Crazy deal at OD: Compaq R3000Z w/ AthlonXP 3000+ for $899 (after $230 MIR)

[passivex]

This is about the same deal as last week's R3000T Celeron for $599 deal but (for $300 more) it is a whole lot better. I'm glad Dell cancelled my order for the 600m (which caused me so much grief and anger)

Link to deal on OD's 6-20 circular

Specs:
Model R3000Z | Configuration Code 03018981
? AMD Athlon(TM) XP-M 3000+ 1.60 GHz (upgrade to 3000+ 1.80 GHz +$74, to 2Ghz 3200+ $120)
? 15.4" WXGA (1280x800)
? 32MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 4 440 Go (upgrade to 64MB +1394 & 5-in-1 +$44)
? 256MB DDR SDRAM memory (upgrade to 256x2 $61, 512x1 $83)
? 40GB hard drive (upgrade to 60GB 4200rpm $44)
? 2x DVD+RW/R & CD-RW combo drive (upgrade to 4X DVD+RW $31 or downgrade to CDRW/DVD -$115)
? Windows® XP Pro (downgrade to XP home -$49)
? 54g wireless LAN (does not make sense to upgrade or downgrade)
? 8-cell lithium ion battery (upgrade to 12-cell +$25)


Holy smokes! This deal is so freakin hot! Especially considering the fact that you can drop down to a CDRW/DVD combo drive to save an additional $115! (making the price after MIR $785)

I will be first in line at my local Office Depot store to get this laptop. This deal is so hot I'll buy another laptop even after I already jumped on the Celeron for $599 deal (have needs for multiple laptop purchases).

My configuration will be:
? AMD Athlon(TM) XP-M 3000+ 1.60 GHz
? 15.4" WXGA (1280x800)
? 32MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 4 440 Go (upgraded to 64MB +1394 & 5-in-1 +$44)
? 256MB DDR SDRAM memory (upgraded to 256x2 $61)
? 40GB hard drive (upgrade to 60GB 4200rpm $44)
? 2x DVD+RW/R & CD-RW combo drive (downgraded to CDRW/DVD -$115)
? Windows® XP Pro (downgraded to XP home -$49)
? 54g wireless LAN
? 8-cell lithium ion battery (upgraded to 12-cell +$25)

Price:
1129.99 Starting price
- 30.00 HP Mail-In Rebate
- 200.00 Office Depot Mail-In Rebate
+ 44 Video card upgrade
+ 61 Memory upgrade
+ 44 HD upgrade
- 115 Optical drive downgrade
- 49 OS downgrade
+ 25 Battery upgrade
-----------------------------------------------
$909.99 Price before tax and S&H
+ 49 S&H
+ 70.52 tax in my area
-----------------------------------------------
$1029 (total price after everything)

Of course you can choose to skip the video card upgrade (which I might but that built-in FireWire+media reader is too tempting), the HD upgrade, the memory upgrade, or even the battery upgrade (not recommended) and bring your total (after everything) to $855 (OMFG! that is so hot for this config with a CDRW/DVD drive).

:shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

 

[ScrapSilicon]

:thumbsup::wine:

 

[OS]

can you strip down the laptop and still get the rebates?

 

[Steve0]

Review

 

[passivex]

That was more of a technology overview.

Here's a pretty good review of the laptop.

 

[Vette73]

I would get the vidoe card upgarde, from the 420 32 to the 440 64. Much faster and you also get Firewire and a 5in1 reader for your trouble.

 

[Sluggo]

Dont forget your OD advantage card to get a few bucks back (1% on computers I think). Also remember that quite a few OD stores will honor Staples & OM coupons to save a couple more bucks.

 

[dumbsioux]

Personally I would skip that mem upgrade and just get 256 and then buy another 256 from ebay or something for like 20

 

[passivex]

Yeah I was going to skip the memory upgrade but at $65, the factory installed (same brand, same type) 256MB upgrade isn't so bad. A 512MB SODIMM stick goes for around $80 already, and 256MB SODIMMs are around $35. An addtional 256MB at OD is only $65 vs. up to a $100 elsewhere (for CTO systems) so I guess it's okay.

BTW: I got 2 of these systems. I upgraded the HD on one to 60GB but went for a basic DVD drive (already has a DVD burner on my desktop). The other system got a CDRW/DVD drive and a 40GB HD (for my cousin who intends to replace his desktop).

Both systems come out to about $1170 after everything and before $200 MIR from OD and $100 MIR from Compaq (there is one that applies to this deal but you can't use the $30 MIR because both requires original UPC). That brings the final price for each laptop to approx. $850 (less than $800 before tax + S&H). Not bad for Athlon XP-M 3000+, 512MB DDR, Geforce 4 440 Go w/64MB, USB 2.0, Firewire + >40GB HD laptops.

Now, if only I could return the (now crappy) Celeron-based R3000T from last week without losing the $45 S&H fee...

 

[johneetrash]

damn i want a laptop but i dont have that much money saved up yet good deal

 

[RaNDoMMAI]

is this laptop loud?

my friend has a HP one and it is uber loud and then when he plays games on the bed or chair, it shuts off because the vents are blocked and the labtop gets to hot.

~RaNDoM

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: RaNDoMMAI
is this laptop loud?

my friend has a HP one and it is uber loud and then when he plays games on the bed or chair, it shuts off because the vents are blocked and the labtop gets to hot.

~RaNDoM

If you block the vents on ANY laptop if will turn off, so that is not a HP problem but a user problem.

As for fan noise that is based on the temps of the CPU. So when playing games in a warm room the fan will louder. BUT the Athlon64 chip will lowwer itself to 800mhz when you are not doin ganything thast really needs it to stay cool and the fan will run very little when that happens.

 

[manno]

Originally posted by: RaNDoMMAI
is this laptop loud?

my friend has a HP one and it is uber loud and then when he plays games on the bed or chair, it shuts off because the vents are blocked and the labtop gets to hot.

~RaNDoM

probably not it's based off of the atlon 64 (more info) I have a notebook with a full fleged athlon 64 (3000+)and it runs very cool (it clocks down to 800 mhz when it's not under load) Plays DVD's liquid smooth at that speed, the fan does comes on during gaming, but I don't notice it. Most importantly even during gaming it remains so cool that I can use it on my lap unlike my old "Pentium 4 M" 1.6 ghz it would get super hot while gaming like 140 dgrees hot! The mobile athlon stays, at about body temp, maybe a little more, but not enough for me to notice.

Edit: This is a very hot deal. Great post

 

[ScrapSilicon]

bump

 

[TJ22]

Bump for a deal soon to be dead.

 

[imported_earthslash]

bump... looks good

 

[passivex]

There is an in-store only $15 off $75 coupon (valid until Saturday) as well as a 5% off coupon.

Wish I found out about the 5% off coupon when I made my purchases. Oh well...it's a good enough deal.