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Reviews for HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook - Customizable

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By member: hwonders - Jul 24, 2005

HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook -...

Strengths: Fast CPU, Good screen, Good WIFI, DVDR/W, 4 USB Ports, DVR, Card reader, lots of options

Weakness: Heavy, brick size power supply, Runs hot

This is a poratble desktop replacement that REALLY does run like a desktop. The Digital Video Recorder (DVR) works fine (but I haven't used it much). You can travel will this (I do) if you don't mind 15lbs hanging on your shoulder. This is a great all round portable.

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By member: Zeekar - Nov 9, 2005

HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook -...

Strengths: Fast. Bright screen. Performs well under the stress of gaming, etc. Excellent price point. Full sised keyboard with numeric pad.

Weakness: Moderately hot running. Not a very portable notebook. Screen distorts colors somewhat when not sitting flush with the laptop.

Review for HP Pavilion zd8000 notebook PC:

These are the specs on my particular notebook configuration. Yes, I know they're modest, but I'm not wealthy.

HP Pavilion zd8000 customizable Notebook PC

* - Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
* - Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 520 w/HT Technology, 2.8GHz
* - 17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Wide Viewing (1440x900)
* - 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, 400MHz (2x256MB)
* - 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
* - DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
* - 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) X600
* - 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
* - 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* - Microsoft(R) Works/Money
* - hpshopping in-box envelope

Alot of people feel mislead by the CNet prices posted for this particular model, but to defend them a bit, this equaled out to $1,377.92 before rebate and WITH a $50 printer. It happens that I bought right when a big deal was going on and ironically the very next day that deal dissapeared and would have costed me hundreds more for the same setup. So my word to anyone that felt mislead by the CNet prices is just to realise that its all in the timing.

I had questions about adding an extended warrenty after purchasing and so had to call the INFAMOUS customer support line. I was on hold for just a few minutes before being put on with an american salesman that instantly asked me if I was interested in buying something. After setting him straight, he continued his sales campain, offering the 2 and 3 year extended service plans without even MENTIONING the 1 year extended, which I kinda found to be annoying. To top it all off he was rather misleading about some things, in an overly obvious attempt to sell me something I wasnt interested in.

As far as I'm conserned if I want customer service and get a salesman, its a negative experience. At least, however, eventually I found out all I needed to know and it wasnt NEARLY as bad an experience as some people attest to. Overall, I wasnt too disgusted with it.

Later, In waiting for the laptop's shipping date to finally arrive I noticed something unusual. it appeared that two more orders were made. Naturally I had to make another call to customer service and this time got put on with an American woman who was very nice and very helpful and told me exactly what was going on and it turned out to be no problem at all. The only problem was that I was on hold for a slightly inconvenient 10 minutes, but even then an automated message said they were experiencing longer than usual hold times. I was very relieved and pleased by the whole experience.

Finally The laptop has arived, I have pretty much a whole day of experience with it and I can give a pretty good review on it now. Of course I am going to complete the review in 30 days so that you know if there are any long term problems.

Let me just get out of the way that I absolutely love this thing. the screen is like a dream, letting you do multiple things without wishing you had more space. also it is bright and crystal clear, giving a GREAT dvd experience. the sound is wonderful as well, giving a pretty crisp sound at a decent volume.

This is a recent update:
I have now had this laptop for several months so let me give you the final word. The laptop does indeed run hot, but anyone saying it is "unusable" is either pathetically weak or has a defective machine. I have noticed that when sitting at an angle, or too high up, some colors are not displayed at all onscreen. this gets very frustrating when trying to draw and color. I use my comp as an artistic tool, personally, and so it does get annoying. It isnt a deal breaker though, because just lowering my chair a bit is enough to amend the problem. Another problem I've noticed is that when using my webcam windows constantly crashes. I will also say it didnt work at all on my old computer, so its probably a problem with the camera, not the computer itself. Blue screens of death aside, even after all this time, all I said previously still applies. The workspace you get to deal with on the 17'' display feels essential at this point. I dont see how I even worked on my old monitor now. I've tested many games at full specs and have had no slowdown. I havnt been running first person shooters though, so if you are a hardcore gamer you might want to check another review. I love the full sised keyboard, with number pad, which would have been sacrificed had I gotten a smaller machine. Soundwise, I've had some problems with static and crackling, but lately I havnt noticed any at all. I'd think twice about pumping the volume up too loud though if I were you.

The comp was just shy of perfect for me. I have no regrets at all.

Overal Rating: B+
Power: A
Sound: B-
Screen: B (the distorted colors really hurt it.)
Overal design: C (not the prettiest machine)
Customer service: C+

Please excuse my spelling and grammar. This is meant to be helpful, not an essay. Thank you.

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By member: taddygrrr - Oct 2, 2005

this computer and HP suck

Strengths: big screen, heats your entire house

Weakness: hot and heavy, shuts self down constanly b/c of heat

I don't understand why the other user gave it high marks while mentioning how hot it was. Baffling. Mine became unusable when HP refused to replace the motherboard for a 2nd time after it was out of waranty. they wanted $700+ to fix it, Radio shack wanted $1500. Save the money and get anything w/centrino. My machine would shut itself down b/c of heat until I ran into a driver problem w/keyboard and it no longer could. Went to MS, went to HP, and tried to unload the keyboard driver as directed. HP support told me that my UPS must not support surge protection. HP support will argue with you in order to get out of the way of helping suckers who buy these things. Buy dell and you'll understand why they are winning the price war: HP continues to make crappy products and won't stand behind them.

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By member: kvro - Dec 4, 2005

HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook -...

Strengths: Fast, powerful, full-featured. Beautiful screen.

Weakness: Some fan noise

I bought this computer as a desktop replacement for a second home I bought and it does everything I have wanted including video and photo editing. The fans are a little noisy but no worse than the two equivalent desktops I have at my other home. It runs warm but not excessively hot and besides it's a 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 notebook so you expect some heat. At the time I bought it I compared it to all other equivalent notebooks and it had the most features at its price point of any. As far as sound is concerned, I use it with external speakers and it sounds great.When I want portability I use my 13.3 in laptop. I have used HP printers for years with excellent results but this is my first HP computer and to date I am very happy with it. I have had zero problems with it.

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By member: laidbck1 - Dec 9, 2005

HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook -...

Strengths: This machine is a very fast and powerful machine. The screen is bright with brilliant colors and the perfect size to work on and also play on. Good WiFi,excellent screen, and a very fast machine.

Weakness: It does heat up but not nearly as bad as some have posted, not a problem, trust me. Really wish it had Quick Play functionality, and the fans are a little noisy(not to bad though).

I've had this for about a year now and haven't had any real problems with it. I use it for work, to play games, and for a lot of media applications, and am very impressed with it's speed and power. I've played first person games and online games and never had a problem with it slowing or freezing. I have also dealt with the tech supprot and had knowledgeable support with my issues and questions. I would highly recommend this product to anyone. Speedy, nice screen, well rounded machine.
My specs are as follows:
3.2GHz P4HT
1024MB DDRII
1680*1050 display
256MB ATI X600
80 Gig HD
DL DVDRW

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