HP Pavilion DV9820US 17-inch Laptop (AMD Turion 64 X 2 Dual Core TL-62 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)

Amazon Customer Reviews

(4 out of 5)

Good Notebook

First and foremost, this notebook is good as a desktop, why? It is 17" wide and hence quite heavy. So if you are planning lugging this everyday, you better have a good shoulder.

Performance wise, 3GB RAM helps it run super fast. Screen is great, crisp and clear. Comes with a remote but don't really count on it - has very bare functions and can be useful only during DVD viewing.

Like any other new notebook, it is very quiet (no fan noise). All in all a very good notebook and wide screen allows you to open multiple windows placing them side by side. If you require to save space on your desk this is a great alternative.

(3 out of 5)

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Uglier

OVERVIEW:

I purchased this laptop for the beefy components, but mainly because the segregated graphical system (NVIDIA), which should improve performance, and the dual-core Centrino. Beyond productivity software, I wish to play games and do experiments with operating systems using VMWare.

Much to my dismay, essential functionality in the Centrino processor (VT) is disabled and there is no option to turn this on, and the NVIDIA graphics system is unstable with Windows Vista.

PERFORMANCE:

I'll try to avoid going into a diatribe about the follies of Vista, but as this OS is foisted upon us, and HP doesn't support any alternatives, I feel it is appropriate to mention some highlights. The overall system is not very responsive, with programs like Explorer and Internet Explorer crashing frequently enough, and other networking programs often become unresponsive often enough. Sometimes with programs that require administrative access, we wait about 30 seconds for a dialog to appear asking us if we wish to allow the operation.

Beyond this experience, the graphic driver crashes frequently, and multimedia controls like sound volume lock up the system and render the system unresponsive. I talked with their technical support, and they told me to call NVIDIA as that's their fault, and NVIDIA's website says call HP for driver support, as they are the OEM.

OTHER NOTES:

I think there are two design issues with the laptop: the keyboard and speaker grill:

The speaker grill has tendency to not stay attached. Inspect your model carefully to make sure there are no flaws, and purchase an extended warranty in case a portion of the grill cover pops up in the future. I had to exchange my first laptop immediately at Fry's because of this.

The keyboard keys have open spaces between the keys and sharp edges. Thus it is easy to pop the keys off and destroy the keyboard. If you had this laptop in a bag with papers and folders for instance, the flat thin object could rip out the keys. So, I recommend keeping the black cloth that came with the box, and place it above the keyboard when transporting as well as keep the laptop in a separate cover or bag if placed in bigger luggage (such as large computer bag) to protect the delicate keys.

INSTALLING XP or OTHER OSes:

Undoubtedly, users will be interested to install alternative operating systems to get around the problems with Vista foisted upon consumers. I haven't dabbled with open source systems, but I do know that some of the hardware components, like RICOH, are infamous for not supporting or cooperating with open source community, so expect some loss of functionality with Linux, FreeBSD, etc.

For Windows XP, there will be major problems, because not only will you have to fetch drivers from non-HP sources, you'll need a driver so that Windows XP can see the hard drive (the whole F6 floppy ritual). Intel seems to only release this to OEMs (or makes it hard to get at it), and the OEM, HP in this case, won't release the driver to the user. Some of these heart aches might be important when considering this laptop.

SIDE RANT:

I know many will disagree with this, especially HP, but knowingly selling laptops with problematic graphics systems is just dishonest. It's like selling a car with a problematic transmission, and then telling customers to call the transmission company. Directing users to go to NVIDIA, who haven't been able to solve the problem in over 9 months just salts the wounds.

And disabling a major feature of Intel processors surmounts to false advertisement. You buy these things expecting things to work and be functional. This topic is often discussed in the forums with other HP laptops, and in some cases HP has addressed the issue and provided the option, but several of their laptops, including this one, are not addressed.

LAST WORDS:

Initially, I thought the laptop would be a good deal for the price tag, even with the unfortunate circumstance with Vista, a problem shared with other pre-installed-Windows laptops these days (sans Apple Computer, and perhaps Dell). But with the disabled features in the processor (VT technology) and lingering problems with NVIDIA and Vista (a problem that exist with other HP laptops for over 9 months, a cause for many lawsuits), I couldn't recommend this model or other HP models professionally or personally.

(4 out of 5)

Nice machine...if you like Vista

This is a very nice computer. The large 17" screen is glossy and high quality, which my nephew who uses an Apple noticed. The memory and graphics are sufficient for most uses, but don't buy this model if you plan on using it for a lot of graphics-intensive games. Also, don't buy it if you plan on downgrading to Windows XP. Of course you can downgrade if you are willing to invest the time and effort of finding and installing third-party drivers, but HP does not support XP on this model. I would give a rating of 2 or three stars to the whole package (Vista+the computer) only because Vista makes it run as slowly as my five-year-old laptop did on XP. I give the computer on its own a rating of 4 stars, and if you take into account that you get what you pay for it probably deserves 5 stars.

I made the decision to buy this model because it fit my budget and Amazon was able to get it to me quickly. Although I was disappointed that I could not easily downgrade to XP I am satisfied with it as a low-end laptop.

(1 out of 5)

Bad choice

While this is a feature packed machine, I would be wary.
Ours never worked, right out of the box. Tech support wanted me to crack the thing open and fiddle with the motherboards. Uh, no. I'll just take it back thanks.
It was the last one at the store we bought it from, and the other store in the area only had one left, which was*also a return for being defective*.
Granted this is only two out of how many thousands that are probably fine, but it made me shy away from this machine.
I am *really* disappointed as this seems like a great notebook, though as the other reviewer stated, it is a bit on the heavy side. Just get a good padded strap notebook/laptop bag and it shouldn't be too bad for quick trips from the car to your office, or from class to class on campus.

(4 out of 5)

Great value

Just received mine today and the first impressions are good. The laptop is bulky and a little heavy which is to be expected since it sports a 17' screen, but otherwise is a great system. The screen is very good; bright and with a clear display. The 4GB memory and the graphics card are more than sufficient for most purposes. The laptop is really quiet and I tried the webcam and the speakers and they too are impressive. I think that the full sized keyboard is a great asset. Working on it is easy and the large bright screen really helps. All the ports & slots are on the sides but I didn't find that much of a problem. If you don't intend to carry the laptop around on your shoulders for a long while, just to the office & back, then this is a very good system.