HP Pavilion dv3500t?

I looked for a thread for this, but couldn't find one. Anyway, I need a new laptop, and this one looks pretty cool. Would anyone recommend it? I just need it to surf the web, type up documents, listen to music, and watch the occasional DVD. Also, what's the battery life on it?

 

this laptop is rather new and not much information out there on it yet. also best buy has their own exclusive version of this laptop too in their "blue label" line. i'm going to wait for some reviews before i purchase but i am looking forward to see what people have to say about it.

 

Nice thing about the Best Buy version is that it will come with a standard 2 year warranty instead of the typical 1 year, has a back lit keyboard, spec wise isn't bad by any means for what you want to use it for, and because it is sold at Best Buy, when it does go on sale it will be completely instantly off some $100-$200 making it a nice price at around the $1,000 mark.

BBGus

 

What is it's battery life?

 

Just played with the new dv3500t on display at Best Buy, I think it's a bit over-priced for about $1100, it's not bad but even the Macbook would be a better buy here.

I think the build quality is so-so, I hate how all these HPs have that clamshell sharp edges at the edges of the notebook's base. Sharp enough to cut your finger.

The screen looks very good but the resolution is quite small at 1280x800, would prefer something sharper but it's very bright.

The keyboard feels cheap and I hate the new HP touchpads, very poor sensitivity.

The lighted keyboard is alright, it's not as nice as the Macbook Pros that allows multiple brightness setting and instant on.

Overall, I think it should be priced at $800-900.

The WEI scores aren't very impressive at all a 3.5 on the Gaming graphics? That's terrible.

 

It's a compact notebook that's not geared toward gaming. But you're right, I think it is a bit overpriced for the components inside it. But then again, it's priced for portability. You get what you pay for.

 

I was thinking that a Nvidia 9200m dedicated GPU would score atleast 4.0 and 3.5 is just bad consider many dated GPUs and even the ATI 3650s can score higher.

If they priced the notebook about $900 after discount, it should be fine.

 

It's actually a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS.

 

HP states the 6-cell should get 4h:15m. You can't tell from Best Buy's website but the DV3510NR comes with the 6-cell. I picked mine up on Friday. They had one in stock that was to be the display model. So far, I really like it. I haven't installed anything on it yet to load it down. But I do like the components in the BB model. I configured the exact setup on HP's website and it was $253 more than BB...

Ken

 

Can you please post how it feels. Is it portable - means does it feel light like a book? How is the size. My roommates Acer weights less than 4 pounds and is so light weight, it makes me wish my 6700t were lighter.

 

can you please post some pics?

 

On my shipping scale, it weighs 4lbs 14 oz. I love the 13" size and the weight is great to me. But I'm moving from a 17" DV8000, so it's a huge difference to me. I've had school books that were heavier... I plan to get a neoprene slip case and just transport it in my backpack.

 

Here's a couple of size comparison pictures against the DV8000.

 

Wish HP would release this in black.

 

I purchased the HP dv3510nr notebook from Best Buy on Sunday. I haven't opened it yet because I'm debating on whether or not to keep it. I would be using it mostly for school so its small size is attractive. I would also like to run Microsoft Flight Simulator X on it. Does anyone know whether this notebook will be able to handle it? Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2.0 GHz processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GS with 512mb dedicated, 4GB DDr2 RAM

 

are you considering buying or keeping it?

it is able to handle FSX.

 

I bought it but haven't opened it yet so that I can return it if it is incapable of running FSX. Will it run it at a high level with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled?

 

that i won't know.

have just bought the dv3510nr from bestbuy too, their shipping sucks. 2 days and order status still tells me processing in warehouse.

if you do return the dv3510nr, what do you intend to get instead?
the macbook with its 9400M?

 

I bought mine from the brick and mortar Best Buy. If I return it I'm considering the $2,499 MBP with a $200 student discount or maybe the HP hdx16t if HP has another $500 off coupon. If I were to get the MBP and install Vista on boot camp, do you know if I would be able to run FSX on Vista through boot camp at a high level?

 

You would certainly be able to rux FSX on high level if you are running it with the 9600M GT.

And perhaps even hybrid SLI too with the 9400M + 9600M GT together.

That is a big jump on budget, I'm not sure you want to lug the HDX16t around campus...might be bulkier than you like...I felt the MBP's footprint is ok though.

 

Is it just me or did HP remove the dv3500t from their website today? Even when searching for dv3500t on their site, all the links are dead now.... strange.

 

News Flash.... as of today, this is now a Best Buy exclusive and can no longer be customized and ordered directly from HP (so says the HP sales rep).

 

Wow, I wondered why I couldn't find it on the HP site any more today. I just saw the dv3510nr at Best Buy yesterday and it really caught my eye, so I was trying to do more research.

Do you have any idea why HP stopped selling it directly themselves?

 

The HP rep was confused and asked around. He said it sounded like BestBuy wanted exclusive rights to sell this. This is really unfortunate because yesterday I had the a nice system configured on the HP site including a T9400 processor and 64bit OS. I'm assuming there are no ways to configure these options through BestBuy.

Does anyone know if it is compatible with a non-usb dock? Yesterday on the HP site I swore I saw the dv3500t listed as a compatible model on one of the docks but I don't see it anymore.

 

it looks like it will be Best Buy exclusive since it's a part of their "Blue Label" line, "exclusively at Best Buy." What a bummer...

 

Bestbuy does NOT customize so at the moment the only option is the one model (dv3510nr) with the P7350.

On the plus side, HP says they do sell a compatible dock (XB4) that uses the extension port (although the rep didn't sound all that sure of himself).

My next question, is it possible to upgrade the CPU oneself, or is it soldered to the motherboard?

 

i went to three different best buys today to try to look at one. each store had 10+ on hand, but none on display, nor would they let me look at one. all they could tell me is that it's the same as the 14" model except with a 13" screen.

with their 15% restocking fee, i'm not about to buy a laptop sight unseen... has anyone had a chance to play with one yet?

my three main concerns are
1) screen quality - from the reviews on the bb website, it seems pretty good
2) keyboard quality
3) heat

 

The dv3510nr doesn't have an extension port like on the dv4/dv5. I don't think it will work with a dock.

I went to check it out at Best Buy today, but someone had put a password on the floor model and none of the employees knew how to unlock it. Good job, guys. So I didn't get to use it at all, but it LOOKED good.

 

I couldn't get past the Vista welcome screen because the machine was locked, so I can't say a lot about the screen. I'm very curious about how video and text look, so I'm going to try to check it out at another Best Buy over the weekend.

The keyboard was pretty decent, I thought. The keys had a very nice feel and it was easy to type. There was a bit of flex on the keys in the very middle, but it wasn't enough to bother me. The Toshiba Satellite setting next to the dv3510nr had a LOT of keyboard flex, and I immediately said "ewww" when I typed on it. But the little bit I noticed on the dv3510nr wouldn't be something that would affect my purchase decision.

The only thing I can say about heat is that the hand rests were cool when I was testing the keyboard. But the machine wasn't under any stress, so I have no idea if it gets warmer under load. I also didn't check out the underside of the machine to see how warm it might be in your lap.

 

I went about last few days looking for the dv3500t on display at a bestbuy outlet and was surprised to see their 2 Bluelabel items on a shelf beside older or opened item laptops.

just got my dv3510nr today after considering the Vaio SR, Macbook, Thinkpads.
decided on the dv3510nr from bestbuy as it was $250+ lesser than for the same configuration on the HP site when they still had em. also it has a 2 year parts and labor warranty than the standard 1 year.

am very happy the dvd-rw drive is replaceable, hopefully HP will be selling a blu-ray drive so it can just be popped in...as you will see from the photos i am going to post...in the box is a weight-saver modular kinda thingy.

 

My trusty Sony Vaio S28...4 years old...though slow as it was the very first Centrino...going strong still...


HP adaptor on the left, Sony adaptor on the right

 

i wish i could better justify the beauty of the colour scheme and backlit keyboard but at this point this is the best i can do.

i heard many comments of how many think the bronze/chrome is fugly and would prefer this to be in silver/chrome...but to me it definitely isnt fugly and unique in a way.

i did thought of the dv7-1175nr too on sale at $999(now $1149)with a 9600M GT and blu-ray, but portability is tops for me now...will consider the Macbook Pro later when the 17" is out and next update of chips are avail for the 15"

hope this helps for those whom are looking for that bit more info, i feel your frustration cos there is so little apart from the bestbuy customer reviews.

now to test out the dedicated 512mb DDR2 9300M GS...is it on par or inferior to the Macbook's 9400M shared 256mb DDR3...well guess I wont know...

let me pop in Warhammer Online and maybe Call of Duty tomorrow...need some sleep now...

 

Nice and sexy

 

Thanks for all the pics and info you've posted so far. I'll be very interested to hear how your gaming tests turn out. Also if you can comment about how hot the unit gets on the bottom and the palm rests, I'd appreciate it!

 

to pilotsnoopy
what is cpu in your dv3500?

 

The heat has been just fine this morning while im using it in bed..
on the bottom and on the left side of the palm rest(hard drive on the left i believe) when I was doing some heavy file transfers of 30-50gb from my external drive...music..videos..documents from my sony.

the backlit keyboard is really useful in the morning in low lights as well...i mean i can type without looking but still its great when u wanna do some other things.

 

the noise level of the fan is also very low...

we shall find out again tonight once the games start running

 

bestbuy sells only this config so far.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0502004&type=product&id=1218010176167

 

portability for me is a must right now.... the hp dv3500 seems exactly what I've been looking for...

Is there a config option for a 1440x900 display?

Anyway seems strange that HP would not have at least some kind of placeholder for this product on their site, with a link to buy it at Best Buy....

 

Most likely Best Buy would have to pay for that and if you don't see it there they probably don't want too.

 

Any luck with the games?

Also, do you know if the BIOS supports Wake On LAN?

 

playing WarHammer Online on High Quality without issues.

no idea about wake on lan...

 

Price alert!!!

Best Buy dropped the price $100 to $1099!! They have a 14-day price guarantee on notebooks, so if you bought from them in that time frame from today, take your receipt back to them and get your refund! I missed it by 2 days, dang it...

Ken

 

will check on the wake on lan thingy

thanks for the update on the price match

i have just called bestbuy and will have $106 credited back to my card.

will use the rebate to buy Red Alert 3 and COD and report back here how it is performing.

if time permits, i will run some 3D Mark test tomorrow.

 

Thanks Ken, that is great to know. Sorry that you missed it by 2 days though

 

a little off topic...

got price match for my printer that i bought the laptop with as well...

an all-in-one for $9.99 instead of $34.99

i will certainly be going back to bestbuy again.

 

nice laptop! coolpics

 

What kind of temperature reads are you getting on your gpu, cpu while you game?