HP/Compaq :: Dv3z Small Review
Feb 9, 2009
I have just received the HP dv3z. I have run some tests and I have a couple remarks to make. I also took some pics with a bad quality web-cam. Also, I'm a new to the forums, sorry if this is the wrong place.
Brief Intro: The HP dv3z is a 13.3 inch notebook, introduced at CES 2009. It uses AMD processors. I bought it online.
Stats: I ordered mine with
- HP Pavilion dv3z Entertainment PC
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
- AMD Turion(TM) X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-72 (2.1GHz)
- 13.3" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3200 Graphics with 64MB Display Cache Memory
- 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
- Full Size Backlit Keyboard
- Wireless-N Card
- Tray Load SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
- HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope.........
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Oct 19, 2009
The design looks simply beautiful. The silver lid and the gun metal color inside is awsome. The dark colors inside will help in not causing any strain for your eyes even after working for long time.
The touchpad too has a matte finish, making it easy to use. It is very responsive. The scroll and zoom gestures helps a lot in reducing the effort though am not convinced with the third gesture, would be good if this gesture could be used for something better.
Option to turn off/on the bluetooth and wifi via the buttons/touch buttons is really good, I had trouble with some other laptops trying to find out how to do this.
The option to turnoff the screen helps conserve energy, while listening to music or doing some activity which do not need any human intervention. The screen is bright enough. I keep it at the lowest brightness while working, without any issues...............
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Mar 15, 2010
I get a BSOD just after the install disc loads all the drivers and says "starting windows". It also did this with a clean drive, thus I can't blame the restore partition, at least not in that case.
I tried using the restore partition, and just get "Error 100a". My internet connection here is too bad to do a lot of research on this.
The only install that worked was of a Vista Ult. on the clean drive. Vista Home freezes at "completing installation".
Ran Memtest and sector scans of both HDD's. All %100
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Mar 9, 2009
feedback regarding the DV3z model on HP.com's website. I've seen a thread regarding the DV3 that best buy sells with an intel processor (their "blue series" or whatever) but haven't seen much regarding the AMD version HP sells direct.
Are there owners of it on here? If so what are your general impressions? A good buy? OK w/ battery, heat, noise, etc?
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Jan 19, 2009
Has anyone purchased or seen this notebook? It's fairly new, so no reviews have been made of it yet, but from the specs and overall looks of it, it seems to be a pretty amazing notebook for it's price range (not to mention the 30% off coupon floating around).
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Mar 12, 2009
I was down to the DV3510NR (one of the BestBuy Blue Label series), but i just noticed the refreshed DV3Z. which one is the better buy / value.
And, would it be possible to purchase the slot loading drive from the DV3Z, and put it in the DV3510NR ?
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May 22, 2009
A friend of mine has an HP Pavilion ze4420us laptop and seems to have a problem. When his computer starts up the screen is reduced in size so that all you can see is a 6"x6" area that's using the screen. Everything is displayed normally inside this "box". Once windows loads it's fine though.
some manufactures have a "Fn+key" or "shift+key" type of shortcut that will change an internal setting and enlarge or reduce the picture being displayed.
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Jul 23, 2009
My son spilled only a small amount of tea on the keyboard. knowing what could come out of it, I turned it off right away. After cleaning and drying for a few hours, i turned it on, and managed to a couple of times. The next day I tried to turn it on again, and as it was displaying Bios info, I saw one of the flat cables under the keyboard melt slightly. I turned it of right away. This cable is one of the two coming out of the panel over the keyboard, to be exact the left one, from the on/off button to the motherboard.
Bought the cable online, and still does not work. I CAN hear the computer turn on, the lights are all as usual, and boot and even go into windows, but I cant see anything on the screen. I have seen a really really dark and dim shadow of the boot, even the windows logo, but its almost invisible.
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Jul 9, 2014
I have a hp dv 3 z 1000 cto entertainment pc and the screen is always flickering. I called microsoft but they told me that it is a hardware problem.
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May 27, 2009
i just bought a laptop [url] and i was wonderhing what you think? just lookin for some reviews on it!
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May 21, 2010
Read the DM4 review here...
HP Pavilion dm4 Review - A Review of the HP Pavilion dm4
Basically, it runs cool AND has great battery life, which is fantastic to here. I think HP finally turned their ship around. I had their previous 14in machines and they all suffered from crap battery life and very high temperatures. To hear that the machines run very cool and get 5 hours of battery life on the standard 6-cell battery is really great.
This bodes well for their other systems, as all HP designs seem to mimic one another. If one model has heat/battery issues, they all do, as I've read of similar horror stories in the DV6000 and what not.
They got 5 hours of battery life with the 6-cell, i5-520, and Intel graphics. That's really phenomenal as far as I'm concerned. They offer switchable ATI graphics, so you can opt for discrete graphics and still get the 5 hours...
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May 11, 2010
HP Envy 15 (2nd Gen) Complete Review by dave.ladner
I was recently a proud new owner of an HP Envy 15 (2nd Gen) about a week ago. This was a pretty big deal to me, as not only do I live in Canada and cannot order the 2nd Generation version yet, but I bought it through Ebay so was a little skeptical. I've categorized the laptop into some sections below and made some comments based on what I have experienced so far.
Take it as you will. Questions are welcome if you have them.
*Please note: No pictures are currently attached because I am at work(oops!), but I can include them upon request if you'd like.
Appearance and Size
The Envy 15 is, for lack of a better comparison, a Macbook Pro, with a different finish. The engraved lid and casing has a sort of weird feel to it at first, but once you get over it (an hour maybe) its pretty cool. Doesn't offer anything besides looks obviously, but it holds its own on those. The laptop is also very thing, like about an inch. Not much more. It weighs in at 5.1lbs on my scale, but I'm not sure how accurate that is as its a bathroom scale.................
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May 29, 2010
I recently purchased an Asus UL80VT-A2 in search of the perfect thin and light laptop for me. Hardware-wise the Asus was great for my uses; the SU7300 did not feel underpowered and the Nvidia Geforce GT 210M was fine for light gaming; but the build quality was sub-par at best so I wanted to get something new. After shopping around for a while I was about to wait for the Envy 14 to come out but then Bing had 25% CB at HP so I decided to go with the dm4t. The ATI 5650, backlit keyboard, and higher resolution screen would have been welcome additions but they are additions that I can live without and that would have cost a lot more. This configuration ended up costing me $710 after BCB and even right now cost only $830 after taxes and BCB. One might say that I settled but after using this thing they would not feel that way.
Specifications:
OS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-430M Dual Core processor (2.26GHz, 3MB L2 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.53GHz
RAM: 3GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Hard drive: 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Graphics: 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5450 switchable graphics
Display: 14.0" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)............
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Nov 29, 2009
I just picked up 2 HP g60-507dx laptops at Best Buy yesterday for $197.00 before tax (1 for me and 1 for the wife). I stood in line for 8+ hours in the cold with some friends and had a blast doing it. I'm really glad I got in line at 8pm the night before. I was the 9th person in line and the last person to get the laptop door buster deal.... and man was the door buster deal really slick this year. I've never bought a full laptop for under 500.00 before, and having 2 laptops with Windows 7 for 197.00 each was just too good to pass up. Even a license for Windows 7 alone costs over 120.00 so in reality you get a slick new system for roughly next to nothing.
Anyway back to the review! Last time I did a review it was for my Acer Aspire 5672 series 4 years ago - Link, and I'm happy to say that my old laptop is still going strong with Windows 7. The reason for this new purchase was because I was looking for something to take to work or on trips that I wouldn't be distraught over if I left it in a cab or it was damaged / broken / etc. That and a netbook just wasn't my style (too small, etc.)
Product Support Page: - Link
HP's Unoffical Windows XP Downgrade Guide: - Link
Specifications Overview:.....................
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Jul 5, 2009
just bought an HP DV7T notebook, and thought I would post my initial thoughts and impressions of it for anyone interested.
DISCLAIMER! These are my own thoughts and opinions, anyone interested should check out the notebook first to see if it is what they want.
HP DV7T 2044CA Specs:
Espresso Black colour
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64 bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz processor
4GB DDR2 memory
320GB 5400RPM hard drive
Lightscribe optical drive
ATI Radeon Mobility 4650 graphics card
17.3” glossy widescreen display (1600x900)
Intel Wifi 5100 A/B/G/N wireless card
Bluetooth, Webcam, included remote
8 cell battery
I bought this notebook as a desktop replacement, for entertainment (music, movies, games), photo & video editing, and general computer stuff like websurfing & word usage...
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May 5, 2010
I decided to go with a HP Elitebook this year because I got a great deal for a 8540w.
If you plan to do a clean install with your use the HP Support Assistent to install all the drivers, it's much more compfortable than using the SoftPaq INstaller or even install all by hand: Support Assistent Download
Case
The magnesium case of the Elitebook is realy great. Hard as a rock, nothing is flexing and the cool feeling of the brushed aluminium is very exclusive. A Thinkpad T510, which by itself feels pretty solid (despite some keyboard- and palmrest-flexing), feels like cheap plastic compared to the Elitebook.
The display is completly covered by a magnesium case covered with a brushed aluminium surface and has the same great touch as the palmrest. The hinges keep the display tight in place, no bouncing at all, but you can open it by using only one hand. The Thinkpad needs two hands, because the base unit gets lifted too if you don't push it down....
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Sep 7, 2009
I thought it would be nice of me to write a review for future potential buyers.
Preface
After one month of shopping around for a new laptop that had decent gaming capabilities but still retained some portability I eventually ordered a Studio 1555 from the Dell Outlet.
The notebook had the following specifications,
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4570 512MB GDDR3Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium with SP 1 (64-bit)Screen: 15.6 inch High Definition+ (900p) Bright LED Display with TrueLife and CameraMemory: 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)Storage: 320 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)Optical Drive: 8X Slot Load Super Multi (DL DVD+/-R Drive + RAM support)Wireless and Communications: Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini CardBattery: 9 Cell Primary Battery 85WHr Li-IonDimensions: 14.6" (W) x 10.0" (D) x 1.0" (min H)/1.5" (max H)Standard.......
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Jul 16, 2009
This is what I ordered and arrived:
HP Pavilion dv2z Entertainment PC
•• Espresso Black
•• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
•• AMD Turion(TM) Neo X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor for Ultrathin Notebooks L625 (1.6 GHz,1MB L2 Cache)
•• 75% OFF!! 4GB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm) from 2GB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm)
•• FREE Upgrade to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
•• FREE Upgrade to 512MB ATI Radeon(TM) HD Premium Graphics 3410 - For L625 Processor and Vista Premium
•• 12.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
•• Webcam Only.............
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Sep 22, 2009
I bought a Dell Inspiron E1505 which was and still is an incredible laptop. This semester at college, I have a Intro to Game Level Design Class. I thought my laptop could handle it with its mighty Core 2 Duo. I know my video card sucked, but with games the C2D usually pulled alot of weight so I was sure even if I couldn't run the game we were using (Unreal Tournament 3) I could still use the editor. I install the game and boom - the editor wont even work. I later found that it was indeed my video card. So I figured, hell I'll upgrade it. Well, come to find out the Dell doesn't even have a video card....its a crappy intel chipset on the motherboard. I didn't have any other computers for game work, so I figured, time for an upgrade. I didn't want to part ways with my Dell, but I figured if I was smart and did more research for my first laptop, I wouldn't be in this predicament (I literally did no research....I went to Dell and figured I wanted the middle setup. Yes, very stupid on my part.) So I did alot more research this time, and I found that I could get a HP Pavillion dv7t with a nice actual video card and a core 2 duo for the price I found was great, around $1500 (all the others were either too expensive or didn't offer as much). So, I went for the HP Pavillion dv7t. Sorry Dell, but with HP I have a choice for a video card, not a crappy intel chipset.
Specs:
2.66 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile
3GB DDR2 RAM
500GB SATA hard drive
1GB ATI Radeon 4650 Mobillity HD
17.3 Inch Widescreen
Built in webcam
Lightscribe DVD / DVD RW 8X
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 with free upgrade to Windows 7...........
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Mar 19, 2009
Anyone know this type of machine ? is this a DV7t or other class of machine ? anyone got the review for this type ?
HP dv7-1023cl (C2duo 2ghz, 4gb ram, 320hdd, nvidia 9600, 17 inch with blueray reader, vista home pre 64bit)
Quote:
Manufacturer: HEWLETT PACKARD dv7-1023cl
Mfg Part#: FF216UA#ABA
Tech Specs
Product Name dv7-1023cl
Product Number FF216UA#ABA
Microprocessor 2.00 GHz Intel Centrino 2 Processor Technology featuring Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P7350
Microprocessor Cache 3 MB L2 Cache
Memory 4096 MB Max Up to 8GB DDR2
Video Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Video Memory Up to 2302 MB (512 MB dedicated)........
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May 31, 2010
Long time lurker finally decided to join, best to start of my post count with a lengthy review on HP's new DV6 line.
I’d like to give people interested in HP's new dv6 line a heads up. This came about mainly due to the lack of reviews anywhere on the internet. Anyone with a dv6, feel free experience on the dv6.
Last weekend i purchased a HP DV6 3032tx with specs found here:
HP Pavilion dv6-3000 Entertainment Notebook PC series Home & Home Office
I went into JB HI-FI Australia buying a 13" mac and ending up getting this mainly due to the value, at a similar price as the dv6 was purchased at JB's cost price.
This has been my experience with the product so far
Design
The third generation of the dv6 line has been completely revamped by removing the numeric pad (I personally hate the num pads), and adding a nice chicklet keyboard with some quick launch buttons. One stand out factor is the thickness. It' still 30mm thick however the actually visible thickness is less than 1" thanks to some beautiful tapered edge design. The aluminium/magnesium shell with black keyboard is very mac like, and reminds me of HP's premium ENVY line of notebooks. On the i7 models only the palm rests and lids have a nice looking imprint finish which is very subtle and maintains its professional look. When the system is on, a HP logo glows white on the bottom left hand corner of the lid...
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Jan 24, 2010
Just had to share my experience with HP's Bluetooth mouse they currently offer because I can barely find any information regarding their mouse, just that they offer it and the specs. I just recieved it, I've gotten about an hour or two of full use with it after an awful installtion on Windows 7. So yeah my thoughts so far, pretty nice once you get it working.
Another thing, if you have EPP discount, or Academic discounts, and some other coupon codes you can get this at a nice deal. I was able to get it for about 44$ with a retractable mouse (20$) and free shipping at that point. So I got about 81$ (including shipping) worth of stuff for 44$, almost 50% off with all the discounts I had. Not bad I would assume for a nice looking mouse.
I'm just trying to provide an informational post with this mini-review. I hope it helps some people who are looking for a BT mouse.
Installation
In a couple words, pretty bad. Being bluetooth, I'd thought I'd fire up my bluetooth adapter, then just hit pair using native Windows, and let Win Update do it's thing if needed. Everything went through fine, choose no pairing code, and things installed, but things didn't work. Threw in the disc, followed instructions, no worky still. After a restart, and trying again, seemed to work....
Usage........................
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Apr 9, 2009
The extreme glare of HP's Infinity displays and lesser glare of glossy screens in general has a cure: antiglare films, which also provide scratch protection. I found a very comprehensive review of the options here:
Screen Protector Shootout Results
Photodon LCD protector sheets were highly rated, and since Photodon is in my home state of Michigan I ordered from them. I went with a larger than normal custom cut for my HP dv4z's Infinity display, figuring (correctly) that I'd want the film to be a little larger than the LCD panel since there's no bezel. I got the width right, 310mm, but I guessed low on the height. 194mm should be about right. Being mechanically disinclined I did a poor job applying the film but it still looks good. Some pics:
Glare screen, no flash, creepy serial killer gloves from the Photodon installation kit
Glare screen, flash on
Photodon antiglare film, flash off
Photodon antiglare film, flash on
Photodon antiglare film, notebook on, flash off..................
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Jan 30, 2010
Prior to 2006, there was a distinct difference between Apple and the PC industry. Apple specialized in design, and still does, and the PC industry won over customers by wooing them with the best bargain available—features for the price charged—and almost always at the cost of a pedestrian design. In 2006, in an ambitious bid to gain market share, HP launched a massive and hugely successful marketing campaign known as, “The Computer Is Personal Again,” and redesigned all of its laptops with the extremely popular high-gloss Imprint finish. In less than 2 years, HP unseated Dell as the undisputed leader in PC shipments and maintains that lead today.
3 years later, HP is back again (perhaps) to change the game. Borrowing from design cues from Apple’s Macbook Pro line, HP launched the dm3 in late October and the tm2 earlier this month, with designs that feature a brushed aluminum finish. Is it successful? Read more to find out.
How this laptop was purchased
I had shopped for a while to look for a new computer to replace my aging dv6000t from back in the Windows XP days. My options were the HP Pavilion dm3t and the Sony VAIO CW. I visited a Best Buy to check out some of the laptops, and I can say that I was absolutely repulsed by the build quality of the Dells these days. They suck. Period. What really won me over from the Sony CW was the build quality of the dm3t. The aluminum finish really is outstanding. More on that later................
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Sep 12, 2009
Standard English (not bilingual) keyboard, so full-size left Shift and normal Enter key
Arrow keys fully integrated into the keyboard so the bottom 3 arrows don't stick out and none are 1/2 size of regular keysWhite backlights and hinge lights,
which I think represent simplicityFlush screen (plastic cover) that hides the cam light and stuff,
so it seems all integrated and stealthy-lookinI actually like the fact that there is only 1 plate to remove on the bottom of the laptop, makes it seem more organized
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Jan 10, 2009
I browsed through both dell.com and dell small business and I was wondering what was the difference? Am I not allowed to order from dell small business if I'm not a business? Also which ones tend to have better deals if their inventory is same/similar?
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Mar 9, 2010
I was googling for some info on how to make program windows bigger, but I couldn't find anything else except use magnifier or set font to Larger 150 %.
But i like Medium 125 % font and i just want to make text readable on Skype and Aimp2 1920 x 1080 resolution,
everything else is fine but some program windows are just too small
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Apr 6, 2009
With Vostro models, from what Ive read they are designed for small businesses. Does this mean I cannot buy it as an individual consumer?Im a student,
and prefer the look and options available in Vostro, and the prices seem more reasonable.
But is this because they are offered to small businesses and you must show evidence of this on purchase? Im also still a little uneasy with purchasing a Dell, so any advice would be great
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Jun 17, 2009
I have vertical lines on my m1330 but not the same kind that I keep finding in my searches.
My computer doesn't crash, it just has a few lines up and down the screen when I boot and they stay there.
A bit of history, the computer was dropped by the previous owner (one of my coworkers) and the screen was broken so I bought a replacement LCD for it and swapped it out.
Worked great for two weeks until I got the lines. Its still functional, the lines are just annoying and I'm worried about a burn in. I tried taking the screen apart again and checking my connections but the lines are still there
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Feb 1, 2009
I have owned a 10-month-old Latitude D830 (w/1680x1050 screen) for about 8 months now. It's a great machine, but I've decided to sell it in favour of something smaller.
Since I bought it, it has had a very small black speck on the screen that does not wipe away when cleaning it. To me it looks like dust behind the LCD surface rather than a dead pixel .....
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