DV9233ca

I've been looking for a desktop replacement and apprently Costco ahs the following model available :

http://www.costco.ca/en-CA/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10298367&whse=BCCA&topnav=&browse=

Here are the spec:


HP Pavilion dv9233ca English, T5500, 17-in. WXGA+ $1819.99 CAN

Processor and Memory:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5500, 1.66 GHz
667 MHz front-side bus 2 MB L2 cache 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 1024 MB)

Drives: 2 x 120 GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
LightScribe CD-RW\DVD±RW dual-layer combo drive

Display and Video Card:
17-in. WXGA+ high-definition active-matrix display with BrightView technology, 16.7 M colours, 1440 x 900 (native)
256 MB PCI Express™ x16 NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7600

Audio:
Integrated audio system
Built-in Altec Lansing stereo speakers
Integrated microphone
External ports: microphone, line-out (speakers/headphones) with S/PDIF support, Ear buds

Communication:
56K data/fax modem, 10/100/1000 integrated Ethernet LAN
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, 802.11a/b/g, Integrated 1.3 MP webcam

Keyboard and Pointing Device:
Full-sized keyboard
Touch-pad pointing device with dedicated vertical scroll pad

Expandability:
2 memory slots (used), maximum of 2 GB (2 x 1024 MB)
1 ExpressCard™ slot, supports ExpressCard™/34 and ExpressCard™/54
5-in-1 card reader: SD™, MultiMediaCard™, Memory Stick™, Memory Stick PRO™, and xD-Picture Card™

Ports:
4 USB 2.0 ports,IEEE 1394,VGA,IR remote receiver,HDMI


Should I go for it? Is the keyboard issue still exists in this model?
THX

 

Looks good.

Not sure how the price stacks up to other notebooks in terms of Canadian dollars, though.

Nope, that only applied to the dv5000 and dv8000 which are both discontinued models now.

 

Good to know that the issue doesn't apply to this series....
BTW, is it possible to reinstall XP pro to this notebook with my own CD since I'm not ready for Vista yet.....

THX

 

Yes, it is.

As long as you have the CoA for the CD and all that fun stuff.

 

To install Vista, you'll want to back up the SwSetup folder and probably create the restore CDs so you can go back to Vista later, restart the machine and go into the BIOS. Disable native SATA support, and restart to the XP CD. You should then be able to reformat and install XP. You'll need to go to HP's website and select driver downloads for "dv9000t CTO", then XP, to pull up the drivers you need. They won't show up if you put in your exact system model number as it is available with Vista only.

Personally, I love Vista and don't know why people want to stick with XP on such fast systems, but to each his own. Anyway, hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the info....
Is there instruction on how to create the Restore CD? The reason why I prefer XP pro (for now) is becasue I'm not ready to use Vista plus I need to install applications that is not supported by Vista for now...

THX again

 

Yes you can as long as you have the cd

 

The package doesn't say anything about the Restore CD....... Is there a way to create my own?

 

Yeah when u first log in i think it asks if u wanna create ur own restore discs and if u dont or cant then later on just go to system recovery in ur start programs menu and theres an option to create the discs there. You can only create them once though so load it up and see how many it needs. My dv9000t only needed 1.5 DVD+R for it. Soem say it needed more.

 

Thanks...I guess I'll be joining the HP family soon....

 

Using a factor of $1US ~ $0.85 CDN, about $1,547.

Specs look good. I'd also shop the big box stores as well to see if there are any similar models. Just note that the hard drives in the Costco ones sound pretty good. I know the dual drive HP models sometime skimp and use very slow HD's. If no other place has this computer, I'd say go for it.