Cheap Is Good: Compaq Presario V2000Z
Some buyers, especially those seeking high end gaming machines, thrive on the detailed technical specifications of laptops. Questions like these below are typical: - "What kind of processor - AMD Turion, Intel dual core?" - "How much storage capacity in the hard drive - 60GB, 80GB, 100GB?" - "What kind of wireless connectivity - 3G, EV-DO, HSDPA" In contrast, those seeking an entry level machine for checking emails and surfing the web would much rather cut straight to the chase: - "How cheap is this puppy?" Laptopical's sterling reporter, Matthew Brodsky, has the answer.
Now this is mykind of laptop: cheap. I can think of no better way to get one upon the Man than to only spend $449.99 retail at Hewlett Packard'sofficial site for a notebook that features built-in wireless, anAMD Sempron processor, and 100GB of . For just another $100 dollars, you can upgrade toAMD's 64 bit Turion processor. It's a beautiful thing, thisCompaq V2000Z, and you gotta wonder how HP can pull itoff......You know what? Who cares.
Of course, you won't be getting a cutting edge VAIO or Lifebook uber-notebook, worthy of its place on the Starship Enterprise. But the Compaq V2000Z is really nothing to sneeze at. It weighs only slightly over 5 pounds, and measures inat only 1.29 inches thick. That alone makes this a viable travel companion for a student or part-time computeruser.
But even full-time computer users-call us "Laptopicalprofessionals"-could be AOK with this laptop. It comes withWindows XP, but will be able to run Vista Basic if and when that64-bit operating system ever arrives on the market.
And the Presario V2000Z contains what most average laptop userscare about most: integrated 802.11b/g WLAN modem for e-mailing,IMing, and paying bills and shopping online. HP even throws insoftware bells and whistles like SpeedBooster and BroadRange,which, HP claims, allow the wireless connection to stay strongand fast at up to 50 percent farther away from the accesspoint.
The 14-inch high-def widescreen is adequate, and may even be alittle bit more fancy than most low-end notebook users need, with its BrightView setting for optimized DVDviewing. And speaking of which, the entry level configuration ofthe Compaq V2000Z model comes with a basic DVD-ROM, but DVD andCD read-writes are available, as well as HP's Lightscribedisk-labeling devices.
Also basic-end is the ATI Radeon EXPRESS 200M graphics card, butif you wanted a better graphics card, you'd be spending moremoney on a gaming notebook, now wouldn't you?
Otherwise, the Sempron or Turion powered CompaqV2000Z has all the basic ports: USB, S-Video, headphone andmicrophone, 6-in-1 media card reader, and an IEEE 1394 FireWire.All this and you get a one-year warranty with all-the-time phonesupport.
So if you're a casual laptop user or just looking for a cheap notebook suitable for web surfing, and light business use, the currentdeal for the Compaq V2000Z is worth checking out atshopping.HP.com.
