HP dv8000z Review (pics, specs)

by Joe H., New York, USA

Recently, I purchased the HP Pavilion dv8000z notebook computer. I am a professional artist, animator and website designer and had several criteria in choosing a computer. I wanted a very fast computer that had a really big screen. A machine that could handle high-end graphics work such as 3D modeling, animation, compositing, video editing, music creation as well as other design work.

HP dv8000z Specs:

• Processor: AMD Turion 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
• Screen: 17" WSXGA BrightView Widescreen (1680 x 1050)
• Graphics: ATI Express Radeon 200M 128MB
• RAM: 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x 512MB)
• Hard Drive: 160GB (2 x 80GB @ 5400RPM)
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW/R & CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer Support
• OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Battery: 8-cell lithium ion
• Weight: 8.1lbs
• Wireless54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
• Dimensions: 11.1"(L) x 15.62"(W) x 1.48"(min)/1.82"(max)
• Ports: 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34), 1 Type I/II 32-bit card bus (also support 16-bit), 1 IEEE-1394(Firewire), 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0), TV-Out (S-video), Integrated Consumer IR (remote control receiver), Headphone out w/ SPDIF Digital Audio, Microphone in, 1 RJ-11 (modem), 1 Expansion Port 2 Connector, 1 RJ -45 (LAN)

Reasons for Buying

The dv8000z is a new and powerful desktop replacement by Hewlett Packard. It has a very high resolution 17" monitor (1680 x 1050), and the option of installing two separate 80 Gigabyte drives for a total of 160 Gigs, which I went for. This seemed to me like a great deal of storage for a laptop, and two separate drives are traditionally recommended for things like video editing or photo-retouching where it is best to keep the disk that contains the OS separate from the disk with your media on it.

What most attracted me to the machine, however, was the 64 bit Turion chip. I've never owned a machine with an AMD chip, and generally didn't pay much attention to 64 bit computing. A few weeks ago, however, I read a press release that SoftImage, a leading manufacturer of 3D animation software, announced a 64 bit version of their program. This started me thinking more seriously about 64 bit.

As many people know, Windows Vista will be a 64 bit operating system and 64 bit software will allow serious performance increases, especially in my field. For example, a job that takes 3 days to render on a 32 bit system might finish overnight on 64 bit. If one's primary application is a word processing, this is not an issue, but in my business, speed is important and could shave days off of a project.

Many have said that it is premature to worry about 64 bit right now, that it is a long way off. However, it seems to me that 64 bit is a lot closer than people think. Several companies either have 64 bit versions of their software or are in the process of working on them. Microsoft currently has a 64 bit version of Windows XP, and has released 64 bit versions of such programs as Windows Media Encoder. I've also been noticing the availability of 64 bit drivers such as for an Epson printer that I own.

After watching a speech by Bill Gates and reading some documents on the Microsoft website where AMD chips are endorsed, I had a feeling that they were subtly endorsing the purchase of 64 bit computers.

Therefore, 64 bit computing and Vista compatibility became a primary concern and the just-released dv8000z seemed like it was designed with it in mind. Vista is already in Beta and this machine seems expressly built according to its guidelines (see the Microsoft Website). We think that attention to Vista-compatibility was a major design factor with this machine. My decision was also influenced by reading this article: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10166_7-6359821.html among other articles.

While it is true that by the time Vista goes really mainstream, there might be more advanced chips on the market than the Turion, the point is that those who buy a 32 bit computer today and decide they want to get into 64 bit computing tomorrow must buy a new computer. However, those who buy a computer today with a 64 bit chip such as the Turion have the option of buying a computer with a better chip in the future or not. I wanted that option. Of course the Turion runs favorably with 32 bit Pentium chips today (see benchmarks).

Top view of HP dv8000z with an Andrew Jackson $20 bill for size comparison

Look and feel

When the machine finally got here, I was impressed by its appearance. It is a big yet well designed (perhaps you may say elegant) laptop, and you get a sense that it is a serious machine by looking at it. There is a lot of machine here. The build feels quite solid and the computer seems built to last.

Ports and connectors

The computer is well appointed with many ports including the regulars such as an external monitor port, RJ-45 for Ethernet, Expansion port 2 for docking, 4 USB ports, one 1394 (firewire) port, a PC card slot, a digital media slot reader, Head phone jack, ExpressCard Slot, and a microphone port. On the rear is a RJ-11 modem jack and on the front is a consumer infrared lens.

Left side view of HP dv8000z

Right side view of HP dv8000z

Front side view of HP dv8000z

Bottom side view of HP dv8000z

The screen

As mentioned before, the display is a large 17" 1650 X 1080 Brightview screen. The colors look very good without any hue shifts. White looks like white and skin tone looks like skin tone. A high resolution monitor such as this one is nice to have when using complex programs and lessens the clutter of palettes on the screen which often happens on smaller monitors. Web browsing is a pleasure thanks to the excellent anti-aliasing and bright view monitor.

Video

The included video chipset in this machine is the integrated 128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200M with Hypermemory. It has 128 MB of memory, but can borrow another 128 MB from the main memory for a total of 256. According to Microsoft's website, they recommend a video system with 128 MB of memory for Vista. ATI's website says that the 200M supports the "Windows Vista Display Driver Model". So, in addition to the Turion, this seems to be a workable combination for Vista when it comes out.

So far the 200M seems snappy and responsive to the work I have been doing such as photo retouching, compositing, video and design.

Audio

The Altec Lansing built-in speakers deliver remarkable audio quality, which was noticed by my best friend during a visit paid to me recently. Certainly, it's the best we've ever heard in a laptop.

Benchmarks

Of course, as we've mentioned, we expect the processor to demonstrate it's real capabilities in the coming 64 bit era but here is how it stands in today's 32 bit world:

Notebook	Time
HP dv8000z (2.0GHz AMD Turion 64ML-37	1m 49s
Dell XPS M140 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 41s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
Asus Z70A (1.6GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
HP Pavilion dv4000(1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
HP DV4170us (Pentium M 1.73 GHz)	1m 53s
Sony VAIO S380 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s

Below are the results gained from running PCMark04 on the dv8000z and results are compared to the Dell XPS M140 with a 1.86GHz Pentium M processor:

[/TD]

Futuremark PCMark04 Scores
	Dell XPS M140 (1.86GHz Penitum M, Intel graphics)	HP dv8000z (2.0GHz AMD, ATI Radeon 200m)
Multithreaded Test 1 / File Compression	3.32 MB/s	2.77 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 1 / File Encryption	26.66 MB/s	20.89MB/s
Multithreaded Test 2 / File Decompression	23.46 MB/s	24.54MB/s
Multithreaded Test 2 / Image Processing	10.87 MPixels/s	12.07MPixels/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / Virus Scanning	1866.81 MB/s	1751.0MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / Grammar Check	2.85 KB/s	3.07KB/s
File Decryption	53.74 MB/s	61.12MB/s
Audio Conversion	2478.85 KB/s	2624.93 KB/s
Web Page Rendering	5.53 Pages/s	4.69Pages/s
DivX Video Compression	50.35 FPS	53.04FPS
Physics Calculation and 3D	98.57FPS	108.52FPS
Graphics Memory - 64 Lines	479.95FPS	976.41FPS

General Performance and Battery Life

The system performs quite well. Websites load in a jiffy. Working on high resolution images in Photoshop and manipulation of 3D layers and effects in After Effects all seem as good or better than my one year old ultra high-end desktop machine. Renders happen fast, obviously taking advantage of the Turion. I was able to use the battery for around 3 hours.

Customer Support

I found HP customer support to be very good. I called them several times with various questions and each time there was very little or no wait time. I got through to a live human right away who was generally knowledgeable, professional and courteous.

Keyboard

HP dv8000z keyboard and touchpad

The dv8000z comes with a separate numeric keypad. This is a nice feature that is not commonly found on other laptops. The keyboard looks nice with a reflective border around it. In addition it has Quickplay function keys that allow you to play DVDs and CDs without booting up the system, basically allowing the unit to perform as a high resolution DVD player with less drain on the battery. There is also a button in the upper right corner that pops up the calculator for easy access. Hey, why not?

Conclusion

If you are a digital content creator such as a video editor, animator, compositor, illustrator or photo-retoucher, and you are looking for a desktop replacement to do your work, you should seriously consider getting this machine with its 17" high resolution screen, Turion processor and dual hard drives. In addition the newly released HP dv8000z seems consciously designed to anticipate Windows Vista and the future migration to 64 bit computing.

If you are concerned about future proofing your investment for the next four to five years without being obligated to buy a 64 bit machine next year, I think you should definitely consider this machine over a 32 bit unit.

Pricing and Availability: HP dv8000z Pricing

 

Spectacular review! Your writing style is very fluid and enjoyable to read.

I have yet to see the dv8000z in a retail store yet, but after your review + pictures, I have a lofty opinion of it. The only issue which bugs me about it is the weak graphics card, but for what you are doing, it doesn't look like that makes a difference. At least it helps future proof the notebook.

While I still think 64-bit is irrelevant and unimportant, I do agree that software specifically coded in x64 will be faster for encoding and rendering. Now the only question is getting drivers for x64...

I have a question - can you use the hard drives in a RAID configuration, or is one just your primary drive and the other is recognized as storage?

Cheers,

 

Great Review animas3D! - Job well done and a pat on the back

 

Wow! Machine looks really good. Excellent review. I think this absolute Multimedia Machine for verygood price with 64Bit processor.

I remember in one of DivX press, they said their 64Bit encoding is 4 times faster than 32bit version in similar hardware setup. IMHO investing in 64Bit laptop is a good idea if we want to keep for more than 2 years.

 

Nice, informative review! The DV8000Z looks like a MUCH better machine than the ZD7000/ZD8000. Congrats!!!

 

Great review, thanks for your efforts.

Would you consider posting rear and bottom photos. Curious about connections and adding RAM. On my Dell, I added RAM by a small plate on the bottom.

You're right on about 64 bit. It only takes one application for 64 bit to be worth every penny you paid. Particularily if you can go from days to overnight.

I'm hoping that HP puts Yonah [Core Duo] in that same chassis. The 2 HD's and the numeric keypad at the surprisingly budget price make it strong contender in the 17" DTR market.

Hermit

 

Excellant review, great looking machine. Good work!

 

Great review. I didn't even know that HP makes a 17" notebook, atleast I haden't seen it in stores. Surprised it only comes with integrated graphics though.

 

I liked this review, the reviewer must have put alot of effort into it. I appreciate that. I'm not too interested in 64 bit chips yet however. When vista forces me to go 64 bit then maybe. I saw this machine in real life once. It's a nice machine the silk screens need some work, but the sound, for a little lap top is superior. Thanks Joe

 

I, too, have no need for 64-bit computing power, yet. I figure I'll make the move to a 64-bit machine in another 1-2 years when applications that really benefit from this technology are in the mainstream. By then, I'll be ready to upgrade to the next level of graphics cards, as well.

 

What is the 'next level of graphic cards' exactly? 512MB dedicated cards?

 

I would say the SLI config of 2x256MB cards. But for Lappy's I don't think that is feasable because of the size and power required.

 

Who knows what Nvidia and ATI might come up with in 1-2 years? I certainly never expected to see something like the 7800GTX in a notebook when I was fragging monsters with my Dell 8600 with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 card back in 2003.

 

Thanks for the kind comments regarding the review. I hope you found it informative. Here is a shot of the bottom as requested. I meant to put it in the review, but somehow didn't attach it.

Regarding the RAID configuration of the two drives, I meant to find out about that before, but never did. It is definately something that I am interested in. If anyone finds out before I do, please post your findings here.

As far as the back of the machine is concerned, it only has an port for an RJ-11 modem jack. Other than that it is pretty sleek. Unfortunately I lent my camera to someone, so I can't take a shot of it.

Joe.

 

Just wanted to drop a line - Nice review!!

 

Excellent review, and it is good to hear your perspective on 64 bit. Your kind of work is where it all starts, I think. As a just-plain-user, I'll probably be ready for a new computer in a few years, get 64 bit, and probably still wait a little while before a program I want to use requires it.

I'm always looking for an excuse to get some new tech, though.

 

congrats on your new purchase and thank you for a detail review...

turion 64 musta be nice... however, i noticed your requirement of capable graphics hardware, and in your review you didn't mention how the integrated graphics card perform in your apps of choice?

was it up to your level of graphical performance? is there driver support for hardware accelerated opengl operations from the 3d software makers?

just curious...

but the future looks bright for workhorse laptop... 19in display... dual cores(yohnas)... maybe SLI PCI-ex gfx cards...

bring on build your own laptop!!!

sg

 

One thing that HP has always done with its 17" notebooks is put in the numpad, people always seem to love that, it baffles me as to why other manufacturers just don't do that.

Nice Review!

 

Acer 17" Lappy w/ NumPad Pretty impressive $899 AR, could use a little more CPU. I agree with your basic comment, after all a 17" is truly a DTR, not a portable lappy.

Hermit

 

Thanks Joe,

Are the hard drives IDE or SATA? The large HD plate on the bottom photo got me curious.

Hermit

 

Both drives are the Fujitsu MHV2080AH and are very quiet and cool running drives.

Here is a link to the product page from Fujitsu:
http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/v3__product.asp?pid=449&inf=dsc&wg=15

Here is a review I found of the drive:
http://www.digitaldingus.com/reviews/fujitsu/mhv2080ah.php

Joe

 

Darn you!! I was all settled on the dv4000 until I saw this review!
But seriously, this looks like the ideal solution for the home user who doesn't use a computer for serious multimedia editing or gaming but still wants (or needs) a large amount of screen real estate. Will be taking a very serious look at this one....

 

Thanks for the Hard drive review links. I can't seem to find the exact hard drive serial number (make number) to compare against the review's.

 

I'm not really sure what you mean about the hard drive serial numbers.

 

Hi, am interested in graphics and web design right now and every store ive been to has told me i NEED an apple. i do not understand why i need an apple if i find a pc like this one that can kick a powerbook's ass. i was curious why you went with this hp over an apple considering your profession. personally i am turned off by apple's high prices and "we're better than you" attitude. just wanted your opinion.

thanks,
Geoff

 

I used to be a Macintosh user, but found that that wintel machines were cheaper and faster. So far, no regrets.

I would assume that it is difficult for some to mentally make the switch.

Apple is a great company, though.

 

I was a Windows-only user until I finally got my first Apple, an iMac G5. So far it's been great and I love the hassle-free OS, but I don't feel quite as at "home" with it than I do with Windows. I guess it all depends though.

 

hello

i am wondering about the ati radeon xpress 200m

is it truely adequate for 3d work such as modeling and animation, such as with softimage|xsi?

from the review it looks like it as it sounds like this was a criteria for choosing a computer, as it is what i want also, however it didnt sound like alot of 3d work had yet been done with the card, so im wondering more info specifically on its 3d capabilities/performance.

okay thank you - jason

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
- Jesus - John 14:1

 

Although I don't use SoftImage, the following principle applies, Final renders are handled by the main processor, not the video card. Realtime graphics are less of a factor in 3D modeling and animation than in games.

I went with this machine because of the Turion 64 bit chip and the dual hard drives (as well as the large screen). For animation production and video applications, it does the job quite nicely.

 

Nice review and picutres.....Quiet impressive.......I have almost decided on going in for a dv8000. While checking it out on hpshopping.com, i realised that they offer two type of displays - Brightview and Ultra Brightview. Do you know the difference. THe price difference is $100 and am not sure which one to pick.

I checkout of the forums and came across a few posts on this, but were not very helpful.

Can you help.......



Dj

 

When you go to System Properties does it say 2.0ghz?

When you took yours out of the box was there any kind of protection on the screen?

 

as far as the difference in screen if you can id suggest going to a store that has both kinds and see if you can at all do the less expensive one.


- jason

"(A)Do not let your heart be troubled; [a]believe in God, believe also in Me."
- Jesus - John 14:1



"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." ( www.Lockman.org)

 

Great review!

Now that this laptop is available with the Intel Core Duo, would you still pick the AMD if you had the choice?

I am purchasing this model, but still haven't decided on which processor to get.

 

Intel Duo all the way. I'm amazed at all the things I can do at once!

 

About two weeks ago I didn't have the slightest idea about notebooks, and now I'm ready to make a purchase because of reviews like this one and from the help of all you guys.

THANKS!

 

can you post the link for Core Duo version of this laptop?
Do you know if it is available in Canada?

 

As far as I know there is not a review of this laptop with the core duo processor.