How are is the HP line of laptops?

[Powerstroke2000]

Not having to worry about weight issues, my choice so far is the HP DV8140 Notebook.

It has these features:

• AMD Turion 64 mobile processor ml-40 with PowerNow! technology (2.2GHz)
• Windows XP Media Center
• 2048MB DDR SDRAM
• Dual 100GB hard drive (200GB)
• Double-layer DVD±R/RW and CD-RW combo drive with LightScribe
• 17" WXGA+ high-definition widescreen display (BrightView)
• ATI Radeon Xpress 200M graphics
• 54g integrated 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN, Bluetooth
• 6-in-1 digital media card reader
• Personal video recorder with remote, headphones
• ExpressCard/54 slot
• QuickPlay buttons
• One-year limited warranty

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Working in the trucking industry I would like to use this as my main means of communication, along with continuing mapping (with GPS) although I do wonder about it's hardiness, albeit it would either be on the seat, or in a cradle of some kind.

Have the AMD Turion processors found to be as good a quality as I've been lead to believe?

Would I be better of sticking to an Intel type of processor, or would the Turion be a better choice?

Thanks..

Powerstroke2000

[ktkendall]

I have a little bit of exposure to HP laptops through my company, and I would not buy one for personal use.. They just gave me a new Dell laptop, and I'm quite pleased with it.. If your really concerned with something that needs to be a bit more rugged than the average laptop, Panasonic makes a line of laptops called toughbook. They may cost a little more but they are built quite tough. Before we got handheld wireless devices, and our laptops were for everything that we do out in the field, we had Panasonic toughbooks, and I've seen them in police cars and many other feild service type vehicles..

[tomster2300]

I wouldn't buy it. I have a compaq (which is either owned by HP or vice versa) and it's not durable at all. The top of the lcd panel (the plastic part at the top) has a small crack in it and I purchased the laptop new back in September. I'm not particularly rough on it either. The rubber pieces on the bottom fell off during the first month, and I'm just not especially happy with it overall. This is my second one - the first one I got had a broken keyboard, so I returned it the next day and got it replaced with this one (same exact model).

I have a three year warranty on it, so if it keeps making me angry I'm going to try and get my money back if possible. If I were to do so I would get an IBM Thinkpad - its quality is substantially better than this thing.

This compaq has a Turion processor and I don't think I could recommend one of them either. I have a standard battery and the processor eats through it in approximately 1 1/2 hours. While it is powerful, it isn't efficient at all. Now if you were to add a larger battery (which increases weight) then it wouldn't be such a problem.

Hope this helps a bit.

[thefultonhow]

If I were you and wanted a 17" laptop, I'd get either the Dell Inspiron 9300 or 9400/E1705. They're more reliable than HPs and with the 9-cell battery they have good battery life.

However, if you aren't going to keep the laptop mounted in your truck all the time -- if you plan to carry it anywhere -- I would personally get a 15.4" widescreen or a 14" wide or regular screen. I had the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 (same size as the 9300/9400) and it was pretty big. I ended up selling it to get this because it was a big pain to take the XPS anywherem ost of all through things like airport security.

Of course, if you're going to keep the laptop mounted in your truck, then neither size nor battery life would be an issue and you could just get an auto/air adaptor and plug it in all the time.

If you do decide to get a smaller laptop and are willing to shell out more money both short-term and long-term, IBM/Lenovo's Z60 and T60 series laptops are now available with high-speed data from either Verizon or Cingular. The services cost $40-$60 a month, but they're well worth it for truckers who want to stay connected. I read an article about one trucker who constantly uses the service, blogging and making podcasts on the road to keep from getting bored. And of course you can use it for email and things like Google Maps.

[KatoPC]

Lenovo has one out check it out http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2767

[ktkendall]

After the Panasonic toughbooks, we got handheld wireless devices, so the use of our laptops now is only for email and administering systems, so I guess they figured we didn't need the toughness anymore, then I used a Thinkpad for several years till just recently getting the Dell, but I really liked the Thinkpad also. It was sturdy and felt well made, and worked well and was durable also.. I've heard the Thinkpads are expensive though, but it really seems quite true especially with laptops that you do get what you pay for..

[SuperTrooper317]

Many companies make stands for the laptops. Jotto desk being the most popular. I found this guy on Ebay and have even had friends order from him. All were very pleased. http://stores.ebay.com/MOBILE-LAPTOP-MOUNT

I work for the sheriff's office and know first hand what a difference a permanent mount means to laptop longevity. Even a lower end laptop will survive longer with a stand. The toughbooks are great (many laptop manufactures have their own brand...we just got toshibas) but I personally believe it takes a lot to justify the cost. IMHO