Customer Reviews

HP Pavilion DV9410US 17-inch Laptop (AMD Turion 64 Processor TL56, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

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

 

 

I've been very happy with HP computers, the DV9420us is my second HP laptop and the 4yr old one is still going strong. In addition I've been pleasantly surprised by how good their customer service is even though I hate the loss of US jobs. The 9420 has a huge bright screen for those of us that need 3-4 windows going at the same time. The keyboard is a nice size so I don't have to scrunch my hands together when typing long projects, and I like the number pad off to the side for quick spreadsheet work. The keys also seem to be built a little sturdier than some other brands. 2GB of RAM is just fine for most things and seems to run the VISTA Memory Monster just fine. Word to the wise, don't get less than 2GB of RAM if you're running Vista. I wouldn't consider this a hardcore gaming computer at all (nor any laptop for that matter) but I can play some good games just the same. Hard drive size is good at 240GB, multi-card reader is a great feature, and the AMD TL-64 chip seems to be pretty speedy but all that power runs awfully hot so you won't want to work with the computer on your lap for too long unless you're out of hot chocolate on a frosty winter day. The outside of the computer looks very nice with the slick black finish but it is a fingerprint/smudge magnet. Thank God good Ole HP threw in a small "computer napkin" AT NO EXTRA CHARGE just for that reason. Those people think of everything! The only con is the mouse pad. The old style had a texture to it so your finger would slide smoothly, the 9420's pad is now smooth and gets a little sticky at times. I'm also not a fan of the new mouse pad page scroller. For some reason it doesn't seem to interact with webpages quite as well as their old one. It appears to be a software issue or I just haven't figured it out yet. All in all I'm very happy with the purchase, I feel I got a lot of computer at a relatively affordable price and that's saying something because I'm cheap. I sure wish they would've given me more than just a trial version of Office2007, but that's ok, I'll just use the free OpenOffice software instead "HAHA! Take that Microsoft!". For the record, my primary uses are school, business, and home entertainment. Happy Shopping

I ordered this computer for college proposes and received it ahead of schedule. When it arrived my husband and I were so impressed, we bought another for him. I will warn you right now if you order more than one of these laptops, you can only get a rebate for one through amazon.com. They do not allow more than one rebate for this per household. I did not get that information until after I purchased both.

As for the laptop, I found the layout of the keys to be comfortable and I like that I am able to turn on and off the wireless at the touch of a button. Playing movies on this laptop looks great as well. The picture comes out clear and easy to see (not grainy and fuzzy).

I do have to add, I'm not thrilled that it came with Windows Vista. I have tried Vista in the past and I'm not a fan. Unfortunately even if you order this laptop straight from HP you still don't have the option of a different operating system, so you might as well save some money and order from Amazon.

One last thing to add, when I received my laptop, my power cord was bad. It charged my laptop for twenty minutes and then stopped. I called HP the next day and they over-nighted a new power supply to me at no extra charge. Their service staff was friendly and easy to work with.

I would recommend HP and this laptop in the future.

Warning: Not for wimps.

This computer is a scaled-down desktop replacement, but its still a desktop replacement so if you're thinking you can lug this around on a daily basis then think again. Your back or your shoulder will probably only be able to handle occasion transport (the computer itself is 7.8lbs and if you factor in the AC adapter it will go up to about 11 lbs. Then add accessories like a mouse, put that on a scale and decide if a 15.4" is really that small a price to pay for portability).

Fortunately, it does have beautiful screen and if you're watching DVDs or playing games it will be impressive. The nVidia 6150 card will do well for a modest gamer but it will not be able to handle upcoming games especially since they are moving on to directx10 graphics and modern games will probably have to run on lower settings.

The processor is good, not the best Turion and slower than most Core 2 Duos but it will get the job done and unless you're going to do movie and photo editing or serious gaming you won't have any problems.

The biggest weakness of this PC, though, has to be its memory. 1 Gig of Ram is ridiculous to try to run any version of Vista on. If you're going to purchase this also purchase a gig of RAM and install that as well because Vista really requires at least a gig to run at an acceptable speed.

If you aren't an expert than you probably are reluctant to open the bottom of a $1000 piece of equipment and start messing with things. Another option is to but it direct from HP. You can customize a dv9500 on their site and it will probably cost about the same. The only problem is they won't offer options like the AMD Turion or 6150. You'll have to order something more or less powerful.

Altogether its an affordable large screen PC with great power for a $1000 but poor mobility.

I got this 17" HP notebook 5 days ago (22JUL07). General impression: I did the right thing buying it for home use. For business I will continue to use an Asus V6J.

The Good: good performance, nice UI, generous screen, thin and light (for a 17").

Not so good: too many little blue lights (18 including the xb3000 docking); the silver plastic looks cheap; stickers didn't peel easily.

I would recommend this 17" notebook for home use.

The good:
-Display. Screen is bright, clear. No dead pixels.
-Keyboard. Solid feel (compared to other laptops), full num pad.
-Lightscribe DVD. Used it several times. a little slow, but it works.
-Battery. No, it doesn't last all day. Two hours of wifi surfing and listning to mp3s isn't bad for a widescreen computer.
-WiFi and bluetooth built in.
-2GB RAM.
-Dual SATA HDD.
-Dual head video. Nice for presentations.
-Built in ports (USB, Card reader, VGA, S Video, IR - came with remote, etc...)

Take it or leave it:
-Touch pad. Prefer the textured pad found on other models.
-Speakers. Decent for a laptop, but when you boast "Altec Lansing" speakers they better sound great. These are good, not great.
-Web cam. Functional. Rate it below the mid range Logitech I bought last year.
-Pre installed HP software. I don't care for it. But with a little tweaking it doesn't get in my way. Someone else may apreciate it.

The bad:
-Windows Vista. The only part of this computer I really can't stand. Sometimes Vista won't shut down. Sometimes when you turn it on it tells you it has recovered from an unexpected error even after it shutdown properly. I have installed all MS and HP updates. This computer should be much faster then it is.

Summary:
This would be a 4 star rating if it wasn't for Vista. From a hardware / feature point of view it has just about everything.

I got my HP dv9420us back in September 2007, and so far I have been completely satisfied in most respects. The processor (TL-64) is nice and fast, and multi-tasking has not been a problem. Also, the screen is nice and big, and watching movies on it is enjoyable. The only thing I don't really like is the GeForce Go 6150, it's a pretty average video card, although it has been able to handle most games I've tried on it (the most recent game I've played on it in Sins of a Solar Empire, which runs just fine.) So overall, I'd certainly recommend this laptop to anyone, although for hardcore pc gamers it's probably a little weak. Then again, if you want to have a really good gaming laptop, you'll have to shell out lots more money...

I purchased this computer, since my daughter takes up the desktop most of the time. I find the keyboard easy to use, and appreciate the number keys to the right. It has never frozen up on me, and with wifi, I have a great surfing experience. this computer is sturdy, the screen is bright, and I have no trouble with vista, despite the negative hype. The only downside to this computer is the size, if you travel alot and need to bring a laptop, I would probably recommend a smaller model. Also the battery life is fairly short, another travel problem. Other than that, I recommend this affordable, reliable computer.

Purchased in December 2007. Loved the bells and whistles of this laptop and the display.

The good news.......
In April HP support released a slew of software updates for this computer including a bios update. MS service pack 1 was also included.
After 6 hours of installing the updates the laptop runs flawless, faster and rock solid and great wireless range. I love it now. Awesome for DVD playback and spread sheets. It is now my primary computer.
Battery life can be improved in Vista setting tweaks to about 3 hours for video playback. Expect about 2 hours on normal usage.

Since then I have increased the operating speed by adding another Gig of memory (about $80.00) and replacing the hard drive with a larger faster 180 gig Sata 7200 rpm drive (about $120.00) and using the original drive in the second drive bay for video's and data. You will need a HP Sata drive caddy to install it (about $35.00). The mouse pad can be sticky due to perspiration.

The original bad news....
Initially had intermittent web-cam and external USB devices along with loss of audio and changing of display settings and freezing of video playback and system lockup. Returning from hibernation or sleep mode would crash the system or programs would crash it. Just about every problem others had stated.
HP support solution was to do a system reload which worked until you added a USB device or 3rd party software.
I worked around the problems by reinstalling drivers and not shutting the computer down defeating the purpose of a laptop.

I picked up one of these used for a great price. Right out of the gate the thing sucked with only 1 gig. of memory. I upgraded to 2 gig. and things were great. I also ditched Vista for Windows 7 and that made a huge difference as well.

Pros:
Nice 17" screen. Plenty of real estate and looks great for vids and graphics.

Nice keyboard with 10-key pad. Having the 10 key is a great addition.
One button mouse pad disable. A very handy feature for disabling the mouse pad when using an external mouse. handy.. get it? *sigh*

2nd hd bay. I added a 100 gig hd 7200 rpm to the 2nd bay for storing media files.

Cons:
Right shift key. The right shift key isn't a standard sized shift key so I tend to miss it and hit something else quite often. Pretty frustrating at times.

Weight. I was expecting it to be heavy, so no surprise there. Plus the extra hd I threw in a larger battery don't help either.

Heat. The thing gets hot. Very hot. No wonder the reputation is so bad with these things failing. I picked up a Zalman laptop cooler and that's made the world of difference. I highly recommend the Zalmon for this laptop.. or any laptop for that matter.

Blue lights. Someone complained about all of the blue lights and I'll have to concur. I think a plane could mistake the thing for an airport runway.

Overall I'm very happy with the HP Pavilion dv9000 (9410US) but it took a little bit of upgrading for me to very happy.

I'm looking to upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit and upgrade the ram to 4 gig. (only 2 are officially supported, but I've seen enough reviews of people upgrading to 4 gig to feel comfortable making the leap.)

the motherboard well over heat and hp well charge u 400.00 for a new one that well over heat in time.do not get this computer!