HP dv5000t Review (pics, specs)

HP dv5000t (view large image)

The HP dv5000t is a desktop replacement style notebook that has the potential toplay just about anyPC game on the market. Following are the specs for the dv5000t under review.

My HP Pavilion dv5000t customizable Notebook PC specs:

• Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
• Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2400 (1.83 GHz)
• 15.4" WXGA Widescreen Matte (1280x800)
• 128MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7400
• 256MB DDR2 SDRAM (1x256MB)
• 40 GB 5400 RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
• LightScribe 8x DVD+/-RW&CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer
• Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
• 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• Memory Upgraded to 2GB 533Mhz OCZ cas 4 memory.

I purchased this laptop to replace my ultraportable Sony VAIOTX650 and my desktop computer so that I could save space on my desk at home. I plan on turning my desktop into a file server. TheVAIO TX650 was a great notebook, but I only travel 2-3 times a year, so I wasn't really utilizing it for its intended purpose and it just didn't have the video, CPU and graphicsI was looking to use. I had done some research at the end of 2005 as to what desktop replacement style notebook I would get, and had my eyes on the HP dv4000, but then the dv5000t was released and I decided it was for me.

Where and How Purchased:

I purchased the dv5000t fromHP.com. The price was $1,525.23 after the $100 instant rebate HP was offering.There was also a $50 mail-in rebate at the time that I still need to send in. The unitarrived a lot earlier than expected. My shipping date was estimated asMarch 24th, but it actuallyshipped out on the 22nd and arrived at my door on the 27th. I was happy due to the fact I'd been cheap and gone with ground shipping, but it still arrived in 3-days! What a deal.

Build & Design:

The design isn't boring or plain like some notebooks, it stands out and looks good. The corners are rounded and the case is made of sturdy plastic.The casedoes make a few squeaks if you try to flex it.

Top of HP dv5000t lid (view large image)

The dv5000t does seemheavy to me, but this is mostly due to the fact I'mcoming from using the VAIO TX650.What else you can really expect from a 15.4" widescreen notebook? It's bound to be somewhat heavy. When Icarry this notebook to my office or to a friends house I carry it in a Targus backpack. I think it's easier to carry any laptop in a backpackas opposedto a normal briefcase style bag.

The extended lifebattery has a large overhangof nearly 1-inch. It makes the notebook sit at an angle on any flat surface, which can be good for ergonomics and typing. However, the extended battery feels a little weird when usedin your lap when your say on the sofa watching TV and multi-tasking by using a notebook.

Notice the slope of the dv5000t due to the extended life battery sticking out of the back (view large image)

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One negative note, the silver paint used on the back of the LCD easily scratches, it might be a good idea to get a sleeve to protect the notebook when being carried.

The LCD protection and build seems to be solid. The hinges aren't loose, but rather are quite firm. If you try topull the LCD open with one hand it will pick the entire notebook up off the desk. I tried flexing the screen a little bit, but it seems solid to me. Ilifted the LCD up into the position fornormal use and tried to wobble it to see how firm the hinges were in the open position, the screen moveda little bit,there was aslight bounce of about 4 times before it will stopped moving -- thisbounce is more or less just "play" before the hinges kick in to bring the screen to rest.

A side note, the covers for both memory andthehard driveare located on the bottom of the laptop. They feel like they are going to break when you take them off and put them back on. Just a really poor design there. At least these slots are easy to access though, no need to remove the keyboard to install memory or anything like that.

Screen:

The screen is eye friendly to me. I mainly use 19-inch CRT monitorsmost of my day. My Sony TX650 had the XBrite style glossy screen, I was tired of this because you could never see your screen if there was sunlight or any bright light in the room. For this reasonI chose to get HP dv5000t with a matte screen(not TruBrite). So, it is a 15.4" WXGA widescreen matte (1280x800). This LCD does not have any leaks or uneven backlight. The only thing I did notice upon the notebooks arrival is that whoever built my dv5000t in Chinaleft me some finger prints onthe LCD. I had to use my LCD cleaning kit to clean it out of the box! But it cleaned off nicely. A note to HP: make your employees wear gloves or wipe off theLCDs before you ship them!

And thankfully, my screen has no dead pixels.

Speakers:

The speakers are plenty loud enough, they sound crisp and clean, unless you turn the volume up all the way up that is. The brand of speakers usedis Altec Lansing. The sound compared to my old VAIO TX650 isreally good. If you want a ton of bass though, get yourself some external speakers.

Processor and Performance:

The dv5000t I have came with an Intel T2400 Core Duo 1.83GHzprocessor,this processor issmoke'n fast relative to my experiences. I came from using a 1.2GHz low voltagePentium M processor in my TX650andmy desktop has a first generation AMD 64-bit 3200. This system is not only faster than my desktop and my old laptop, it boots faster too, it came with a 5400RPM Fujitsu 40GB. I have been thinking that upgrading to a 7200RPM drive is going to be worth it. I will get an 80GB or 100GB Hitachi 7200 RPM SATA drive soon. When I first booted up the system with only 256MB RAM installedit crawled. I shut it down and popped in my 2GB of OCZ and it was smoke'n, I saved likebig $$ doing it this way. The memory I self-installed can bepurchased fromNewEgg.com. I mostly use this laptop to surf the web, check email, use office applications, photoshop, Dreamweaver, winamp, Unreal 2004, and Quake 4. Overall the laptop seems very snappy.

Benchmarks:

For benchmarksI did some good old "out of the box testing" right after FedEx dropped my new toy off to me. I also did benchmarks after I reinstalled my owncopy of Windows XP Pro. My goal was to increase the benchmark results, forwhich I did slightly, nothing too major though.

Super Pi:

2M Calculations = 1m 17s (w/ HP Bloatware Out of the box)
2M Calculations = 1m 23s (After formatting and reinstallinWindows XP Pro)

Notebook	Time to Calculate Pi to 2 Million Digits
HP dv5000t (1.83GHz Core Duo)	1m 17s
Dell Latitude D610 (Intel Pentium M 750 1.83GHz)	1m 41s
Dell Inspiron e1505 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 16s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Alviso Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Alviso Pentium M)	1m 52s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s
Sony VAIO S360(1.7 GHzDothan Pentium M)	1m 57s
Gateway 7510GX (AMD Mobile Athlon 64 3700+ Processor,2.4 GHz)	1m 31s
Sony VAIO S380 (1.83 GHz Alviso Pentium M)	1m 42s

3DMark05 score:

1992 (w/ HP Bloatware Out of the box)
2065 (After Format and reinstall of winxp pro)

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3DMark03 score:

4039 (w/ HP Bloatware Out of the box)
4079 (After Format and reinstall of winxp pro)

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HD Tach report

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HDTune benchmarks

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Keyboard and Touchpad:

HP dv5000t keyboard and touchpad (view large image)

A full sized keyboard is certainlynice to have. The keys have a very nice feel to them, but the keyboard seems to flex if you push down with a little pressure. The mouse buttons have a good "click" to them that Ilike,the buttons don't wobble and feel cheap like they did on my old Dell Inspiron 700m. However, the buttons at the top; the power, volume, DVD, and mute, do feel cheap to me. When you push them you push them down you pushdown theentire bezel around them and it has a small amount of flex. On the plus side,the buttons do light up and are easy to find in the dark. So overall I like the keyboard and touchpad, but I think the system needs a button to turn off the touchpad. I keep bumping the touchpad while I type -- but maybe this is justme getting used to my new notebook.

Input and Output Ports:

The HP dv5000t comes with the following ports:

• Ethernet port for LAN
• Modem port
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• 1Firewire port
• 1 S-video
• 1 monitor out port
• 1 expansion port
• 2 PCMCIA slots

Front side view of dv5000t with chapstick for thickness comparison (view large image)

HP dv5000t right side view (view large image)

HP dv5000t upside down so you can see the 12-cell battery sticking up (view large image)

HP dv5000t back side view (view large image)

Underside of dv5000t (view large image)

Battery:

I got the 12-cell extended life battery for the dv5000t that claims about 6 hours of battery ife. While I don't have any solid data yet on this notebooks battery life as Ihave never taken it down to empty charge, I can say I started using the battery at 7.30pm one nightand used the system at mid-level brightness for 2 hrs while doing heavy power usage things such as installing Quake 4 and also typing this review at the same time. By 9:46 p.m. thethe battery was at about 48% charge left, so it seems this battery would have no problems getting well over 4 hours of usage.

Operating System and Software:

My system came withWindows XP Home with SP2. It also came with a ton of bloatware (unwanted software) installed. I knew before I even gotthe dv5000twould end up cleaning the system and putting a clean copy of xp pro on it. I think that notebook makers these days are being cheap by making end users making their own recovery DVD's. After you boot the system and register your copy of winxp, it prompts you to make your recovery DVDs or cds. The only cd that came in the box was an AOL install cd, sigh. I didn't test any of the HP software.

Customer Support:

HP customer service has always been below standard from everything I've heard. Personally, I don't really think you could ever expect to get highly personable service and support from a large corporation like HP. I bothered HP's online support a few times before my notebook came. They proved to be rather slow and not very knowledgeable of their products. The support and drivers on HP.com are lacking the drivers you need to reinstall Windows XP. I didn't pay for any extra support, I only got the standard 1year warranty. If you choose to reinstall your own copy of Windows XP then beware for the task ahead of you. You need to make your own XP installCD using NLITE. You also need to backup the c:swsetup folder to a DVD. HP.com doesn't provide you with anything! You also need UAA drivers, which is nowhere to be found on any of the recovery DVDs orin swsetup folder.

Conclusion:

Cons:

• Overall the notebook is heavy
• Huge 12cell battery.
• Graphics card choices could be better, why o why not a geforce 7800!
• HP should offer a Higher Resolution LCD
• Missing a much needed button to turn the touchpad off
• No driver cd or restore DVDs included.

Pros:

• Very nice wide screen, I am glad I got the matte LCD this time around.
• Better then expected sound quality
• Good fast CPU
• Upgradeable memory and HD
• Plays Quake4 newest patch 1.1 w/ duo core enabled on Q4, at 60FPS at 1280x800 in low graphic settings with ease. Even at medium its pretty stable and close to 53fps.

Overall I give this notebook an 8.5 out of 10. I think this notebook is a good buy if you're looking for something with a 15.4-inch widescreen with lots of CPU power. The biggest selling point is the value for the money. At around $1,500, you have a good desktop replacement that plays pretty much every game on the market! It would be a 10 out of 10 if they gave it a Geforce Go 7800 GTX graphics card. If you can deal with not having the best graphics card on the market for a notebook, this is a good choice for you.

Pricing and Availability

The HP dv5000t is available via HP.com, prices vary based onconfiguration

 

Nice review. I'm still waiting for my dv5000z to be delivered. Can't afford to have duo core processor, but turion is not that bad.

 

Great Review. Nice pictures. Where did ya get that cool wallpaper? It would be awesome if they would offer a higher resolution screen for the dv5000 series.

Five Stars!

Enjoy your laptop and remember to send in that rebate. =D!

 

'tis a shame HP replaced the dv4000 with this. GPU was gimped!

 

Cool review. I've definitely been happy with mine (speaking of which, I have pictures that need a postin'!). The weight doesn't bother me, and I love the battery life.

 

Very nice review, mhx!! And awesome quality picture!! It looks heavy as you said.

 

the wallpaper is from http://www.digitalblasphemy.com/

I have decided to make a rar of drivers are that hard to find for the HP
DV5000t

Includes nvidia drivers and UAA drivers
http://mhx.oplnk.net/hp_dv5000t/drivers/HP_DV5000t Drivers.rar

 

Figured that much. ^^; I love DigitalBlasphemy's wallpapers.

Very kind of your to provide hard to find drivers for users.

 

Any laptop that does not have DVI port is automatically obsolete

 

Only a Go 7400... The dv4000 had a x700 and the new gpu is even slower than the older card. They should have put in a 7600 as a optional 300 dollar upgrade.

 

Nice review and very good SuperPi benchmark. It just shows the speed of the motherboard. Another nice touch is the optical drive with lightscribing.
However (considering the price) I am disappointed from the
1) poor design (battery is joke)
2) silver colour (worst choise for using with plastic-with aluminium it would be great)
3) tiny disk (definetely needs upgrading)
4) low screen resolution

For a casual user the graphics chipset is more than adequate. I would give it a 7.

 

The problem that I will not choose HP at this moment is.. the lack of vga adapter optional.

Asus Core Duo (A6) offer X1600 which I think it's really sweet..

I will wait for a while until Taylor is out and see which notebook that I should purchase at that time.

 

ok i have done just that using my coporate licenses... I am making a HUGE list of drivers and things need to rebuild these from the ground up

your UAA driver was soemthing i could not find... but i have everything loaded CLEAN XP PRO... no issues no garbage either... but 2 things

1. The Context HD audio and Modem will not load they fail with FAILURE! in the install...

2. NLite is excellent once i have a complied list i will RAR everything on place it on my server for everyone to have, but until i can find out why the Modem and the Audio fail i'm still working on it

I have the top of the line in the laptop every option... I had a Sager 4750. i will tell you this thing blows my sager away. and the Sager was loaded too.

this is lighter and i have been running on battery (12-Cell) for 6 hours now. the sager lucky to get 30 minutes.

Excellent review... let me know if you have input on the Modem and Audio. I'm still trying to work on why they FAIL on install... with no reason why.

 

I recently ran a Super Pi test (with all of HPs add-on and bloatware), and I managed a 1m 14sec. score, for anyone that might be interested in hearing.

 

after using the laptop for a week im noticing that colors on the LCD arent the same as my CRT. I was doing some web dev work this weekend and notice a HUGE differ between the 2. I tried to adjust the color settings but had no luck to match my CRT. After using it and comparing it side by side with my desktop the LCD seems have more a washed out look to it.

I also purchased a logitech bluetooth mouse.. its pimp with no cords or usb keys.

had one problem with the system not coming out of stand by mode after it being in stand by all night long, not sure why, hasnt done it since.

 

mhx, Knight2Rider and anyone else who has done a wipe of the hard drive and done a fresh install of XP PRO.

First I want to thank you guys for taking the time to post the details on doing a format /fresh install of Win XP Pro.

Any updates on the needed drivers /apps, or things to watch out for on doing a fresh install?

I've been reading this thread (and posting pointers to it on other boards because of the good info contained here.

I've got a HP dv8000t on order, from reading the specs it appears sort of simular..

One thing that's concerning me is the QuickPlay feature. From the limited research I've done so far it's a Linux based program on a Linux partiton. Some HP owners have reported that HP does NOT provide the "full" program to owners of HP products, they (HP) only provide the "updates" to v 1.0 of QuickPlay..... and NO updates to V2.0.... That you have to have the cd? shipped with the unit to re-install V 1.0 HP does not have a FTP site that tech support can point someone towards that has lost , or damaged their install cd.

Anyone had any luck "ghosting" or copying the QuickPlay partition? (V 1, or 2?)

Anyone heard if HP is shipping the v2.0 QuickPlay install Cd, or putting it in the set-up folder?

Any info would be apperciated... Want to be able to reformat, do a clean install of Win XP Pro ...before the wife gets home from work.... Imagine getting a brand-new laptop.... wipe it clean and not be able to restore one of the functions on it the wife thought was "neat".... NOT good if you're the man who has to hear her complain if you know what I mean :-(

PS: If you guys can, please download this freeware program called Unknown Device Identifier 5.02 , and post the data it outputs. It shows all the devices, and I think the drivers for each device. http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

 

I originally ordered my dv5000t on 03/07/06 after my Dell Inspiron 5160 gave up the ghost. I received mine on 03/22/06. Let me tell you a few things I have learned about what a FRESH XP Pro install requires:

1. You must use the SATA drivers included within the SWSETUP folder on your hard drive. I tried using the generic intel drivers and was only given a blue screen on boot after install. (This later led to the HD failure and having HP rush order and ship me a new laptop (they shouldnt give out after 5 days)...but thats another story).

2. Be sure your BIOS is the current one. My first HP shipped with a 02/20/06 bios date, but I noticed my second one shipped with a BIOS dated 03/16/06. This may have solved the problem mentioned above.

3. In order to install your sound and modem, you MUST install the Texas Instruments drivers first. I believe this is what controls most of the onboard devices. After installing them, your audio and modem drivers should install without a hitch.

4. If you are using a floppy disk to install the sata drivers, make sure you leave it in for the entire install. This is especially important when Windows XP is 'installing devices' after the first reboot.

Otherwise, I love my HP. After the first laptop died, it took a week from the time I called to report it to the time I had a new one in my hands. Now thats service ill pay for.

 

For some of us getting rid of the bloatware is for making the system more STABLE... As you know the more stuff you have installed the more chance for a conflict, the more the OS has to keep track of.

Side benefit, more responsive system, less crashes, less chance for data corruption when the OS gets it's pretty little head confused due to all that extra bloatware. Another issue is the un-install leftovers left from trying to remove all that junk-ola.


I wish HP would offer the following options:

1: HP recovery-to factory with all the bloatware.
2: HP recovery-to factory with ALL the HP apps needed for special features of that unit.- Without the bloatware.
Being able to SELECT which features YOU would like to "restore".
3: OS install disc with features of #2

As it stands now, and I may be wrong using the HP OS "restore?" disc ONLY restores the OS itself?

(Hope they at least provide the drivers, and apps for the built in mouse pad, things hardware based pertaining to what you ordered! (LOL)

(I'm talking about the OS disc can be purchased for $10 thru www.costco.com, using the custom build feature when purchasing a new HP., or thru HP themsleves.)

To me, without restoring the features of the laptop that rely on special programs to make any custom hardware work such as pointing devices, special video drivers, items such as QUICKPLAY v2.0, isn't a "restore", Or an "install disc" if it doesn't enable the end user to restore, or re-install those items.

The OS disc should have everything needed to make the hardware work...
It should have everything except for the bloatware... If it's hardware related they should include it.
If it's related to something that has dedicated buttons like QuickPlay V2.0 they should provide a FULL re-install / restore. All such items with the option to NOT install something you don't want.


If they can't provide that with every PC, they should ship a base re-install OS disc, with instructions on how someone could slipstream the needed apps/files into an install disc that would match the hardware in their machine.

You should be able to type in your model number, and or serial number and it pull up all the extra needed files, with instructions to slipstream all that stuff into the install disc so you'd have a FRESH copy of the OS with ALL the needed drivers and apps to make all that high priced custom hardware work if HP is too lazy to do it themselves.

Bloatware bad, Clean install GOOD...

 

RE: I am making a HUGE list of drivers and things need to rebuild these from the ground up. everything loaded CLEAN XP PRO... no issues no garbage either... but 2 things

1. The Context HD audio and Modem will not load they fail with FAILURE! in the install...

2. NLite is excellent once i have a complied list i will RAR everything on place it on my server for everyone to have, but until i can find out why the Modem and the Audio fail i'm still working on it


Knight2rider,

It's been right at two weeks now...

Any UPDATES, on which drivers-files-apps are needed?, things to look out for on a FRESH XP PRO install?, Did you get everything working?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1323579&postcount=13

 

Knight2rider,

It's been right at about THREE weeks now...

No word back from you...

Any UPDATES, on which drivers-files-apps are needed?, things to look out for on a FRESH XP PRO install?, Did you get everything working?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/show...9&postcount=13


Have you run accross anyone that has had luck "Ghosting" the partitions.... (SATA drive)

 

Knight2rider,

Well, It's been right at 30+/- days now.

You still alive? Been searching for your server on the "net", but the net is a big place and I haven't found your server yet.:-(

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1323579&postcount=13

 

Very good review.

I dont now if i go to buy this HP or one LG P1 what you thing about this two models.

 

I recently purchased the HP DV 5000t, and like many my drive crashed in less than 2 weeks. I am working with HP now to figure out how they will handle my warranty replacement, but I have already received the software.

If you contact HP Support, they will be able to provide you both a OS recovery dvd, AND the complete hardware driver and app disc.

The app/driver disc is really well done. You have the option of selecting exactly which driver and programs you want to install, its not some autorun which reloads the bloatware. It has all the drivers, and a check select box for each program to optionally reload.

i have not received the drive yet to actually test the dvd, but just browsing through the dvd on another laptop -- i am sure this is what many of you need.

regards -

 

Finished rebuilding my system onto a new replacement drive from HP. The recovery dvd's they ship out from support worked perfectly to rebuild a clean OS, and then check select each and every driver, and app that you chose to install. The machine runs perfectly, and is noticably more efficient on a 7200 SATA drive.

The only thing i wasnt able to accomplish was to install my own copy of XP Media Center that I have owned seperately. I tried a number of different ideas to partition and format the drive, but the computer would only recognize the drive when i used the factory authorized XP Home disc.

If any one would know anything on that - please share.

 

Could you EXPAND on what you mean by you couldn't install Xp Media Center?

How far did you get in the install, what screen messages appeared, etc?


For the past few hours, I've been trying some custom XP installs.... Press F6 for the SATA driver.... then later on in the install the installer asks for:
Three files that I believe should be on the USB floppy with the SATA drivers and then upon reboot give the blue screen of death...:
iaStor.sys
iaAHCI.inf
iaAHCI.cat


I ran into this before on my desktop system... Was trying to install a custom XP install that has all the apps already installed ... Did the same thing, and the work around I used on that was to install the OS, etc to an IDE hd.... then Copy the OS over to the new SATA drive... I think that's how I did it.


I think I need to look into Nlite to intergrate the SATA drivers into the CD/DVD.....

 

hey, nice review, but i have a question...

why would some of the benchmarks be higher before the clean install then after? shouldnt it be the opposite? and same thing with the Super pi

 

I opened a brand new Hitachi 100GB Sata 7200 and installed in my DV5000t. My 'back-up' copy XP MC installation disks could not recognize any hard drive. So I inserted my genuine microsoft disc from HP and the new hard drive was recognized immediately.

After formatting the drive through my genuine Microsoft XP Home disc, i proceeded with a clean install of XP MC, including another format via the XP MC install disc. The XP MC completed its installation without a single error - HOWEVER - there is no MC functionality what so ever.

I have used these XP MC installation discs on other machines and have full XP MC functionality. Somehow, beyond my level of understanding, it seems there is another HP/Microsoft genuine advantage check that disables functionality if you install from a personally burned installation cd. I cant imagine how, as i said - the drive was factory sealed, brand new.

I guess i am pleased enough with the XP home for now, will probably just wait and spend the cash on the longhorn upgrade anyway.

<the discs we're burned with NERO>

 

i wanted to buy one of these, but the only option for hard drive speed is 5400 rpm... is it too hard too install? i built a lot of desktop pcs but never had a notebook before, so i would like to know if it is a simple operation
thanks!

 

painless.

take 4 screws out of the bottom of your laptop, slide the old drive out, secure the new drive in the bay, and seal it back up.

Use the HP recovery disc and you new drive will be fully reloaded in 20-30 minutes.

I installed the hitachi 7200 and continue to be stunned with the improvement both in speed and battery usage. I thought a 7200 would be like 33% faster - not the case. It cut my boot time down from around 3 minutes to like 30 seconds. I have 2 GB ram which also seems to make a nice impact, but the faster drive is a good option. You will be happy with this machine once you get it tweaked to your liking. I would recommend buying it bare bones from HP and upgrade components of your choice from a site like newegg or tiger.

 

Thanks mhs for the awesome review. It had a great deal of influence on my decision to buy a dv5000t. There are a few things I thought I might add to the discussion.

I am very impressed with the dv5000 out of the box (mine also had finger prints on the screen). One thing I really appreciated was that my 12-cell battery was fully charged out of the box. At first I thought something was wrong when I plugged it in for the initial charge and no charge light came on.

My custom was ordered with the gloss screen. I would say that the brightness or intensity of the reflections is no different then what I am accustom to with matte finishes. The difference is that the reflections are very clear, almost mirror like with the display off. I was pretty nervous about making the leap to a gloss display but I find that it looks great and the clearer reflections don't distract me any. So far I have only used the notebook indoors.

I would disagree about the keyboard. To me the keys feel cheap and flimsy. It sinks inconsistently. For instance the A,S,D area sinks more then the G, H area. The first time typing on this keyboard I was actually missing strokes, meaning I had hit the key but it didn't register a hit. My basis for comparison is a 12" Apple PowerBook. Not really fair considering the PowerBooks uber sturdy aluminum construction. This is going to take some getting used to.

I haven't yet reinstalled the OS. Not looking forward to that I know form experience that it's a pain to find and load all the drivers and (useful) software. It's going to be even worse after two years of being a Mac user (Mac users are not expected to install drivers).

All and all I'm very impressed with what I got for the price.

-Rockey

 

This sounds very similar to the nc6320's factory installed HP tools.. we have one in the office, that shipped in a similar configuration to my dv5000t, but the junk software was not pre-installed...

.... anyway....

Do you have the part number for this dvd you are talking about? I've asked support, and they give me the proverbial "shrug", "you'll have to ask sales if they have such a thing"...

 

I'm not disappointed with my dv5000t choice - pretty nice notebook for the price. Now, when I ordered, I ordered a 128MB NvIdia.. However the nVidia drivers identify the card as a 256MB GeForce ....

--
The bloatware thing is annoying to say the least... but I expected that, and had them send alone the OS CD... but that seems to have been a wasted expense..

So far it's been disasterous. I ran the OS disc, text mode went fine - but when the notebook rebooted it wanted to run the recovery component... I let it- and got an MBR Error.

I ran it a second time and noticed that windows in it's infinite wisdom had made the QuickPlay partition "C" and the OS "D" ... but the second run windows booted after it completed the install... of course, the QuickPlay partition was (in a nutshell) destoryed, Windows writing it's typical boot drive information to it.

Now, I'm trying to run the recovery from the recovery dvd's I'd burned out of the box... it's an hour into the process... disc 2 is loaded... for this much time, I'm almost expecting it to be a true out of the box restore... (but that's probably not going to be the case).

Frankly, I'd be thrilled with this machine if they shipped me a "Clean" pc, give me the OS and Drivers, and pre-install the office package I selected...

But nope- they not only force feed the junk to ya- but make it difficult to make it a clean build... guess they are trying to make double **** sure their spyware stays put.

 

I have been asked by a number of people looking for the part number on the recovery discs from HP. Unfortunately, HP changes the part numbers quite often to either ‘accommodate updates’ or more likely to keep too many people from receiving free recovery discs. I imagine it is hard to keep the $10 recovery disc sales going when you have too many people just calling up post sale to receive a free copy.

Obviously a simple fix would be to allow the customer to burn their own set of discs – including; full recovery, drivers, select applications, etc upon initial boot-up.


I would recommend you call their customer service department and inform them your drive crashed and you are in the process of rebuilding your machine. I wouldn’t waste a lot of time with the entry level fools that are not going to do much to help out, rather I would immediately ask to speak to what they call an escalation manager. Inform them you need the Hardware Driver & Application CD for your HP to function properly. Maybe mention the HP Quickplay isn’t working and the Integrated Wireless isn’t detected because you don’t have the drivers. Then customer no-service really has no choice but to suddenly find the Hardware Driver & Application CD you asked for earlier ;-) I hear it has been taking 2 or 3 calls to find someone competent enough to help.


Cheers!

 

I was debating whether to get the Dell 1505, Toshiba Satellite, or this dv5000t. I wanted the core duo 2.0 GHz, double side dvd burner, widescreen, tv tuner, good battery life and at least 1 G of RAM. The HP was the cheapest of the three by about 300 bucks although i was unsure about the build quality.

I got my computer in August throught HP's website. The computer came super fast. I ordered it and received it in five days!

HP's Recovery Disk works fine. I like the option in the start menu to reinstall their prepackaged software and drivers. It saves a lot of hassle to find it online or wait for them to send a disk.

One problem is the dvd drive's driver disappears when I installed any software that includes a feature for burning disks. I had to uninstall the drive and reboot it again and reinstall the software.

The keyboard is also very cheap. HP could have moved the mouse pad a little over to the left so that your right hand doesn't trigger the scroll bar on the right side of the touch pad. The computer will automatically go into all shift mode and i have to hit the shift key several times to undo the all shift mode. It can get annoying.

The glossy screen is alright for indoor use but it causes a LOT of glare when out under the sun.

Otherwise, the battery life is a definite plus. I got the 12-cell and it always lasts at least six hours when i use it for powerpoint, general word processing, surfing the net, picture editing, etc.

The remote control is great for presentations if you need it for class or work. I use it for teaching and it works great.

The TV tuner card that's online is a great deal for it's only half the price than if you buy it separately.

Overall, i'm happy with it and it definitely delivers the most bang for the buck.

 

I have an HP Pavilion dv5000t. In short, I like it. It has been a great notebook. It is a very FAST machine.
The only thing that could be better is the position of the touch pad. Sometimes, when I type on it, I palm the touch pad a little. Although, you can adjust the sensitivity, I rather not. If you don't have it sensitive enough you might not be able to move the pointer very well at all. I have my notebook since July of 2006. I do some photo editing with it; it does great. I have an Intel Core Duo processor running at 1.83 GHz with Intel Centrino mobile technology. It is like having a single core running at 3.6 GHz. I really like it. I have two Operating Systems on it: TA Mepis Frontier PRO Linux as well a Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. I don't like Windows XP home as much as Windows XP professional. The added advantage XP Pro gives you is built-in encryption as well as the ability to host remote desktop connection. However, this is not about the Operating System (OS) technology. It is about the hardware, and how the hardware and software work with each other. My dv5000 has 1Gb RAM. on 2 DIMMS. The GIG of RAM keeps windows XP pretty happy. I know if I really wanted to I could get Microsoft Windows Vista running on it. I would need to upgrade the Hard Drive to 100Gb probably and upgrade the Random Access Memory RAM to 2Gb. The only CON is the touch pad thing mentioned above. The screen is nice and clear, the sound from the speakers is good. My machine was $1,138, including the bag I bought with it. The HP dv5000 does get a little bit heavy, but, not too bad. It is normal for laptops to be heavy when you first start carrying one around. I have not carried it around much until the past couple months when I started a computer repair class. Now I bring it with me a lot of places. I find Myself carrying it more often as time goes on. It comes in handy.

 

, did you just revive a 5 month old thread?! Plus, please use paragraphs! It's really hard to read a paragraph as large as that one.

 

The computer screen began to look grainy. At first I thought it was the dust but later on, I found that something got loose in the screen. I have to occasionally squeeze the back of the monitor to reconnect the wires! I have a super sturdy carrying case and I never dropped the computer. This happened to my friend's Compaq notebook too. I thought HP was better than Compaq, but the build quality is kind of questionable now. This happened after 9 months but it never happened to my Toshiba Satellite, which I had for almost 5 years.

It is also annoying when you are typing since it is very easy for me to trigger the scroll bar on the right side of the touch pad. This triggers the mouse pointer in any word processing document and highlights blocks of text so you have to cover the pad with something when you are typing.