Is a 4200rpm hard drive speed too slow for someone who is not really into gaming? I'm interested in the HP Pavilion zd8290EA with the folowing specs:

Intel Pent 4(650) 3,4 GHz 800MB FSB L2 cache 2MB
1024MB DDR2 533MHZ
100GB HDD @ 4200rpm
17" WXGA 1440x900
256MB ATI Radeon X600 PCI X
Lightscribe DVD+- RW Dual Layer
10/100/LAN,802,11 b/gWLAN,Bluetooth;Windows XP home
2 yr Warranty

The impression I get from reviews is that the hard drive speed and the graphics "card" would significantly affect the perfomance of the machine.Does that hold for someone who is not a great gamer?

I have considered the HP nx8220 :
Intel Pent M 760 (2,0 GHz);2MB Cache 2GB RAM; 80GB HDD @ 5400rpm DVD +- RW XP Pro;3 year warranty.

I'd appreciate advise on this....

LTheobald

I'd go for the 2nd laptop.

Firstly, the first laptop has a 3.4GHz P4. These aren't really built for laptops and can heat up a bit - due to this the laptop could be chunkier. Also if you're not much of a gamer, I doubt you need such a beefy processor. The 2nd has a processor built for laptops and it's more inline with a laptop used for work.

The 2nd laptop also has an extra years warranty - always a good think to have.

The 2nd laptop also has a lot more RAM. Now this is something a gamer would want but so would a normal PC user. RAM is good - your PC will run faster and smoother with more RAM.


If there isn't a major price difference between the two laptops, I'd go with the second.

On a side note, I didn't think hard drive speeds affected game performance all that much. It's normally the amount of RAM on a PC that affects game performance as this is where the majority of game data will be stored.

fredg

Hi,
I, also, would go with the 2nd. The longer warranty period you can get, the better off you are. A longer warranty period means the manufacturer is a little more confident in that product. Laptops are expensive to repair!
Best wishes,
fredg