I've seen this posted on a ton of websites... HP Pavilion ze2300wm for $398 on Black Friday.

I haven't been able to find the specs on that exact model, but I need a laptop with wireless LAN and reasonable (not great) capabilities... basically to surf, streaming multi-media, music, and homework stuff. Is this what I should be looking for... more or less? This one seems to normally retail at close to $600. Do all or most new laptops come with wireless?

What brands and models are best?

11/3/2005 11:37:56 AM

AMD Mobile Sempron 2600+ Processor
256MB DDR SDRAM Memory
40GB Hard Drive
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
802.11b/g Wireless Networking
15" TFT XGA Display

everything you want is here:

http://forums.gottadeal.com/

you have to register to access the BF 2005 forum.

11/3/2005 11:43:51 AM

Thank you... so that sounds like that should fit my needs perfectly.

edit: That would include a regular LAN/Ethernet Port too?

[Edited on November 3, 2005 at 11:48 AM. Reason : Teh IntArweb.]

11/3/2005 11:46:12 AM

what kind of computer tehse days would not have a "regular" lan/ethernet port?

11/3/2005 12:36:57 PM

^^ To answer you, yes, it will have a normal ethernet/LAN port.

11/3/2005 1:00:27 PM

^^I don't know... I am talking about the one that looks like a phone cord but is bigger... the one that came out of my Road Runner modem was blue.

11/3/2005 1:26:41 PM

there is no irregular ethernet port.... its just an RJ45 jack. color is irrelevant.

11/3/2005 1:51:41 PM

somebody's not in engineering

11/3/2005 1:56:57 PM

^Calculus cured me of that. I don't care about anything more than the basic specs and quality of the product.

11/3/2005 2:06:41 PM

Can you add a graphics card to something like that?

11/4/2005 9:59:55 PM

^if you have a laptop, you MAY, depending on brand, be able to add system ram, you CAN normally upgrade the harddrive, you CANNOT upgrade the video card, screen size, processor, erct once you buy

11/5/2005 3:02:12 PM

^ not true, I have personally upgraded screen size and processors in hundreds of laptops.

11/5/2005 3:06:28 PM

.....How to you upgrade screensize, the only model I can Imagaine doing that on is a Latitude C series, since there were diffect screensizes with the same general laptop size....but wouldn't it be possible to upgrade the graphics card assuming it's a miniPCI card.

11/5/2005 4:46:08 PM

Quote :

" I don't care about anything more than the basic specs and quality of the product."

HAHA.

If you cared about quality then you are looking at the wrong place. (#1, it's WalMart, #2 it's HP, #3 it's a CHEAP HP)

You can't complain a lot about a crappy product for the price but bear in mind that it will be just that: crappy.

11/5/2005 7:19:53 PM

Seriously, You couldn't pay me to buy another HP, I'm using an HP notebook right now out of necessity more than anything else. They've got mediocore hardware with shitty service, which in the final analysis, translates to spending a great deal of time with limited or no functionality, or waiting for the notebook to return from service. Seriously, fuck HP.

11/5/2005 8:49:41 PM

seriously, there is going to be a shitload of people trying to get that laptop due to all the damn media coverage......its not like black friday just came why the hell are they making such a big deal.

Remember the $50 powerbook's?

11/5/2005 10:43:06 PM

The notebook I originally purchased was a ZE series, a Ze5375us if I'm not mistaken. The specs look good on paper, but the performance is terrible. If you plan to leave it on a desk for more than 30 minutes, invest in an external cooling system, they use desktop processors, so they they tend to get pretty hot after short amounts of time, I'm pretty certain the heat was an instrumental factor in the 2 hard drives I had that would mysteriously crap out.

11/6/2005 10:10:09 AM

Not only will it be shit, but the service and tech support will be poor.

I told friends before not to buy the cheapest HP/Compaq they could. They said they didn't have enough money to spend on others.

The end result was that they had a computer that stopped working in a matter of days and what money they did spend was wasted.

Seriously, fucking buy something better and don't post to Tech Talk asking for help when your shit stops working.

[Edited on November 6, 2005 at 10:31 AM. Reason : +]

11/6/2005 10:30:36 AM

yeah, I bought a 5375 model 3 years ago(paid almost $2000 for it but that include like 300-400 for a 3yr warranty extension). Only complaint I have is that bitch gets hot quick and the P4 is hell on battery life. Only real problem I've had was that the hard drive clunked on me last spring. Luckily I got the City Assure plan when I bought it from Circuit City(3 year warranty past manufacturer's warranty). Other than that I can't complain, it does everything I need it to do but if you're not going to be by a power outlet, you'd better get an Pentium M and stay away from the P4.

11/6/2005 11:09:56 AM

you get what you pay for, but in this case you can't complain, you are getting a lot for $400, heck there are PMP's and ipod's, and standalone dvd players that cost $400, this is a laptop with a 15" screen, this is a really good deal, we'll see what kind of warranty it comes with, but the resale alone would be worth picking it up

and for all those who own HP laptop's with P4's in them your comments aren't related, this is an AMD Mobile chip, it uses a LOT less power and not the same heat issues as the P4's

[Edited on November 6, 2005 at 12:02 PM. Reason : .]

11/6/2005 12:00:00 PM

So what typically goes wrong with them and under what circumstances... this or any other laptop? What things usually prove to be the weak link?

I just want it for portable multi-media and homework stuff.

11/7/2005 1:32:49 PM

There are risks with any portable, but they do seem to be greater with cheaper laptops because the components they use are obviously of lesser quality and the design is often 'hacked together'. (Company needs to get rid of over-stock laptop parts, finds a super-cheap computer they can put them all into.) It is impossible to say what would go wrong. The typical things that go wrong with laptops:

- Hard drive failure
- Logic board failure (excessive heat, rapid heating and cooling cycles that break bad solder points)
- Plastic parts breaking off
- Power connector breaking off inside the laptop
- LCD with dead or stuck pixels

If the hardware design is bad, you can expect less performance than the specs would indicate on paper. Instability especially with increasing running temperatures.

Just remember that you get what you pay for.

11/7/2005 2:29:09 PM

^makes a good point, also remember if you are going to use the laptop for it's intended purpose "portability" than you can expect failure early, since laptops undergo more wear than a desktop model, cheap parts are exactly what you don't need...

on the other hand if you are using this for a 2nd computer merely for travel to watch movies, play music, etc... it's perfect... if you want performance and reliability, look elsewhere

11/7/2005 7:01:07 PM

So it sounds like an extended protection plan might not be a bad idea if it was 10-20% of the purchase price... I'm guessing that any component that could be fixed in it would cost at least that much.

^What would you recommend if I go for the "elsewhere" option?

[Edited on November 8, 2005 at 12:13 PM. Reason : elsewhere.]

11/8/2005 12:12:04 PM

this is the type of computer i would buy for my tech-handicapped mother.

11/8/2005 2:51:29 PM

^ why not buy her something that wouldn't break?

^^ Laptops are one of the only products where extended warranties/service plans are actually a good idea. If something goes bad (just wait) it will usually cost what the laptop is worth to fix it. Just read the terms carefully and ask others about their experience with that particular warranty.

11/8/2005 2:57:23 PM

^I know that Sears and other big box retailers make more money on EPP's "extended protection plans" than they do on the actual retail sale of the item... they even fire their aapliance salesmen if they don't make 25% sales on EPP's. When I worked at Lowe's we knew which items warrent the risk/reward of buying EPP's... the vast majority of them don't. But.... if you buy a consumer lawnmower and use it like a professional would, you'll wear it out in no time and the manufacturer's warranty doesn't cover wear and tear (moving parts like belts, gears, brakes, etc...) I assume the same holds true for electronics.

11/8/2005 3:17:03 PM

^yeah, I'm a CC employee, and the protection plan is CERTAINLY worth it on a laptop. More so than anything else in the store, especially since we have unlimited battery and accidental damage coverage.

But, it'll certainly cost more than 10-20% of the laptop.

11/8/2005 6:45:12 PM

Quote :

"^What would you recommend if I go for the "elsewhere" option?"

IBM, the laptops are the most durable around and perform well

11/8/2005 6:52:06 PM

I wonder if Lenovo will keepup that tradition.

11/8/2005 7:33:07 PM

Quote :

"why not buy her something that wouldn't break?"

it's my mother...she'll "break" anything you get for her.

there's a reason she has never used mine.

11/8/2005 9:10:05 PM

Quote :

"IBM, the laptops are the most durable around and perform well"

Quote :

"I wonder if Lenovo will keepup that tradition."

exactly, fuck some ibm laptops, get a dell

11/8/2005 9:17:20 PM

^hahahaha.... yep, Dell is the pinnacle of quality.

11/8/2005 9:34:57 PM

^^ lenovo's made IBM laptops for a few years already... and they're a hell of a lot tougher than dells in general.

11/8/2005 9:58:10 PM

Quote :

"it's my mother...she'll "break" anything you get for her."

I lolled.

Quote :

"But, it'll certainly cost more than 10-20% of the laptop."

I'm sure I'll go for it, but out of curiosity, what's the going rate?

[Edited on November 9, 2005 at 12:05 PM. Reason : EPP]

11/9/2005 12:03:46 PM

depends... at CC for a laptop thats $600 (our cheapest), there's 3 different coverage plans.

a 4yr is 269 (w/o accidental)
2yr w/accidental coverage is 224
2yr w/o accidental is 134

on our cheapest laptops, there's no 4yr accidental coverage. If those prices seem high, consider they cover batteries.

11/9/2005 12:17:59 PM

^wow Batteries must be UbAr $Texas.

11/9/2005 6:32:58 PM

for the most part, laptop batteries start around $150, and can go as high as 400.

11/11/2005 12:48:10 PM

^ eh, ibm laptop batteries after education discount start at around 79 bucks and go up to about 169 for the long duration 9 cells.

11/11/2005 1:00:06 PM

^which is why I said "most" and not "specific brands with special discounts"

11/11/2005 1:15:06 PM

I have the 4 year warranty on my laptop. Went out and spent $160 on a fucking extended life battery since the original on only lasts about 5 min tops. Then I read the thing about batteries in the warranty coverage online. I was like wtf.

11/11/2005 2:50:47 PM

i'm buying this for my laptop stand in my car so i don't have to risk having my expensive laptop in there, even though it's bolted to my car with the lock. of course it can be broken but not repaired cosmetically and not sold to pawn shops.

11/11/2005 7:56:19 PM

Best Buy now has one for $379, w/o any rebates. That one is a Toshiba w/a Celeron, 256mb RAM, 40gb hard drive, wireless built-in, etc...

11/11/2005 10:36:07 PM

link?

11/12/2005 8:58:52 AM

^yeah, not only do i not see it on their page, but i called them up and the guy had no idea what i was talking about.

11/12/2005 10:44:37 AM

maybe he's pulling numbers and spec's out of his ass and expecting you to swallow them?

11/12/2005 6:35:08 PM

by "now," i meant for Black Friday. My fault.

11/12/2005 11:41:05 PM

i think this has been outdone by the BestBuy laptop...

Toshiba
Intel Celeron M 370
DVD/CD-RW
256MB DDR2
40GB HDD
802.11g
ATI Radeon X200M
15" LCD

$379

i would buy a toshiba over an HP anyday

11/13/2005 12:36:40 PM

I don't know. anyone familiar with how semprons and celerons compare? I know that turion's are pretty good, but I don't really remember any benchmarks for the semprons.

But yeah, IBM>>>(dell=toshiba)>hp for portables, but I wonder what these things weigh?

[Edited on November 13, 2005 at 12:51 PM. Reason : ]

11/13/2005 12:50:42 PM

set em up

11/13/2005 12:52:46 PM