HP dm4t Review

I recently purchased an Asus UL80VT-A2 in search of the perfect thin and light laptop for me. Hardware-wise the Asus was great for my uses; the SU7300 did not feel underpowered when clocked at 1.9GHz and the Nvidia Geforce GT 210M was fine for light gaming; but the build quality was sub-par at best so I wanted to get something new. After shopping around for a while I was about to wait for the Envy 14 to come out but then Bing had 25% CB at HP so I decided to go with the dm4t. The ATI 5650, backlit keyboard, and higher resolution screen would have been welcome additions but they are additions that I can live without and that would have cost a lot more. This configuration ended up costing me $710 after BCB and even right now cost only $830 after taxes and BCB. One might say that I settled but after using this thing they would not feel that way.

Specifications:
OS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-430M Dual Core processor (2.26GHz, 3MB L2 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.53GHz
RAM: 3GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Hard drive: 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Graphics: 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5450 switchable graphics
Display: 14.0" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
Optical drive: SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Battery: Extended 9 cell battery (HP claims 10.5 hours of battery life)
Wireless: Broadcom wireless-b/g/n
Dimensions: 13.42 in (L) x 8.98 in(W) x 0.98 in(min H)/1.80 in(max H)
Weight: 4.9 pounds
Price as configured: $859.99

Build and Design
One of the best things about the dm4t is the excellent build quality. The all metal chassis is very sturdy and I have not found any flex on it yet. The hinges are very strong and one thing that surprised me was that I cannot distort the screen with pressure on the lid as with pretty much every other laptop I have owned. The battery fits in snugly as well and it does not even add much weight. Even with the extended battery the dm4 is still slightly lighter than my UL80VT. The overall build quality of the laptop cannot be rated as anything other than fantastic, especially considering that this is a consumer class notebook. I would rate it as good as business class notebooks such as the Dell Precision line.

When it comes to looks HP took a huge step forward from their previous generation Pavilion laptops. Gone are the glossy, fingerprint magnets and replacing them is a brushed metal both on the lid and on the palmrests. The metal is smooth in most places but HP has etched patterns into it and they look and feel nice. One thing that many may not like is that in the right light the silver comprising the notebook has a pinkish tint. You will only notice the tint if you are looking at the notebook expecting it to be pink, even though closer inspection will reveal a silver, champagne color. I asked a dozen people and got 8 answers of silver, 3 thought it was a very soft gold, and one said champagne (the classiest one). In my opinion it is silver but to each his own.

Screen and Speakers
One of the reasons I considered waiting for the Envy 14 is that you could get a screen with 1600x900 resolution while on the dm4t it is only 1366x768. On a bigger panel this might be a problem but the display of the dm4t looks great. The brightness is only average at lower and mid levels but the max brightness is great. The picture is easily the best I have used on a laptop, comparable to my previous 1600x900 Studio 15, and horizontal and vertical viewing angles are adequate. As you might expect, though, the screen is glossy so it is hard to use outside. It is still usable, unlike my m11x that had the glossiest screen I have ever seen.

The speakers on the notebook can also be classified as very good for a thin and light. The loudness is about average but everything comes in clear. They are a far cry from the speakers on my previous dv6z, which is my gold standard for laptop speakers, but they are far ahead of the UL80 and on par with the M11x when it comes to quality, the M11x has it beat in loudness however.

Keyboard and Touchpad
After coming from my rattling UL80 keyboard this thing feels amazing. Key placement is perfect and there is only slight flex in the corners of the raised keyboard. It is not something that is a problem, though. To experience it you have to use your fingernail to purposely do it and it is hard because the distance is so small. One could make the argument that the keyboard is too tough and the keys are hard to push but after some typing on it the keys loosen up a bit and feel great. There are little lights integrated into the volume and wireless function keys, as well as caps lock, to let you know when they are on or off. I would really have loved a backlit keyboard option but it is no big deal.

After reading the review that Laptopmag posted of the dm4 I was a little worried about the touchpad but I am not sure what they were talking about. According to their review the touchpad was jerky and hard to maneuver but I have not experienced that. For me it is perfectly responsive without changing any settings and the multitouch is very well done. It has pinch zooming and 2 finger scrolling but I wish it had 3 finger right click as well. I hate having to move my fingers downward when I want to right click.

Ports and Features
The port selection of the dm4t is pretty average. On the left side it has VGA, ethernet, USB/E-SATA, and audio jacks and the right it has two USB, the optical drive, and the power jack in, the card reader is up front. A firewire port would have been nice but many notebooks, especially in this category, lack this so it cannot be held against it.

I am not sure how many megapixels the webcam is but the pictures it takes are great and it is amazing at tracking movement. I ran a few Skype calls and the recipients were shocked at how great I looked, even more so than usual. It tracks movement like nobody’s business. The dm4t also comes with a fingerprint reader standard. It is a cool feature and works well enough once you get used to how you have to swipe. I am a little surprised it does not have a backlit keyboard option, since the dv5t does, but I guess they don't want it competing too well with the upcoming Envy 14. I like how HP did not go crazy with indicator lights like some manufacturers, HP included, have done in the past. They have the light up symbol on the lid, a very small power indicator on the power button, the previously mentioned indicators on the keyboard, and a power and HD indicator on the left side by the audio jacks. I have had some laptops that I had to shut down at night because the blinking sleep lights were so annoying. That is not the case here.

Performance
We have all seen the benchmarks of the i5-430M and we know the speed of 7200 RPM hard drives, check Laptopmag if you want to see the specifics for the dm4t, so the only test I am bothering to run right now is 3dMark06 because there is no score out there for the 5450. Without any performance tweaks I managed a score of 4080 which is well above the average thin and light. Doesn't touch the 5650 but it is good enough for me. I plan to try some overclocking soon enough. When it comes to actual gaming performance I have tried older games like KOTOR, CS:S, Half Life, etc and they have all ran great at high settings. The newest games I have tried are Mass Effect and L4D (the first ones) and both ran better than they did on my UL80.

Another problem that the Laptopmag review had was boot time but I have not had that problem either. After I had all the updates installed I rebooted and it took 1:08 at the highest and was usually closer to 1 minute. Then I did all the boot time enhancements (getting rid of unneeded startup processes and services, etc) and it is booting between 40 and 50 seconds every time. Still not amazing but solid.

One problem that I have noticed is that the wireless isn't the best. When I am relatively close to the router, about 35 feet and 4 walls away I easily get 10-15Mbps but I move 15 more feet away and through another wall and it barely pulls in 2Mbps. From the same spot my UL80 gets 5-8Mbps, though my M11x got about the same as the dm4t. I ended up having to put an aluminum foil reflector in front of my router to strengthen the signal and it actually works. I am getting the 6-9 Mbps now.

Battery
I purchased the extended battery because I did not want to give up the 8 hours I got with my UL80 and it does not look like I will have to. When I first received the laptop I charged it to 100% and left it in for a little while after. With the screen at 60% and wifi on, while downloading and installing updates and programs, I ran it down from 100% to 25% in almost 6 hours. I would estimate about 8 hours with the aforementioned settings but it would probably be easy to get 9 or more with the screen brightness down and the "Power Saver" profile on. The 9 cell sticks out the bottom slightly over quarter of an inch and it blends nicely with the laptop. Unlike most extended batteries I have used, it doesn't make the laptop weight that uneven and it does not look ugly. After more testing I have found that the battery gets between 7.5-8.5 hours of life with 60% brightness, "HP Recommended" profile, and wifi on while continuously surfing. When I turned on the "Power Saver" profile and turned the screen down to 40% I was able to get almost 9 hours (8:47). All tests were done from fully charged to 5% when the system put itself to sleep. I probably could have squeezed out 20 or so more minutes if I let it drain all the way.

Heat and Noise
The CPU idles at an average of about 33-35C and heats up to the high 70s and the GPU idles in the mid 40s and maxes out around the high 70s - low 80s. I find these temperatures acceptable considering I am it a relatively warm room (24-25C) and the thin and light chassis, which stays very cool. These are the max temps. I locked the processor to max with Orthos and ran 3dMark06 3 times in a row. The only outer part of the notebook that gets a little warm is the bottom left by the vent. It only occurs during stressing and it is not too hot to touch. I definitely would not consider it overheating as I have never seen a laptop that does not get hot by the vent during stress tests. One thing I found strange is that, according to HWMonitor, one core is 8-10C hotter than the other all the time. I think this is a monitoring problem as it doesn't make any sense and the higher temp changes a lot more, so I think the lower temp is correct.

Noise, or lack thereof, is okay. I can hear the fan spinning in a silent room, barely, but with ambient room noise (i.e. a television or someone talking) I cannot hear it at all. Compared to my UL80 it is slightly quieter and not nearly as loud as the fan was on the M11x. Under full load I could hear it in a quiet room but I turned on the TV and it all but disappeared.

Conclusion
The dm4t packs everything the average consumer looks for into a sleek and sturdy 14’’ build. Optical drive, powerful processing, light, battery life, and quiet operation are all there. The option of the ATI Mobility 5450 also makes it attractive to those of us who want to play the occasional game. If you are in the market for a thin and light with above average power then I would definitely recommend the dm4t. Among the notebooks competing with it, that I have seen, I would rank it highest and that includes the Asus U30JC-A1, Lenovo Ideapad Y460, and Asus UL80VT. It is more powerful than the Asus machines and much better built than the Y460.

Pros:

• Great performance for its class
• Above average battery life
• Above average screen quality
• Switchable graphics
• Very Strong build quality
• Reasonable price

Cons:

• No backlit keyboard option

 

1st post for me!

And I'm looking into the dm4 because of its switchable graphics. Great review!

Does the 9 cell stick out the back? And how does the ATI 5450 compare to the other medium cards out there (330m, ati 4570)? I can never keep track of ATI's numbering system.

 

Nice review abaddon. Thanks for taking the time to post this! It is one of the few reviews out there on the web, and it was very thorough.

Overall it appears to be a great laptop for the money. I am very excited to receive mine and do some playing around in it. Thanks abaddon!

 

The 9 cell sticks out the bottom about .25'' of an inch and the 5450 is about the same as the ATI 4570 and below the 330M. The Nvidia 330M is a high midrange card that competes with the ATI 4650 while the ATI 5450 is meant to compete with the Nvidia 310M or 320M

 

Nicely done! +rep!

Could you take a pic with the 9-cell battery attached, or at least give more details on how it affects the laptop's shape...

 

I'll have some pics up later today (my camera only works well in sunlight) but the shape of the laptop is barely affected. With other extended batteries I have used they stuck out a lot more and were usually annoying. This one barely sticks out the bottom and actually looks nice.

 

One other thing I noticed is that he video card states 5470 on your benchmark. Any reason why?

 

Wow...that sounds fantastic. I always hated the extended batteries because I mean, it's like the laptop was 9-months pregnant with a battery. lolz.

Pics, especially of the battery in the laptop, would be most appreciated!

Thanks once again man!

 

Wondering that myself

After re-measurement I would say it sticks out between .25-.35'' but it is hard to measure because of the curvature of it. Compared to the previous extended cells I have used (12 cell in dv6, 9 cell in Studio 15 and T500) it is beautiful and light.

 

thanks for taking the time to write and post this review abaddon. It was very well written and it does indeed seem like a great consumer laptop for a very good price. I can't wait to get mine today whenever the damn FedEx truck decides to get here but I'm hoping I can agree on all your positive inputs.

 

Added some pictures

 

Thanks man! Great review!

 

Thanks a lot! This has definitely pulled me away from the Envy 14.

 

Do me a favor.... if you could update me on the HDD temp. All the old HP 14in models ran around 50C, which eventually killed the drives. After a few hours of the machine powered on, what's the HDD temp?

 

Hovers around 35C in a cool room and 38C in a hot one. Haven't seen t go above 40C yet, even when I had it on for 8 hours in a hot room yesterday.

 

Hmm you can really call tight USB's a con, after a few uses they will be just fine.

All new USB ports are like that Tight at first but loosen up after use. (Oh that just sounds wrong lol)

 

So far I am very impressed with the dm4t, although different reviews all seem to speak of different experiences with the build quality (Which is why I'm probably going to wait a bit).
Like you, I was waiting for the Envy 14 but the dm4t has caught my attention. In comparing the two, i'm having difficulty now deciding which laptop to get. The envy 14 seems the more premium laptop, but with your review, the quality of the dm4t is enough for me. The main thing I'm looking for however is portability. The dm4t is about .7 lb's lighter than the Envy. Unfortunately, the battery-life on the Envy 14 is still just speculation since it isn't released, but how would you estimate it on the Envy 14?

 

Does your machine happen to use a CMO(?) panel? I noticed the pinkish tint on my Acer 4741G screen as well.

 

I think HP is saying 7 hours with the normal battery, which is about what they estimate for this, so with the standard you can probably expect 5 hours from the Envy 14. The slice battery is supposed to double that so the Envy 14 w/ slice will come out ahead of the dm4t w/ 9 cell. Of course, it is going to be more expensive as well.

 

Noice review sir, looking very nice. I'm surprised at the good build quality. DM4 looks really good. I'm tempted, but the Envy 14 has the graphics power I want.

 

The screen isn't pinkish, the metal is.

 

By the way, have been able to fix the slow boot time?

 

Haven't even noticed it. The first couple of boots, when it was installing updates and everything, were slow but since then the longest it has taken since then was 1:08 minutes. I haven't disabled any start up services or done any of the normal boot speed increasing tricks.

 

How about bloatware? Have you uninstalled all of that?

 

Wasn't much bloatware. Norton and Office trials are the only things I would consider bloatware.

 

great review, one question...how often does Bing have 25%+ cash back on HP products?

and do the HP instant rebates work with the Bing CB?

 

Great review! As some one considering the Macbook Pro 13 and HP Envy 14, this definitely presents another alternative. Thanks!

Is the build quality the same as the Envy series? Is it a unibody aluminum chassis?

 

The Envys aren't aluminum, well not all aluminum anyways. The outer layer is a thin layer of aluminum, reinforced with magnesium underneath. The DM4 I believe is just aluminum. I don't think any of HP's laptops are unibody.

 

The LaptopMag review says that the "bottom" is magnesium. ( HP Pavilion dm4 Review - A Review of the HP Pavilion dm4) I've also seen on Youtube videos that the metallic outer shell contains some magnesium.

I don't think it really matters either way, haha.

 

It seems to happen every few months or when they want to clear some product for a refresh and the HP instant rebates do not affect BCB.

 

I'm glad they've chosen to go with the materials they did... my Envy never got finger print smudges, unlike my GX640, which is brushed aluminum, which practically bathes in them.

That's also why they have the etching.. to look good, and prevent finger print smudges.

 

I am trying to decide between this laptop and the UL30VT-A1. I have heard from MANY sources that it is better than the UL80VT. It has better build quality (than the UL80),battery, and weighs less. The only con is the 13.3" screen. I can get the UL30VT-A1 for about $699. Would you recommend me spend the extra for the dm4t or go with the UL30VT-A1

 

I got mine for $706 after BCB. I would take this over the UL30 if I were you.

 

If you want performance go with the dm4t. If you want battery life go with the Asus.

 

Build quality - dm4t (but the UL30 is built pretty well, too)
Processing power - dm4t by a large margin
Gaming graphics - dm4t slightly
Battery - UL30 by a large margin
Size - UL30 is slightly smaller and lighter (but it doesn't have an optical drive)

If you want something with more power and versatility then get the dm4t but the UL30 with offer more portability and battery. Check out the U30JC as well, which competes directly with the dm4t if you ask me. Same size and weight (when the dm4 has the 9 cell), same battery life, almost the same gaming performance, both have great builds, and price is pretty even

 

Would you say the gaming graphics is only in favor of the dm4t if I was to get the ATI card? I would get the standard Intel HD if I got the dm4.

Will the dm4 overall just be a much quicker machine?

The U30JC enters at $900+. It is a bit out of my price range. I am looking at spending no more than $800.

 

IMO, you can not do any real gaming with an Intel integrated GPU. So, yes, the VT would have a significant advantage. Have you factored the student discount or BCB in the DM4T price?

yes ... the I5-430M will run rings around the SU7300.

The U30JC costs $869 for the I3-350M version.

Bronsky

 

I am able to get the dm4t at under $800 with a student discount, but that is without the ATI graphics card. I honestly don't see myself playing games THAT often, but it would be nice to have if I did decide to play one. Is there any point to getting the ATi card if you don't see yourself playing games often.

The U30JC @ $869 is still a bit of a reach. It is almost closing in on Macbook territory in which I would rather get that.

Does anyone know what the battery life of the high capacity 6 cell is for the dm4t?

Thanks for your help guys!

 

If your not gaming at all the ATI card really isn't necessary. That is unless your doing CAD work or something, then it would be worth it.

According to reviews real usage battery life of the DM4 is right around 5-5.5 hours with medium brightness and Wifi on.

 

Hey L3vi, if you don't mind can you check my response here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...85333-asus-ul30vt-a1-hp-dm4t.html#post6269109

I just replied before I saw your input on here.

 

Replied

 

If you don't need a GPU then why not get the UL30 without the 210M? That would seem like a better choice. UL30-X4 = $599 on newegg.

Bronsky

 

A wonderful review!
Just one question: is dm4t's optical drive detachable, like dv4's?

 

Can you provide more info on the switchable graphics? Does the transition occur fast? Is it a physical button you have to press? Does it cause your screen to flicker? Must you log off? Does it slow down your computer?

 

It's switchable through software and its also seamless. There shouldn't be any screen flickering or re-booting/logging of etc. Graphics shouldn't effect the speed of the computer. Intel HD graphics are fine for almost everything. U really should only need to switch if u want to play games of use CAD software etc.

 

It is just like my UL80; press a button, screen flickers for a second or to, graphics are switched.

 

Any chance you someone could add a video to this like another user on here did of his new DV6 model found here?

A nice video walkthrough would be very helpful for color distinction as well as some of the other cosmetic features.

 

i really think im going to pull the trigger on a dm4 because of this reviews, thanks

is there a way on your bing account to have HP cash back updates/changes be emailed to u? so i dont have to check BING's website everyday lol

 

I was actually planning on doing that today.

Edit: Video will be up tomorrow.

I would also like to let everyone know that I have been looking at pictures of the dv5t next to the dm4t and it looks like they might use the same keyboard. The dv5t has a backlit keyboard option so I am gonna ask HP about whether or not it will fit in the dm4t tomorrow. Here is a pick of them next to each other. What do you guys think?

 

Just got done speaking with 3 different HP support techs and they all told me that the keyboards are different sizes and that a backlit keyboard for the dm4t might be in the works. Oh well.