HP goes mainstream with two Athlon 64 notebooks

HP HAS introduced two Athlon 64 notebooks for the US home/home-office markets, following two Athlon 64 desktop launches previously.

The Compaq Presario R3000Z is priced from between $949 (after rebate) to over $3,000 if it's configured to the max. What makes this model different from its HP counterpart is the option of a 32-bit only K8 based Athlon XP-M 3000+ processor. Graphics choice comes from Nvidia - the $25 cheaper GeForce 4 420 Go or the more expensive GeForce 4 440 Go. The cheaper graphics solution is not available on the HP machine. The higher priced graphics option also bundles in Firewire and a 5-in-1 media reader. The HP model does have the media reader but there is no mention of Firewire.

Other things to note is that the Compaq notebook is fitted out with JBL Pro speakers, whereas the HP machine uses Harman/Kardon integrated audio. Memory and hard drive capacities are configurable up to 2 GB and 80 GB respectively, and there is a wide choice of communication solutions as well. There are three TFT display options - the standard 15-inch (1024x768) and two 15.4-inch widescreens (1280x800 and 1680x1050). These notebooks can also be configured with a higher capacity 12 cell lithium ion battery and Windows XP Pro.

The starting price of the HP Pavilion zv5000z, which HP touts as the gaming notebook for any budget, is $100 more (after rebate) than the Compaq model and also rises to over $3,000 when it's configured to the hilt. The graphics is a non-configurable GeForce 4 440 Go with 64 MB of memory. That is twice as much RAM as the GeForce 4 420 Go option, which is only available on the Compaq machine.

Because the K8 based Athlon XP-M 3000+ is an Athlon 64 with the 64-bit capability switched off, it benefits from most of AMD's eighth generation technologies. It gains a low latency on-die memory controller, HyperTransport for superfast chip-to-chip communication, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and PowerNow technologies to help keep power use in check. Intel SSE2 support is also designed into the chip.

What will disappoint some about this new processor is the 256 KB of level two cache and the 1.6 GHz clock speed. It will be interesting to see how the benchmark numbers stack up. Let's not forget that it also has 128 KB of level one cache as well, and because of its an exclusive design, it raises the effective cache total to 384 KB. So with all of the eighth generation performance enhancements mentioned above, it should easily carry on the Athlon performance tradition.

For those who can't live with that amount of cache and frequency, $75 extra will configure the Compaq machine with an Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8 GHz), and $150 improves things to a 3200+ (2 GHz); both of which quadruples the level two cache to 1 MB.

Nvidia must be doubly pleased that it not only secured the discrete graphics design wins for these Athlon 64 notebooks, but it was also selected to supply its nForce 3 Go150 media and communication processor (MCP) as well. See here.

North American customers who buy one of these notebooks will also receive a games bundle offer from Nvidia and Electronic Arts. For $14.99 or 19.99, these buyers can choose two or three of some of Electronics Art's hottest games. These include Nascar Thunder 2K4, Madden 2K4, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2K4, Command and Conquer - Generals, and Battlefield 1942. See here.

HP now follows eMachines, which launched its Athlon 64 notebook models last January. Competition between the volume players should help to sharpen pricing, which will please those who are looking to buy one of these notebooks.

With wider availability of high performance Athlon 64 notebooks, comparative reviews that are sure to follow will make for interesting reading. µ

See Also
Emachines intros Athlon 64 54G notebooks

L'INQs
HP Athlon 64 notebooks
eMachines Athlon 64 notebooks