With a striking, liquid metallic industrial design on the outside and powerful entertainment capabilities on the inside, this notebook is the perfect partner for fun, communication... more
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(+) Clear easy instuctions, Looks very smart, Light and easy to transport, very durable (-) Screen could be slightly bigger, battery doesn't last very long
A review by Choppit on HP Pavilion dv5 March 25th, 2009
Author's product rating:
Speed
Fast
Look & Feel
Good
Comfort & Portability
Satisfactory
Robustness & Durability
Good
Value For Money
Good
Advantages:
Solid build, clear display, can run Linux
Disadvantages:
Windows Vista, average battery life
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
After spending a number of weeks looking for a mid range laptop that I could run Linux on, I decided on this one (specifically the £530 PC World DV5-1110em variant) not because it's specification particularly stood out but because its a HP (reputable brand) and it's nice and shiny. By this time I'd resigned myself to having to pay for the bundled Windows Vista install which to be fair has some uses, for example updating my Tom Tom and well....probably some other things. Despite carrying out a fair amount of research into Linux compatible laptops I'd actually thrown caution to the wind as I didn't actually find anything about this model, so in the spirit of exploration I'd taken a gamble. Despite working in IT I'd managed to avoid Vista since release so this was my first real exposure and I can now say that Vista is not quick on this laptop despite the dual core 2.1GHz Turion CPU, 3GB RAM and 256M dedicated video memory. Next thing to do was install Linux (Fedora 10) from a USB stick. 30 minutes later I had a working Fedora install running from a 60Gb partition. Aside from the wireless toggle and brightness function keys everything "just worked" , including wireless networking, CPU freq scaling and webcam. Out of curiosity I then installed Kubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid) with even better results (after installing the ath5k driver from backports) and this time the brightness controls worked too. Performance wise I'd estimate that Kubuntu boots twice as fast as Windows on this hardware and runs four times as fast.
Now to the hardware. The overall build quality is of the usual high HP standard with a robust looking hinge mechanism. The whole unit is glossy (did I mention how shiny it is?) black for the lid, and a chrome look to the body. The only area where I feel the build quality is let down is with the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray ray door which could do with being a bit more robust and opening/closing more positively.
The 1280x800 display is bright and vivid although the gloss finish may present issues with reflections in bright light (I've had no issue with this yet).
Battery life is around 2 hours (for Vista and Kubuntu) with the screen at mid brightness and wireless networking enabled which is nothing to write home about but acceptable for my circumstances.
The only gripe I have about the design is that the power adaptor plugs in at the the rear right side of the body which can get in the way of an external mouse if you're working in a restricted deskspace. (would have been better to place it at the back or use a right angled power connector).
In a nutshell, I'm pleased with this purchase and would recommend the hardware.
Update 07/06/09 Ubuntu 9.04 x64 works well on this hardware, except for the proprietary ATI video drivers which perform *very* poorly during video playback. However, the open source drivers turn in a perfectly adequate performance considering I don't use mine for gaming.
Advantages: Good quality laptop, great appearance Disadvantages: Games are a no-no.
...high quality affordable laptop, the HP pavilion dv5 doesn't fail to please in looks, performance or price. In terms of look and design, flashy is a good word for it. It has a glossy black case which shines in the light, then you open it. The keyboard-surround is split horizontally: the bottom half is very light silver with a white check pattern, and the upper half perforated silver plastic. Around the edge of the laptop, there is a chrome-effect ... ...a finish that is so reflective you can see your face in it. This is the 'bling-bling' of the laptop world. It also feels pretty solid, I don't think you would be able to break it easily and I have faith in it's durability and robustness. It is also quite light, weighing 2.65kg, not bad for a laptop it's size.
Ok, so onto function:
Input devices
The keyboard is pretty high quality, it is quite big for a laptop and doesn't leave you feeling ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: i can take it anyware and hook it up any place Disadvantages: wireless i had to buy a extra wireless because the wireless in the computer goes in and out
i would recomend this product i have one only thing different is i have a 4g and this one has a 3g. i realy like mine very much. i looked around at all the computers and it was this one or a dell but the reason why i didnt buy a dell is because there was not much software that i liked i needed graghic and tv and movies and music and making mine own stuff . i would of regreted buying the dell. i'm glad i got the hp. i really like the web camra i used ... ...and used them in plays it worked great and i use it to video peaple saying things for plays. i really like the pictures that i can take and make my own movies. i can hook it up to a projector screen and use powerpoint and even watch movies i love my computer. ...
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Advantages: wi-fi,remote control,finger frint sensor,sound qualityof thespeakers. Disadvantages: display size is too big,getting heated soon.
really a valuable product for paying such a amount to buy it,because everything is satisfied except for the thing its screen size is too big to scroll the page.in my point of view its better than go for other brands .its finger print feature is very nice.but one thing they forgot add is veriface recognition.the steel look is vey excellent in stylish.colour finishing is too good. one more thing to say is that two headphone outlets .remote control ... ...effect is excellent.the touch pads are very sensitive to use friendly.memory card slot provided is too usefull to use it with many things.lan and bluetooth are very good features added in it.its display is very good to view without any stress to our eyes.keypads also designed very good.battery back is also very good.friends if u have idea getting laptop u can also try it. ...
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Speed
Look & Feel
Comfort & Portability
Robustness & Durability
Value For Money
helpful
12.03.2009
Quick review of HP Pavilion dv5 Review ofHP Pavilion dv5by
BelindaChan
It is a solid machine and feels well built; the lid and wrist rest possess little of the flex found on other low-price laptops, but I don't enjoy the glossy finish on the touch pad that much.The keyboard is roomy, but similar to the touch pad, the keys feature a glossy finish that aid the overall look but detract from actually typing. The performance is satisfying though. Generally, it worth the price.
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: looks, quick launch, vista (advantage for some), control, graphics, hard drive, RAM Disadvantages: battery life
This is my second laptop and i would say has to be one of the best products ive ever owned I use it every day and the amount of use i get out of it was worth the 699 pounds I paid for it. i can play all my favourite games and watch all my favourite movies. it came preinstalled with vista home premium which I wasn't to keen on to start with but am now able to use all its functions. The massive hard drive means i can keep my entire music collection ... ...memory. It also has a quick touch pad and a remote control which slots nicely into the side. And it means I can change song or film from a distance away. It's really light and is one of the best looking laptops ive seen. for the specs your buying you are getting an incredible deal, I got 4gb ram, 250 gb hard drive and a 2.0 GHz processor. Great buy ...
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With a striking, liquid metallic industrial design on the outside and powerful entertainment capabilities on the inside, this notebook is the perfect partner for fun, communication and productivity. Featuring a liquid metallic industrial design with smooth, elegant thin lines, this 15.4-inch notebook PC is designed to captivate. This notebook comes with an integrated low-light webcam, dual digital microphones and broadband are ideal for social networking and communications.
Operating system / software
OS Provided: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Software: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Windows Media Player, Microsoft Windows Movie Maker, HP QuickPlay Software, Microsoft Windows DVD Maker, Microsoft Windows Mail, Microsoft Windows Media Center, Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery, CyberLink DVD Suite, HP Total Care Advisor, Norton Internet Security 2008 (60 days subscription), Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (60 days trial)
