HP Pavilion dv3-4050ea opinions

Hi,

I'm considering buying the new HP Pavilion dv3-4050ea but I haven't found any reviews or people's experiences about it. Does anyone have it or played with one?

I would like to know if it heats too much (is it comfortable on your lap?) and what is the battery life in light/internet usage scenario.

Details about it:




* Intel® Core™ i5-450M Processor 2.4 GHz, Level 3 cache 3 MB
* 13.3" 1366 x 768 diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView
* 4 GB DDR3 (2 x 2048 MB, max: 8GB)
* 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
* SATA optical drive: LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±R/RW with
Double Layer Support
* ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5450 Graphics (switchable), up to
2202 MB total graphics memory with 512 MB DDR3 dedicated
* HP TrueVision Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone
* Altec Lansing speakers
* 3 USB 2.0 ports (3rd shared with eSATA port)
* HDMI output
* Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
* 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth® wireless networking
* 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards,
MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture
cards
* Weight: 2.085 kg / 4.6lbs
* 6-cell lithium-ion battery

Product page

Thanks

 

I actually ordered this laptop yesterday so it should come early next week. if anyone can tell me what possible issues to look out for that would be great also if anyone has some questions ill be happy to answer them when I get it.

 

Hi guys how did you get on with this laptop? I'm considering it too but there isn't much info out there for it. Thanks

 

hi guys, got my laptop today so i thought id just give a few first impressions.
overall im very impressed with the build quality, look and feel. its very quick and snappy in everything ive done so far. a big plus for me is the keyboard which is very well spaced and each key has great travel and clicky feel to them. the track pad really isnt as bad as what alot of reviews said about other laptops, it just needs a little time to get use to it (not as good as a mbp trackpad but w7 is better than osx imo).
the screen is really good too and isnt as reflective as i expected and is fine at about 50% brightness.
A couple of issues i found is that use can hear the fan but its not that annoying and music easily masks this even at low volume. Two more issues i found was that the speak seems to click when i do certain things ie click on weblinks which I know its supposed too anyway but is dosnt sound normal to me; the other problem i have is that the fingerprint reader really dosnt work. I dont think its broken its just that the device manager dosnt detect it and no amount of fiddling with drivers seems to provide a fix.

in all im very happy with the laptop and i would be very happy to recommend it, ill post pictures and info if anyone is interested.

 

Good stuff. I had a look at it in Dixons and its pretty nice, compact, and the screen seems reasonable as well. Seemed pretty light but didn't have the battery in at the time. It could be a bit more solid (think my Dell Studio 15 is a bit tougher) but fine if you ask me.

Decisions decisions! let me know if you notice anything else good or bad about it

 

well i've had it a few days now and im still happy with it apart from the fingerprint scanner still not working. after spending the best part of 3 days trying to fix it, i've given up and I called Hp support and they are going to pick it up tomorrow. I would still defiantly recommend it as its very solid to the touch and looks the part on my desk.

 

do you mind putting up some pictures?

Also comment on the built in cooling system perhaps?

 

ordered mine yesterday - will arrive while I'm in Ibiza so as soon as I'm back will post comments.

£750 from PC World with discount code (despite normally telling my clients NEVER buy from PC World, for the discount I thought definitely worth it!)

 

Did anyones come with a remote?

 

for those lucky owners, how about the battery life? 'cause I am thinking about buying this but the weight and the battery life are crucial for me.

In my opinion 2kg is heavy, but it worth with such a good performance, so if the battery life is up to 6h with a normal use and with the wifi on, for sure I will buy it!

 

I've got one. No idea on battery life yet, but 2-3 hours seems to be the minimum. It doesn't come with a remote and the fingerprint reader works fine.

I have a question for those that have one (or anyone else that knows the answer). I have it set to suspend when I close the lid. Which it does. But as soon as I go near it, it starts up again. Anyone any ideas why?

Alan

 

Don't reckon you'll get 6. I reckon 3 is more realistic, max 4 with light use. maybe 4.5 if your lucky. There many be better people to ask (mine is plugged in most of the time).

 

Does anyone get audio stuttering on theirs (it seems to coincide with a freezing mouse cursor)? I had it too on my old Dell, but its worse on this HP (they boath have IDT soundcards)?

It happens more often if the system is working more heavily - particularly pushing data about (so perhaps disk usage or WLAN/LAN activity). I've not had CPU spikes during these moments so it can't be CPU overload.

I have the latest BIOS and ID audio drivers from the HP site.

 

Hi, can any owners give an update on the battery life in normal use with wi-fi on. I'm considering this but not sure if it can achieve 4.5hrs with wi-fi on which I need when I'm at uni.
Also, does it have a backlit keyboard?
Thanks in advance

 

Estimated price in US ?

 

So... i found a great looking model:

HP DV3 with Intel Pentium 6100 (2.1GHz) with ATi HD5470 with 4 GB DDR3 Memory

All for under £500! Have any owners got any more thoughts? Battery life? Screen Quality?

I am maybe looking at an Asus 1215N or a HP DM1z as alternatives but this DV3 seems to be much more powerful?

I would be using it for kneetop web browsing and also 720p/1080p movies via HDMI onto my 40" LCD TV!

 

Personally i think you might be dissapointed with the Pentium 6100 processor, i'd recommend an intel core 2, core i3 i5 or i7 or an AMD phenom II processor to match the other specs of the laptop.

Im going for this one: HP Pavilion dv3-4050ea Refurbished Laptop at cheap prices | PC World

The 2.4Ghz Core i5 processor should provide a lot of grunt and at £550 its a bargin!

The Asus 1215N has a dual-core 1.8GHz Atom processor, so although you will probably get much better battery life, its really only suitable for basic web browsing and word processing (maybe a few HD videos at a push). Its a similar story with the HP DM1z with its single-core 1.73GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K125, which will be even slower than the dual-core Atom. It looks like the two alternative that you suggested are basically Netbooks with half decent graphics cards, they would be good as a 'second' portable computer.

If you want to go for either of the Asus 1215N or the HP DM1z, the Asus provides considerably more power, but i think the HP has a slightly better graphics card (from the info ive found). But if you dont mind having a slightly larger, heavier laptop and are willing to spend a few more ££s then the HP dv3-4050ea looks like a much better bet.

Hope this helps.

 

Ok well ive just got my hands on my DV3-4050ea, first impressions are great. Performance is brilliant, the i5 processor gives all the programs ive used a really quick snappy.
Keyboard is really nice, crisp but still with a smooth key movement and good feedback, unfortunatly due to its size there arent any 'end', 'home' 'page up' or 'page down' keys (so i keep hitting shift, enter & back space as im used to using these a lot.

The track pad is as i was expecting (based on other reviews) disappointing, as the right/left click is part of the track pad itself and these buttons are way too stiff I keep moving the cursor when clicking. The pinch zoom and 2 finger scroll are a nice feature but are a little clunky to use. I think over time i will get used to these features.

As for general look and feel of the thing, i have the chrome version which looks stunning (IMO), 2KG is very light to me and the screen is clear and bright.

Battery life is great so far, ive only been using it on 'high performance' so far, but im still getting a good 3 to 4 hours with wifi on & 80% brightness. I can easily see this laptop getting the advertised 6 hours after a bit of fiddling with the 'power save' mode settings. (for those who dont know,go to control Panel > Hardware & sound > Power Options > Change plan settings > advanced settings then reduce the processor & GPU power settings & set everything to 'passive' power use).

Overall im very happy with my purchase (bought from PC world for £550 refurbished). For comparison my previous laptop was an acer aspire 6920G, 2GHz core 2 duo, 3GB ram, 16" screen, this laptop is a vast improvement on my acer (especially battery life and portability).

Ratings (out of 10.0):
Performance - 9.5 (does everything i need very quickly)
Design - 8.5 (looks great, but chrome can look pink-ish in some lights)
Battery life - 9.0
Size & weight - 8.5
Value for money - 9.5 (this spec & quality for £550, amazing value)
Overall - 9.0

Hope this helps, any questions i will be checking back with a brief update in a few weeks & will answer anything then.

 

--Update on previous post--

Well im happy to report that after a few days of near constant use i cant really find anything that im unhappy with.

g0rak - yes i have also had the audio shudder tho i wasnt looking at the screen at the time so im not sure if this happend at the same time as cursor freezing. On a similar note, the laptop has crashed, 2 or 3 times, but i think this was after installing a tone of updates & before restarting, so this is understandable.
& no mine didnt come with a remote, but it was a refurb.

Pkan - ive done a little battery test, for normal usage, being -
'HP recommended' power plan, Wifi on, web surfing & word processing.
I got just over 4 hours 15 min (about 2 hours of this i had music on at 40% volume). I can easily see myself achieving over the 6.5 hours advertised with Wifi off & being very careful with the power settings.
With just word processing &/or excel you could easily get about 7+ hours (but you would have to close all the non-essential background programs).

nickem - fan is quite & i havent noticed any overheating, tho i havent pushed its performance yet. I will probably be playing a few games tomorrow so should be able to push it and see how it copes then (will let you know).

As for my overall impression; im slowly getting used to the track pad & just to add to my previous review the build quality is exceptional.

As for comparisons to other laptops, my flatmates have a Sony vaio & a Mac Book pro, as far as i can see you get comparable specs & finish for half the price of these (actually a better finish than the Sony).

 

Wish the dv3 was available in the US. Hopefully they at least release the upcoming dv4 here.

 

dunno if the dv3 is in the US, but the dv4 is the 14 inch version of the dv3

 

Hi all, I have one of these great laptops (i love it!). Just one minor snag, the FAN is always on! Can this be arranged? I tried downloading/installing a bios update which mentioned something about fan speeds but it did nothing. cheers!