UNDECIDED between two laptops. please help

[Adi Head]

i am about to purchase a pc laptop. my first. i need some advice. after days of research i'm pretty sure i want to get an HP notebook and am still undecided between two models. i'll be using the laptop for some regular daily use + video editing, not sure which platform. i have vegas on my desktop, so i'll probably stick to it. will be using after effects too. 5-15 min. short video pieces. sometimes i will be using a number of fx and will need a powerful machine, but these two models are the best i found for my budget.

[i took a look at customizing a Dell inspiron 6000. it turned out over my budget and besides, i tried calling their sales dept. a couple of times and the reps there were horrible. it was like talking to robots. every time i asked them a technical question they would repeat irrelevant information that they had already given me before. each time, got different rep. both were downers.] gut feeling = dell, maybe some other time.

here is a rundown of the specs on the two finalists. please give me your experienced opinion.

1. HP PAVILION zd8205us Notebook (REFURBISHED, 90 day warranty):

- Intel Pentium® 4 processor 520 with HT Technology (2.80GHz)
- 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 256MB) at 400MHz
- ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 with 128MB DDR (dedicated)
- 80GB 4200rpm
- DVD±RW and CD-RW combo drive with Double Layer Support
- 17.0" WXGA+ High-Definition Brightview Widescreen WVA (1400 x 900) display
- 54g? Integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster and BroadRange support
- 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, 1 expansion port connector, 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire), 1 Consumer IR (Remote Receiver)
- Dimensions: 11.43" (L) x 15.70" (W) x 1.96" (H)
- Weight: 9.38 lb.
- 12 cell battery (good for playing 1 hr. dvd movie)
...........$1200.00

2. HP PAVILION DV4000 (NEW, 1 year warranty)

- Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz) centrino technology
- 512MB DDR2 SDRAM (1x512MB)
- 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700
- 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
- 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG WLAN
- 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, 1 expansion port connector, 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) and 1 S-Video TV out
- dimensions: 14.11"(W) x 10.16"(L) x1.32"(min) / 1.67"(max)(H)
- weight: 6.45 lbs
- 6 cell battery (good for playing 2.5 hrs. dvd movie)
......... $1370.00

and one other question: what would be better for video editing? 1GB RAM system memory + shared memory video card OR 512MB RAM system memory + 128MB dedicated video card?

that's it. thank you very much for any advice you can give me.

[DJ Kinney]

In regard to the video card, it's irrelevant to render speed. More ram is what's important for rendering. Either of those video options will play the video smoothly.

[Bogdan Vaglarov]

RAM is important for rendering? What do you mean with that DJ? CPU power is No1 factor I thought.

Adi, I think dedicated video card is better for any situation. Having shared memory for your graphics/display means the bandwith of the memory bus is always reduced by this permanent usage.

Also the second PC with the Centrino Pentium M CPU and the 5400rpm hard drive is a better choice in my opinion.

[Adi Head]

Thanks. Basically, the only things that the zd8205us has that makes it hard for me to choose is the extra 1.6" of work space. and since my budget originally was $1100, that extra $170 for the dv4000 is kinda painful....

so.... is it the PAVILION DV4000 ??

by the way the rep at HP i talked to was very knowledgable and helped me out a lot.

[Neil Camero]

personally i'd get the zd8205us. i'd take a pentium 4 over centrino for editing/rendering jobs, plus you get 1.6" more screen size with a higher native resolution. i'd use that $1,000 you saved to buy a pcmcia firewire card, one stick of 1GB ram, a 60gb 5400rpm internal hard drive, and like two 300gb 7200rpm external hard drives.

and from what i read, you won't see any benefits unless you have a nvidia quadro video card and using avid. vegas i don't believe uses any video card dependent extensions.