I have the choice of buying a new Lappy via the HCI scheme (http://www.bytes.co.uk/?parentseq=730). There are four choices but I've nailed it down to two of them. Pricing is very similar so thats ot really an issue.

Which would you choose?? :orb_geek:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/21675-38187-38191-38191-38191-12150796-38597115.html

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/21675-38187-38191-38191-38191-12150692-38839239.html

The more expensive one because it just sounds posher with the higher price tag. However, I'm a fan of athlon so if it was my dosh I'd bag the cheaper one. Not a great deal more than my Dell 2.8 P4.

Hmm - I'm swayed toward the P4 because of the screen.

I too am an AMD fan, (running an Athlon XP now) but it seems to be big screen vs 1gb Ram and an extra 20gb disk space.

I can live without the 20gb and put in 512mb of Ram I suppose.

Memory upgrades for laptops can turn out VERY expensive. I've got a laptop with the 1280 x 800 screen. It's excellent IF and only IF you want to use it for watching movies. The low vertical resolution however will bite you in real life. Get the P4.

Having got a P4 based HP Pavilion as mentioned, it's worth noting the P4 has a pretty noisy fan, ensure you have good airflow.

Can't go far wrong with either really

Are you happy with yours then? Good quality etc?

Memory isn't as bad as I expected - http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=HP+-+Compaq%2BPavilion+Notebooks&mfr=HP+-+Compaq&cat=RAM&model=Pavilion+zd8000+Series&submit=Go

I don't intend to be lugging it around on the train daily or anything but I do want to be mobile, albeit by car!!

Yeah mine was a Walmart one, kinda bought one instore so didnt get the best spec available but the price was lower, that kinda thing.

Mine wouldnt take 2GB of memory, only 1.25G total maximum, it's a P4 306 HT enabled.

I'm quite happy with mine - sound quality is good with the HK speakers, much better than my Dell D600. Generally it is a nice bit of kit

Well happy with my

Most laptops you can buy these days fall into one of two categories: long battery life OR desktop replacement. The former tends to be Pentium-M (which is excellent), the latter A64 or P4 (some with HT).

AMD versions also exist but they're not as well-known generally as the Centrino branded stuff.

Either way, a branded laptop tends to be great value

Evening,

Never been a real fan of HP slaptops, but if you want battery life then yes, got to be the Intel.

AMD do have the new Turion chipsets coming but don't expect anything dramatic re battery life - initial tests indicate it's a hungry set-up!!

Just to add that memory is currently the cheapest it's been for nearly 2 years, if you need to upgrade, do it now!!!

hapless

There's an HCI faq here - as for which laptop to pick, try entering the model details and the word "review" into google and see what comes up...

There's an HCI faq here[/url'] - as for which laptop to pick, try entering the model details and the word "review" into google and see what comes up...

Thanks - I'm happy with the HCI scheme iteslf.

There doesn't appear to be any reviews about the P4 model, in fact not many places stock it. Perhaps it's gonna be and of line or is just unpopular.

As far as laptops go end-of-line doesn't really come into it IMHO - after all, you can replace only a limited number of items on a laptop without it costing you a fortune