New computer for college, looking at compatibility...

[CalcProgrammer1]

Well, I've been looking for a good laptop for college. I want something good, so I found an HP Pavilion laptop that has pretty much everything.

HP Pavilion dv9700t:

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5GHz
3GB DDR2 RAM
250GB HDD (1 drive, 1 empty bay)
17" Screen (1650x1080 or something like that)
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 Bit Edition
nVidia 8600GS (256MB I think)
TV Tuner w/ Media Remote

However, I also want to use Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP on the computer (triple boot it) because of compatibility issues with Vista. Do these components work in all 3 of these OS'es? Also, does the 8600GS fully support DX10 on Vista? How well would games (Half Life 2, Crysis [just for comparison], etc) run on this computer?

 

[KurrentEweser]

Good luck in finding all the drivers you'll need.

 

[Jorsoft]

Game performance should be fine on that PC, any gpu faster than ~8600 starts to get very expensive. I don't know about Linux support but as far as XP I seriously doubt that you'll be able to get everything running. Check out HP's driver page for the dv9700 series page and see what you can find for XP--my guess is that it's Vista only. You might be able to hack something together with drivers from other HP systems but that's usually a long shot. IF you're really wanting to use XP and Vista, not just Vista alone, you should look at a Dell. I'm not a huge fan of them but they do still offer XP as an OS choice on their machines so you would have much better luck there. Check out the Vostro line--it's been received very well.

 

[fred333]

I have found Dells to be the best bang for your buck.

 

[krazyq]

whats your budget? and do you really want to carry a 17" everywhere with you?

 

[Jorsoft]

and do you really want to carry a 17" everywhere with you?

That's a good point because those 17" lappies are very large and they can get quite heavy lugging them around with you plus the power brick. Plus battery life maxes out at around 2 hours so not great for portability. As I've found, even a 15.4" can be too much so I picked up a 12.1" Toshiba 2nd hand I love it. No good for gaming but it weighs only around 2.5 lb and I can 5-6 hours of battery life with my extended battery. I can carry it in my pack all day and w/out my brick and I don't even notice it.

 

[krazyq]

my bro just got a 15" and he wishes he went for the 14"....

 

[veedubfreak]

The boss just ordered a 17" laptop and its HUGE. Beautiful machine though. But ya, a smaller laptop with a port replicator and 20" monitor and full size keyboard is probably a better option. Battery life on the big laps are pretty bad. My acer 15.3 is pretty big to lug around and the battery life is pretty craptacular, but i only paid 350 for it so i cant really complain.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Well, the computer I have now is a 15.4" IBM Thinkpad A21p, it's big and heavy (it was a ~2000 Desktop Replacement Laptop, Pentium 3 850MHz) and I don't have any problems with it, so I figure a bit bigger one wouldn't be that bad (if I get a bag or backpack obviously, don't have one for my current laptop).

I have a $2000 budget and am hoping for a 17" screen and good graphics. I looked at Dell and all I could find 17" was $2300 base price. With the HP I can get the PC and a flat screen monitor (20" LCD widescreen) for my other computer/XBOX 360 for under $2000.

I'm pretty sure finding XP drivers won't be an issue, the dv9000 series originally came with XP MCE or XP Pro, then they came out with Vista. If the dv9700 uses the same audio/network/USB/etc chipsets then drivers shouldn't be an issue (8600 drivers probably come from nVidia). As for Linux drivers, nVidia seems to be well supported already, the only issue may be the wireless chipset.

 

[krazyq]

i would wait...
hp always comes with deals with like $500 off when you spend 1499... and they pretty much have everything...
ill keep a look and post back when i find something.
how bad and fast do you need this...

and ive seen 17" laptops....and theyre huuge...so take a look at one first at a store...