HP Pavilion DV9700T 17" Notebook PC, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5550 1.83 GHz, 17.0" WXGA, 2GB DDR2, 320GB SATA HDD, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW, Webcam, Intel WiFi 4965AGN, Microphone, Vista Home Premium

Discount Price: $959.99

Features:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T5550, 1.83GHz, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 667MHz, 320GB Dual SATA Harddrive (2x160GB)
• 17" WSXGA+ HP BrightView Widescreen Display, support resolution 1680x1050 pixels
• 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+-/RW
• Intel 4965AGN WiFi, Webcam, Microphone
• 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery, Vista Home Premium

Customer Reviews:

Performance with the dv9700t [Posted on 2008-03-11]
Hello, this is actually my first review I have ever written. I am taking the time to write one because when I was reading reviews about this laptop there were some things that I was wondering about that I did not find in reviews. So, I will try to address the same questions that you might have that I had before I purchased this laptop.

First, I have to tell you some things about my dv9700t. I purchased this laptop through the HP website. I recieved the computer within a week of purchasing it which was 2 weeks earlier than expected(shipped from China) and my specs are as follows:

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 2.5 GHz
6MB L2 Cache
High-Definition Ultra Brightview Widescreen Display
3G of Ram
512 NVIVIA GeForce 8600M GS graphics Card
320GB(160 x 2) SATA harddrives at 5400 RPM
HD DVD Drive
Windows Vista Home Premium.

This labtop costed $1600. This was my first PC that I have purchased through HP. I have previous owned a Gateway and I have worked with Dells laptops. I must say that HP makes the best laptops. They are the number 1 best selling PC supplier in the WORLD(as of March 5, 2008). If I was going to buy a laptop I would buy an HP but if I was going to buy a desktop I would buy a Dell.

When you purchased this laptop,as with any you buy, there is tons of trialware on the PC. The first thing that I did was whipped everything off of the PC and put Windows Vista Ultimate on there. The windows experience score went from 4.0, with Windows Vista Premium, to 4.8 with Windows Ultimate. That why you want to do a fresh install.

I would recommend updating to the faster processor and the bigger video card because this will prolong the lifespan of the PC. If there is anything that I could upgrade it would be those two. The processor and video card are the two things you can not upgrade yourself. You can always upgrade the RAM, Harddrive, or CD/DVD Drive yourself later.

One of my questions that I had before buying this laptop was Performance. I wanted a really fast computer. Fast in terms of booting up,shutting down,surfing the web,running multiple applications. If I would rate this labtop based on performance I would rate it a 9.5. It boots up in 1 min 45 secs and shuts down in 20 secs.

Running multiple applications with the T9300 2.5 processor I would rate it a perfect 10 because there is nothing that you can do to even make these two processor even begin to work hard. Both of my harddrives and professors always work between 15-25% of Max effort(there is a sidebar gagit that I got to monitor this).

Another question that I had was about which harddrive to get. The faster one(240 7200rpms) or the bigger but slower one(320 5200rpms). I recommend choosing the one that best suits your lifestyle. I went with the bigger one because I download tons of music off of limewire(which works great with Vista), pictures and movies. I also need the space to put alot of programs and other software. If you are just going to use the laptop for surfing the web and checking email get the faster harddive but if your lifestyle demands music,pictures,video get the bigger one.

One more issue I want to hit is about Heat. With the Penryn Processor this PC does not get hot at ALL. I have had this laptop on for two straight days that it only feels warm to the touch. The fans very rarly come on,and it is the quietest PC I promise you will every use. I would know because I owned a Gateway and I use Dell laptops at work.

The last thing I want to state in my review is the Ultra Brightview Display. Was it really worth upgrading to? At the time I purchased this laptop off of HP it costs be 30 more bucks to upgrade so I did. Is it worth upgrading for 100 more dollars, NO!!. Right now you can upgrade to the better display for 125 dollars more. The only difference between the Brightview and the Ultra is that the Ultra has two lamps that light up the display instead of just one with Brightview. I dont think you will see much of a difference but I must say the Ultra Brightview is definitly crisp, clear and of course Bright.

Bottom Line, if you are like me and are wanting a personal laptop computer that is fast in terms of performance(booting up, shutting down, running multiple applications) than the HP dv9700t is the one you want to go with. The HP service was great, I recieved my PC two weeks before they said I would get it. And I have been happy with every aspect of the laptop. I rated the dv9700t a 9.0 and not a 10 because of all of the trialware which is why I recommanded installing a clean version of Vista or XP. I would recommend this laptop to anyone who is looking for a laptop currently.

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