Home > Consumer Reviews > HP Pavilion DV5-1000US 15.4-inch Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium) Black

I've had this computer for two years, and I do not feel like I need an upgrade - which is saying a lot. When I first had mine delivered, it crashed consistently enough for it to be clear there was a hardware problem and it went back the next day. Two days later the replacement arrived and I've been happy ever since!

I use this computer between four and ten hours every day, so it definitely gets used. But, it doesn't feel used at all. It is very pretty, the webcam is decent, and it is fast enough to handle Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and multiple browsers running at the same time. It does get goopy with fingerprints very easily, so I find myself wiping it down several times a week, but when shined up it looks like new.

I have to say, though, that with Windows 7RC it is like having a brand-new computer. I've been running Windows 7 for about 5 months now and it has been an extremely smooth, stable transition. The operating system is smaller, faster, and less likely to crash. The only problem that I have had is that the mute button doesn't change between blue and orange when turning on and off, although it still works just fine.

If you get this computer, it's worth upgrading to Windows 7. I know I won't be trading in this computer any time soon.

I would give this 3.5 stars, but that's not an option. I have this laptop for about a month now, and paid $700 from JR with a mail-in rebate. Not bad.

Pros: It looks AWESOME. The picture displayed above doesn't really do justice. Everything is shiny and beautiful. Aside from the sleek chrome look of the keyboard, there's a litup touch pad control for the volume and DVD playing functions. Very stylish. The computer functions pretty well. I haven't had problems yet, although I plan to uninstall the 3-month trial of Norton and get AVG.

Cons: There are only 2 major downsides I have encountered so far: 1- there's this incessant, light yet high-pitched humming that comes out of the computer. It drives me CRAZY sometimes. It's very faint..so I dunno if my ears are just extra keen or something. I called tech support and troubleshooting did not take care of it. I think I've gotten somewhat used to it though. 2- The volume control really is SCHIZOPHRENIC. I'm talking about the cool-looking touchpad control. You can easily adjust volume through external speaker control, the mini icon in the bottom right corner of the screen or through the remote (nifty, yet cheap plastic) they give you. I'm going to try troubleshooting that by re-installing the touchpad software. The volume control is a problem maybe 20% of the time anyway. Really not a huge deal.

Overall I like this computer a lot. Serves its purpose and looks great. A few kinks here and there. I wouldn't pay $1000 for this though. Wait until it's listed for $750.

I've had this for 3 weeks and am now returning it.

Pros: Sleek, fast, screen looks great. For me the ideal size as a desktop replacement and providing portability around my apartment (too big to take it everywhere all the time).

Cons: This was the kicker. The volume control does not work. I tried numerous calls to customer service, did about 6 different patches (new driver installation, then uninstall quicklaunch then reinstall, restore point, recovery). It worked, then problem resurfaced 2 weeks later. Big issue is the volume adjustment pops up in a big black box in the middle of your screen every 5 or 20 seconds, making it impossible to enjoy surfing the internet. It'll disappear (the problem), then whenever I play a mpeg or video file, the volume clicking noise and icon box will constantly reappear. I'm going to avoid the dv5 series entirely. When i googled 'pavillion dv5 and volume bug' i noticed a lot of other people have the same complaint. Otherwise a great laptop - just google and do you research. maybe my PC was the anomaly.

I had this computer for 14 months when suddenly went dead. I took it in to have it checked out and they said 'the system board is broken' and wanted $500 to be repaired. The computer shop said that he this model in "all the time' for repairs.
I called Hewlitt Packard and they wanted even more than that to 'fix.'
Not only did I lose my data, but I am out a $1,000 laptop. I would not recommend any one buy a Hewlitt Packard.