Customer Reviews

HP Pavilion DV4-1227US 14.1-Inch Laptop - Espresso Black

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I ordered this laptop on the HP website, even though the model number is not the same (mines is DV4-1300), it has all the same exact features as this model, and looks physically the same. So far so good I haven't had any problems. It's packed with features, and the best part is, that it's affordable. I got my laptop for $701.00, of course this was with the use of a coupon, and a student discount, plus the shipping was free, not only that, but I got free upgrades on the memory and hard drive. I think this is the perfect laptop for a student, because it's not that heavy and you can easily take it with you where ever you want. I also love the 14" screen it's not too big, but it's not too small, to me it's the perfect screen size on a laptop. The fan is a little noisy at times, but it's not a major concern. It also gets quite hot on the bottom, but I think most laptops do. The battery life I found to be so-so, not the best, but not bad either.

My computer specs:

-Espresso Black
-Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) (free upgrade)
-Intel Core Duo 2 Duo Processor T6400 (2.0Ghz)
-3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) (free upgrade)
-320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection (free upgrade)
-Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
-14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
-LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
-Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
-Wireless-G Card with Bluetooth
-HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
-HP Color Matching Keyboard
-6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
-No Modem

Overall, I do recommend this computer, especially for students like myself who are on a tight budget, you'll get a lot of bang for your buck!

I have had this computer for about a month now, and it is working out great for my purposes. I'm not a heavy user - typical internet browsing, download media files, and word processing are what it gets used for. I ran the computer for about six hours straight upon initial receipt of the item doing updates, etc. In my opinion, the laptop didn't run uncomfortably warm at all. The hottest thing was actually the power pack. The design is beautiful. There is a white HP logo on the back of the cover that lights up while powered on. Keep in mind, though advertised as 320 GB hard drive, there is space set aside for the recovery drive and included bloatware. I installed only Microsoft Office 2007, and was left with about 250 GB available space. The computer will come with some Norton trialware and HP game stuff already installed. This model also has a webcam.

There are three USB slots - two on one side of the computer and the other USB/eSATA combo slot on the opposite side. I appreciated the fact that the two USB slots that are next to each other sit next to each other horizontally rather than stacked on top of each other vertically. When I've had two USB slots needed for one external device previously, using the computer with the USB slots on top of each other made it more difficult to pull the USB cables out after finishing use of the device. Having them next to each other horizontally makes removing the plugs easier.

I also really like having the button above the touchpad. Pushing it will make the light next to it turn red/orange - indicating all clicks and movements from the touchpad will be locked out temporarily, allowing you to take a cloth or other cleaning device and wipe down the area in case it gets particularly grungy. Just click the button above the touchpad again to get all the clicks registering again. This allows me to keep the touchpad clean without having to power off the computer or worrying about something accidentally clicking if I leave the touchpad on - opening files unintentionally, etc. The touchpad is extremely smooth - perhaps more than I personally like. It sometimes feels difficult to build the friction necessary to get the mouse moving. It helps to adjust sensitivity settings - just look for the touchpad icon in the system tray.

Overall, I am happy with the purchase.

I have a slightly different version of the DV4 that the one described, but the product has been outstanding. Very solid construction, everything works well - no problems at all.

The system came with Vista installed, but I have also installed Linux (Fedora 10) and am currently running Windows 7 beta. No problems whatsoever.

I have had many HP products over the years - and this is one of the best I have ever seen or used by any vendor. One reason that I chose HP was the super support - email, phone, download supports in the future, etc.

Looking forward to many years for a great product !

BTW: The product was not released until 2008, thus the review above that complains about the video card is not relevant to this product.

Reference : [...]

I got this last week and i was pretty excited because this featured a good not that glossy screen (14.1) which is the perfect size for me. It had a white finish with a HP imprint and a good sized keyboard. This is more of a 3.5 star because it isnt that special.

-The case:
Plastic, white with a hp imprint. It offers a glowing HP logo which i think should have a switch to turn off because it has no use at all, but it is elegant looking. The case will not flex and is very sturdy.

-The screen:
14.1 inch display is not too big and not too small. It is not glossy like the hp mini 1000s and offers a bezzle around the actual screen. This is pretty nice and works well in outdoor enviroments. The screen is attached nice and will only flex a bit on the bottem.

-Keboard:
White keyboard, plastic. It gives the write amount of feedback and doesnt feel flimsy. It is the perfect size for typing long hours and the only change is that the shift key is 1/3 smaller.

-Speakers:
The laptop uses the Altec Lansing speakers which are GREAT for a laptop. Audio is clear and pretty nice. Only problem is it surronds the keyboard so you have to above the speakers to hear it.

-Touchpad:
This is a chrome like touchpad. sensitive but the problem i had was that it gave a LOT of drag. Think of rubbing a car with your finger or glass with your finger and you will feel somewhat like this touchpad. After a day of use, the natural oils cover the touchpad and it feels much much better than a normal one. It feels kind of like my ipod touch which is quite nice. The scroll is pretty nice but sometimes doesnt work as well.

-Buttons:
Gives a click click when you press on it and feels solid.

-Remote:
I felt this was kind of useless at times. I use itunes for my music and a usb drive/sd card for my music. It works and is very useful if you are watching a video. This may seem sad but it took me 5 minutes to get in the battery (i have a tendency to NEVER read the manual!)

-Box:
it was solid enough and the laptop inside it took no damage when i dropped it a foot.

-Proformance:
This laptop CAN take multitasking. I did some video and photo editing, typing and HD youtube videos and it handled smoothly. On the otherhand, i was playing maplestory with cheatengine, IE with tabs on and an im on, itunes it stopped responding, freezing for a couple minutes.

-Battery:
The life was expected from a 6 cell battery. On power saver top was about 3 hours and on high proformance about 1 hour. Hp recommended was around 1:30-2 hours. Not really portable.

-Cables:
Power brick looks like a hp mini (about 4 times smaller than the xbox's) so it was very good. It came with the strap so you can transport the cables. The worst thing was using the power brick, it enabled high proformance which made the brick extremly hot after an hour.

-Heat:
Worst problem. HEAT. about an hour or two half of the laptop gets very hot (around 90 degrees) the fan is badly located which is on the side of the laptop (next to the bottem) When you put this on the floor the opening is covered and heats up your laptop. This is noticeable on the left side of the laptop, the trackpad, speakers, and volume button.
Hey, on the good side it feels like las vegas in the summer if you put your hand next to the fan (dont try)

-Volume buttons:
The strip, unlike others only has mute, minus and plus volume. nothing else. I like this because it keeps it simple. Oh and the on and off wireless. I find sometimes i rub against wifi making it turn off. Also the volume has a tendency to keep on clicking and to not be responsive.

-Graphics Card:
The laptop uses an intergrated intel GMA 4500HD. Perfect for HD video but BAD for gaming. It could handle COD4 on some high settings but it ran at a 10-15 frames per second. Seeing this, i lowered the texture resolution etc to the lowest settings. It was muddy and ugly but it ran around 15-20 frames during intense firefights. Deceant. Oh, on high it ran 20 frames on the first mission. Dont game on this. (light gaming is fine)

Overall this is about a 3.5 computer because of mostly the heat is very bothersome and the average specs. If you want a portable its perfect yet ... 2-3 hours of battery life? hmm Would i recommend this? Sure! Not to my friends though. This CANNOT play shooters. 10 fps in cod4? Mauled. It was perfect for running old GTA (not 4) and a game like combat arms but no more.
if you want a better laptop but with a bigger screen, get the DV5 for 650 dollars. nvidia graphics card, 15.4 inch, 2ghz, 4 gigs of ram, 320 HD.

I shopped around a lot, and when I found this laptop for this price, I compared the configuration/price ratio with Dell, Apple, etc... No one came close.

If you're looking for A LOT of features (320 GB HDD, 4 GB of SDRAMM, webcam, HDMI port, eSATA port, dual headphone jacks, remote control) for very little money, this laptop's for you.

If you get one that works without problems then consider yourself lucky!

The problems existed from the very first time I turned it on. I made 5-6 phone calls and sent the computer to HP for repairs 2 times. Each time it came back un-repaired and even had some scratches that were not there before. They had the audacity to ask me to send it to them again. Each time I sent it in I included a very detail explanation on how to reproduce the problem that occurred like clockwork within 15-20 minutes after turning the computer on with the power cord.

The phone tech support is useless. The people are always very nice. The bottom line is the person actually doing the repairs does whatever the (blank) they want to do. AND THEY DO NOT TEST THE COMPUTER BEFORE SENDING IT OUT!!!

Every time I buy something from HP other than a basic Laserjet printer (black ink only),I get burned.

I want to thank Amazon for honoring HP's warranty when they did not and giving me a refund less the taxes. It would be nice to get the taxes back too?

Laptop was received with a broken ethernet port. HP would not service my laptop due to "customer related damage" which it was obviously not. There is a reason they are dead last in all customer service polls. God forbid if you need actually service. Between dealing with people in India, which most barely speak English, and zero warranty support, take your money elsewhere. HP is the worst service experience I have ever had.

After having this laptop for one month, i'm positively impressed by it overall.
It is a really cheap laptop for it's characteristics. I didn't expect much for a $650 laptop, but so far I almost didn't have any problem, it's very fast, and it looks great (better than in photos).
I said almost because after installing one vista update, next time I powered the computer it stayed frozen in the initial screen, I had to press ctrl alt supr for it to proceed.
Besides that problem, i haven't had any more. Plus, I don't know if the problem was because of the computer or because of vista. That's why i'm giving it 5 stars.
Also, a quick advice, i bought a 8 gb pendrive with it, and use 4 gb to speed up the laptop, and the other 4 gb to store files. It really helps for both purposes.

i just got my laptop today and so far its working beautifully, the installation and sorting out process was over in less than an hour(which is quite impressive)
pros:
-the fan is noiseless which is beautiful
-the laptop is really light and very mobile and as for the battery life, i cant say yet
-everything seems to be in working order and it works really fast especially with a good internet service
-all the specs stated in the review are correct
-says the ram is 3gb but mine came with 4gb....wicked cool
-the sound is great for a small laptop....really good
-the keypad is wonderful for typing...

cons:
-it has no integrated fingerprint reader even though it doesnt say so but the pictures show so
-its touch pad drags because its glossy so it gets a bit annoying
-the front part of the laptop is really hot and i dont know why, i think thats where the hard drive is though
-it has no lightscribe as stated in the reviews which is a bummer

well in the course of the week i will make updates

well i have the laptop for one month now and the only problem apart from the one mentioned above is the fan is extremely noisy....even if the only thing running on the system is the startup programs....i contacted hp and i was told to clean the fan which i did but to no avail.....overall its ok

I have been using this laptop for last one year. Did not find any problem.
Sound quality , speed everything is good. I am totally satisfied.