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"Except for.... a 10 AND HP delivered early by 5 days and delivery from China took only 2 days" on by srplus
Pros: Custom Configuration ordering is nice: 2 gigs RAM; 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo w/ 4 MB onboard cache; 100 gig - 7200 RPM HD; webcam
Cons: HP should have 1 gig RAM option with a single 1 gig chip instead of only 2 - 512 chips (has two slots), that DARN undersized right side Shift Key is ANNOYING!
Summary: Overall this is a fabulous machine that does have its slight shortcomings.
To me the most annoying and worst is that half sized right hand side Shift Key... I might even start typing all caps that are on the left side of the QWERTY keyboard in lower case. This was just a bad decision on the design engineers' part. The second is: I think the catch mechanism for holding the top closed with the two metal catches that stick out of the top of the screen panel are a bit cheesy and not up to par for a machine of this quality. Another shortcoming (in my mind) is the standard QWERTY keyboard has key locations that are different from my last notebook (a 17" Toshiba) that also cause me to hit the wrong keys (ctrl) when I want to insert or delete - I'm sure I will get used to these eventually. With the setup of the keyboard you have to move your right hand from the home keys to use the delete or insert/scroll keys at the top right of the keyboard next to the function keys. With my typing skills the delete key is one of my most critical keys and this is a nuisance. Lastly, try out the keyboard prior to purchase… it is just a ‘bit’ too tactile for me.
I paid extra for the system disks and fully expected to get an actual WinDoze XP system disk and a separate driver’s disk. Instead I got a set of 'system recovery' diskettes that have all the bloatware that comes on the machine and will reinstall the OS with all that extra garbage. A separate call to HP and additional money is required to get the true OS system disk that I expected to come with the machine.
HP SHOULD offer the configuration option of a single one gig RAM chip (or even a single 2 gig) instead of forcing you to either configure with 2 – 256 chips, 2 – 512 chips or 2 – 1 gig chips. Maximum RAM for a machine of this caliber should be 4 gigs (instead of 2 with Vista – the memory hog – on the horizon) since 2 gig chips are available.
Even if the additional recovery disk is ordered HP partitions the hard drive and places the recovery files on the partition. On my 100 gig HD it occupied almost 14% of the total capacity of the drive. There is an option to delete this partition and keep the configuration that you have spent some time getting to with directions on how to do that in the support literature. There is not too much ‘bloatware’ but it would be better in my mind to send this crap on DVD’s. I have absolutely no use for AOL, Internet connectivity solutions and promos, MS Office free 30 day trail versions or MS Works and resent having to uninstall this junk. When they take the order for the configuration of the machine, HP could also configure the setup of the software at the same time OR they could ship on DVD’s and eliminate the problem. The WinDoze media center OS had 52 security patches that had to be loaded (including the Validation BS) after receiving my brand new machine – God forbid if I had dial up!
I thought that I got some kind of free skin option when I placed the order but I guess that extra had expired because I can find no evidence that it ever existed (must have been Dell offering that option). This would help because the glossy finish of the exterior is a fingerprint magnet. I took the original static vinyl that came on the top and 're-installed' it to keep from seeing the top covered with fingerprints all the time.
Final shortcoming (for me) is the screen itself. It is very pretty and glossy... I much prefer a matte finish for the surface of the screen in the majority of my ambient lighting situations. Back lighting (behind me) can be distracting when the glow of the fluorescent lamps can be seen on the screen.
Now that is the end of my complaining.
I would re-rate this machine down to an 8.8 if that option was available. It is far closer to my 'ideal' laptop then any I have previously owned. I opted for the 100 gig 7200 RPM HD and am truly glad that I did. I had returned an 8000 to HP because of dual RAID HD problems early this year... if you order one of these, the faster hard drive is well worth it since it is so easy (and cheap) to get USB large capacity portable HD's to store all the junk you don't need to be defragging all the time. The hard drive feels at least twice as fast as the 4800 RPM HD's I previously used.
The DV9000t is a joy to use and very attractive. It is faster than my old tower which is being retired. It is not so heavy that I can not tote it in my 17” notebook carry case. The switch to turn off (or on) the touch pad is a joy and will eliminate the pain of reconfiguring in Control Panel if you want to use a mouse. The number keypad is an asset for what I do… if it is not something that you need the smaller 15” machine is also out there. I opted for the 256 MB video card since I am not a big gamer and it will do everything that I need to do on this machine. I have had it almost a week and have almost everything loaded that I need to use and everything is working nicely. It took some time getting to that but I think that it was worth the effort. The machine is definitely worth the price if you want a 17” capable laptop. HP delivered machine almost a week before promised… now if they can teach this kind of attention to their design engineers they will really need another CEO, again.
Let me change my mind again and give it a 9.2. -
"This is what a computer should be." on by DMBFan41
Pros: Options, performance, pricing protection, functionality.
Cons: Touchpad is a little narrow, undersized right shift button, fingerprint-magnet top.
Summary: First, my configuration:
Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T5600 (1.83 GHz)
17.0" WXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1440x900)
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600
HP IMPRINT Finish + Microphone
1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB)
100 GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
High Capacity 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
System Recovery DVD w/Windows XP Media Center
Let me go ahead and preface this by saying that I originally ordered a Dell Inspiron E1705 with a nearly identical set up (the Dell had the Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo, and an 80 gig drive) and for almost exactly the same price. The Dell crashed four times the first night - in addition to horrible light leak on the screen - so the day after I received it, I ordered the HP and sent the Dell back. I placed the HP order on 10.13, with an estimated built-by date of 10.23. The unit shipped on 10.24, and was here by 10.26. Before I even received the comp, HP had already impressed me with their pricing protection policy. The policy says that if the price of your comp goes down within 30 days of ordering it, call them for a credit. I was dubious, but about a week after I placed my order (before I received it), I re-priced my computer, and they were offering a free upgrade to XP Media Center and free upgrade to 1.0 GB memory that wasn't available when I ordered it. I called HP, and about an hour later, I had a $140 credit on my HP account, which meant that I paid under $1600 after my EPP discount and $150 instant savings (not including the $50 rebate). I'm not sure if other companies do that, but I was amazed at how easily and quickly it was to get that adjusted. Be sure that you re-price your order with the exact same build within those thirty days to see if you can get a better deal.
This thing is a just a phenomenal DTR. It's sturdy - but not heavy - beautiful (although that glossy top is frustrating), powerful, fast, and fun. My main usage is for net surfing, downloading music/movies/TV shows, and some light gaming (Civ, Final Fantasy, Magic Online), as well as some miscellaneous other stuff like downloading concerts and converting from FLAC and SHN to WAV. This thing will do it all. I love that I can transfer files to my mp3 player while downloading music and watching vids with no noticeable lag. I love the media controls, and that beeping really isn't as annoying as I expected, although I can see where it could be. The dual-headphone jacks are great since my girlfriend likes to listen to music while I'm watching TV, or when we're at our friends' house and the guys wanna watch one thing, while the girls wanna watch something else. Seriously, this thing is just exactly what you want. There a few personal preference things that I've encountered that you might want to note:
I hate the undersized right Shift key. Two weeks of using it, and I'm still trying to get used to it. Along the same lines, the touch pad is a little narrow. I frequently find myself in the scroll-bar part of the pad when playing games (although that built-in scroll bar is AWESOME). As stated, the glossy top shows fingerprints, and the protective sheet that came on it would detract so much from the sleekness of it, that I decided not to continue using it (The included cloth works great to wipe away the fingerprints). Additionally, the open button is located right in the middle, making it a little cumbersome to open. The keyboard is nicely arranged, although the placement of the Home, Delete, etc. keys take some getting used to. But the numberpad is a HUGE benefit. Only getting 80 or so usable gigs kind of irked me at first, but I bought an external hard drive to store my non-essential stuff on, so now it doesn't really bother me. There are a few programs you'll want to uninstall, but there's really not too much to worry about as far as bloatware. The speaker quality also isn't the best at louder volumes, although it is above average (I'm picky about sound, though).
Overall, if you're looking for solid desktop replacement that can handle anything you throw at it, you should seriously consider buying this one. It's high-end at a reasonable price. There's lots of room for customization, it's sleek, the screen is beautiful, and with the dual-core chip, it's wicked fast. The pricing protection policy should alleviate any buyer's remorse. What more could you want?
On a final note, I take a little issue with Cnet's review. Yeah, if you're a hardcore gamer, you're going to want to max out your comp for the best gaming experience possible. But for everyday applications, you don't need a beast of a computer. In my opinion, this computer has everything that the everyday user could want. I didn't want to end up with too much computer, but I didn't want to have to start looking for another one in the next year. I didn't need a webcam or TV tuner, but the options were there, which was cool. It's Vista-ready, it's got a dual-core processor (even though Intel just released its quad-core, dual-core still hasn't even realized its full potential), so it's viable for at least the next couple of years, and you can get it at an incredible price. I really think, when compared to computers that aren't gaming machines, the Pavilion 9000 belongs at the top of the list. -
"My configuration" on by brick53
Pros: It's ordered
Cons: The wait..................LOL
Summary: Custom configuration:
HP Pavilion dv9000t customizable Notebook PC
Genuine Windows XP Professional
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7200 (2.0 GHz)
17.0" WXGA+ Ultra BrightView Widescreen (1440x900)
512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600
HP IMPRINT Finish + Microphone + Webcam
2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)
100 GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
FREE Upgrade - LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
No TV Tuner w/remote control: (only way to get this was using XP Media Center OS, which I don't want) just my preference.
8 Cell Lithium Ion BatteryUpdated
I can now say I defenitely got what I paid for. While I was even considering shelling out the bucks for an Alien, I think prudence prevailed on this purchase decision.
Ya need a high performance PC? Can't get any better than this unless you have a driven desire to spend money...lol. I will say one thing if you do spend more for another more expensive system I'm not gonna be eatin much (if any) dust....LOLUpdated
The beep you keep referring to can easily be turned off in the media settings.Updated
The media controls audible feedback can be turned off in settings or disable system speaker. -
"One of the best I've used" on by tjohn913
Pros: The configuration choices, Performance, Looks, Speakers, LCD Screen viewability, Quickplay, HP Recovery.
Cons: HP Customer Support, Configuration limited to 2.0 GHz processor, Quickplay buttons can be activated too easily, LCD Screen a little flimsy, Connecting to TV through s-Video, No PCMCIA slot
Summary: My Configuration (How I bought it):
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz with 4MB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048 MB DDR2
Hard Drives: 160GB 5400RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (80GB x 2)
Video: 512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600
LCD Screen Option: 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050)
Operating System: XP Media Center
HP Imprint Finish/Microphone/Webcam
CD/DVD Drive: LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
Networking: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
Primary Battery: High Capacity 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
System Recovery DVD w/Windows XP Home Edition
3-year HP Express Repair extended service plan.
Before I get started on the review, it might be nice for you to know who's writing it. I've been around computers for a long time. From using an ADM 3A terminal for remote mainframe access or BBS', an Apple ][, early IBM and Compaq machines, etc. Things have changed quite a bit since i first started. Today, I manage technical support for a regional company in the area I live. Now that you know this, you'll understand that there is a slight possibility that my review below was done with someone who has some experience in the industry.
What I was looking for in a laptop when I purchased it: A machine that would allow me to edit both digital movies and pictures without system delays. Fast internet (pipe to the house is important, but the machine must be able to process it). Ability to write dual layer DVDs. Something that had the Intel Core 2 duo (Intel came to our office. When I saw what the 2 duo could do, I wanted it....badly), lots of RAM, an nVidia or better video card with onboard RAM. Good port selection with a multi-card reader included. Integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Something that could handle the next version of
Windows - Vista (for longevity).
On to the review:
The laptop specs can be found here by selecting the specs tab: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Usage&v1=Entertainment&series_name=dv9000t_series
I've had the laptop since October 2006. When I took the laptop out of the box, I was impressed with the look and feel. It seemed to be a step ahead of the competition. It was very nice that HP provides a cloth to clean the lid to the laptop since it easily attracts fingerprints. I was surprised to see that the "extended" battery I bought fit without protruding. Nothing on the battery said it was a high capacity 8 cell battery.
I decided to test HP's customer support (both sales and technical). That was a nightmare. Since this isn't a tech support review, I'll limit my experience to this: Unfortunately, sales didn't know the options offered with this laptop and actually pointed me in the direction of an extended battery for an IPAQ handheld. Technical support was MUCH worse. The phone support was answered by someone in India that didn't understand me. I was on the phone (talking or on hold - mostly hold) for about 2 hours NEVER getting to a supervisor or manager that I requested. Online chat technical support was better, but they still couldn't answer my question. I looked up the replacement part number for the battery and compared that to the web site's "help me decide" option to find that I had the correct battery. In a nutshell, I cannot recommend an HP product to someone that is likely to need basic technical support. If you don't have at least an intermediate grasp of laptop hardware and the Windows XP operating system, I'd look for a company that may have better technical support.
Power up options: There are two. The Quickplay option lets you bypass the operating system and starts HP's own interface to use the laptop as a DVD / multimedia player (photos & music). The other option is, naturally, a regular operating system boot up. Quickplay is started by using one of the keys at the top of the keyboard. You can select the main quickplay or DVD play options with the power to the laptop off. They start REAL fast and allow you to use the laptop more like a DVD player than having to go through the operating system. However, with the speed that the desktop is presented to you on this laptop, quickplay isn't as much a necessity as it would be otherwise.
Screen: I would have liked to check out the various options HP has available prior to ordering, but I bought it at a time when it wasn't out in the stores in my area and I'm not sure they would have had three different models out anyway. However, I've always believed that stats tell a story and more resolution is better than less, so I went with the middle option available. I'm really impressed with the display. It's my first 17" widescreen and I like the space. It provides the flexibility to see more open applications than otherwise. Plus, watching movies in widescreen format is what I prefer (Having a home theater it's what I'm used to).
- Resolution - very nice, though at full resolution, i find that I need to use large fonts to read the text on the screen.
- brightness - can be blinding at times unlike other laptops I have used in the past. This is very nice to have. It is usable outside in sunlight.
- colors - Brilliant. The next screen option up says that the colors are better but I cannot confirm that and the resolution is lower.
Video card: the integrated nVidia card is nice. I've been impressed with nVidia technology over the years and am happy with the options available through it on this laptop. The one issue I have discovered thus far is failure of an ability to hook up the s-video out to my s-video in on my 42" HDTV. Why would I want to do that? I was an early adopter and don't have HDMI in. The problem with the s-video is it's sending a resolution higher than my TV can handle when trying to use the laptop screen in dual (independent) monitor view. I'll continue to work on it.
Disk Drives: I wasn't sure what to expect with the two drive option. It seemed like the configuration would be one physical drive letter per hard drive. For the most part, that is what I got. One relatively small partition (roughly 11 GB) is used for HP recovery on one of the physical drives. The other option that would have been nice for some to have would be RAID 1, or mirroring. In case one drive failed, the other would take over. I do like the setup the way it came from the factory. If my C: drive gets too messed up, I won't lose my data since it's all on the D: (yes, I back that up periodically). At the time, HP only had one option for 7200 RPM drives, but I wanted more than 100GB. The faster hard drive speed would have helped make the laptop faster for video transfer and other things as well.
Keyboard: One day, laptops may be able to provide an ergonomic keyboard option, but for now, it's real nice to have a number pad to the right like my desktop and I like the way it "feels" when typing. Due to lack of space laptops have, even in wide-screen format, it makes it difficult to provide everything that HP tried to do with this laptop. All the keys of a full size keyboard are available. I'm getting used to it, but the key placement for auxiliary keys (home, end, page up, page down, delete, & backspace keys) was different than what I'm used to. They are half height keys, like the "f" keys.
PCMCIA slot: It doesn't have one. Instead, it has an ExpressCard which is the next generation. From what I've read, the ExpressCard format is much faster which allows for smoother video, data transfers, etc. However, there are so many more PCMCIA products out there that not having one when they introduce the ExpressCard is a mistake in my opinion. The good news about this, though, is as ExpressCard options become more widely available, you'll be ahead of the game and enjoy a much faster interface.
Speakers & Sound: There is only so much you can do with a laptop and sound. The box just isn't the best platform to have high fidelity sound. The
Altec lansing speakers do an acceptable job and are better than what I've seen on a lot of laptops over the years. There are two headphone jacks, which is nice if you want to watch a movie or pre-recorded TV with a friend. One of the Jacks has SPDif capability which is nice. But to be consumer friendly, they really should have included a more common digital interface like coaxial and optical outputs. I used a Bluetooth stereo headset which turned out to work very nicely while watching movies.
Battery Life: I have the high capacity 8 cell option. Around the house, it works fine. Seems to last between 2 - 3 1/2 hours depending on what I'm doing with it. Most of the time I have wi-fi on which uses a lot of power. If you travel a lot and don't have A/C plugs nearby, get the second 8 cell high capacity option.
Heat: This laptop tends to run very cool. It will get a little warm if the processor is constantly pegged at 100% (which has been rare in my experience and has only happened when cutting a DVD movie or running SETI). When the fan runs, you hardly notice it. It’s the quietest fan I’ve seen in a laptop yet.
Extended Warranty: You'll note that I did buy one of the 3 year warranties with the laptop. No matter what Consumer Reports says, I believe having a 3 year warranty on a laptop is well worth the money. They are prone to problems due to their small form factor and portability. We have a lot of laptops in our company and we find that we use the 3 year warranty that business laptops come with a lot.
Overall impressions: Awesome. I'm very happy with this laptop. Modifying photos is so much faster than on my previous laptop (Presario 2100) and is a joy to do now. Working with video from my digital video camera and making DVDs from it works well. I didn't get the TV ExpressCard option for a couple of reasons. I wasn't sure how I would like to watch DVDs or TV on this device. The other reason was its only analog, not digital, so it won't record HDTV from what I can tell. Turns out that I do like watching video on the laptop and could use the TV record functionality. So an ExpressCard TV tuner may be in my future. The games I like to play on computers tend to be flight simulators. They work like a champ without hesitation. It also has all the interfaces I need now and will need in the future. When I ran the Microsoft Vista check on the hardware, it advised that I could use all functionality. So, this is a really good buy for today and should last a few years down the road.
I highly recommend the highest processor option (the Intel T7200 board has 4 MB L2 cache vs 2 MB which helps with overall speed) and highest RAM option available. You may not need the 512 MB dedicated video option, but Vista can be a video RAM hog and it helps to have as much as possible. If money is an issue, this is where I’d make the cut. -
"The greatest laptop on the market!" on
Pros: Custom Configuration with HD options, as well as the all new Core 2 Duo.
Cons: Not being able to have a 1 gig card instead of two 512mb.
Summary: Well, I own this computer and was extremely excited when I first ordered it from HP. Yes there are many negative qualities on this Notebook, but the dv9000t re-compensates in other areas for supreme quality.
The negative characteristics of this HP notebook would include the noisy media controls, the bad device used to keep the notebook lid shut, the lid's cover which gets every fingerprint, and the annoying parts of the keyboard. However, though the media controls make noise, it is not loud! It is a quiet beep, and I love the media controls because they have such a sensitive touch. In my laptop, I customized it with the built in webcam/mic, the 7200rpm hard drive, the ultra bright view widescreen, and a 2ghz core 2 duo. These are the major reasons I love this notebook, sure other companies have the same features, but HP is SO MUCH more cheaper than them. When my computer starts up, I sign in, and within seconds my system is fully booted.
Refuting against some of the other negative things I said, the keyboard.... I really like it. It is so easy to type, though the keys are a little different than other keyboards, once you get use to it you find yourself typing faster.
Now back to the messy lid, with the fingerprints. Though it does this, the reason is for durability. This is the same quality used in cell phones, and HP is the first company to put it to use in laptops. Not only that, this laptop has the greatest design and appearance which make it look by far the most stylish laptop of all currently on the market.
The built in blue tooth wireless features allow you to connect to the internet if your phone has blue tooth capabilities, and seeing as to how nowadays you get free nights and weekends on most cell phone services, if you're traveling, this is an amazing feature.
A couple other things I like about this laptop, is the feature of disabling your mouse, and network card with the touch of a button. The reason I like this is, if, for example, you are using a separate mouse, when you are typing, your hands won't mess up the touch pad mouse. Also, about the wireless network card, I like this feature because turning a wireless card off saves a lot of battery power, and if you don't need internet/network access, you can do your work without having to worry about the battery power dying.
Some other hardware feature I love are the nVidia graphics card I chose, and the Altec Lansing speakers. They are amazing!
In conclusion, HP supports some of the greatest laptops. There will never be a 100% laptop where you can't find a single negative thing on it so be reasonable. This laptops flaws are minimal, and as I said before other features re-compensate for this. So if you are interested in the HP dv9000t don't hesitate!
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