Found review of HP dv2000t

On fatwallet, a poster listed his blog for his review of the dv2000t. Just thought some of you might be interested

http://arajani.blogspot.com

It seems that the dv2000t screen does not open flat (180 deg) but instead only about 120 degrees! Wonder why HP did this?

Hopefully we will get a full review here on NBR soon!

 

Just in case the blog starts filling up with other postings, here's the link directly to the HP dv2000t review (I think!)

http://arajani.blogspot.com/2006/07/hp-dv2000t-notebook-review.html

 

The reviewer seems very picky to say the least . Yet he gives it 8.5 of 10, which seems quite high to me.

 

The review also mentions that the remote recharges in the PCMCIA slot. The remote goes into the express card slot and does not recharge, correct?

 

You're right!

He also says he'd do without the video camera and dual mics, to get rid of the bulge (?) it creates in the lid? Huh??? I happen to really like the camera and mic!

There were a number of things he didn't like, which either didn't bother me, or I didn't agree with. My major gripe is that the lid does show fingerprints and smugs a LOT. Put your dv2000t in your laptop bag, remove it, put it back a couple of times, and you'll have fingerprints all over the thing.

Of course, they do wipe off easily, but it is a little annoying.

Speaking of minor annoyances, he also didn't like the latchless closure system. I had a dv1000, and it didn't close fully with the latch. It would have a gap of about an eighth to a quarter of an inch, which bugged me. It wasn't really a problem, just it would bug me, and others have mentioned it.

Overall, though, it was a good review.

(He also said he couldn't use the built in card reader, until he got rid of his Sony. My dv1000t accepted Memory Sticks... haven't tried it on my dv2000t, but I had assumed that the dv2000 series takes Memory Sticks....)

 

I interpreted that to mean that he currently has no need for a 5-in-1 reader because he only uses memory sticks. If he ever gets rid of his Sony camera, he may use the other formats.

 

That is what he said.

Only thing is, the card reader DOES take memory sticks!

He's now posted :

"holy sh*t! the notebook takes sony's memorystick pro! the problem is that the slot for the memorystick pro is huge, and when i put it in, it felt like i was forcing it in there, possibly scratching stuff up. but it went it eventually and booted right up. hot diggity!"

 

does this guy ( http://arajani.blogspot.com) actually have dv2000 on his hands right now?!? maybe someone have to 'review' his review?

 

Touché... I withdraw my previous comment

 

Hi there, I'm the author of the review on http://arajani.blogspot.com. Thanks for the feedback.

Apart from my complete idiocy about the memory stick reader, the other issue pointed out to me involved the remote control, which doesn't reside in the PCMCIA slot -- because there is no PCMCIA slot! Instead the remote slides in the ExpressCard slot and does not recharge. My bad.

Re: FDLAZARTE -- Yep, I've got one of the notebooks in my possession. I ordered it on June 19 and it arrived on the morning of June 29 via FedEx. A co-worker of mine also purchased it, but he still hasn't gotten it (probably b/c of the long weekend).

 

Hey thedraven
Overall, I really enjoyed your review. A few things I didn't agree with (that's to be expected), and a few inaccuracies, but overall, again, I liked it!

Thanks

 

Thanks to thedraven for doing a review of the dv2000t. I've been waiting for a review here but still none so far. Have you tried to see how long your battery will last?

Thanks again!

 

My 6 cell lasted 2.5 hours, watching a movie. Rather disappointing... may have to spring for the 12 cell.

I did have wifi on during that time.

 

I was wondering how long the 6 cell lasted. Thank you for posting your time. I had found some previous numbers from other sources that had the 6 cell at anywhere from 2 1/2 hours to a bit over 3 hours but did not know what conditions that was under. I wonder how long your 6 cell would last with the wifi turned off?

 

I will be taking my notebook on a flight with me today. So i'll see how long the 12 cell lasts.

 

I saw a dv2000 at Circuit City, and I have to agree with the reviewers comments about the trackpad. It is too "sticky", and doesn't glide smoothly. It feels similar to the one on the Compaq v2000. In my opinion, this is a major downgrade from the nice textured pad on the dv1000.

 

Thats a shame... The textured trackpad on the dv1000 is one of the main reasons I bought it. I can't stand the smooth "sticky" trackpads that most laptops have... I almost bought a low spec Thinkpad JUST for the trackpoint... but the dv1000 has the first trackpad that I could actually live with, so I got that instead.

 

Guess that's why Baskin and Robbins (a local ice cream company) makes 31 flavors of ice cream.

I happen to prefer the touchpad on the dv2000 to my previous dv1000t. I found myself having to look at the touchpad to find the mouse buttons, if I didn't look at the touchpad and buttons, I often couldn't find them simply by touch. They were too stiff for my taste.

I find the buttons on the touchpad now much easier to use, and don't really have any issue with the pad itself. I wonder if other people feel the same, or find the new touchpads/buttons a step backwards from the previous model?

By the way, there have been reports about the rough surface on the touchpads of the older hp's wearing down ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=62852), and getting smooth over time. The new pads, being already smooth, will in any case hold up!

Not saying Chumly is right or wrong, I think it's interesting that different things that bother different people! What bothered me (slightly) was the stiffness of the earlier, dv1k touchpad buttons. Not so with the newer model.

My personal main gripe is fingerprints/smugs. Happened to go into a local "Sony Style" store, and saw that they also have a laptop with a shinny, black laquer finish. It, for some reason, didn't show fingerprints nearly as badly as the dv2000 (and, reportedly, the v3000). It would show smugs, but not nearly as much. Not sure why that it.

 

thedraven,

I agree that the memory options are not to the liking of some, but I think it is better for most consumers, because as quoted, "Dual Channel is only supported when the system is configured with DDR2 symmetric memory (i.e. 2x256MB)". That is probably another reason why HP chose not to give a single stick option because most consumers are not aware of this fact and would lose the benefit of dual channel memory.

Also the recovery partition is better for most consumers because most of them lose the recovery CD anyway even if one is given. Also the partition is a better way to go since the probability of the partition being safe is better, even if the original partition gets affected by a virus or gets formatted etc.

So this being a consumer PC, I think HP made a wise choice in the above two issues.

Of course HP has benefits too by making this choice THEY get to sell both sticks of memory and less trouble for them when somebody calls support for recovery.

 

As you stated, "Dual Channel is only supported when the system is configured with DDR2 symmetric memory (i.e. 2x256MB)". But is it ok to have different sizes of RAM installed (ie. 1x256MB & 1x1GB) and the computer will still work, but you will lose the benefit of dual channel, right? (From what little I have read, the real world difference in speed is not that great)

 

Yes, you RAM will run at the lowest speed of the two, i.e. if you have 533MHz and 667Mhz memory sticks it will run at 533.