HP L2000 to HP dv4170us

I was looking for a nice laptop for school, that was relatively light, but was powerful enough to handle everything I needed to be a computer science major at school.

Video was not a big deal for me, because I game using a PS2, but what was important was a nice looking screen, lightweight (less then 6.5 pounds), and low cost (below $1300).

Initially when the L2000 came out, I figured it was the best system out for the money....cheap, powerful, lightweight, and relatively decent integrated graphics. However when my L2000 arrived (Turion 2ghz, 1gb ram, 80gb 5400, 8x Lightscribe DVD Burner, 6-cell battery) I found it had two major flaws that bothered me. 1st was the heat that was being emitted around the keyboard and touchpad area...it was extremely uncomfortable and not acceptable, despite the fact that that system cost around $1250 with my student discount (which is cheap for that kinda horsepower). Secondly, the battery life was nowhere near the 3 hours HP told me it would be, and as a college student, that was important to me. Everything else was perfect about it...looks, size, screen, power...but those two issues were deal breakers. Two days after I got it, I sent it back to HP.

I started reading some more magazines, having decided that sticking with a centrino would be my best decision for coolness and battery life. I stumbled upon the dv4170us having been an editors choice with PC Magazine, and highly regarded as a value laptop, however for $1399 list price, I didn't feel like I was getting enough. I was prepared to buy the $1349 Toshiba M45-S355 (which was more or less identical to the dv4170 except it had a faster processor), when the dv4170 went on sale at circuit city for $1199 after rebates. At $1200, this notebook is a steal, so I went to see it in person and it was great....little to no heat, 3.5 hour battery life, and great features- Centrino 1.73, 1gb ram, 100gb hard disk, DVD burner, Quickplay, Brightview Screen etc etc. My only concern was the 6.5 lb weight, but it was thin enough that it didn't bother me enough to rule it out.

After having been using it for a few days, I am absolutely thrilled with my decision to buy this laptop. It is sturdy, powerful, and has better battery life then I could have hoped for with a standard battery (3.5 hours on the brightest screen setting, wireless on, surfing the net, and listening to a music stream). It has a great look to it, very sleek, and is not as bulky as the Inspiron 6000 I had actually started considering.

If anyone has any questions about this model, please don't hesitate to ask, and I will try and answer them to the best of my ability.

Alex

 

Wow! 3.5 hours with full screen brightness and wifi on? I'm pretty impressed. What battery life have you gotten while playing DVD movies, if you've played any? What battery life have you gotten when the wifi is off and/or the screen is not at its maximum brightness setting?0

Did you consider getting the DV1000? Has the same size and weight of the L2000, but it is more expensive so I guess the DV4000 is good. I just personally find it too heavy and bulky. Anyways, thats just me. Glad to see you like it.

 

The heat under your left palm was from the hard drive. You probably got one of those lousy Samsung HDs that run 10C hotter than the better brands. Heat = power consumption, and the 6 cell battery wasn't going to give you 3.5 hours of life to begin with. I swear, it's as if Intel has a mole inside HP trying to sabotage the L2000. HP's Intel-based dv1000 notebooks (same layout as the L2000) don't get those Samsung drives anywhere near as often. I'm tempted to buy a L2000 and swap in a proper HD and DVD-RW just to see how big a diff it'll make.

 

I have heard heat complaints about so many different models of laptop Im starting to think oversensitive palms is a common disorder.

 

I have not had a chance to pop in any real DVDs (except a couple DV tapes I burned to DVD), but I will be sure to report back with my findings.

One thing I noticed about the L2000, was that the bottom of the laptop, with the 6 cell did not have any feet or anything to even remotely lift it off the surface of the desk...which would have helped with airflow and dissipated some of the heat. As far as the hard drive, I did not have the Samsung..I forget which one it was, but I specifically checked to make sure it wasn't that one. The bottom line is that the L2000 left a bad taste in my mouth, and after using it for a solid couple of days, nothing could've changed my mind about it.

I am very pleased with my decision to go with the dv4000 series...I like having the extra screen room too.

 

The Turion processor seems to be the selling point for the L2000, with its 64 bit capability. Thats why I think most people buy it and keep it despite its problems.

Do you mind automan227, that your computer cannot run 64 bit programs or operating systems?

What do you guys think? Is it silly to get a 32 bit Pentium M with a 64 bit OS coming in just a year? What is the big deal about 64 bit anyways?

 

I am not planning on holding this laptop for my entire 4 years of college...if I manage to make it last that long, then great, but its no big loss because thats why I chose to spend $1200 vs. $2000....I had the money to purchase an extremely high end laptop in that range, but I felt it was a better investment to get something now that was a little less, and put it towards a real killer laptop in a couple years.

Nothing I am doing or will be doing will involve anything that'll require 64 bit capibility...i mean yes its a nice perk, but i'd rather get a mobile 64bit processor when it is a little more refined (like the centrino).

 

Not having feet wouldn't have restricted airflow, it would have completely blocked the cooling fan's air intake. The fact that your notebook didn't overheat and crash under that scenario suggests that it'd run cool with the intake unblocked. Under that scenario adding a Samsung HD to make the machine heat up would have been redundant.

Has anyone else received a L2000 or V2000z without feet? Between missing feet and those awful Samsung HDs it's as if someone's trying to sabotage HP's Turion product lines.

 

Working for a company that competed against intel,
I wouldn't be shocked if this theory is correct.

Though I have a RMA to return L2000 by coming Friday,
I've decided to test seagate 5400 RPM hd with L2000.
It should arrive by Tuesday.

If it still gets warm and fan kicks in, then...?

Imran

 

Just curios: what exactly are feet, and how big are they? On this picture of the back of the L2000, where are they? And how will I know if the L2000 arrived without feet?

Thanks a lot!

 

It has 4 little rubber pads showing, those are the feet. They might not lift up the bottom enought though to give it good circulation. Did you get the 12 cell battery or the 6?

 

I haen't bought it yet, but if I do, it will probably be the 6-cell (from Sams). I might prop the back up with a book or something if it gets too hot. Thanks I see the feet now.

 

I havent gotten mine yet either Im very excited to be getting a new machine.

Im getting mine from hpshopping I know its a little more expensive but I like the accidental damage coverage and I wanted to be able to customize it.

I have worked with a few at CompUSA and didnt notice any real heat issues but even if it gets warm it wont bother me, I figure for the price and power its a great deal.

 

I just got my V2000z last Friday and My HD is a Fujitsu 40GB 4200RPM Drive. Since for now I only have 256MB Ram, my HD access has been almost constant and it gets really hot (it went up 62c once ). I borrowed another 256MB from My Acer notebook and the temp is about 49c.

And yes It does have "rubber feet" (about 4mm) on all sides even though the battery is removed. It is not at all flat on the surface.

config :
ml-30
256mb
40gb 4200rpm

 

I have an L2000 with the 12-cell battery. It has feet, though with that battery sticking out it doesn't need them. It has a 100 GB Fujitsu disk. It's not overly hot in typical Internet browsing, mail, etc. Battery life looks like it's going to be 4 - 5 hours in light usage, with wireless with not using the DVD. Screen up full (because I hadn't seen how to turn it down -- now I do, so I will).

I don't have any complaints other than HP's lack of support for 64 bits.
(However I've found drivers for enough devices to use Vista in 64-bit mode.)

 

Did you get the Aero Glass (DWM) effect going in Vista ?. I tried the 64-bit vista, but could not get Aero glass running even with the ATI LDDM driver. It was just showing base Aero.

I went back to 32-bit vista and everything is good.