Thanks for all the help guys I've got another question... When I'm customizing or upgrading Laptops and want to increase the Ram to 512mb, sometimes there is a 1 or 2 Dimms option. The 1 Dimm is more expensive, (about 120 bucks more with Dell). What is the difference between 1 or 2 Dimms and how much will it affect the memory capabilities?
anyone have any opinions for desktop replacements? i like the emachine that DoD was talking about here but i would like it even more if it had a 17" monitor. i like the zd7000 series from hp and the no payments for 6 months, hopefully i'll be making gobs of money by then. but i know its a bit pricey. anyhow...just looking for opinions on the most bang for the buck in desktop replacements.
robbie384, That's the machine I was looking to get. It does not come in a 17" variety. But you could get a Pentium-based notebook. Several of those come in 17" variety. I can't remember if the zd7000 is a AMD64-based laptop, and searching is painful over a dial-up at the moment. Sooo... be wary of the Compaq/HP AMD 64 models. They come with ancient video cards. So if you're into playing some of today's games or future games at their "best or near-best quality", you may not be able to do it. If I had a choice, I wouldn't buy a Compaq or HP laptop - their quality isn't what it used to be.
Since you answered your question, I won't bother. But, I don't know how comfortable you are with changing your own memory, but if you can, I'd get the lowest amount of RAM on the laptop from Dell and buy more memory from somewhere else like Crucial. I haven't checked lately, but Dell's memory changes screw you on the price a bit.
no the zd7000 isnt amd64 based. like the system i was looking at customizing the zd7000 to would be a p4 3.06 ghz with hyper threading, 1 gb ram, 60 gb 5400 rpm hd, 54g wireless, 17" w/ brightview and 1680x1050 res, and 128mb nvidia gforce go5700. thats a little over $2120 with no warranty, but it would give me a mobile system that i could pretty much do anything on anywhere which is what i am looking for. plus the no payments for 6 months is nice too. but if i dont go with all the bells and whistles and i drop down to 1 512 mb chip for ram and don't include the brightview monitor then its a little over $1770. do you know if the brightview monitor upgrade is worth it or not? i know i won't need the 1 gb of ram but it would be cool to have
Alright, so from the suggestions here, it looks like I should wait until back to school specials arrive and avoid TigerDirect. With that logic, I would assume it's better to stay away from no-name companies as well, but I'd rather not spend close to $1000 to get the same computer (with assuming better service) from the factory. When I find the one that's best I'll run it by this thread before I purchase it. Now I know AMD has a mobile chip, but how come no one ever hears about it? Should I be looking at the Mobile Athlon or is it just best to stay with Centrino/M? Thanks again!
It's a matter of personal preference. I'd actually go see if I could find one and compare it to one without it.
I've heard all kinds of mixed results with them. I've heard some people have good results, but I've also heard bad results. They actually have a pretty decent rating on resellerratings.com : http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1983.html Wait for coupons at Dell or somewhere else - that's when Dell's prices come down to earth and are in line with what you should be paying for a laptop. More manufacturers use Intel chips than AMD chips (by a HUGE margin). The Centrino-based laptops can be lighter laptops if you're into that (3-8 lbs). Most of the AMD laptops are going to run around 7-9 lbs. Stay away from Celeron-based laptops. For similar costs you can get an AMD-based laptop that will blow its doors off performance-wise. When you buy laptops it's a tricky proposition. They'll try to give you something great somewhere that will catch your eye (such as a faster processor) but then rip you off somewhere that won't catch your eye (such as a slower hard drive).
