"A terrific multimedia notebook packed with new technologies" is PC Magazine's assessment of this Media Center notebook series.Enjoy system stability and a user-friendly interface with Windows XP Media Center Edition. Get excellent performance from Intel 's 3.2GHz Pentium 4 processor 540 with HT Technology, 800MHz FSB, and 1MB L2 cache. Organize, edit, store, protect, and share all your photos and video clips with one convenient software program: HP's exclusive Image Zone.Import your favorite songs, organize your CD and MP3 collection, and create custom playlists with Apple iTunes. See everything clearly on the 17" WXGA+ high-definition BrightView widescreen display (1440 x 900) with wide viewing angle. Store music, photos, and video on the Enhanced IDE 100GB (4200 rpm) hard drive. Enhance your multimedia presentations with the ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 graphics with 128MB dedicated DDR. Share files with thumb drives, iPAQs, and cameras via the 6-in-1 digital media card reader, which works with memory cards including Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and SmartMedia.Stay connected while traveling with the 54g 802.11b/g wireless LAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster support. Surf the Web with the integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN modem.
Take your entertainment center with you wherever you roam with the HP Pavilion zd8060 Media Center Notebook PC. Record your favorite TV programs and watch them on the widescreen 17-inch LCD monitor, view photo slideshows with your own soundtrack, or watch DVD movies, and control it all with the included remote. The zd8060 can also unleash your digital creativity with the multiformat DVD/CD burner and included Image Zone photo editing and management software. This multimedia notebook features a super-fast, hyper-threaded 3.2 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 100 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, 54g wireless connectivity, multiformat memory card reader, and a powerful video/graphics card with 128 MB of dedicated RAM.
The Basics
- Hard Drive: The 100 GB hard drive is one of the largest available in today's notebooks, enabling road warriors and multimedia enthusiasts more than enough capacity for storing documents, digital media files, and productivity software.
- Processor: The hyper-threaded 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor allows a single CPU system to behave in some aspects like a dual-CPU system, helping to deliver faster transistors and increased performance. It also features a 1 MB L2 cache and a blazingly fast 800 MHz front-side bus speed, which measures how fast a processor and the main memory communicate. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.)
A Hyper-Threading processor helps a PC to run multiple demanding applications at the same time. This technology enables the processor to execute two threads (a part of a program) in parallel, boosting performance during key high-drain procedures. This results in more efficient software performance (such as faster reaction times in gaming applications) and enhanced multitasking.
- Memory: The 512 MB of installed RAM (2 x 256 MB, dual channel at 400 MHz) is a decent start, but you'll want to take advantage of the 2 GB capacity (2 x 1 GB) to fulfill this notebook's strong multimedia capabilities.
- CD/DVD Drive: The combo DVD+/-RW and CD-RW drive is compatible with a wide variety disc formats, including DVD+, DVD-, VCD, and SVCD discs. For DVD-RW discs, it has a 1x write/rewrite speed, while for DVD+RW discs it has a 2x write/rewrite speed (DVDs are read at 5x). For CDs, it has a 16x write/10x rewrite/40x read speed.
- Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard keyboard with scroll bar and integrated numeric keypad, and a touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical scroll up/down pad.
Screen, Graphics and Sound The ATI Radeon X300 SE is a high-end video card, powerful enough to run one large virtual screen across two displays. It features 128 MB of dedicated video RAM, S-Video and the higher-fidelity DVI connections out, and PCI Express x16 support, which enables graphics to process faster. It also features the integrated Intel High Definition audio chip (Azalia), featuring THX certification and 8 channels for full Dolby 5.1/6.1/7.2 surround sound with Dolby Pro Logic IIx.
Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The zd8060us has an integrated 54g wireless LAN that's fully compatible with 802.11b/g wireless networks. The 125 HSM/SpeedBooster support will enable it to be ready for tomorrow's 125 Mbps wireless LANs. You get a good offering of connectivity options, including super-fast USB 2.0 and Firewire:
- 4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
- 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
- 1 VGA monitor port
- 1 S-Video out
- 1 parallel port
- 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II, 32-bit)
- 6-in-1 memory card reader (compatible with Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, SmartMedia, and XD Picture Cards)
- 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).
Preloaded System and Software
The pre-installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is essentially Windows XP Professional Edition with a variety of tools to help you to create, organize, and enjoy digital media ranging from music to home movies to photo slide shows. Additionally, it enables you to control your television with the included remote and record and pause programs (much like a DVR--or digital video recorder--such as Tivo or ReplayTV). With the 250 GB hard drive, you'll be able to record and store up to 180 hours of video programming. It's compatible with cable, digital cable, satellite TV and antenna inputs, and it includes an FM tuner.
The included HP Image Zone Plus photo and imaging software makes it easy to organize, edit, share, print, protect, and store your photos and video clips. Organize and find your photos easily by timeline, keywords, and/or location using the unique photo-globe mapping tool. Remove red eye and fix other common problems. Share your photos quickly via e-mails that include thumbnails with links to the full-sized images--without downloading time-consuming attachments.
Other preloaded software includes InterVideo WinDVD Creator and WinDVD SE player, Muvee autoProducer, Apple iTunes, Sonic RecordNow, Norton AntiVirus 2005, Microsoft Works 8.0, MSN Encarta Standard, Microsoft Money, and Quicken 2004 New User Edition.
Dimensions and Weight
At 9.4 pounds, the zd8060 isn't the most easily portable notebook. It measures 15.7 x 11.4e x 1.96 inches (L x W x H).
Power
This notebook is powered by a 12-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which offers an average of 3 hours of battery life (dependent upon computing conditions).
What's in the Box
This package contains the zd8060 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty and 30-day free software support.
1 Poor quality
1) Poor quality material
2) Very heavy
3) Too much of heat produced
4) Tooooooo Pricy
5) Just 512MB RAM for such high price?
2 Does what its supposed to do
I bought the zd8060 2 months ago and havent had ANY problems whatsoever with the build quality. This thing IS a beast though. It has a P4 so it runs too hot to actually have it on your lap and only lasts 1.5 hrs on the battery. Its got a beautiful screen and a nice number pad on the right. The mouse pad is a little sketchy at times (cursor just goes wherever it feels like going) but the great thing about that is there's a button right above it so you can disable it (also, the space on the right of the mouse is big enough to use a usb mouse on).
For someone who's actually considering buying this thing, its great for people in a dorm room (limited space) or in the military and goes TDY and will set it up in a room and leave it for weeks or months. For someone who travels a lot or in my case just lazy (I hate dragging it from room to room with the monster power cable) and wont EVER use the Media Center/TV tuner functions it comes with, its an absolute waste. If you want something that wont be moved at all get a desktop, its less than half the price.
I give it 4 stars because it is a good computer. The price for the logic (limited mobility laptop) and the fact that after 2 months, I went ahead and ordered an IBM thats half the weight, 4x the battery life and doesnt create enough heat to cook my lap are why it doesnt get 5 stars.
Pros: nice bright screen, latest XP media center Operating system, number pad, ports and card readers for just about everything, good speakers.
Cons: It's a BEAST to carry around, heat, battery consumption, sketchy mouse, lack of bluetooth, price.
3 Keyboard
I have a 16-month old HP-Pavilion ZE55..US laptop (pentium chip, 512MB ram) that I'm sending back for the second time because of problems with the keyboard. In the first incident, the "P"-key popped loose. This time, "R"-key has popped loose while the "N" and "M"-keys have become illegible. Computer keyboards (be they desktops or laptops) last and last and last... which explains my disappointment with my Pavilion (especially because it will cost me real money to have the R, N, M keys fixed. [The hard-drive, the monitor, the CPU and the wireless "G"-card are performing very well, though.]
