dv4000 - matte screen

I just got my dv4000 that I ordered *without* the brightview glossy screen. I'm not a fan of the glossy screens, but I was nervous ordering this blindly without ever having seen the matte version.

I am very happy with my decision. As a software developer who will be not be gaming, I do not have to worry about overhead flourescent lighting or windows. Text is clear. Screen is great.

I highly recommend it.

 

hello kark
i'm about to buy dv4000 too can you tell me about your opinion about it as you said you are software developer
what is its performance ? and keyboard?
do you use software like VS 2003,2005 sql server .oracle,iis?
if yes i will be thankfull if you told me about the performance of this laptop when you run application like i listed above especially when you run multiple instance of Visual studio?
and what is our configuration?
thanks in advance

 

I'll report back in a day or two after I can assess the performance. I'm still in the install phase. I'm a VS.NET (C#) developer, with some PHP/MySQL on the side. I've loaded SQL Server 2000, VS.NET 2003, and need to install VS.NET 2005 tomorrow. I'm going to be using this for some occasional ASP.NET development in VS.NET 2003, more frequent winforms development in VS.2005, and some web development in PHP/MySQL (which will require Apache).

we'll see.....

oh, and my config = P-M 2.0 Ghz
1GB + 256MB DDR2 RAm
x700 video
80GB 5400rpm drive
matte screen
DVD burner
Intel 802.11b/g

 

Thank you for posting your opinion of the DV4000 matte screen. I do have one question about the display: How wide are the acceptable viewing angles horizontally and vertically?

 

The viewing angles are great - much better than any of the Dells that I have seen (or owned).

I really can't believe that retail stores only sell the Brightview glossy screens. This screen is so much better. Who wants to stare at a reflection of themself?

 

Yeah, all the retail stores have the Brightview screen, I've never seen the matte screen.

To be honest with you, I loved the BrightView screens when looking at them in the stores. But when I got my DV4000 with the BrightView screen, I hated it. I hated looking at my reflection and of other light sources. But 3 weeks later, I've completely gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me now.

 

Ok, I've played around with VS.NET 2005 a bit, and it seems plenty fast for what I need to do. Compiles are as fast as my 3.0Ghz P4 desktop here at work.

Only downsides I've found so far....
- a bit warm for my taste. I've used the Dell 9300 and found it almost cool to the touch. The dv4000 got warm, which is not cool if you use it on your lap and plan on having kids.
- the battery life of the 6-cell is pretty poor. Good thing they give you a free extra one.

 

Thanks kark
can you explai abit by what you mean when you said about dv4000 it is a bit warm ie when it get warm and is it affect the performance

 

The bottom of the notebook runs warm. Not hot, but warm. I've had experience with some Dells that ran cool. I mean, you could hardly tell if the pc was powered off or had been on for hours. The dv4000 definitely feels warm on your lap.

 

Thanks again

 

Kark,

So far you are the first poster I've seen that's received their dv4000 with the X700. I have been waiting to hear about how noisy it is before I order one. I need to use it in quiet settings. I am not so much concerned about being able to hear it in total silence, but about whether it is constant or conspicuous. Does the GPU fan turn on much during light use? Does it vary the speed well or does it go from silent to full blast a lot?

 

I've very little time to play with my new notebook. It's practically silent. Every once in a while I think I hear a fan kick on for a second.

My real concern is the battery now. I think I'll need to run some test. I don't think I'm even getting 2 hours from it while just doing some basic browsing. I'll have to setup a test.

 

kark,
a while back you posted that you were going to upgrade your ram with a stick of ddr2 you had, did you have a chance to do it yet and did it work? also did you notice what the oem module was? thanks in advance.

 

Would you mind writing a formal review of it with pics to submit to this website? Could you tell us how it performs in certain games, run some benchmarks?

 

I did throw the ddr2 533Mhz 1GB Transcend stick in as soon as I got the dv4000. Works fine. I didn't notice the oem module.

 

I would love to. I'm a bit short on time however...
I'll try to as soon as I have a chance.