Hot Deal? Compaq Duron Laptop at Best Buy for $850

[the_man]

From the Thanksgiving ad (last page):
Best Buy Exclusive Notebook Computer with DVD Rom Drive
AMD Mobile Duron processor 900Mhz notebook with 14.1" VGA TFT Display
128MB SDRAM
10 GB Hard Drive
10/100 Network Card
JBL Pro Audio Speakers
High Capacity Lilon battery
Weighs just 6.39 lbs. and is only 1.64" thin
$999.99 - $150 mail in rebate = $849.99

This seems like a good deal, but I don't have any experience with how Duron's hold up in a laptop.

What do you think?
- the man

 

[apoppin]

Just from what I have read here, the Durons are very hard on battery life.

Is it separate video or shared memory?

 

[cleek]

I think this price is after $250 in rebates + $200 for signing up with MSN

 

[Vette73]

This is the mobile Duron, not a desktop. Very good battery life and a lot stronger than a Celeron

 

[jlee75]

i think this is a really good deal. but it's a compaq. i'm not sure how their laptops are.

[edit]
the mobile duron steps down when using battery. from 900 Mhz, it'll step down to around 525Mhz. i was playing around with the sony duron laptop (which my f-ing sister just bought!!!) and it did this. but you could always disable the "PowerNow" technology. similar to intel's speed step technology. but I like the sony better because you could always slap on an extra battery larger screen (15") more HD space.

I was trying to decide whether the HP or Sony was a better deal. The sony had the bigger screen.

 

[the_man]

Apoppin,
According to the compaq wed site, this is a Presario 700 Series laptop,
with "4 x AGP with VIA ProSavage KN1334 Graphics" for the video.
Would that mean seperate or shared?

And this is a 'mobile Duron' whatever that means.....

Cleek,
I have the Best Buy ad right in front of me.
It says that it's a $150 mail-in rebate.
It says: "$150 total savings: $999.99 - $150 rebate = $849.99"
It says nothing about a MSN mail-in rebate.
Look at the ad.

I tried going to Compaq and making the same computer with the same stuff, and it comes out to $1150 (plus $50 compaq rebate and free shipping)
I'm going to, at least, look at it again on Friday during the sale...
- The Man

 

[apoppin]

A mobile Duron would be best.

In other laptop threads, some members were saying the drivers didn't take advantage of the Duron's technology and the batteries wore down very quickly. I think it was in the thread on the Toshiba notebook. I am just repeating their (possible mis-)information you might want to do a search - I am getting ready for Turkey right now.

If it mentions a graphics card, it means it is not shared (better). However, I have no experience with the Savage chipset (How many MB?) although you stand a better chance with 3-D games than with shared graphics.

 

[the_man]

Anybody have any ideas?

 

[d0ofy]

I was thinking about this laptop too. It appears that this model is exclusive to Best Buy. I can't find any information on it anywhere.

 

[BlackCatt]

This laptop isn't on their website right now. At least I can't find it. If it appears on their website, do you think you could use the .NET Passport $100 back to get the price down to $750? BestBuy is listed on the eshop site for passport.

Just an idea.

BlackCatt

 

[the_man]

And there is one at Comp-usa for $100 more but with 128 MB more memory and a 20 GB harddrive instead of the 10 GB HD.
linky
Hmm... hard decision...
- The Man