HP Pavilion dv5t Review

Posted by Eric

August 30, 2008

HP Pavilion dv5t Review

The replacement for the superseded dv6000 notebook series. The HP Pavilion dv5t gives the user an accelerated graphics system with the ability to run most modern games and applications with ease. The Pavilion is centered around the new and innovative intel montevina centrino 2 mobile technology.

Note: >>>>>> For a list of pros and cons scroll down to the bottom

Specs:
$1000-$1500
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor (2.26GHz/ 1066MHz FSB/ 3MB L2)
15.4-inch WSXGA+ Infinity display
Nvidia GeForce 9600M-GT w/ 512MB DDR2 dedicated video card
2GB DDR2-800 RAM (2x 1GB)
160GB 5400RPM hard drive (Fujitsu)
Broadcom 802.11b/g wireless + Bluetooth
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
High-capacity 6-cell Li-ion battery

Design: A sleek and sophisticated looking design gives the pavilion dv5t the upper hand over the competition. With a thin chassis the notebook posses’ an ultramodernized look which should appeal to anyone and everyone. The entire notebook is rounded off at the corners and its predominant colors are silver and black. There is also a hint of ‘liquid metal’. The keyboard feels quite incredible and touch typing is a breeze, you will definately feel if I dare say ‘cooler’ when writing up word documents on this notebook. ‘The status lights for power, battery charge, and hard disk activity are located in the front edge of the notebook, below the left palmrest. It is easy to see them when the display is closed, and the indicator labels above each light are even imprinted on the top of the display.’

- Under close inspection the HP Pavilion dv5t a good sturdy build. It is made out of high strength plastic and there is no flex of any kind in the palmrests. This laptop really does have a undoubtable quality build to it.

Performance: The HP Pavilion dv5t is outstanding when it comes to gaming performance. With a Nvidia GeForce 9600M-GT 512MB graphics card. Games run smoothly and at a relatively high fps (frames per second). Call of Duty 4 and Crysis were both benchmarked at relatively high resolutions and performed quite well in both tests.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I highly recommend the HP Pavilion dv5t notebook as a ‘work’ and ‘play’ computer. At a great value it gives the user most if not all the features and capabilities that any other high priced laptop currently available does. With a marvellous design, sleek visuals, a great 15.4inch screen and superb performance this notebook definately gets a 9/10.

Pros
- Great value
- Beautiful, classy design
- Solid build quality - no cheap plastic
- Gorgeous WSXGA+ Infinity display
- Excellent input devices
- Port variety - eSATA, HDMI especially
- Good gaming performance
- Quality speakers
- Small AC adapter

Cons
- Runs warm while gaming
- High maintenance - keep a microfiber towel handy
- Pre-loaded bloatware
- Battery life with dedicated 9600M-GT may not be enough

(pros and cons taken from notebookreview.com)