Power Touch Learning System

I have this laptop my boyfriend left behind - he bought a new one. It is about 2 years. I'm trying to decide if it is a keeper, or should I upgrade in any area, or buy a new one and sell it. I know a little about computers, but I am still learning. I like the fact that it is XP and not Vista - I know I'll have to upgrade to Vista at some point. I think its set up for video editing?

Also, I think "partitioned" the hard drive into two 80GB hard drives separately for some reaon. Have to be done? And is it possible to "undo" it and make a 160GB hard drive for?

I appreciate all your comments and give points for best answer!

HP PAVILION DV8000
Product Name dv8040us

Microprocessor 2.2 GHz Mobile AMD Turion a„c 64 ML-40 with PowerNow! a„c Technology
Microprocessor Cache 1 MB L2 cache
Memory 1024MB 333MHz DDR System Memory (2 Dimm)
2048 Max Memory
Graphics ATI Radeon ® Xpress 200M IGP
Video Memory 128MB DDR (dedicated)
Hard Drive 160GB (5400 rpm) hard drive (HDD 80GB Dual x 2)
Floppy Drive External USB Floppy Drive available for customers via hpshopping.com or local retailers
Multimedia Drive LightScribe 8X DVD ± RW and CD-RW Combo Drive with double layer media with a CD-R discs
Display 17.0 "WXGA + BrightView Widescreen HD (1440 x 900)
Fax / Modem High speed 56K modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Base-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45)
Wireless Connectivity 54g a„c 802.11b / g WLAN with support 125HSM/SpeedBooster
Its Altec Lansing
Keyboard Notebook keyboard with scroll bar and integrated numeric keypad, 2 Quick Launch Buttons, Calculator Launch Button
Pointing device Touch Pad with dedicated vertical scroll up / down, and HP QuickPlay Music and DVD buttons
PC Card Slots 1 ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
1 Type I / II card bus 32-bit (also support 16-bit)

External Ports 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
1 headphone with SPDIF digital audio
1 microphone
1 VGA (15 pin)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
1 Expansion Port 2, 1 IEEE 1394 Firewire (4-pin)
An infrared port (Remote Receiver)

Dimensions 11.1 "(W) x 15.62" (W) x 1.48 "(min) / 1.82" (max) (H)
Weight 8.1 pounds
Security Kensington ® MicroSaver lock slot
Power-password
Accepts third party devices security locks

65W AC Adapter
8-cell Lithium-Ion (65Whr)

Microsoft ® ® Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2 +

Whether it's "dated" or not should not be your decision-making factors. More important things should decide this: Are there any bugs on it (does it randomly shut down?) Is it too slow? The memory storage big enough for you? The discharge of the battery very fast? Is it too heavy to carry? These are the questions that indicate whether you need a new laptop or not.

Regarding the hard drive, the reason to divide it into smaller parts is to protect your equipment. If you divide the drive into multiple parts, if a party has a bug and it crashes, you lose all your orders, only the commands in this section.

Finally, about Vista ... if you do not ever get Vista, you do not. Some stores will replace Vista with XP for free to the store where you buy the computer, others may charge for it (but in my opinion the extra money well spent).