Another Great Lightweight Semi-Desktop Replacement From Hewlett Packard

I try to replace my (personal) personal computers once every three or so years if not sooner. Being in the Information Technology field I need to keep up abreast of changes as they evolve. And that means actually utilizing the technology I might find myself recommending to clients, friends, and family.

My old laptop, a Hewlett Packard zv5000z, which still works mind you, is getting a little long in the tooth, and she is getting progressively slower, as I add more and more programs. And while I am not running out of usable hard drive space, my daughters 3-year old Dell is starting to have problems, and she has been begging for a laptop for years, so my old 15.4” HP will revert to her. And finally I wanted a 17” screen in a lighter package with Windows Vista and a duo-processor.

In a new portable I was looking for a semi-desktop replacement laptop, one that could hold all of my day files, play movies & music, and conduct business away from my home office. And to be quite honest I have so much hanging off my desktop, no laptop could replace it one for one.

So, starting in January of this year I started researching the Internet for the right “mobile workstation” to fulfill my ever increasing mobile computing needs. My criterion for the new system was as follows:

1. Price: between $1,000 and $1,500.00.
2. Pentium or AMD Dual-Core processor @ 1.50GHz (800MHz FSB) or above clock speed;
3. Minimum 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM.
4. Minimum 17.0” WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800) display.
5. Minimum 80 GB 5400 rpm hard drive.
6. Minimum (3) USB 2.0 Ports.
7. Minimum (1) PC Card Slot.
8. Built-in DVD/CD-RW drive.
9. Built-in IEEE 1394 Firewire
10. 5-n-1 Media Card Reader.
11. Windows Vista Home Premium.

I looked more seriously at laptop offerings from Dell, but in the end I dismissed them; they were generally too expensive and not as feature rich at the price point I was willing to pay. Gateway, too was out of the running pretty quickly too due to a lack of trust in the product. And one by one I eliminated offerings from IBM, Compaq, Sony, Fujitsu and Toshiba; none of these companies offered the right mixture of price and performance I was looking for.

Just one laptop manufacture was left after the dust settled: Hewlett Packard. The company offered what I wanted, and in end I choose the HP Pavilion dv9000z because I thought would provide me with the best available combination of features, price, performance, and quality. The base price for the Pavilion dv9000z, with the AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-56 (1.8GHz/1MB) processor, was $899.99, but I added a few items to get the unit up to where I wanted; my budget allowed for $1400.00; the finally price was $1368.99.

I went for the AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-56 processor for three reasons: 1. because I wanted to be able to load the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Ultimate, and; 2. Because the processor was dual-core and only slightly under-performed by its comparable Intel Pentium counterpart running at up to 1.8GHz, and; 3. Price: AMD processor continue to be priced well below comparable Intel processors.

I bought the laptop on-line at HPShopping.com and with the base HP Pavilion dv9000z they offered a free upgrade from an 80GB 5400 rpm hard drive to a 120GB 5400 rpm drive. I also upgraded the memory from the base 512MB to 2.0GB of DDR2 memory, and choose a wireless 802.11a/g/Pre-n adapter w/Bluetooth in addition to the built-in 56K Modem and 10/100 LAN card. I also opted to upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium from Windows Vista Home Edition.

As I stated above the total for the HP Pavilion dv9000z laptop: $1,368.99, with a $200.00 instant rebates and free LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer drive. The laptop shipped with HP’s new Imprint Finish w/Microphone and Webcam built into the display. For this tidy sum my new laptop came with the following configuration:

Processor: AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-56(1.8GHz/1MB)
System Bus: 800MHz Front Side Bus
Screen: 17.0" WXGA BrightView (1440 x 900 maximum resolution) Widescreen display;
Memory: 2.0GB DDR400 SDRAM (2x1.0GB), Max 2.0 GB;
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce(R) Go 6150 + 1394;
Removable Storage: LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer;
Fixed Storage: 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive;
NIC: Broadcom 10/100 Ethernet;
Wireless: 802.11g/Pre-n with/Bluetooth
Modem: V.92/56K Modem;
Ports: 4x USB 2.0 ports; 1x SVGA; 1x 1394 Firewire; 1x PC Express slot; 1x S-Video out; 1x 5-n-1 Media card Reader; 2x headphone & microphone jacks.
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium.

First Impressions

My prior experience with the Pavilion zv5000z laptop proved to me the Hewlett Packard was serious about making a quality affordable product and the dv9000z continues that tradition; in other words, this a laptop well worth having. The price, speed of the CPU; the sharp, bright (very bright), clear, vibrant richness of the display; the overall performance of the machine; and the surprisingly light weight, are all reasons to like the Pavilion dv9000z. But what has impressed my more is the quality of build, how cool the computer runs, and how quiet and functional this machine is.

Body

The (very) thin body of the Pavilion dv9000z is a very attractive glossy black with brushed silver highlights around the keyboard, and soft blue LED’s. The whole body is adorned with HP’s new Imprint Finish which is smooth to the touch and very stylish. While the new finish looks cool, it is a fingerprint magnet so beware. On the front of the unit are to the far left are three small blue LED’s which are indicators for power, hard drive activity, and battery charge. To the immediate right of these is a wireless switch with accompanying blue (On) and red (Off) LED. A little further to the right is two headphones, and one microphone jack.

On the right side of the laptop, near the front, sits a single USB port and (1) ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34). Immediately after this slot sits the LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer drive, followed by another USB 2.0 port and the power (A/C) port. This side of the Pavilion dv9000z is rather sparse, with most of the space being occupied by the DVD drive.

If the right side of the Pavilion dv9000z is sparse, the left side is extremely busy. First up is the 5-n-1 card slot, followed closely by an IEEE 1394 port and two USB 2.0 ports and a HDVI port. Next up: side-by-side modem and 10/100 LAN adapter ports, followed by an Expansion Port (3), which is used to connect the lap to a docking station; this followed by a standard analog VGA port and single DIN port for connecting a mouse or external keyboard.

The back of the Pavilion dv9000z is relatively stark; there is nothing back there at all. Meanwhile on the bottom of the unit there are various access plates, a release latch for the battery, and two cooling fans.

The keyboard is a full sized affair, black keys with white letters. At the top of the keyboard are a set of function buttons including the power, DVD, Media Player & associated buttons, Mute, and Volume Up & Down. All of the buttons are illuminated with blue LED’s underneath.

The entire back half of the keyboard surface is taken up by a pair of fairly decent sounding Altec Lansing stereo speakers. The display is relatively thin but sturdy and also houses the antennae for the wireless/Bluetooth adapter as well as the 1.3 mega pixel camera and microphone.

Hard Drive

I decided to go with the 120GB 5400 rpm SATA hard drive that HP offered up as a free upgrade. This was an effort to increase storage capacity in light of Windows Vista’s need to consume a whopping 10GB of drive space. And of course I could expect it to grow, and grow, and grow as time marches forward.

Some high-end laptops now come with 7200 rpm hard drives, but the Pavilion dv9000z can only be ordered with a 5400 rpm drives with the exception of a 200GB which is only offered at 7200 rpm (@X 100GB drives). There does not appear to be an rational reason in hard drive offering; e.g. you can also get 240GB (2x 120GB HHD) at 5400 rpm; why not 7200 rpm?

Touch Pad

I have mixed feelings about touch-pad in general. While I like the feel and silky movement the touch-pad provides, a mouse is more fluid in motion and provide more control over the cursor. But the touchpad on the Pavilion dv9000z is unlike those installed on other models I have heretofore used; there is no film to wear away under continued use. The pad is seemingly made of medal.

The cursor moves rather nicely when the pad is utilized, and there is a built in scroll bar on the right, but the mechanism suffers the same malady all touch pad seem to have: errand mouse movements that cause unwanted consequences. Anyone who has used a touch pad knows what I am speaking about.

Luckily there is a wonderful on/off switch which comes in handy when I utilize my wireless mouse.

Display

This is the real selling point of the Pavilion dv9000z. The display is beautiful; ultra-bright, sharp, crisp, colorful, and vibrant. The 17.0" WXGA BrightView Widescreen display brings graphics to life like a regular display never could; the text is well defined, brilliant, and easy to read. I went to the local Office Depot and Office Max (I would have stopped by CompUSA, but the stores have all closed in my local area; no big loss) several times to compare the BrightView side-by-side, with other conventional displays; they couldn’t compare to the over all brilliance of this display.

DVD viewing is a wondrous experience even at full screen. And while I will probably never mate my Pavilion dv9000z with an external monitor, it’s nice to have the 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 video card at my disposal.

Battery

The standard battery is a 8-cell Lithium-Ion, but I opted for the High Capacity 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery for an extra $25.00 charge. I tested HP’s claim of up to 3.5 hours; in my tests the Pavilion dv9000z lasted just over 3 hours. My test included viewing a DVD, listening to some music clips, and doing routine word processing and Internet browsing. Not lab controlled, but real world and more than adequate for a plane ride from Chicago to the East Coast.

Included Software

There is of course a plethora of useless software included on the laptop, including the ubiquitous AOL, EarthLink, and other communications software. But there are some useful programs as well. For instance Microsoft Works is included as well as a trial version of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 (it expires after 60-days). Norton Security Suite is also included with a full year’s subscription, as it Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0, and a full suite of Roxio Easy CD Creator software for use with the DVD/RW drive. I removed some of the software and kept those titles I found useful.

None of the software shipped on CD media, but is included on the hard drive in a directory on the root of the main drive; nice touch. The only CD-ROM’s HP includes in the package are the Windows Vista Home Edition.

HP also included software for use with the Light Scribe drive, though it is just barely functional. A software package called SureThing can be used with the Light Scribe drive to provide a much richer experience.

Weight & Size

The Pavilion dv9000z weights in at some 7.8lbs and is 1.57” thick. The dz9000z is thinner than my zv5000z, but weighs the same. The laptop measures 15.16" (L) x 11.65" (W) x 1.57" (H) so special care must be taken to find a travel bag to accommodate this rather large portable, but have heart one can be found. I found a perfect bag by JanSport at eBags.com for $89.99. Some many find the Pavilion dv9000z cumbersome and somewhat heavy, I do not and besides, the power and performance are worth the small workout.

Conclusion

At this price point you would be hard pressed to find a better desktop supplemental computer. Hewlett Packard has found the right combination of price, performance and features and incorporated them into the HP Pavilion dv9000z. For the student, or professional on the go, this is the one!