Compaq v3000z Review (pics, specs)

None. Hp have never offered power management software on any of their laptops sold for the past 2yrs. They just use the standard Windows power management. The battery meter showing percent remaining is also something they havent implemented on their batteries. There are programs which can estimate the battery time remaining like RM Clock but I havent found them to be very reliable.

 

I am not sure how familiar you are with antiquated hardware, but maybe you could take a stab at this. I have a PC with AMD 2000+, 512mb pc2700, ASUS a7v333mhz mobo, and GeForce4 ti4200 128MB (low mem clock speed though). I know normal computing will be sufficient, even with the low end v3000z components (3400+, 6150). What I am curious about is the graphic performance comparison. I have tried 3DMark05 but sadly it won't run due to my video card only supporting outdated pixel shaders. Could you offer a best guess performance comparison between the two?

For reference, My PC will do Half Life 2 at a playable level (~45-70fps) on low resolution settings (like 640 x 480) which is ok by me. It also did Doom 3 OK, not great though. Call of Duty was fine, Battlefield was fine at mid to low settings, but those games are now antiquated too. Even running 3d games at 640 x 480 would be fine, it's still better than TV resolution.

 

I wish I could help, but I'm not really into gaming. But I will run 3DM01/03 or any other benchmark & post the results if it helps.

 

I think overall, the v3000z will give you comparable gaming performance, especially if you load it with at least 1gb of RAM. Below are some links to benchmarks of the 6150 gpu and your own ti 4200. It seems like the 4200 is still running recent games at playable levels and I'm sure the 6150 will give you roughly identical performance, if not better because of the more advanced chip. The dedicated 4200 will probably deliver slightly faster performance in older games but as newer games incorporate more features, the 6150 will hold its own.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/chipsets/display/gf6150-gf6100_14.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/10/04/vga_charts_iv/page5.html#3dmark_2003

 

miner, lucky for you I was going to take you up on the 3dmark offer but the link that magicstatis posted covers it, thanks though.

magicstasis, thanks for the reply. I see that it scores at about half what the 4200 scores in 3dmark2001. It does make sense however that it would support more advanced technologies and therefore do better and more modern games, thanks for those graphs.


I suppose where I sit now is that I got the barebones setup, thinking that I would upgrade the memory and HDD on my own later, because that would be better/cheaper in the end. But now I am thinking that maybe I should shell out a little more dough and get the 7200.

There are some definite cons though in that setup.

dv2000t - Price $725 After all rebates, Tax included, Shipping free

+ would have a faster processor, not by choice though
+ would have better graphics (looks to be almost twice the 6150 in areas)
+ inexpensive HDD upgrade 40 to 80 in only $25 right now
+ comes stock with twice the memory (I might not have to upgrade for a while)

- have to upgrade processor - adds $60
- have to upgrade wireless - adds $10
- no DVD burner
- ugly as sin (maybe not that bad but, eww silver)



v3000z Price $565 After rebates, Tax and ship included

+ cheap cheap cheap
+ DVD Burner
+ Black, looks good!
- Outdated at best graphics
- Have to upgrade Memory relatively soon
- Probably have to upgrade HDD


Price Difference - $160

Some of that difference would get eaten up in upgrading ram (relative to the other it's only a $30-$45 value because of the 256 mb difference) and probably hard drive (~$75).



HP Pavilion dv2000t customizable notebook PC

– Genuine Windows XP Home Edition
– Intel(R) Core(TM) Solo processor T1350 (1.86 GHz)
– 14.1" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800)
– 128MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7200
– HP IMPRINT Finish + Microphone
– 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (2x256MB)
– FREE Upgrade from 60 GB 5400 RPM to 80 GB 5400 RPM
– DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
– Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
– No TV Tuner w/remote control
– 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
– Microsoft(R) Works/Money
– HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


HP Pavilion dv2000t customizable notebook PC

- Genuine Windows XP Home Edition
- Mobile AMD Sempron(TM) 3400+ (1.80GHz/256KB)
- 14.1" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800)
- NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150 w/productivity ports
- IMPRINT Finish + Microphone + QuickPlay
- 256MB DDR2 SDRAM (1x256MB)
- 40 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
- FREE Upgrade: 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
- 802.11b/g WLAN
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works/Money

 

Off subject of thread, but I heard a Sun Microsystem head saying he never schleps his notebook around - called it an outdated behavior. He said he carries a tiny Java (?) card around with him which he inserts into computer imputs where he travels & is able to access his home notebook from anywhere in the world. Sounds like some kind of remote access feature I don't hear about in the US media. Wonder what he does at Starbucks, or what he does when he needs to word process? Maybe he's to high & mighty & doesn't have to type. Anyone here know what the heck this Java card system he referred to is, and what equipment he may be using as an imput - the interview didn't specify.

 

yea, seems like a tough decision MotoMD. It's a shame that they don't load any discrete graphics onto the v3000 series because that would be the best case. If you really want to future proof it and play newer games, you have to go with the 7200. It's gonna give you the best graphics performance, not great gfx, but much better than the 6150 or gma950. I've seen the dv2000t and it actually looks pretty good. Way more blue lights and yea, the silver kinda throws you off but it's still pretty nice. Hope that helps.

 

Guys i finally received my compaq v3000z notebook after HP sent me a knew one because it was probably stolen by fedex at the airport or the driver.

I love this notebook. Very stylish, feels great. The screen is amazing. the function buttons are cool as well as the quickplay feature. Well you guys have the review from miner. for all my troubles the hp executives mailed me back a $50 check for the shipping and gave me a 3 year accidental warranty plan valued at $340. Cant complain there haha. I recommend this notebook to anyone interested in a somewhat light weight, stylish notebook that uses the amd x2 dual core processor.

10/10 IMO

 

After using the v3000z notebook i am very satisfied. I can play counter-strike 1.6 with the full 100 fps and counter strike source on high settings with 20-30 fps. The battery doesnt drain like people say about notebooks. good notebook all around for homework, gaming etc.

 

i don't know about gaming but hwk is pretty good. I can barely play rome total war.

 

FYI, couple of reviews(or short blurbs) for those looking for a different opinions...
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/reviews/article.php/3637021
http://www.washtimes.com/technology/20060925-094454-3969r.htm

 

Compaq Presario V3000Z

I notice on my Presario V3000, the FN-F4 key combination to switch to an external display does not work until Windows has booted up. I take this to mean that the switch is handled by software drivers rather than being coded into the BIOS. There is not BIOS setting to force this on boot, and I'm using the most recent Phoenix BIOS, version F.12

This is very disappointing to those of use who work with other operating systems and need to do presentations with them.

I know that there are basically something like three or four laptop manufacturers out there (Compal, Clevo, Uniwill, etc)-- and that most of the laptops sold at retailers are rebrands of models made by those three of four laptop manufacturers... I don't know who makes the Presario V3000z.

So, my question(s):
Is there a BIOS by the original Taiwanese manufacturer of this laptop which supports switching to an external display? Either from a BIOS setting or from using the hotkey before any Operating System starts up?

Or is there a hacked Compaq BIOS that supports switching to an external display without waiting for the OS to startup?

The audio volume control is also software based... any way to make it hardware based?

Thanks in Advance,

Vijay

 

You are correct on a certain level but HP systems are not rebranded Compal, Clevo etc. They are contract manufacturers who just assemble the notebook. HP does the design and sets what components go into the system. Only the manufacturing part is handled by the OEM's. So, finding a different BIOS is very remote unless you know someone who works for the BIOS manufacturer or have the knowledge to mess around with the BIOS.

BTW the V3000z is assembled by Wistron.

 

Thanks for your reply, Miner. Since I can't accomplish what I want at the BIOS level, I'll need to look for drivers at the OS level... so far, for Linux based OSes, I've found mention of Wistron Laptop Button Driver, but I haven't actually tried installing the wistron_btn kernel module for it yet.

 

miner - I stood in line for the v5305wm, added 1GB ram and it was great but too big and heavy for this aging road warrior. When I read your review, I ebay'd it and ordered the v3000z which has not arrived yet. The 5305 had many tons of that trial software installed that I think would become virus-like (or at least a system burden) if not purchased or upgraded for $$. I assume that the v3000 will have at least the same thing. Here is my question:How do I know what I can delete without messing things up? and how do I uninstall them? (Add-Remove) or the "uninstall" option that you sometimes see in the Programs listing. I think I want to do this before installing my MS Office, Acrobat, etc. don't I?
You all have been generous with your advice.

 

Well, you can remove most of the software through Add/remove programs. There are a bunch of HP games, Vongo, Norton, Rhapsoday, Online services, HP customer enhancement..., couple of HP imaging software, HP wireless LAN(keep this if you ordered the laptop with Bluetooth), Home networking, Trial MS office, Quickedn, MS Money. All fo these can be safely removed and should not cause any issues with the system. Ofcourse Iam assuming that you have any antivirus solution, if you dont kep Norton util you buy/download one. Some programs might leave behind a few folders during uninstall. You can easily manually delete them.

The first thing to do is to create the recovery disc, so even if something messess up you can still go back to factory state.

 

Hey!
Thanks Miner for your review and other people for many informations.
But I would like to ask you something... I would like to buy v3000z with 512MB ram (2x256) but I plan to sell two of these and put there more... for example Kingston 1GB.
I think that is no problem to change bone of ram to a bigger one... but how to get inside laptop ro change another one?
Thank you for any answer.

Greetings.

Rafal

 

Adding more RAM is not a big problem. Both the slots are easily accessible through a door beneath the laptop. Its just a matter of removing 1 screw, taking the old RAM out and replacing it with the new one.

 

I'm thinking about getting the v3000z for my daugther for college. Would the Sempron 3400+ be good enough? We are on a limited buget with the cost of going to college these days.

 

Thank for this answare
Slot with HDD is easily accessible too? Because I would like to change HDD too

 

Yes it is.

 

I found this document:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00774612.pdf
In this document I see only one slot for memory

I have another question...
I ordered Compaq Presario V3000Z CTO NB and HP Mobile Remote Control.
The Remote Control was in "Accessories" when I was customizing my v3000z. (I believe that HP Mobile Remote Control using Infra Red port next to microphone port
On this site i found chat with Steffi from HP Total Care. She saying there is no Infre Red port in v3000z - "It will work in only the pavillion".
So why they are selling HP Remote Control in Accesories to Presario, which dont have any IR port?

 

One page 3 of the pdf you can see the other slot is located right beneath the first one. You can see the faint outline of the 2nd memory/slot. There are definately 2 slots and they are easily accessible. I can take a picture if you want!

This is abit of a grey area. See this thread where a user has been using the IR in his V3010(which is just a pre-configured version of the V3000z) and has been using the IR.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=86712

They might have removed the feature from the laptops which are in production now & only older versions might have this feature. I dont see them listing the IR as the standard feature on the V3000z specifications page but the product specifications page for my system(V3019us - see sig) clearly lists the Consumer IR as one of the external ports. So, in any case would tend to assume it wont have the IR port.

 

It depends on what types of things she will be doing but my guess is that the Sempron 3400 will be more than enough. I just purchased one for college recently and find myself using it 90% of the time now, even though my desktop processor is far superior. I like the looks and power but most importantly the price. So again, the 3400 will definitely be good enough for general tasks and even some programming/graphics work.

 

I just got mine - put in the order NOV-20 and got it NOV-27 came from
a factory in china - got one with the remote, and yes it works

I was real glad I avoided the brightview - I saw one in the store that
had that - it was hard to see the screen, mine has the regular screen
and its perfect, no glare at all - I guess you now have to pay extra
for screen glare LOL

Here is what I orderd -- v3000z

CPU: AMD Sempron 3400+ 1.8 GHz L2 cache 256 KB
Ram: 512mb - Max supported RAM 2 GB - PC2-5300 667-MHz
Display: 14.1 in TFT 1280 x 800 Widescreen
Graphics processor: GeForce Go 6150 - with Optional Productivity Ports
Drives: 40 GB Serial ATA 5400rpm Hard drive,
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive,
Battery: 12 cell, Lithium ion
EXTRAS:

Memory card reader 5-in-1
Integrated 802.11 a/b/g wireless and BlueTooth
Remote
Imprint Finish
Quick Play

Price: $577 - thats with APP and $100 rebate


Quake 3 - works good
Unreal Tournament - the first one works good - maybe a little to fast
Unreal Tournament 2004 - walking around 40-50fps - fight 25-40fps
thats 800x600 defalut video setings - looks a little jerkey - think I
need 1gb of memory

3Dmark05: 607 3dmarks - before reinstall
3Dmark05: 615 3dmarks - after reinstall

Love the look of this laptop - its art, love all the blue leds, there all
blue except the wireless off switch

Quick play seams a little useless - it takes just as long to boot as windows
- because it is windows -

did a fresh install - of windows XP using my own CD, no problems
just left the 1028mb free for quick play, it was more like 1038mb,
and reinstalled quick play from the DVD I burnt of the swsetup folder,
I used an external DVD burner, downloaded all the drivers from HP,
except the nvidia stuff, went to laptopvideo2go.com for the video
drivers, make shure to get the "modded INF" file, and nvidia for
the chipset drivers - and you need the
"Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture Bus Driver for High Definition Audio"
its "sp32646.exe"


This laptop is far faster than my desktop - got a AMD Athlon XP 1800+
cpu in my desktop

does any one know what ver of "Super Pi" was used in the review - and
what settings - like to test mine to see how it compairs with the Turion64

 

Thanks !! for this information that Remote Control works with v3000z
I feel relief with your information
I'm still waiting for my own v3000z (Turion).

Greetings.
Rafal

 

I have a bit of an odd request, can some one measure the height of their compaq with the lid at a 90 degree angle, similar to this pic (but with out using the extended battery)
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/13671.jpg

since the hinge of the compaq is interesting, I wonder how much height is saved.

my w7j for example measures about 10" despite being a 13", this is due to the chassis being thicker and adding to the height. while my friends apple is 15.4 but also has the same height due to its thinness and that the hinge is in the back

 

Honestly, I have forgotten which version I used. But it should be either this one or the SSE3 patched version. In either case it shouldnt make too much of a difference in the times.

Its ~9.75" from the ground(6 cell) to the edge of the screen @ 90 degree angle. Its not too tall, but the only disadvantage of this type of hinge design is that the screen wont be able to tilt back full 180 degrees. But thats not too big of an issue for me atleast since I rarely find any circumstances to use it at that angle.

 

thanks! and yes I agree, I can't think of too many situations where you'd need to tilt it back 180

 

Nice, review. I bought this one for a friend in India. I really liked this model, one of the best looking and cooling also seems to be better in this one with vents under the HDD.

Many of the draw backs in V2000 model has been addressed in this model. I really liked this one. I liked this one better than HP DV2000 version. But I wish V3000 series also offered with Core 2 Duo.

 

Hi chinna_n...Welcome back. Its been a while since you last posted.

As for the HDD, it still gets warm even with the vents. Cant wait for the solid state hard drives, hopefully they wont get as hot as these.

 

Hmmmm i have this laptop for a little over 3 months now. The only gripe i have about it is that the battery life on a 6 cell is too short, but on the other hand it usually fully charges in an hour. O ya the QDS screen is awesome. I've seen other people screen and they look crappy compare to my screen. Even a sony vaio screen doenst look as good as the one i have. Yea i was just bored and wanted to post something. lol.

 

Hi!
Anyone could tell me how about temperatures of yours v3000z ?
Mine, when its doing nothing:
HDD: 45 C
GPU: 60-65 C
CPU: 45-50 C

When he stressed temerature goes to:
HDD: 60 C
GPU: 90-100 C
CPU: 60 C

Thanks for reply

R

 

Looks normal. Although the HDD temps on full load are a bit on the high side. The cpu temp usually stays between 37C to 49C during regular using(surfing, opening closing programs etc). If I let it idle completely the cpu temp tends to stay around 37C mark. As for the GPU, I am getting similar temps as you are. The HDD at idle stays ~45C but I havent really tested it under full load.

One thing worth mentioning, my Sempron based system definately runs a bit cooler than the TX2. The cpu temp hovers around 32C idle and the max is 60C. This has an effect on the GPU temps as well. The GPU stays in the mid 50's with powermizer set to max performance.

 

hey did anyone happen to have the v3000 harddrive fail at any point? ive only had mines for three weeks and the harddrive crashed and all i hear is clicking. hp/compaq is going to send me a new drive but it will take another two weeks to get to me. what is your experience with compaq's support?

 

I havent seen any chronic HDD failures on these systems. But HDD's do tend to have higher failure rates since they are the only mechanical part of the system. So it might be just that you got a lemon HDD.

As for as tech support they are OK. I think thy are a bit inconsistent. You should probably contact them and ask them to ship the replacement HDD overnight. Two weeks just to send out a new HDD seems to be bit longer than what one would expect.

 

Can any one please suggest me how to use cd boot option in In Compaq V3000z as i am unable to see my cd drive in my laptop. i try to usind F11 Key also while switching on the laptop. It happen last time also and i have used few key and cd boot option started but i forget that option now. Please help me

 

Press the 'esc' when you see the ompaq boot screen. You should see a screen offering 2 options - 1. boot from hard disk & 2. boot from CD. Select the second option to boot fro the CD. If you want a long term solution then you can also change the boot options through the BIOS. To access the BIOS press F10 at the Compaq boot screen and the boot settings will be located in one of the menus/tabs.

 

First I would like to say hello to everyone as this is my first post. I’m looking to purchase this laptop because it’s such a great deal, and I have a hp corporate discount through work which makes it almost impossible to pass up.

Now I have no idea about the AMD Turion processors, out of the 4 available right now which one is the best overall value? I will prob go with the dual core for some basic future proofing but I don’t know which cache size to go with and even if that would make a noticeable difference.

This comp will be used for very basic fill-in tasks, as I have 2 home computers that are used for work and gaming. I’m just looking for something decent for the next year or so.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

Well, since you mention that its going to be a secondary device without the need for all out speed, a single core Turion64 MK36 or the Sempron 3500+ might be a good choice. If you want a dual core then the TL-52 would be pretty good as well. Basically any of the cpu choices would do fine for basic use. The cache does make aslight difference but it is not noticable under regular circumstances. AMD's dont really need a huge cache to begin with so in worst case scenario the performance difference between a 256k & 512k cached(equivalent speed) is going to be around 10%. As I mentioned before for regular use it makes very litle difference.

I would recommend either the MK36 of the TL-52. The Semprons are also good choices if you want to spend less & they are more than fine for basic uses.

 

Thanks miner, I ended up going with the TL-52. Got the comp from office depot, ended up walking in on a crazy sale by accident. The base v3000z was listed for 299 and they let me do all the upgrades i wanted. Thanks again for your help.

 

Could all of the Compaq v3000(z/t) owners help me out by briefly responding?

Here's my scenario. I received my v3000z (60GB SATA, Turion 64 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM) 3 days ago, and I've noticed a high pitched noise coming from apparently my processor. I've read up on it a bunch, and a lot of other people have this same problem too it seems: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=85477. I'm reluctant to try the RMClock method to force the processor to never idle, because of battery life effects. And changing my USB Root Hub options to disable Power Management didn't work for me either.

I am seriously considering sending my notebook back to get a new one. I use my notebook in a mostly silent environment, and the high pitched whine gets pretty hard to stand sometimes. I really like the notebook though--it's really sweet.

So I would just like Compaq v3000 owners to respond by saying whether or not they have this same problem, and when the purchase date of the notebook was.

It would help me decide whether or not to send it back in, because I'd rather not go through the trouble if I'm going to get the same problem in the next one.

Thanks so much for your help.

 

Two of the 3 V3000z's I owned had the noise, although in my case it was very low and only noticable if I let the cpu stay at 1.6GHz all the time. The only one which does'nt have the noise was the Sempron based which I ordered back in late November & it is pretty much silent, other than the fan noise(when it is running).

 

The Compaq v3000z is a cool looking laptop being all black lacquer finish but was dismayed when it stopped booting only after over a month. Glad HP replaced it with a HP dv2000 under warranty.

The HP dv2000 is super quiet, can hardly hear/feel the HD spin and the fan is silent.

 

Does anyone have experience with the v3000z and Vista? Any comments or concerns about the install process or running it? I'm mostly concerned about performance and battery life while running Vista. I just received my free copy of Vista business and was considering clean installing it over XP Home. Thanks.

 

Battery life does take a hit. From my experience with Vista, the battery lasted around ~2 to 2hr:15min. With the same sort of usage I could average 2hr:30min in XP. A large part of the extra is due to the desktop GUI being powered by the graphics card. Its not too big of a difference but it does decrease the battery life. As for as the performance, there shouldnt be any issues as long as you have enough memory. 1GB or more is the standard but 2GB would be ideal. The installation didnt have any surprises, most of the drivers are available in Windows update and some you can download from HP's website(quicklaunch buttons). The rest of the components worked fairly well even with XP drivers in place. I didnt try to get quickplay working but HP has updated quickplay to version 3.0 which supports Vista.

 

exactly how smoothly will the 6150 run aero (im looking at TL50 with 2GB 667 ram)?
for example, if you use flip 3d with like 10 windows open is their any lag at all? a bit of a random question, im just a bit concerned about the 6150's power.

 

I didnt experience any slow downs. Ofcourse if you are encoding something or doing somthing intensive in the background and then you try to open flip 3 D there might be slowdowns but generally there wont be any issues with flip 3D and the 6150. Aero & all the associated components can be run the GMA 950 which is the most low end GPU you can get, the 6150Go is definately much better and with the right amount of RAM it is pretty smooth.

 

Just an FYI for everyone, Ive been using 2gigs of 667 ram from newegg with no issues on this computer

 

What brand/make was the RAM?