Question:
HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
First time posting here. Sure could use a little help making a decision on laptop purchase.
For the same price (1349.00) I can buy a HP Pavilion zd8000 or a Toshiba Qosmio F25.
The HP come with 2Gs of RAM and the Pentium 4 processor running at 3.0 mHz vs the F25's 1G of RAM with a Pentium m running at 1.8. Both have 100 Gigs of HD.
What attracks me to the HP is it's large 17" widescreen. But I've been told that a P4 in a laptop is not good when it comes to heat and power consumption. The F25 attraction is it's very capable multi-media potential. The 15.4" widescreen is nice but not the wow factor of the 17". The HP is loaded with XP Home vs XP MCE 2005 for the F25. What is XP MCE 2005 and how different is it from Home?
It's really hard to answer the question "What is it going to be used for". I realize that as I get more proficient with it, the more I will ask of it. In short time I probably will have it doing tasks that right now I have idea these tasks exist. But I can say that I'm buying one of these now for school and family photos (got a Hitachi digital video recorder for Xmas).
I guess what I'm really asking is which of these is the better buy,... the standard 'bang-for-the-buck' question I suppose.
Thanks guys for your input.
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
While HP gives you more bang for the buck but it does have a Pentium 4 which is not good in a laptop, and is the reason my old Toshiba kept overheating. The Toshiba is a nice unit, made for multimedia, so I think that would be a better fit. A 15.4" screen isn't really little at all. I guess that I would pick the Qosmio because it has the Pentium M and a better video card.
Matt
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
Agreed with Jenson, if i had to choose, i would go with the Qosmio for reasons. Although its a Toshiba, and there other lineups don't have the best quality, i would still go with the Qosmio since its pretty well built.
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
Oh so the F25 has a better graphics card? I was told at the store that the 128 Mb ATI Radeon card that comes with the HP zd8000 was top notch and unbeatable at this price point. Oh well, so much for what that kid knew about these things!
Oh yeah, almost forgot. What is the TV tuner thing in the Qosmio? Based on what I'm reading, you slap an antenea somewhere on the back of this thing and you watch OTA or sat TV. Wonder if the tuner is HD capable. The 15.4" wide screen sorta implies that that maybe the case, but I couldn't find anywhere in the pdf file on Toshibas site any wording that nailed that question down. I'm a Dish Network subscribre, and I gotta admit, the thought of seeing Voom HD originals on my laptop is inviting, though probably very unpractical.
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
My bad I was thinking of the dv8000z's video card with the 200M, although I have the 128MB version of the X600 card in my M60, it is pretty decent for modern games but the 64MB 6600 is good enough for what you need it for. Just a little bit below the 128MB X600. I think it should be HD capable, think you need a DVI port for that or at least S-video.
Matt
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
I own the ZD7000. It has been a solid desktop replacement...I do not lug this 9lb behemoth around...I got the HP stand for it and it looks pretty cool on my desk.
HOWEVER
The fan runs all day long and it is LOUD. This is not noticable in a big superstore...but at home it can be disturbing. And the unit gets hot. So much so that I cannot run it (on a table) for more than an hour because it will overheat and shut down.
I believe the Quozimo comes in a 17" version (G25) which I have worked on and seems very nice. Might be worth looking into if you are interested in the large screen.
TV Tuner just requires an adapter that comes with the unit for the coax in. Don't remember any specific antenna but I guess you could plug in a coax antenna to pull signal from the air.
I've gotten used to the fan noise...but I don't recommend the unit for anyone. Check out the G series Toshiba it may be a bit more $$ but it sounds closer to what you were looking for.
Finally, if you want to carry this thing around, stay away from the 9lber's very hard to lug around.
Good luck.
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
OK guys, just came back from Sam's Club with the wife, not even there to look at laptops, just cruised by the computer isle to see what they had. Don't know why I never thought of Sam's Club when I started my search. But they had a HP DV8113z on display. This one had the AMD equivilent of the Pentium M running at 2.2 mHz, (2) 80 Gig HDs for a total of 160 Gigs, XP mce, and a remote. I'm thinking the remote denotes that there's a TV tuner,... I hope. Gonna go back sometime between a few of your responses and before they close to either look at it closer or buy (depending on the feedback I get in this thread between now and then). Read somewhere in one of these threads that lower clock speeds on equivilent mobility chips (CPUs) are the norm and doesn't necessarily mean a slower unit. True?
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
If you aren't gaming, I would go for the HP dv8000z. It is much less than the Toshiba, and has similar features. The screen may not be as nice, but you decide if it is worth a ton more.
With the HP, you can still get dual hard drives, plus Media Center and a powerful AMD Turion. A TV Tuner is avaliable. :) The dv8000z has superb build quality, I was very impressed when I saw it at Best Buy in person the other day. Design is very nice too.
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
Oh yeah, I agree on HP designing some very nice looking notebooks in my opinion. I wish that they'd put a killer GPU in the DV8000 and replace the Pentium 4 with a Pentium M in the ZD8000, change it to a ZD9000.
Answer:
Re: HPzd8000 - QosmioF25; which one!
Well folks, the decision has been made. Just walked in with the dv8113cl. Sat down, lit it up, went through the set/start-up routines and dialog boxes, downloaded Netscape 8.1 (I hate explorer) and came here. This thing is really nice,... I like. It seems a little slimmer than the zd, the AC adaptor is way smaller, and it even is doing the Qosmio glossy shinny black thing when you open it up. I was right,... it sports the AMD Turion 64 ml-40 CPU @ 2.2 mHz, 160 Gig HD, DVD & CD burner, XP cme 2005, 17" WSGA+ Screen, a remote and ear buds. All for $1349.81. Another customer standing nearby said the screen in the dv was actually better than the screen in the zd and the Turion 64 chip was nothing to sneeze at. So I bought it. Wish me luck with this thing and thanks to all you good folks for your responses.