$600 Notebook Roundup - Crowning the Affordability King
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 29, 2005 10:38 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Compaq Presario V2000, V2000Z and M2000Z
Although both Dell and Gateway offer good configuration options, only Compaq gives you the freedom of going AMD or Intel with their $600 notebooks. The three notebooks that we have here today are the Compaq Presario V2000, V2000Z and M2000Z. The two notebooks with a 'Z' at the end of their names use AMD's Sempron 2800+ processor, while the regular V2000 is based on Intel's Celeron M 360 running at 1.4GHz.
Although both Dell and Gateway offer good configuration options, only Compaq gives you the freedom of going AMD or Intel with their $600 notebooks. The three notebooks that we have here today are the Compaq Presario V2000, V2000Z and M2000Z. The two notebooks with a 'Z' at the end of their names use AMD's Sempron 2800+ processor, while the regular V2000 is based on Intel's Celeron M 360 running at 1.4GHz.
Compaq M2000Z (left) vs. Compaq V2000 series (right)
The 4:3 display of the M series gives it a larger footprint (right)
Compaq M series (left) vs. Compaq V series (right)
| Compaq Presario | |||
| V2000 | V2000Z | M2000Z | |
| CPU | Intel Celeron M 360 (1.4GHz/1MB L2/400MHz FSB) |
AMD Sempron 2800+ (1.6GHz/256KB L2) |
|
| Chipset | Intel 915GM | ATI Radeon Xpress 200M (RS480) | |
| Memory | 256MB DDR333 (1 DIMM) | ||
| GPU | Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics | Integrated Radeon Xpress 200M Graphics | |
| Display | 14.1" WXGA (1280 x 768) | 15" XGA (1024 x 768) | |
| HDD | 40GB Toshiba MK4025GAS | 40GB Hitachi HTS541040G9AT00 | |
| Optical Storage | 24X CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive | ||
| Wireless | Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG | Broadcom 802.11b/g | |
| Ethernet | Realtek RTL8139/810x 10/100 | ||
| Modem | Internal Soft 56K | ||
| Audio | Conexant Integrated AC'97 | ||
| Ports | Headphone, microphone, PC Card slot, 2 x USB 2.0, Ethernet, Modem, VGA out, S-Video out | ||
| Mouse | Trackpad | ||
| Size (L x W x H) | 13.15" x 9.1" x 1.29" (min) / 1.53" (max) | 13.15" x 10.8" x 1.41" (min) / 1.78" (max) | |
| Weight | 5.21 lbs | 5.38 lbs | 6.55 lbs |
| Battery | 6-Cell Lithium Ion | ||
| OS and Other Software | Windows XP Home SP2 | ||
| Price as Configured | $604.00 | $604.00 | $604.00 |
| Warranty | 1 year | ||
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
View All Comments
Hacp - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
x200 graphics with/o dedicated memory.If you get x300 graphics with some dedicated memory, it should play some of hte latest games at halfway acceptable settings. Just dont' expect to be playing FPS smoothly though, but RPGs/rts should be fine. Racing should be fine too.
manno - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
meLoneWolf15 - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Interesting to note that even without Speedstep, the Celeron-M still has better battery life. Then again, didn't Intel change some designs in transistor-switching to make battery performance better even at full speed?One comment, more to notebook manufacturers: Where the heck is my Trackpoint mouse? I can't stand touchpads, which require me to take my fingers off the keyboard to use, when a trackpoint can be used almost simultaneously. I can type 75-80wpm, and don't find touchpads very efficient for this reason (my older but top-of-the-line-when-released Latitude C840 has both devices). Somebody, please bring back the Trackpoint!
Hacp - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Also, why do you have to take your fingers of the keyboard to use the touchpad? I keep one hand on the keyboard, and one hand on the touchpad when using my computer. Rightclick is tap top right corner, leftclick is tap anywhere on the touchpad that doesn't involve the top right corner.Zorba - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I too hate touchpads and miss the old mouse sticks. I always rub the touchpad with my arm when typing and usually end up clicking some where I don't want to. It also takes me much longer to navigate with a touchpad and I usually accidently click something because I change the amount of pressure on the pad (I know you can turn the clicking off, but I still don't like the pad). It is a personal preference but I would like to at least be given the chance to pick between the two.matthewfoley - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Yeah, well I hate the mouse sticks. Who cares.Zorba - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
The point the original poster and I were trying to make is manufacturers should include both devices, which a lot of them used to do.Hacp - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
The battery life difference is most likely due to the ATI chipset and integrated graphics, which uses more power than intel EE.Tamale - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
page 9's link to page 10 is shotTamale - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
nvm :]