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HP Pavilion DV2-1030US 12.1-Inch Laptop Review
HP Pavilion DV2-1030US 12.1-Inch Laptop Feature
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HP Pavilion DV2-1030US 12.1-Inch Laptop Reviews
This laptop hit the sweet spot for me. I had a netbook, the MSI Wind, and it was great for what it was. However, the 1024x600 screen size was a constant issue for me..many programs weren't really happy with that resolution. My eyes are fine, and screen size isn't an issue, but the resolution was.So my next laptop I also wanted it to be ultraportable, but I need a 720p minimum size resolution AND a discrete graphics card (and NOT an Intel.) I previously had dell 17" with a Nvidia 7900m GO video card - it was basically my traveling gaming laptop - however the size and weight got to be way too much for me.The DV2 has everything I need, and these are some notable features.- A discrete video card, ATI 3410 512MB (had to play TF2 and City of Heroes with no problem - I like to do light gaming). It's a decent card, but it won't replace a real strong gaming laptop or desktop but enough for my needs. This chart helps explain how the video cards stack up:[...]- Screen size - 1280x800, a good solid resolution- 4GB, Vista home premium 64 (on the 1030us model)- Clear screen, but not a great viewing angle- Lightweight, 3.8 lbs- Cheap (<600 w/rebate)- Good wifi card (a/b/g/n)- no bluetooth (bummer)- Alright battery life (just slightly above average, considering the intense video card)A few things to note about some of the complaints:- Yes it can run hot. However, I did not witness it heat up until AFTER I played a game and then it wouldn't come down. Using speedfan, I saw 41C at one of the probes (which I assumed to be the processor), another probe was like 15C. The hottest I saw was 58C, 17C. You have to remember to do the bios upgrade, this helps cut down on heat issues. You should expect heat if you game or put it down on a bed for long time or something. Get a laptop cooler for home like I did - it won't hurt and may help in the long run.- There was an INCREDIBLE amount of bloatware..more than I've ever witnessed in my life (no kidding, really.) After removing as much as I thought safe and doing all the updates, I saw a noticeable improvement in speed overall- I would be happier if it were a dual core. However, that being said, it is good enough to do office apps, web surf, email, and yes IT WILL GAME TOTALLY FINE too depending on the game title. So, the dual core, IMHO, is only needed if you are going to do video compression, which I would not do on this (that's what I have a desktop for, a quad core too.) The MSI WIND was good enough for office apps too.- Viewing videos was ok. I'm having a hell of a time getting DXVA (video hardware acceleration) working. I can view a 720p movie (.mkv H.264) decoded in software via the processor running at about 70%. The MSI would run the same movie at 92% so this processor is definitely more powerful than that when it comes to video decode on CPU. The DXVA problem stems from it being Vista x64 vs the 32 bit version. I've always been wary of x64 operating systems on Windows and I would place the blame squarely on its shoulders because DXVA works fine on my 32 bit Vista desktop with an ATI card as well. Anyhow, I don't think I'll be viewing 1080p titles (since the screen can't do it anyway).So that's all I can tell you for now. I've had it for a few days only but it seems fine, especially given the price. TF2 runs at like 40+ FPS at full screen resolution (1280x800), with medium to medium high settings. City of Heroes runs a little more sluggish 22+ FPS at full screen resolution and low settings. However, CoH is a more CPU intensive game than most due to the PhysX stuff and logic behind the game so it would definitely benefit from a dual core. It does play and that's what's important.Overall it's a great laptop but you have to know what to expect. Don't think it won't get hot, because with that kind of oomph and teeny package it will happen. It won't burn you legs or anything but hot it will run.So remember, uninstall all the bloatware, do a BIOS upgrade, get a decent H.264 DXVA compliant video codec installed, and you are set for a nice mobile experience. I will next try to load Ubuntu 8.10 using WUBI to see how it installs out of the gate with it. Should be a nice experience. The MSI WIND ran that nicely and even ran Compiz no problem with the big cube and effects on. It should be a piece of cake for this machine.Enjoy, and don't let the negative reviews deter you. It's not a dual core machine, but it does have a lot going for it...in a 12 inch ultraportable form factor too!Basically it's not really a netbook (and would not be fair to compare it to one), but it is an ultraportable laptop. No doubt, this will blow the doors of a netbook. This is about as small as I could find that would do gaming. It is more expensive than a netbook, but look what you get. Look around, 12" laptops you have to pay a premium to purchase that size ($1000+). This is priced in the range of some decently powered 15.4" laptops but as I said, you pay for the size.It is for someone who is looking to purchase this size AND wants a firm multimedia and ok gaming capability, but doesn't want to spend $1K for the dual core and near desktop replacement features.
To me, it's just the right combination of power, portability, and features. This laptop is positioned perfectly between a netbook (which costs half as much) and an ultraportable (which costs twice as much).It looks a lot like a netbook, except it's not a netbook. There is no sense comparing dv2-1030us to a glorified calculator with 1 GB of RAM and a 4 GB SSD. This laptop comes with 4 GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive, so it can be used to do real work, not just take notes before transferring the data elsewhere.The screen is bright and clear, and has the same resolution as a 15" HP laptop such as dv5-1250us. There is an HDMI port so I can hook it up to my large monitor or an HDTV.There is no internal DVD drive The external drive comes bundled. This makes dv2-1030us much lighter than other laptops. I rarely use the DVD, so I won't have to drag the external drive with me.Pros:- 64-bit CPU, supports 4GB RAM- 320 GB hard drive- great screen quality- HDMI connector- very good touchpad with scroll- more power per pound of weight than any other laptop or netbook- a physical switch to turn off wireless- external DVD drive, no need to drag around the extra weight- power cord is about 15' long, you don't have to sit by the outletCons:- external DVD drive, I will probably misplace it one day- power cord is about 15' long, I constantly have to untangle it
Bought the DV2 for about 700 2 months ago, and am pleased to say that this little notebook performs quite admirably, all things considered. The Neo surprised me with astounding speed - for a single core processor. Don't let that mislead you, however; under most circumstances, one wouldn't be able to distinguish the diminutive single core from one of AMD/Intel's lower/mid-range dual core processors.Speedfreaks beware: this machine does not handle 1080p videos and high-end games terribly well... Nevertheless, anything 720p and below will play flawlessly on the beautifully bright screen, and games like TF2 and COD 4 will play at wonderfully high framerates and mid-high settings. Even Crysis, to some extent, was playable at low settings.Two cons: heat and battery life. The left side of the laptop can get prohibitively hot; this isn't much of an issue if one tends to use the computer on a desk, but sitting on a lap, one should be rather careful to make sure the vent isn't blocked, lest a potentially dangerous situation arise... Battery life isn't anything to write home about - I see an average of 2-3 hours, which isn't terrible, but could be better.Design-wise, HP made this model perfectly. This laptop is quite thin, quite light, quite fetching, and also quite prone to fingerprints...All in all, a wonderful machine that I wouldn't hesitate to buy again. As a side-note, HP recently updated this model to a dual-core, which would undoubtedly make this machine faster and more capable than before. Check it out!
If you've been put off by the heat and battery life issues reported by some reviewers, let me say that these completely disappear under Windows 7. I noticed the fan blowing hot air out of the side vent shortly after booting into Windows Vista for the first time but after installing Windows 7 and upgrading the BIOS, the DV2 runs cool and quiet. With CPU undervolting - Google is your friend - the 6 cell battery will provide four hours of constant use with the 'Power Saver' energy profile; something my old MSI Wind u100 could barely manage.Netbook or notebook? Whatever you call it, the HP DV2-1030us is a stylish and capable ultraportable computer, well-suited for home and business use.
I just got this to finish up college with. I love it, it has a lot of power so I can multi-task, and it's small enough that I can more easily take it anywhere (I used to have a 15.4 inch). I'm still discovering all the stuff that came on this computer, like the Windows Media Center TV stuff, voice commands, and even avatars for the webcam that move along with you. There are a lot of fun little extras like that.I only had 2 issues with it:-It gets REALLY warm. This is an issue because the vent is on the left side, close to the user's hands. I felt like I was burning after a while. So I bought a cheapy cool pad and now it doesn't get warm at all.-The touchpad for the mouse is really sensitive, such that if you type, it often accidentally clicks or deletes everything you just wrote. I usually use a wireless mouse and just deactivate the touchpad (another nice feature this notebook has). Alternatively, you can just turn off the touchpad while you type and turn it back on as needed, but it gets a little annoying so I prefer the wireless mouse.
It seems some people are very, very protective of the term "netbook" so I won't try to call the dv2 a netbook, but it is fair to call it a netbook "plus" as it is designed to fit between the traditional 8 and 10 inch screen netbooks and the so-called "ultra portable" notebooks that begin around 14 or 15 inches. Prices are all over the place in this field because you can buy true netbooks, ultra portables and the dv2 all for about the same $599 price.I had an HP Mini and used it daily for a time. While I loved the portability, I found the longer I had it, the more I was asking it to do something it couldn't. That's when I started looking at ultra portables. The dv2's appearance caught my eye and I am convinced it is a better deal. It is no thicker than the HP Mini and weighs only 1 pound more than the Mini I had. I like the keyboard, which is similar but a bit "bouncier" than that on the Mini and the mouse pad is much better. The dv2 has all the ports and connectors you'd expect, and probably some you don't (such as HDMI). I have found the AMD Neo processor to do just fine on video and it handles routine MS Office work and web surfing with ease. The only place I've noticed the limitations of the processor is on routine Windows tasks such as copying files, deleting programs, and installing updates.Others have commented that the dv2 runs hot. It does get warm on the front left side where the vent is after use and particularly while playing games. This doesn't alarm me as I expect small notebooks to get warm. I don't see this as an issue. There has also been criticism of the so-called "bloatware" on the dv2. Yes, it is there. And yes, I deleted a lot of it. I guess it depends on your definition of bloatware whether the dv2 has more than other manufacturer's units. There is some stuff I will never use from third parties that I deleted. That is bloatware. Is it bloatware if the software is utilities from HP? I don't think so. There are a number of HP utilities- Media Smart, Advisor, Battery Check, etc.- that you may or may not use or replace with your own favorites. If you don't count the HP utilities, then I disagree that the dv2 has a significant amount of bloatware.The dv2 comes with an external DVD writer. It is styled to match the dv2 (at least the black model) and is powered by the USB connector. The USB cord is very short and rather stiff and may limit where you place the drive. I marked the dv2 down one star because the standard drive is not a BluRay. There is a BluRay player available from HP, but it struck me as odd that it wasn't standard in a unit built with style and video ability in mind.If my experience with the Mini holds true, the more I use the dv2, the more I may start asking of it. The dv2 has a lot more capability than the typical netbook, so I don't think I'll be hitting that wall too soon.
This little machine has served me well since I bought it in July (it is now October). The Pavilion DV2-1030US is a product in its own market segment. It's too big to be considered a netbook, but the performance and price are a little too weak to be considered a true ultraportable. This means that the laptop comes with its own set of compromises.Pros:-Low price-Light weight-Strong graphics-Good looks-Good screen resolution, for what it is-Works well with Windows 7 (see below for caveats)-Upgradable to bluetooth and 3G WWAN (if you know where to look)-Good CPU (by netbook standards)Cons:-Poor battery life, by any standard-Shipped OS is slow, and encumbered by pre-installed applications-Anemic CPU performance (by ultraportable standards) - could certainly benefit by a dual-core processor-Screen has a poor viewing angle-Screen hinge angle only allow for a 45 degree opening angle-No multi-touch trackpad-Shiny black plastic is a magnet for fingerprints-No built-in bluetoothNotes:Using the shipped OS (Vista Home Premium 64-bit), the system was so slow that it was practically unusable. It has plenty of memory to handle the OS, but the hard drive and CPU were completely encumbered by Vista and all of the pre-installed trialware. I immediately installed the Windows 7 RC, and later the RTM version. Windows 7 was fast, looked great, and worked well. However, I ran into problems with support for power management. It was not able to shut down cleanly, hibernate, or recover from sleep. Support for much of the internal hardware was sketchy, at best; even using 64-bit Vista drivers (such as the hard drive accelerometer, webcam, SDHC reader, and wireless networking). Support has improved with a recently-released BIOS upgrade from HP - I can shut the system down normally, use wireless networking reliably, the webcam works, as does the SDHC reader. Support for the hard drive accelerometer is still nonexistant. I am certain that support for all of the hardware will only get better as Windows 7 is officially released and thus supported by HP.For normal SD video playback, the DV2-1030us works just fine. I've had issues with audio/video sync and dropped frames trying to play 720p video via VLC. The latest version of Media Player Classic seems to use the DXVA hardware to play smooth 720p video without severely taxing the CPU (see [...]).At the beginning of the review, I mentioned that the system came with its own set of compromises. This is true for a number of reasons, and is not necessarily reason to fault this product. By netbook standards, the screen resolution is outstanding, the CPU is fast, the price is right (albeit a little higher than most netbooks), and it has gobs of memory. By ultraportable standards, the CPU is slower than molasses, and the screen resolution is average. By any standard, the battery life is poor (about 3 hours of normal use).If you're looking for something that can play 3 hours of video, and do a more than a standard netbook at a reasonable price, look no further. If you want to do any heavy lifting, number crunching, virtualization, or serious multi-tasking, you may want to consider a true ultraportable. There are a number of true ultraportables on the market for a reasonable price. If you buy directly from HP, you can customize a DV2 with a dual-core processor, 3G WWAN, and more. Unfortunately, once these options are applied, the costs approaches (or even exceeds) that of a true ultraportable, and the battery life is still compromised.With the above pros and cons considered, I am quite pleased with this system - it will serve me well for a long time to come. When I originally purchased the device, it did not quite fit into any market segment. When judged by that standard, it is an outstanding product. There are a number of products that have recently entered the market that compete in a very similar segment. From the reviews at [...], these new products also compromise in some areas. However, they all crush this little device in terms of battery life. Given the choices available when I bought this, I would buy it again. Weighed against the new offerings on the market, I would definitely give serious consideration to a competing product.
In the course of the past 12 years I have used 8 different laptown computers for work. The brands include Gateway, IBM, Compaq in the early days and within the last few years primarily Dell. My last work computer was a Dell Latitude 600 which I really liked, primarily for it's size. Most of my work was on the road so the computer size was the most important consideration. When I retired a year ago I was fortunate enough to have my company give me the Latitude which runs great. The only problem is the 40 GB HD and 1 GB Ram. I have been looking at getting a netbook, but have been waiting for Windows 7 to come out. However, the other day while at Office Depot I spotted the DV-2 1030US and it immediately caught my eye for it's size...plus a lot more powerful than a netbook..it was on sale for $[...]. Well I immediately went home and checked the internet for reviews and prices. The reviews were not all positive but many were; also I found that Staples had them on sale for $[...] with the $[...] rebate. Well it has now been 6 days and I am totally amazed at this little machine. It is just the right size and the speed seems very good. I will not go through all the positives and negatives that have been mentioned in other reviews, for the most part they are right on. What I am saying is that this little computer so far is perfect for my needs, bascially, small, fast and portable.
I really like this little laptop. It's so lite and ultra portable. I like the look as well. All of the different ports for media are great. I hook up my laptop to my TV with the HDMI port and can stream TV and video onto my flat screen. I don't have cable or dvr so this is a nice way to catch up on primetime shows that I missed. Other reviewers wrote that it shows finger prints. It does, but a nice cloth is included that cleans up the prints very easy. In addition, Amazon had an unbeatable price on this item. Better than Walmart or any other office supply store. I shopped around.The battery doesn't last long (like 2 hours) which kinda stinks. Also the computer runs slow sometimes. Doesn't seem to interfere with what I need it to do though.Overall I am very happy. Can't wait for my free upgrade to Windows 7 to come in.
A lot has been said about this laptop, about how it's prone to fingerprinting (which it is) and how it tends to get pretty hot (it doesn't really, those people have never used an inspiron and don't know what hot is). What you need to know is that out of the box this laptop works excellent minus the bloatware and is a great compromise between a netbook and a program intensive performance laptop. It is incredibly light, very low profile, stylish, and once the unnecessary programs and processes are removed it runs incredibly fast. (The 4gb of ram really compensates for the netbook processor). I was uninstalling one of the largest bloatware programs while downloading a game on steam, talking to friends, streaming video and compressing some files and it ran just fine. I highly recommend this laptop for those wanting a portable work horse. I believe the best laptops should aspire to the combination of power and portability found in this model. I gave this a 4 out of 5 because the ethernet adapter driver was corrupted on arrival (reinstall was easy with the HP driver recovery, which I don't recommend you uninstall), and because so many useless "bloatware" programs were included. Uninstalling all of them will take some time, and you may be better off reformatting if you are competent with a computer and don't need the HP troubleshooting and recovery programs.
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