Just when you thought it was safe to buy a computer that didn’t also function as a television, a stereo system and a washing machine, convergence has once again reared its multi-faced head. At some point over the next couple of months (depending on its launch date), we’ll be looking at what appears to be a very nice machine from Toshiba, featuring its Sony-rivalling glossy screen technology. First, though, we have this offering from HP.
Rather than utilise the super-sized chassis it made famous in the tremendous zd7000(hp pavilion zd8000 battery)range, together with its 17in widescreen display, HP has opted to use a sleeker, lighter model. This means that the screen has been reduced to a 14.1in WXGA panel. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, in keeping with the current trend, HP is attempting to push this laptop as a mobile media centre, enabling you to take your entertainment with you on long train journeys. Secondly, it’s pulled out all the stops to drag the price tag below £1,000 (inc VAT). A smaller chassis, with a lighter feature-set, generally means a lower cost.
In terms of conventional components, you’re certainly getting a lighter feature-set here. There’s no stand-alone graphics card, which means that 3D performance is extremely poor (88 in the 3DMark 2003 benchmark is extremely disappointing by modern standards). This is no games specialist, though, so HP can’t really be criticised for making sacrifices in this area.
More worrying are the compromises on multimedia performance. The lessening in monitor real estate, for example, has a drastic effect on your viewing experience while watching DVD films. How many of you would consider buying a 14in television? As a further concern, the subwoofer that added so much depth to the zd7000’s ( dell latitude d610 battery)sound has been removed. The Harmen Kardon speakers are still far superior to what you would find in most mobile PCs, but they can’t compete with the output of a modern TV.
The rest of the specifications are what you’d expect at this price. A 1.5GHz Pentium M processor is middle-of-the-road nowadays (it seems likely that HP will upgrade to 1.7GHz for its release, but this won’t have a huge effect on real-life performance). Storage prospects are brighter, thanks to a generous 80GB hard drive and a top-notch NEC DVD+/-RW drive, and you even get a 5-in-1 card reader – possibly an attempt by HP ( dell xps m1210 battery ) to push the multimedia angle. Likewise, 802.11g wireless networking is better than a kick in the teeth, but again, this is hardly a novelty at £1,000.
At this point, you’re probably wondering what makes this a ‘convergence’ notebook. Everything we’ve mentioned so far is fairly typical in a modern mobile machine. Fortunately, HP has at least attempted to step out of the crowd with its ‘QuickPlay’ system. This enables you to boot straight to a Linux-based media player, from where you can play music or films, either from disc or straight from your hard drive, without the hassle of going through Windows. You can go from pressing the power button to listening to your favourite CD within 12 seconds.
This instant-on technology is helpful, as it enables you to use your PC much like a CD player. However, it’s not as revolutionary as HP seems to think. We first saw this kind of thing in an Acer machine almost a year ago, and Asus, Hi-Grade and Toshiba all have their own versions. It’s also important to note that, even though you’re not booting the entire machine, you’re also avoiding Windows’ battery-saving features, so you don’t add anything to the battery life by using the notebook in this mode. Fortunately, at three hours and ten minutes, you’ve got enough time to watch most modern films.
When you do boot Windows, the dv1000 (hp pavilion dv1000 battery )performs just as well as any other laptop of a similar specification. Response times within menus are quick, and you’ll have no trouble running applications unless you attempt some drastic multi-tasking.
If you shop around, you’ll certainly be able to find something more powerful for the same price. True, the QuickPlay facility’s a nice touch, but if HP wants to sell this as a multimedia specialist, it needs to add a larger, higher-resolution monitor and some more powerful speakers. Then we’d be really interested.
The HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook PC Dv1000 (dell latitude x300 battery )lives up to its name. A standalone DVD player as well as a laptop, it plays movies or music CDs at the press of a button. An optional $15 remote lets you control the action from up to 10 feet away. (When you're not using it, the remote stores in the laptop's PC Card slot.) The $300 Xb2000 expansion base adds fantastic-sounding speakers. All that's missing is the popcorn.
The Dv1000 (apple powerbook g4 battery )is trendy looking, lightweight, and crammed with useful features. The Wi-Fi-ready black-and-silver unit with sloped front weighs just 6.4 pounds altogether. Our unit came with a fixed combination drive whose release button was textured so you could find it easily; you can upgrade to an 8X multiformat DVD burner for $150 more. The excellent keyboard is full of nice touches. We liked the eye-catching navigation keys, which have white tops printed with black arrows. The extra-wide touchpad sports both a vertical scroll zone and a lock to prevent the cursor from accidentally repositioning while you type--not that we needed this feature on the well-behaved Dv1000. There's even a dedicated back button for toggling through browser windows or on the Windows desktop. If you decide not to buy the remote control, it's still easy to launch and play movies or CDs using the full set of multimedia buttons above the keyboard. It's also easy to share, thanks to dual headphone jacks on the front of the case.
On the performance bench, the Dv1000 did not break records, but it did show stamina. Equipped with a 1.5-GHz/600-MHz Pentium M and 512MB of RAM, it earned a WorldBench 5 score of 64--just behind the similarly configured IBM ThinkPad R51 (ibm thinkpad t60 battery), which earned a score of 67. Processor choices for the Dv1000 top out at 1.8 GHz. In our battery tests, the Dv1000 lasted an excellent four hours.
In our multimedia tests, the Dv1000's 14-inch wide-aspect screen displayed full-screen DVD movies smoothly at its native resolution of 1280 by 768 pixels. The built-in speakers aren't bad for a laptop, but the full audio experience requires the Xb2000 expansion base that doubles as a stand, elevating the screen to eye level. The Xb2000 replicates most of the laptop's connections and adds two major features: an internal bay that accommodates a full-height 3.5-inch desktop hard drive, and a set of built-in premium Harman/Kardon speakers that will blow you away with their full sound. A wheel on the front of the base makes adjusting volume a breeze.
Docking the Dv1000 (dell inspiron 6400 battery)is not pretty; we had to struggle to tug the retractable cable out of the back of the base and pull it around to a connection on the left side of the laptop. And we did not like the clunky look of the big plastic USB infrared receiver for the bundled wireless keyboard and mouse. Still, the base is a worthwhile addition for audiophiles who could also use the extra storage: Its bay takes a 160GB hard drive ($180 extra), for a possible total of 240GB--not bad for a laptop.
The full set of connections includes FireWire and a six-in-one memory card reader that reads SD Cards and most other formats, including XD Picture Cards. Labels printed on the case help you keep track of the card types.
All of the Dv1000's rich features are well documented in two Acrobat manuals, which the company says come preinstalled on the hard drive. Our review unit did not have them, however; we had to download them from the HP Web site.
If a lightweight laptop with lots of connections and entertainment options galore is what you're after, the Dv1000 with an expansion base is light years ahead of the recently
At first glance the dv1000 (dell inspiron 6000 battery)looks a lot more expensive that it really is. The outer shell is made of silver colored plastic. The inside of the notebook is all black with a sort of textured feel to it. I would have preferred all silver rather than the two tones, but the look seems to work for this model. The laptop is sturdy, but I do have problems carrying it from the side, it seems a bit fragile and "creaky" when I am grasping it. The screen has very little or no flex to it, you would have to push very hard on it to see a ripple. The hinges seem very sturdy, there's no wobbling to the screen at all, when you put the screen in place it stays there. I have a problem with the latch that closes the notebook though. With just a slight push on the latch the screen releases and I don't like the placement of it, it is right below the touchpad and I find myself pressing it with my thumb when using the pad. I feel they could have made the latch a bit sturdier.
The dv1000 only comes in one screen size, a 14 inch widescreen. I chose the Brite-View option for my screen and I must say I love it. It's bright, crisp and clear and it's a pleasure working on it. I love working in Photoshop and watching DVD's. Many people don't like the glare that the glossy screens produce, but I don't mind, and when it seems very noticeable I just adjust the screen angle and that usually does it for me. It seems the more I work on it the less I notice the glare and to me the benefits outweigh the glare. The screen has even backlighting and no screen leakage as far as I can tell. Thankfully my screen had no dead pixels!
The laptop has a Pentium M 1.73 GHz processor with 768 MB DDR memory installed (2 slots), 60 gig 5400 HD, and Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900 -- Pentium shared video graphics card. Performance is snappy; my startup time from the push of the button is about 45 seconds. Programs startup fast and everything is very responsive no lagging on anything I use except for a few extra seconds starting up Photoshop because of the plug-ins and fonts I have installed. I have not done any gaming so I can't report on that, but I do wish there was an upgrade option for the graphics card.
The HP dv1000 is a great lightweight widescreen notebook at a great price. It travels easily has a great keyboard and does all the things it's supposed to with a few added features. It has a few design shortcomings but the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion.
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