HP Pavilion dv5t Review Discussion

Roland, I agree the review is biassed, but I don't mind that. And you are spot on about the thickness in my opinion.

There's one thing I really don't agree on with you:

The bragging is just what you read into it. To me Chaz was just stating facts.
"Most people go for WXGA". (which is a true fact)
"I got WXGA+". (which is a true fact)

That is actually the DV5Z with AMD CPU.

 

The weight of the notebook as tested is 6 lbs, 6.6oz measured on a digital scale, or 2.91 kgs.

Thanks for the info about the hard drive . . . yes it is probably a single platter. I thought the performance was unusually high for a 160GB.

The High-Capacity 6-cell is 10.8V, 55Wh.

 

Its actually because I thought it was a user review when I wrote it

And Phil, I suppose, but I just had that feeling about the screen resolution because he wrote it in his personal manner, I wouldve expected him to state options and quality.

 

Thanks a lot for reply and for the review of course, u're doing a great job (whether u get paid for that or not

 

Maybe if the review was entitled "HP Pavilion dv5t Personal Review" then it would clear up confusion between it being a more colloquial review and the standard professional review? Just a thought...

I personally don't think that this topic is that big an issue. Everybody can take what they want from the review. It was very thorough and even though it's biased in some areas, Chaz still provided the details in between to help you make your own decision about the laptop. I don't see a reason for all this argument.

 

from the pics it looks like hp changed their power socket design to something like the ones on dells. props to hp for that... maybe now they won't have an issue with the pin becoming loose.

 

Yea, one thing I don't like about it though is that the power socket is on the side. I prefer it going out the back because my power supply/source is almost always behind my laptop, not next to it. And I don't like cables running around where my mouse is. But, you can't have everything

 

I see the review this way; there are 2 types of reviews here, reviews done by the NBR team and "User Reviews". Maybe the title should read "User Review" even though it was done by a NBR staff member. This is because this is not a review unit sent in to be reviewed by the NBR staff but a person who bought a notebook and reviewed his own notebook. (Just happens that the person is a member of staff)

 

BTW, I have to say that this an excellent review. I like the new format. There's so much info in there for making a buying decision that one should feel well informed beforehand.

 

Are there DDR2 and DDR3 versions of the 9600GT? Anyways the new HP notebooks are much better than the old ones in terms of specs.

 

Hi Chaz,

GREAT REVIEW! And much nicer pictures than HP website ... it acutally gives a much better feel of the laptop.

Thanks,
G!

 

Im sure there are, but not available for this notebook

 

I guess the DV5z doesnt look like such the power hog anymore Since it got the same battery life with lesser battery, although with integrated graphics which arent shabby. It is just HP causing the bad battery life and also perhaps their crummy 6 cell batteries.

I might go for the DV4t though with LED screen if going for battery life, cant wait to see an official review and comparison to DV4z when it comes out.

 

So this is the DDR2 or DDR3 ver?

 

DDR2.

 

looks great but 2 things are deal breakers for me, the glossy surface where my finger gets stuck on the touchpad and the defective geforce 9600

 

good review.

one question. how can i check the temps of my own laptop. what's the best software out there to download for this?

 

Awesome review.
Can't wait to get my hands on my dv7t this Friday (my birthday ^_^ yay for HP early shipping). It seems the dv7t don't have the heat problems the dv5t has, of course it just might be because the case is larger on the dv7t.

 

I went to Best Buy today specifically to check out the dv5. I might drop my stimulus check on one. Though I prefer matte, the addition of nice bright glossy screen would be a nice change of pace from the dim ThinkPads I'm used to getting. If I were to get it, I'd probably get the Z since I don't need a lot of horsepower. Overall it seemed like a pretty good machine. It had a nice screen, fairly firm keyboard and felt pretty solid. The deal breaker for me might be the clicky touchpad buttons, which I personally hate. It's too bad HP, which always used to have silky smooth buttons like ThinkPads, but seems to have gone the other way this time. I know most people wouldn't even notice it, but it's a pet peeve.

The other factor is they're offering some pretty good deals on the T61 right now You can get one with a WSXGA+ screen and Susew for $700. It has a brighter screen than my dim R60 and is better built. Or I just might park my check in the bank since I don't really need something new and I just made some pretty good upgrades to my R60. I got to look though, right?

Nice review nonetheless.

 

Zaz, are the ones you looked at the regular Brightview or Infinity? I'm worried about a dim screen, since my dv6400 is so bright.......

 

See this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=81852

 

Excellent review Chaz! Can you confirm the operating voltage the powerbrick supports? I'd be very interested to know.
If it's just 120/240V @ 60hz, well that will make for a more difficult choice.

 

Great review Chaz

 

You can use HWMonitor:
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
Very useful tool. It doesn't need to be installed either (it's an executable).

Congratulations. Yes it could very well be because of the larger chassis, where there is more room to dissipate heat.

Now that you mention it, the touchpad is rather clicky - I guess I didn't notice it since the buttons on my last laptop were even louder than this one. Then again, I rarely ever use the touchpad . . .

A T61 for $700 is hard to pass up. On the flip side, it's more of the same for you since you already have an R60. I think the dv5 is as different as you can get design-wise from a ThinkPad.

Thanks for the compliment.

The Inquirer is known for posting sensationalist stories . . . I would take whatever you get from their site with a bucket of salt.

Yes - on the power brick, it says "INPUT: 100-240V ~2.4A(2.4A) 50-60Hz" and "OUTPUT: 19V(19V)". If that's not enough let me know and I will take a picture . . .

 

Thanks Chaz, that's all I needed to hear!

 

Chaz, Thanks for the review.

Actually, I like the "personal" aspect of the reviews. Pulp is another reviewer's style that I like, or maybe it just because he reviews laptops that I am interested in. And actually, a personal review identifies the author's biases. All reviewers have them, it is just in a professional review, they are more hidden.

When I heard that you were going to write a review on the DV5T, I was hoping there would be more comparisons between the DV5T and DV5Z (JerryJ's review). I know that there have been a lot of dicussions on the merits of each already, but having two laptops from HP which are basically the same laptop on the outside, I though it would be a good opportunity for a comparison.

However, seeing that the two laptops are configured significant differently in areas of contentions, i.e. graphics and battery, maybe a comparison between the two laptops would not be too relevant.

It appears that each laptop was configured to its sweet spot and the sweet spots are significantly different that they are not really in competition with each other.

One thing that stood out to me, was the battery life between the two laptops may not be as signifcant as has been the case between Intel and AMD in the past?

 

Chaz,

Nice review - the price for performance makes this a hard laptop to pass up.

 

In the HP dv5z the battery life is about 2.5 hours long and that's with the integrated graphics chip, also the graphics cards in the HP dv5t are better, the processor is better in the HP dv5t too. So basically it's definitely worth the extra cash for the HP dv5t which I might be getting within the next month or 2

P.S.: I'll be getting the HP dv5t with the Integrated graphics card instead of the dedicated because it will get well over 3 hours of battery life that way

 

If I understand correctly the dv5z was using the standard life battery to get the 2.5 hrs battery life, with the extended life battery it should do about 3 hrs also. The turion ultra is also a nice cpu, no its not the fastest, but it is plenty for 95% of people out there.

 

Hi Chaz ...

Q: On the Graphic Card Temperatures ... did you happen to take a measure to see what the GPU was running at when you are in light work mode ... you know just Surfing and what I call in IDLE mode ... so basically you are not using the GPU for anything at all.
If you did can you tell me what those TEMPS were at!?!?

Thanks,
G!

 

oh snap! thanks for introducing to this lappy! Now I'll have smth to think about before committing to an Asus M50MV. I wonder how different 9600GS is from its GT brother?

I also like the keyboard layout (good thing they didn't squeze in a number pad) like Asus did.

 

I did - at idle, I have seen the temperatures range from the 46 - 48*C range in a75*F air-conditioned office environment on a laminated wood veneer desk, to 59*C right now, in an 80*F room on a less-than-ideal tile countertop that holds heat.

The Nvidia GPU downclocks to something like a quarter of its full clocks to conserve power and therefore produce less heat.

I will have a full review of that notebook up in less than two weeks. Stay tuned. It won't be a comparison review, but you will get to see my thoughts on it. I am expecting good things.

 

Chaz,

THANKS ... if those IDLE temps are correct for all the 9600M GT cards ... then I am in business with a GPU card vs straight Intel X4500.

Those are GREAT Temps in IDLE ... wow! So this 9600 card does not have 8600 card problem!!!

Thanks again,
G!

 

Yeah the 9600GT is build on a 65nm process where as the 8600GT is build on a 80nm process. Meaning the 9600GT is more power efficient thus running cooler with similar clock speeds.


EDIT: Regarding the thickness of the dv5t. You cannot compare a Core 2 Duo notebook with a powerful GPU to a Pentium M notebook. The power usage is vastly different. Have a look at the MacBookPro for example. Its 1'' thick right? C2D CPU and 8600GT? Now think about hot hot that runs. You must also consider the thickness of the existing 15.4'' notebooks with similar configurations. A notebook with a sufficient cooling system will usually result in an increase in size, which is usually an increase in thickness.

 

Compared to my dim ThinkPad it was like looking at the sun. The ones I saw didn't have the screen covered so I'd guess they were not the infinity type screen.

 

Just a question, and a comment.
First of all, I speculated in another thread, that the "infinity" display, being a layer of plastic over the screen, would actually help protect the screen from scratches.
Would you say the plastic is durable, Chaz?
Secondly, I'm just impressed with this laptop, and I'm really glad they chose a design, where they didn't put one of the rubber feet on the battery! That was a major annoyance with me on my E1705, not wanting to have the battery plugged in, my laptop would wobble a bit on the desk.

 

Very informative review Chaz. Ive been waiting for this review.

Ive tinkered around with the dv5t and dv7t first hand and i was quite impressed at the new HP models.

When they first announced these notebooks, i was quite dissapointed as first impressions till i saw it for myself. Now im tempted to buy one with a WSXGA+ screen....

 

Boy, HP screwed the pooch this time. What a lame laptop. You spent the first few pages going gaga over style. You think this is a classy design? It is utterly tacky to me. And when you got to the meat, it was all downhill. Too hot, no battery, poor PCMark Vantage score (I have a new Sony FW and it smokes the dv5t with a score of 4170...and thats with a lowly ATI HD 3470!!). And, no, I'm not a Sony fanboy...I just replaced my trusty (but hot) HP dv4000 with a cool running, very fast, classy (yes, classy) Sony VAIO FW -- 2.5Ghz T9400 with 6MB L2 cache, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, ATI 3470 w/ 256MB, Blu-ray burner (yes a burner), Intel N-wireless (for my N router), and a gorgeously and blindingly bright and crisp 1600x900 HiColor 16.4" screen (and not glossy) for $1850. Other than the new Elitebook, the new HP lineup is a corporate embarrassment.

 

+1 for tact.
Enjoy your Sony.

 

Oh yeah I forgot about that part, the part where they used the extended battery on it. Sorry. And yeah I agree with you on the turion ultra cpu, I like it too, I was just saying that the intel cpu is a little bit faster and doesn't suck up as much power

 

Design and style is a personal opinion. My opinion is that its quite a good change from the dv6xxx series. Certainly a step ahead of notebooks in the similar price range.

Around 30C idle and 64C during load is too hot? Where abouts do you use your notebook? Also, please tell me the battery life of other notebooks with the 9600GT with 6 cell batteries such as the NP2096 and the Toshiba F50?

You said yourself that you have a T9400... Also its PCMark not 3Dmarks by the way.

I can buy an ACER 6920G for that price too. Funny enough you mentioned nothing of the FW's build quality, I wonder why? Maybe because I can push down the palm rest for a few mm with no effort? I have used both notebook in person by the way.

Yes it is a very nice screen, but not glossy? Dont kid yourself. ALL sony consumer notebooks comes with glossy screen by the way.

 

I agree it is glossy but far less reflective than the HP screen.

 

That I agree... Although the non infinite displays are not as bad.

 

Chaz what brightness did you run the battery test at and did you have the wireless on?

The DV5Z review was done on "balanced power", 50% brightness and wireless on, not power saver mode like Chaz's review here.

And if HP gets that crossfire working then the DV5z would be very competitive graphically with the 9600M GT, without the defects.

In any case theres no disputing the value of the DV5z to someone that wants a $600 laptop and not an $800 one.

 

Agreed, the dv5z has great value, even JerryJ was impressed by the IGP's performance. I think HP was a real winner with these two models.

 

Yeah I totally agree with you on the part where you said that "theres no disputing the value of the DV5z to someone that wants a $600 laptop and not an $800 one." Which is why I'm debating on which laptop would be the best for me. If you could help me out that would be nice. Thankyou

 

How much more battery life does the high capacity 6 cell add in minutes to the HP dv5t, and HP dv5z???

 

I had a fiddle with one of these today. Nice screen and all but too might fingerprint magnet silver plastic. I also thought the body was a bit flexy.

 

I realize you've worked hard on the review and it shows, but I have some criticism - half of the article discusses the looks of the laptop, I find that excessive. There is too much emphasis on aesthetics and chick in products today and not enough on their justification, usability and efficiency. It must be difficult to resist this annoying trend but it would be commendable. Secondly, there is no mention of its weight and luggability in a minimum weight configuration, with the smallest battery and even without a battery (have you tried carrying it in a backpack?). For a laptop this is more important than its aesthetics. For example, if a certain machine (not necessarily this one) is suitable mainly to sit on a desk and be moved when one moves to a new apartment, this should be mentioned. Thanks for the review.

 

Chaz, it seems like the 3DMark 06 score is a little bit low, which drivers have you used for the test? For example 8600gt on my G1S is scoring over 4500 with 177.79.