HP Pavilion DV9000 Review

With the HD-friendly Pavilion dv9000t, HP shows that it continues to take entertainment seriously when designing its laptops. The latest iteration of the desktop replacement incorporates a bevy of high-end components, such as a Core 2 Duo processor, discrete Nvidia graphics, and a built-in HD-DVD drive, into its lightweight case. Add in the dv9000t's sleek design, with its echoes of consumer electronics devices, and you have a system that will look as good in the living room as on the desktop. While the new processor didn't add up to the greatest performance we've seen (that distinction belongs to more gaming-oriented systems, such as the Dell XPS M1710), the HP Pavilion dv9000 battery is a great choice for home users who want their laptop to double as an entertainment system.

HP Pavilion DV9000 Notebook Full Specs:

• Screen: 17" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Brightview standard. Optional WXGA+ Ultra Brightview or WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) Brightview display.
• Processor: Available with Mobile AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 discrete graphics with 256MB dedicated DDR2 VRAM
• Card Reader: 5-in-1 digital media card reader
• Four USB 2.0 ports
• ExpressCard 54 slot
• Wireless: Integrated wireless support for 802.11 a/b/g Wireless LAN and Bluetooth on select models
• Dual hard disk drive option with combined capacity up to 240GB
• 8-cell Li-Ion battery
• Weight: Starting as low as 7.8 lbs
• Speakers: Integrated Altec Lansing stereo speakers
• OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2 or Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2. Optional configuration with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
• Dual stereo headphone jacks -- one with high-definition audio support (S/PDIF capable)
• Optional HP webcam with integrated dual stereo microphones.

We decided to pit the ibm thinkpad r40 battery against the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV660, the successor to the Qosmio G35-AV650, the world's first notebook with an integrated HD-DVD drive, by booting up the hi-def version of The Bourne Supremacy. On the dv9000t, the movie looked incrementally better than a standard-definition DVD, but on the G35-AV660, the colors were much more vibrant, and the images were notably sharper. That's because the Qosmio sports a 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution LCD, compared with our dv9000t's 1440 x 900-pixel screen. Spending an extra $50 will get you a more HD-friendly 1680 x 1050 pixels, but HP doesn't offer an 1920 x 1200-pixel option. On the plus side, we like that you can play HD DVDs on the dv9000t using QuickPlay.

  

We then output the visuals from both notebooks to the HP LC3260N--a 32-inch television--via an HDMI cable. We were less than thrilled with the dv9000t's visuals. The colors and crispness were still ho-hum, even though we were watching the movie on a much larger screen. Although the G35-AV660 didn't display images on the big screen with as much pop as it did on its own monitor, The Bourne Supremacy looked sharper and had better color balance when fed through that notebook than it did through the Toshiba PA3291U-1BRS battery.

In addition to the large storage capacity, HP has also included a full two gigabytes of memory to complement the Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor. This is double what most desktop replacements offer and allows the system to power through memory intensive applications or multitasking better than its competitors. So, if you are looking for raw performance, the dv9040us does do quite well although it isn't the top.

The new TI gauge is more accurate than today's gauges, which measure a battery's voltage, because it measures a number of electrical properties. Voltage-only-based gauges are erratic and unreliable because voltage doesn't fall steadily as the battery is discharged. What's more, the voltage changes as the battery ages and experiences different temperatures. It also varies with different power demands on the battery.

17" notebook PCs aren't known for their ability to leave AC outlets for long. The battery for hp pavilion dv9000 laptop surprised us by going 2 hours and 44 minutes on a charge using the default power management settings with WiFi on and active. This was in a mix of web surfing and business oriented tasks. Don't expect to play Doom III for that long unplugged! We like the brightness set at 75% to 85% and happily battery life didn't take a complete nose dive with the large panel set that high: it reduced runtimes to 2 hours and 27 minutes. An 8 cell Lithium Ion battery is standard and HP also offers an extended 8 cell high capacity battery for those who roam with their 8 pound buddy in tow. The 90w AC adapter is light and compact, and it's one of the few that still uses 3 prongs. It's a world charger that supports 100-240v at 50-60Hz.

Vista "Windows Experience Index" rating of 4.5/4.6 depending on run. Very powerful graphics card for a dell inspiron 1525 battery. Ignore what the other guy said about boot times in Vista - yes it sucks - but if you actually heed Microsoft's advice and use hibernate instead, which is intended with Vista, boot from switched off is approximately 30 secs and FAR faster (this is slightly tuned without unneeded startup/service/sidebar rubbish). Memory is adequate, but you may be better off getting 2GB instead (replacing both 512MBs inside with 1GBs).

Note the one of the biggest battery drains in Vista on a laptop is the background indexing service - this increases hard disk usage - disable it in the services.

The Core 2 Duo T7300 processor 2Ghz and 2GB of RAM (up to 4GB) can handle all from standard application to hardcore multitasking. In the top of the display there's a webcam VGA resolution which deliver clear skype video call even in low light environment. The NVIDIA 8600MB GS graphic card with 256 MB memory give dell inspiron 6400 battery a wonderful game experience. The notebook price at $2,074 and available on the market.