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    HP Pavilion dv4t Review: Sub-$500 Winner? Discussion

    Discussion in 'Notebook News and Reviews' started by Charles P. Jefferies, Nov 4, 2011.

  1. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Last edited by a moderator: May 7, 2015
    Charles P. Jefferies, Nov 4, 2011
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  2. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Until they discontinued it, I would have said the Asus K53TA-BBR6 was the sub-$500 winner. This HP isn't bad, though.
     
    saturnotaku, Nov 4, 2011
    #2
  3. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Thanks. Yeah if they got rid of the glossy plastic, I'd like it a lot more.

    Glossy plastic ... very 2008, it should have died then. Our editor Jerry Jackson asked some notebook manufacturers about why they still use it; the answer: it looks good on a display shelf.

    :rolleyes:
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Nov 4, 2011
    #3
  4. farsang

    farsang Notebook Consultant

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    ^lol their answer made my day :)

    I cant believe that they can think like that.
     
    farsang, Nov 5, 2011
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  5. Jerry Jackson

    Jerry Jackson Administrator NBR Reviewer

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    It's not just HP. Multiple manufacturers have essentially said the same thing to me and other editors. Most designers and engineers for all the major notebook manufacturers dislike glossy plastics because they are hard to keep clean and make the notebook look dirty in the "real world" and glossy screens are a reflection NIGHTMARE but all of the major retailers (and the buyers for many of the retailers) keep saying that glossy notebooks sell.

    At CES this year I even met one of the buyers for a major US electronics retailer and she told me, "I will not place an order for laptops that don't have glossy screens. Matte-screen laptops don't sell in our stores and we're not in the business of buying things we can't sell." My jaw dropped ... mainly because I personally HATE glossy screens.

    Different people call this market trend different things, but the best description a manufacturer rep ever gave me was when he called it the "Bright Shiny Object (BSO) Effect." Most consumers gravitate toward bright, shiny things on store shelves, and those products end up being the easiest to sell.

    Retailers don't care if you hate how the notebook looks after you get it home ... they just want you to buy it in their stores before you walk out the door.
     
    Jerry Jackson, Nov 7, 2011
    #5