noise, but instead produce a low soft sound and offer good travel when pressed.

There are 4 buttons located on top of the keyboard which control the poweron/off, speaker volume, mute and Quickplay buttons. The latter 3 buttons are touch sensitive and produce a popping noise to indicate that the button has been activated/deactivated. The volume increase/decrease buttons also follow the same principle and sliding the hand over the markings increases or decreases the volume. All of these buttons are lit blue and look very good, especially in a dark setting. They are not bright enough to interfere while working.

Touch sensitive buttons for the Quickplay, Mute &amp; Volume buttons. They produce a "pop" as confirmation that the button has been pressed.

Heat &amp; Noise:

The laptop is relatively cool running. There are a few warm spots around the rear heat vents and the left palm rest which is located right above the hard drive. Even after hours of use none of the areas become uncomfortably hot and it does not affect the usage of the laptop in any way. The processor idles around 39 C and under full load increases up to 65 C. The low input voltage (1.075V @ 1.6GHz) of the processor is mainly responsible for it not becoming too hot. The fan turns on at 43 - 45 C and remains on until it drops back to 38 C. The fan stays on for a while and then turns off for around the same amount of time. It is fairly consistent in speed,it is fairly silent making a whoosh' when running which is within tolerable limits. There aretwo vents for the laptop. The fan intake vent is on the bottom but the vent is mostly covered and only a small portion is open. The exhaust vent is located in the back right next to the battery.

Locations of the most important parts underneath the laptop (view large image)

Input and Output Ports:

Right

(DVD Burner, 2USB Ports, 56k Modem, Power jack and a Security lock) (view large image)

Left

(S Video Out, VGA, HP proprietary Expansion Port, Ethernet, 1 USB, 4 pin Firewire, 5 in 1 media card reader and an Expresscard slot) (view large image)

Front

Wireless On/Off button (view large image)

Infra Red, microphone and external speaker/headphone port (view large image)

Back

The back is just occupied by the battery and the exhaust vent (view large image)

Wireless:

The laptop ships stock with a Broadcom wireless chipset. The range and connection speeds are good and generally works very well without any issues. The only sticking point might be for Linux users as Broadcom is pretty much Linux unfriendly.

Battery:

When I waslooking around for a laptop, I was aiming for a minimum battery life of 3.5hrs and so bought the 12 cell extended battery. This battery sticks out from the bottom and raises the back of the laptop by an inch or so. The pictures will help in better illustrating this. There are a few advantages of having the extended battery, since the back of the laptop is raised it provides better air circulation and leads to a slightly cooler laptop. It also brings the screen up to a comfortable height. The keyboard is also slightly at an angle and it is much more comfortable to use. The battery does not imbalance the laptop even when using on the lap (although you will probably have to adjust your legs accordingly).[/B]

With the Wi-Fi on, screen at low brightness and surfing the web, typing documents and intermittently listening to some music, the battery lasted 5hr 30min.

Extrapolating this result to the smaller standard battery, it should be capable of lasting 2.5 to 3hrs.

Overall I am satisfied with the battery life in most situations that I would use the laptop in.

Windows Vista Compatibility:

Here is Microsoft's definition of Vista Capable PC's:

A new PC that carries the Windows Vista Capable PC logo can run Windows Vista. All editions of Windows Vista will deliver core experiences such as innovations in organizing and finding information, security, and reliability. All Windows Vista Capable PCs will run these core experiences at a minimum. Some features available in the premium editions of Windows Vista like the new Windows Aero user experience may require advanced or additional hardware.

A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:

• A modern processor (at least 800MHz).
• 512 MB of system memory.
• A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.

The laptop ships with a Windows Vista Capable' sticker. This means that the laptop should be capable of running Vista given the correct drivers are available. Unfortunately there are some missing drivers which do not allow the full features of Vista to work. With 32 bit Vista, almost all drivers are available except for the graphics card and the wireless. There was another driver missing but I couldn't figure out what it was given the time constraints. The graphics card and the wireless can be made to work by using the regular XP drivers but since the graphics drivers aren't WDDM signed Aero would not run. It was similar situation with 64 bit Vista as well. The computer itself is quite capable of running Vista, but currently at this stage Vista 32 bit is what I would recommend. 64 bit Vista probably over the next few months as more drivers become available and hopefully HP will offer drivers for Vista as and when it is released.

Operating System and Software:

I ordered the laptop with Windows XP Home and like every other major manufacturer in the market HP also tends to load their consumer notebooks with tons of software which in most cases is pretty useless. The system did not come with any restore discs but instead came with a partition on the hard drive occupying about ~10GB containing all the necessary files. HP also recommends that the owner themselves burn a copy of the restore disc. The laptop ships with the required software to do so. But do remember that HP gives the user only 1 chance to burn the discs after which the software locks itself. HP does offer a clean Windows XP disc but it has to be ordered separately and costs $10.

Quickplay:

Quickplay is possibly the only software pre-installed which is worth keeping. Quickplay or QP for short is HP's take on the media center and unlike the media center QP can run without booting into windows and play DVD's, video, pictures and movies located in the shared documents folder. It is a nice tool if you watch movies or just play music on the laptop. It has a dedicated button which can launch QP from within Windows and even when the laptop is turned off. The optional remote might be worth buying as it is capable of controlling the Quickplay controls and will be useful when watching a DVD.

Customer Support:

My experiences with customer support have been limited since I really didn't have any problems/issues with my previous Compaq in the 2yrs that I owned that laptop. I hope that my luck will continue with the V3000z and don't have to use customer support.

Conclusion:

The v3000Z is a very attractively designed notebook. It looks conservative but still it manages to provide some glamour. It is well built and offers good performance and battery life. The performance of the Turion TL 52 is in the same range as the Core Duo T2300. It might be faster in some areas and slower in others. It also has a price advantage, the v3000Z is priced lower than its Intel based twin the v3000T. I would definitely recommend this laptop to anyone looking to buy a 14" laptop with decent graphics.

Pros:

• Gorgeous looking laptop -- one of the best designs out there.
• Light Weight and definitely mobile even with the extended battery.
• Excellent battery life
• Touchpad on/off button
• Price

Cons:

• Screen could be better
• Keyboard could have been better.
• HP system recovery software choice
• More USB ports(has only 3)

 

Excellent review, miner, congratulations on your new machine.

The HP 14"'s are far better options than a competing Dell E1405 or Gatewayin my opinion.

I have yet to see a V3000/dv2000 in person yet, but when I do, I am interested in the keyboard more than anything. I have always been a fan of HP keyboards in the past, and am interested to see what they have done to them. The design certainly looks attractive.

 

Ah, this is the review that I was waiting for. Very nice review. Finally, Turion X2 benchmarks. I remember people saying how the DV2000 looked worse than the V3000. I think the DV2000 looks better, but this still looks very nice. Can't get any cooler than this for this price.

 

very nice review but you could have uploaded better images.

haven't seen the actual laptop on retail stores... is this available on bestbuy or compusa?

 

Nice review miner.

It makes my Presario look like crap. LOL
Tim

 

It is not yet on retail shelves unfortunately, just online.

For some more images view this article http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2925&laptop=HP+dv2000+Compaq+v3000

they are artistic renditions though.

 

Is this actually a clean installation of XP or is it a restore back to the original bloated installation?

Thanks for the review!

 

Excellent review miner. Thank you for taking the time.

 

thanks miner! Glad the lappy working well for you

BTW - what's the shared video memory on that bad boy 128 mb or 256?

 

For all those interested, the hp dv2000t is now at circuit city, at least in my area. I was really impressed with the design but the specs on their model was not very good for the price, mainly the processor which was a t2050 i believe. The v3000z looks like a very nice laptop, thanks for taking the time miner, appreciate it.

 

Yeah, Sorry abt that. Photography is not one of my best skills. I took somthing like 50 - 60pics and I'm sorry to say these are like the best ones.
Maybe someone with better photography skills who has the laptop will be kind enough to share it in the forums.

I havent seen any in stores yet, but circuit city has one listed online...
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Comp...54217/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

It is a clean Win XP disc. But you will have to order it with the laptop and costs 10 bucks.

256MB, I think if you have more than 1GB RAM it will automatically go to 256.

Thanks for your encouragement guys!

 

Thanks for the nice review, miner. I've been looking forward to something on the Turion X2. The one thing that really jumped out at me, however, was the suprisingly low Super Pi score, compared to the Core Duo. I guess half the L2 cache is one explanation. I'm also wondering why more manufacturers haven't adopted the Turion X2, now that it's been out for a while.

 

Yes Turion X2 looks too slow compared with Intel Core Duo... is this really noticeable working with Office, web, some 3D games like DOOM3 and some video rendering?

 

Great review! I'm definitely interested in getting one of these. The only thing is that I don't like glossy screens. Hopefully, they'll come out with a matte screen version.

 

There is no slowness. Sure, it is slower than Core Duo in Super Pi, but for office use this thing flies. I have no issues as far as general performance is concerned. As for as 3D gaming you are pretty much limited by the graphics card. If gaming performance is very important get something above Go 7400/X1400, like the Sony SZ.

The Core Duo's excel in Super Pi, but it is not really reflecive of real world performance. They are mostly similar clock for clock. The CD might have a slight advantage some areas but nothing worth noticable. The C2D might change that, but until then I would say the TX2's are pretty competitive.

About the cache, I have heard that AMD is stopping most of their Skt AM2 1MB cache versions as they found the performance difference to be minimal. Maybe it affects Super Pi more but doesnt seem to hurt much anywhere else.

 

Congrats on your new machine, for posting the first Turion X2 benchmarks in a shipping configuration I've seen, and for doing it all for less than $1000!

 

Just to let people know, the CompUSA's in my area (Southern California) have finally gotten in the HP dv2000t's. No sign of the Compaq v3000's yet.

 

FYI laptoplogic.com has a review of the 1.66Ghz Turion X2 MSI Megabook S271 MS-1058 that shows it consistently lagging a Thinkpad T60s with a 1.66Ghz Core Duo.

http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=128

 

Hello Everyone, I just got my Compaq V3000z, But I have a question, is there no Windows XP CD installation? I just got AOL CD and thats it, I know the hard drive is partitioned but if I do a recovery probably it will install again all the junk that usually comes with...

 

The Windows XP discs are not included but have to be ordered with the laptop. Try calling HP and see if they are willing to send you the discs. You might have to pay $10 or so.

All the necessary stuff to recover to factory state are located on the hard drive and you will have to burn recovery discs on your own. I would highly recommend that you burn the discs ASAP before doing any reinstallation on the laptop. Since it will give you the option to restore to factory state in the event that you want it restored.

If you are doing a reinstall with a clean Win XP disc, then burn the C:/SWSetup folder to a disc as well, since it contains all the necessary drivers to get the laptop back to working state again.

Do remember though that the reviewed MSI was based on the 1.6GHz TL 50(2X256KB cache) not the 1.6GHz TL 52(2X512KB cache) which will perform slightly better than the TL 50.

 

Hi everyone. I just wanted to mentioned that I've had my V3000t (I know it's not the z model, but there hasn't been a specific review of that one yet) for about a month now, and it is a great notebook. I was probably one of the first people to order one within a day of HPshopping.com making that model available. The preview pics on this site from back in May do good justice as far as showing you the looks of this notebook, which is really stunning. I use my V3000 for both work and at home, and I've already gotten some "nice notebook!" comments from co-workers and clients. As far as performance goes, it's very solid. I had it ordered with the fastest core duo proc available (T2600 2.16Ghz) so no complaints there. Plus I ordered it with 1GB of RAM so I should be good to go whenever (if ever? ) Vista comes out.

Lastly, because I can't stand these factory-build OSes, I wiped the system and installed XP Pro w/SP2 from scratch. It was a little bit of work finding the right drivers for SATA and audio, but it was well worth it.

I definitely recommend this notebook to anyone looking at a decently-powered portable in the 14.1" widescreen arena. My V3000T is kick-ass!

 

Nice notebook, nice review Miner. Maybe the review should be placed for some time in the stickies in HP's forum. Many people are looking for such a review.

 

Hi all, Yo I'm juz passed by to ask few questions of this brilliant machine. well may i know if there's any effect if we run an SATA HDD on this machine or upgrading the current 533 fsb RAM to 677 ? with turion x2 processor?
Need all ur guidance and hope to c your reply soon. thz ya...

Rgds,
Wutta

 

It comes with a SATA HDD stock, so those are the only ones you can use. The Turion64 X2 supports memory upto DDR2 667, so you can upgrade memory as well. Crucial is what I use and recommend.

 

Hey guys, Does somebody already try to run any linux distro with 1280x800, I'm trying to get some ModeLines for Xorg.conf, but there is not too much info about v3000 for linux. How about the wireless Broadcom? Any success stories?

 

Thz bro, It really helps alot. thz for replying and everythings...
Cheers

 

Great review there miner. I got myself the TL-50 version. It's my first ever laptop & I'm enjoying it.

I can't get the Irda to spot my Pocket PC. Irda is not even in my "Device Manager". I installed Win XP Pro & downloaded the drivers from HP/Compaq.

I have Infineon 512mb DDR2-533 in one slot. Will it run faster with dual channel activated ie. adding another 512mb or 1gb? Can I use Kingston instead. I know both sticks should be the same but it is difficult to find Infineon here in Malaysia. Do help me.

Thank god I found this lovely site. Have a nice day.

 

The Irda pobably will not work with anything other than HP's remote. I havent tried it yet but that is what I suspect given past HP consumer IR's. As for the dual channel, you can use any memory out there, it does not need to be the same brand. It just needs to be of the same size. So, yes you can use Kingston safely. As far a 1GB vs 1.5GB is concerned I would go with 1.5GB, it will be easier to upgrade in the future and should provide slightly better performance than 1GB. The effects of dual channel is pretty minimal and although it is good to have the extra bandwidth it provides is arely used.

 

Thanks alot for the advice & info miner. I'll try to buy a 1gb stick as soon as possible.

 

Here are some photos of my v3010.

 

PCMag has a review of the Compaq nx6325 with a 1.6Ghz Turion X2 (this time the TL-52 with the larger 2x 512kb caches), and it still lags behind the 1.66Ghz Core Duo T2300 by a large margin in all benchmarks. In a few benchmarks, it does beat a T2300 Lenovo 3000 (not a Thinkpad), but loses to Acer Travelmate and Dell Inspiron T2300 laptops.

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1983016,00.asp

So are the nx6325 and v3000z poor implementations of the Turion X2, like how the budget Lenovo 3000 is a poor implementation of the 1.66Ghz Core Duo, or are the Turion X2 benchmarks we have seen typical? Time will tell, but my guess would be they are typical, and so the Turion X2 is best seen as a low-cost but lower performance alternative to the current Core Duos, but with the added benefit of 64-bit. When the Meroms come out, the last advantage will disappear. And if 64-bitness is not an issue for you, then one can get even 1.8Ghz Core Duos such as the MacBook for $1000 through Amazon.com, less than the nx6325 here.

 

Do you know when the compaq presario v3000z notebook will be available at hpshopping.ca or at Canadian retailers? I am planning on buyign this notebook configured with the sempron processor for my first year at university (next year).
thnx

 

Dont know the exact release date but it should be out soon since they already released the HP version - the dv2000 few weeks ago...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=64869

 

After seeing it at Frys, I gotta admit.. it's a very nice notebook.. the keyboard is average..but the rest of it is pretty sturdy and quite attractive!

 

hi Miner nice review i like this laptop planning to buy this month but lit confused in hp dv2000z n v3000z which one is better i read review of hp dv2000z also one thing i noticed in 3dmark test ur 3dmark test of v3000z is better than dv2000z of "sadseh"why so?? i mean when it is having same graphic same other config..then why so big differnce i m bit confused please guide..this month i wanna buy this machine..
thanks

 

Sadseh who wrote the dv2000z review ran 3DMark 06 whereas I ran 3DMark 05. Thats why there is a diffrence in the scores and the benchmark scores are not comparable between the different versions of 3DMark.

 

Hi Miner thanks for your quick response. Will you tell me about difference in performance of hp dv2000z and compaq v3000z?
also in regards while upgrading processor from 1.6to 2.0 manually.

 

They are the same since they share the same hardware. The only differences betwen the dv2000z and the V3000z is in their design and the the dv2000z is available with the optional webcam and a few extra media control buttons on the dv2000z.

As for upgrading from the 1.6GHz to 2GHz, it should be possible but do remember that it will void any warranties since you will need to disassemble the whole laptop and is not easy.

 

That review was hecka good! Me wants more!!

Man, that's a nice notebook for the price! It's just a matter of time till HP and other manufacturers have dedicated GPUs like say X1600 come on those babies. It'll be defenitely worth a look then.

 

I added 1GB more to my RAM & now have 1.5GB. Much faster opening RAW photos now.

 

Hi, Miner, really nice review. How did you measure the CPU and others' temprature? Some software?

For other's interests, I did some sisoft sandra benchmark, which shows the Turion x2 is comparable or sometimes slightly faster than a Core Duo. Will get some screen shot later.

 

I used Core Temp...
http://www.thecoolest.zerobrains.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=137

Pretty reliable and compact program.

 

Thanks for that original review, it helped me make a buying decision (bought it). A few additional comments and observations that hopefully are helpful to others considering this model after having it for a few days:

*Customized it on their web site, they warned it would take a week - there was a shipping delay and even though they upgraded to Fedex 2 day, it took almost 2 weeks to arrive. So buyer beware if you need it sooner rather than later.

*Firewire port is not powered, so if you plug your ipod it in and leave it overnight, it's not charging and in fact will drain the battery til it's dead.

*Card reader supports various cards but not CF. I saw 6 card reader and assumed CF (which of course I have a bunch of and is a popular format). Not that this is a deal breaker...

*USB 2.0 problem - regarding the above lack of CF reader, I have a USB 2.0 card reader. (A huge speed difference in say transferring a 2 gig CF card) I plugged it in each of the ports and the ports warn that my 2.0 is only being read as 1.0. Have to reinstall usb drivers and deal with support.

*Nice looking LCD, but difficult to get color corrected. The default settings on the Intel graphics card software are way too bright and make white (open a notepad document full screen) have a very red tinge. It's tricky to get the screen neutral white, rather than not tinged blue. I assume their crap default settings are to look BRIGHT and ATTRACTIVE at the computer store when you are comparing all sorts of LCDs. Similar to how TVs are set.

*Burning recovery discs - I've seen this issue covered in depth on other threads on the site. They do not give you recovery discs nor can you buy them when you are buying the machine online. For some reason my standard Memorex DVD-rs would not be read by the recovery disc burning software. So I'm using DL DVD-rs and it works but the software verifies the discs and it takes about 45 minutes a disc. Oh and the software informs you after you make the discs that it can't be run again. This is an insane annoyance, please HP charge 5$ more and include the discs.

*DL burning quite slow - I dunno the specs off the top of my head, but probably half as fast as my desktop burner. Noticeable.

*crapware - I haven't bought a laptop in a while and build my own desktops, but it's shocking how much crapware the machine comes loaded with. The first time you boot up the desktop is covered with icons of things you don't want or need. Apple would never do this just for taste and design reasons. Then when I register the laptop on the HP site at the same time it asks me if I want a free snapfish account. How can companies expect customers to trust them with their contact info if they are already doing marketing link-ins at the registration stage?

*Scrolling feature on trackpad seems neat but takes getting used to

OK these are mostly minor complaints listed above, overall the look and feel of the machine is nice. Build quality seems solid. Weight and size are similar to Macbook. My first impression is positive, but I'm taking it on the road next week. I'll report back if there are additional things I notice.

 

I love this notebook. Looks _BETTER_ than the MacBook Black, imo. I already have a 17" MBP but this is sexier enough to prompt some consideration.

Nice to break free from the alu. look and feel once in a while.

 

I just bought your exact model Miner, the V3019US from CircuitCity. I've just been using it for about an hour and just have to comment on the screen quality, which is superb and blowing me away. Its significantly brighter than my Satellite M55 which I returned. This is so far the best notebook screen I have ever owned!
Sorry for gushing but it really is an amazing screen!!!


Actually I'm confused, in your sig it says you have a V3019US but in your review it says you custom ordered one. Whats up with that?

Oh yeah, my SuperPI benchmark result was 2 minutes and 3 seconds with all the bloatware still on the computer.

 

Yeah, it is a nice buy for $799. Expect the battery to last around 2:30 under regular usage(Wifi On, low brightness - surfing the web, word...)

As for the review model I had to return it since the graphics went kaput. Ordered a dv2000t as a replacement which had a cranky touchpad (just couldnt use it without the cursor jumping all over the screen). So it went back again to HP. But this time I had enough of having to wait for a new laptop to be shipped from HP. I liked the V3000z from the begining, so decided to try my luck with a retail and thats how I ended up with the V3019us.

Its been serving well for the 2 weeks that I have used it. The only minus is that I wanted a 12cell, but HP charges $180 if ordered separately.

 

I see, I'm sorry you have to go through that miner, it really sucks to have a notebook crap out on you as its quick a hassle to return/replace one and also may cost you some money. Hopefully this will never have to happen to me.

I was expecting at least 3 hours of battery life but I'm always near an outlet or car charger so battery life really isn't a worry but still.

What do you think of the screen miner? I'm still so impressed by it, its the very first screen where running it on full brightness is too bright for me!!
And for some reason, the internet is actually faster with this bloatware currently on it than it was on my Satellite M55 with a clean install! I'm using the exact same internet, wireless leaching off of my neighbor!
And since you've had it for 2 weeks whereas I've just had it for 2 hours, care to tell me any quirks or anything I need to know about the notebook since we have the exact same model? Has it shown even the slighest of problems? Has your keyboard and/or touchpad or any other places already shown signs of wear? Just wondering.

Sorry one more thing, what was your last notebook before this one and why'd you replace it?

Thanks again.

 

Glad you liked the screen. I thought it was pretty good in terms of brightness and contrast, but I found the viewing angle to be about average. I dont know if this is a charecteristic of a 14" screen, but I felt 15.4" screens had better viewing angles.

BTW, which screen do you have? To check look in Device Manager for the Moniotor entry, expand it and open Plug n Play-->Under the Details Tab, you should Device Instance ID's listed.
For example(in my case)it is : Display\QDS_.....\
QDS = Quanta Display, AUO = AU Optronics, SEC = Samsung.

As for any quirks, I found the LG CD/DVD drive was a bit picky on the media. It didnt like my set of TDK DVD-R's but Fujitsu was readily accepted. Other than that I hate the fingerprint prones sides of the screen. Including the microfibre cloth was a good idea.

The keyboard seems OK, there is a little bit of flex, but it seems to be concentrated around the arrow keys. But expect this to vary as the dv2000t which I had previously was flexing everywhere. Black keyboards tend to get dirty pretty quickly. Even desktop keyboards(as I see around campus everyday) are prone to attracting dirt. I have seen any wear yet, but I do expect it to appear probably a 8 months to 1yr down the road(depends on your useage)

My previous laptop was a Compaq R3000z. It weighed in at a hefty 8lbs and having carried it around campus for 2yrs..decided to give my back a break and wanted a thin & light carry around everywhere laptop.

 

I also have a QDS/Quanta screen. I'm sorry, I just can't stop gushing about the screen, its just so bright and spectacular! The superb brightness is hurting my eyes. ARRGGHH!!!

My only gripe about the notebook so far are the two touchpad buttons, I find them a bit uncomfortable to use. I can't quite describe it, they feel too soft and press down too much unlike my Satellite M55 buttons which were stiff. These seem too soft and mushy. I'll probably get used to it just like how I mostly got used to the not so good Vaio SZ keyboards so many others have good reason to complain about.

I'm having no problems with the keyboard, no flexing problems at all.


Is it me, or does the HP DV2000 series seem to have a lower build quality than the Compaq V3000s? I'm hearing several owners complain about the DV2000 but so far no complaints from the V3000 users, or is it just that more people here at least have the DV2000s rather than the V3000s?

 

The good thing about the mushy-ness of the mouse buttons that they dont have the annoying 'click' sound.

Maybe, but since they use the same parts and is assembled in the same factory, I would say the build should not be too different. I have handled both and they seemed to be fairly rigid. More people do buy the dv2000t since it is the only version offered with the Go7200 and the webcam. No idea why HP decided to not carry over those features to the Compaq line. Bu I would have definately taken the Go7200 over Quickplay anyday.