Home  Articles Computers Review of HP dv1000
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Sunday, 06 February 2005 |
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My review and reasons for buying a Hewlett-Packard dv1000
I recently purchased a new laptop. In doing so, I actually did a lot of research to find the exact one that I wanted. My first step was to list my needs and wants and assign them a value of importance...
Here is My List:
- Performance
- Battery Life
- Size
- Graphics
- Storage
- Upgradeable
- Desktop Replacement
Then assigning these a values I had to ask myself, what is more important; Battery Life or Performance? Travel Size or Desktop Replacement? Answering these questions gave me a better idea of what I wanted before I started looking. Basically what it came own to for myself was that I wanted Battery Life, and Travel Size to be the most important features.
Both of these features put some of the other needs lower on the list. For example, I gave up on the high speed disk drives for battery life, and gave up the Desktop Replacement for the Travel Size.
My research started with the processor. Battery life tells you that you want either a Intel M Proc. or a Intel Centrino. Both are basically the same. At the time I did my research there was not much information on the AMD laptop proc out there, so I unfortunately can not compare the two, I would imagine they are similar. Also for a longer battery life you want to get a slower RPM hard drive. The faster they spin the shorter the battery life. Of course this effects performance, but that is why you have to decide on what outweighs the other.
Some other rules I followed:
- Processor speed. Get the fastest you can afford. You can not upgrade processors in laptops.
- Memory. Get at least 512. Memory is upgradeable and will be cheaper in the future. 512 should be enough to handle XP... for now...
- Wireless. Get the both b and g. There is a new wireless card coming out next year (802.11i) which everyone will switch too. These Mini PCI cards are usually upgradeable as well.
- Bluetooth - Get it. Cellphones use it and its great! I use mine and it sync's my calendar, addresses book and todo list when i just walk by my computer.
- DVD Burner - Optional. There is a new DVD burner out for PC's (not yet for laptops) That is a dual layer option. Basically stores twice the data of the current DVD burners. I didnt get any of the ones they offered since none of them have the dual layer option. These are upgradeable though...
- Extra Battery - The only reason why I got one was for long flights. Regular battery should last 3 - 4 hours. the bigger extra one should be double that.
I finally settled with a HP dv1000. It still has a widescreen aspect ratio, but is only 14" across instead of the bigger 15.3".
Also this model has a "BrightView" option. Its really a nice looking screen, my co-worker has it. The only thing I do not like about it is the fact that there is a lot of glare. If you want to see what it looks like, go to a computer store to see if you like it.
Cons to this laptop.
- This laptop does not really come with a "Great" graphics card. In other words its not good for 3d games, but I use this laptop for more "work" stuff, and use my desktop for games.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 April 2006 )
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