Customer Reviews

HP Pavilion dm3-2010us 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This size computer has become popular because it hits a sweet spot between portability and functionality. I first purchased an Asus ultralight 13.3 inch notebook last fall, and it has been terrific. When my daugher needed a new notebook, she wanted one like mine due to its portablity, light weight, full web-page-sized 1366x768 screen, low power use, and higher processing power when compared to a netbook. (Netbooks, with their smaller 1366x600 screens and single core processors, are less functional in my opinion, although they can weigh a pound-or-so less.)

As compared with my Asus UL30a-X5, this notebook is similarly priced and has nearly identical specs. I purchsed the DM3 due to a local sale, and with a trade in on an old notebook it ran 450. The differences between the Asus and this notebook are as follows. The Asus is a square, flat, brushed metal finish while the HP has an elegant curved style with a design etched into it...win: HP. The Asus weighs 3.75lbs and has slightly longer battery life, the HP weighs 4.2lbs....win: Asus. Both with 1.3 Ghz dual core processors (although Asus is Intel C2D, HP is AMD X2 K325), both have 4ghz RAM, both have full versions of Win7 Home 64-bit, both have 13.3" LED LCDs...tie. Unexpectedly, the HP has a marginally faster 320gb 7200rpm HDD, the Asus a larger 5400rpm 500gb...winner=your choice.

Functionality of the notebook is great, as long as you're not trying to do processor-intensive tasks. Nice clear, bright screen. Boots up quickly, and the initial screen gives you a choice of a proprietary Linux-like web browser-email-picture viewer-music-video player OR Win7. The 4gb ram allows quite a bit of multitasking without a noticable decline in performance. I notice no difference in speed between the two notebooks, and they both work great for word processing, web brousing, and playing video and music. I've loaded the FREE Microsoft Security Essentials, and it does not seem to slow down the machine at all. (Unlike some other resource hungry anti-virus-spyware program suites.) Chicklet keyboard is typical of this style (I prefer a regular keyboard) and the touchpad is easy to use. None of these UltraLights have DVD drives, so if you need one figure that into the price if you need one. It is helpful to have one because you should either make a set of restore DVDs from the factory HDD, or you can use a (very large) USB drive.

Overall a fine computer with exceptional design and finish. Recommended.

I've been using one now for a few months (bought it new from an office supply store). There are many things to like about it but it also has just a few negatives that people should know about. Here's my pros/cons list:

Pros:
* Small and lightweight. This thing is perfect for traveling as it's got a minimal footprint.
* Fast booting. With Windows 7 (love it!) and after some de-crudding of the bloatware, this thing boots up and is online in less than 2 minutes. Wow!
* Keyboard feel. The chiclet style keys are very pleasant to type on.
* Minimal fingerprints. The brushed casing hides fingers prints (though you still get them around the edge of the screen).
* Beautiful screen. Very rich, lush colors and a decent resolution to work in.
* Ports a plenty. You've got about every port most people need.
* Attractive. The brushed metal body and shiny chrome touchpad (works pretty well) combine for a handsome look.

Cons:
* Right-side exhaust. The design was obvious - people using this small laptop will only use the touchpad so don't worry where the hot air comes out. If you like to use a wireless mouse (like me) and are right-handed (like me), get ready to have a warm right hand if you place it in the wrong location.
* Palm rest heater. After about an hour of any heavy graphics use, the palm area (especially on the left side of the touch pad, gets pretty warm. Not burning hot but noticeably warm (maybe comfortably warm if you're cold all the time). Some may find this too warm depending on how sensitive they are to temperature.
* Keyboard learning curve. Though the keys have a very nice feel, one in particular is oddly sized - the caps lock. It's big and it sits above the left shift (which I use a lot) and I'm often hitting it. If I used this laptop all the time, I be use to it after short while but I have a desktop and this is just a secondary machine.
* Hidden function keys. The media keys (which are useful) are the primary keys on top of the function keys. You can switch this arrangement via a bios command but know that the printing atop those keys is white for the media keys and a faint gray for the function key number.
* Battery life. It's okay. You aren't going to get anything like a netbook's battery life. Maybe two hours tops unless you dial back on the screen brightness.
* No DVD/CD drive. Well you know this from the specs but it is a bit of an inconvenience. I have an external drive but you have to pull it out and plug it in and always have it with you just in case.
* Lightweight GPU. Though it's far, far better than any Intel HD graphics chip, this ATI chip isn't the most powerful. Hooking this up to a big screen TV via the HDMI port works fine to view internet pages or photos (card reader is nice). But video streaming isn't optimal and depending on the speed of your internet connection, can result in plenty of stuttering while waiting to buffer. Gaming ability is very basic but I do play Civ4 and Guild Wars on it without any issues.
* Bloated Bloatware. HP really loads this puppy with lots of bloatware. Be expected to spend a couple of hours uninstalling crud.

While the cons look to out weigh the pros, it isn't a bad machine and it's much more powerful than any netbook. It's quite capable at doing most basic work (runs MS Office nicely) and internet browsing is a snap. Finally, it travels very well and the wife thinks it's cute. :)

I was looking for a thin and light laptop with a dual-core AMD processor for good performance but also longish battery life. This fit the bill. And, oh yes, I wanted to dual-boot ubuntu on it even though it comes with a 64-bit version of Windows.

I had tried a Toshiba laptop previously and had trouble loading ubuntu. I was able to return that computer. I checked more carefully into this one before purchase. It's for my spouse and she thinks it's pretty with the etched wave design on its top.

The Hewlett-Packard sales department is not helpful to linux users, but some independent sites post model compatibilities. I found another model in the series listed as compatible and decided to take a chance. Everything worked out well.

I followed a how-to on ubuntu forums about installing on another laptop. The key was probably installing Windows 7 first, then using Windows to shrink its own partition. It will only shrink to about 50% of the original size, but that's enough for a robust installation of ubuntu. I used a plug-in optical drive with an ubuntu 10.04 desktop amd64 live cd, but a properly prepared jump drive should also work.

I use ubuntu as the default operating system. It starts up and shuts down in about half the time of Windows 7 (though Windows time improved after I wiped out much of the ad-ware that it comes with--HP is not as bad as some in this respect). I keep Windows for Windows games. Ubuntu comes with the Firefox browser, open office, and a panoply of free software (but no intrusive ad-ware).

The only hardware I found that doesn't work under ubuntu is the touch pad on-off switch--not a deal-breaker.

I haven't timed the battery life, but reports say ubuntu does about as well as Windows in power management.

I bought a similar model for my daughter & liked it so much I ordered one for myself. It works great, responds quickly & has lots of room for photos, music, etc. I have not tried the web cam at this point & didn't buy it for that feature anyway. I also bought a large USB drive for transferring files & I don't waste disks & the time burning them since there is no DVD-Rom. I like the finish because it is brushed and not shiny which shows every print. I took off most of the bloatware, but I do like using the MediaSmart bar & I have already updated the bios with the HP automatic update.
I frankly, have avoided HP's products (because of a previous experience at work) & will in the future because of their being in the top 3 at outsourcing of American jobs, so this will be my ONLY HP product. I learned this fact after I purchased. I would be lying if I didn't say this is a fine product, but that is not the only reason for me spending my money these days.

I bought a DELL 1545 for my son last year when he was 8 and it lasted 9 months before it was toast. I tried to fix the problems with that piece of junk put I ended up stopming on it yesterday turning into more of what DELL products are ... JUNK!!!

This HP Notebook is my 9 year old's second computer/notebook. I was a little bumbed when it arrive because I made a mistake when reading that it did not have an optical drive in it. So I bought an external optical drive for $80.

I like to immediaetly deleted the junk manufacturers load on their products. With thie notebook I did delete something I shouldn't have. It doesn't come with a restore DVD/CD as its already on the harddrive. I highly recommend making the backup DVD/CD's immediately when you get this notebook. So it was really easy to restore it to its manufacturer state without any problem.

Norton 360 works really well with it. I've never been a Norton fan but I've loaded Norton 360 on this notebook and two other laptops (HP) and it works great and finds a lot of bad stuff for me. More than McAfee has ever found.

It's really light and fun to play with. It'srelly a beautiful looking notebook. Someone complained that it's easy to "finger up" the keyboard. I suggest washing your hands before using any laptop/notebook because its really not a problem.

It has intake/exhaust port(s) on the side of the notebook which is key for a young person. Kids forget often even though you explain it to them 100 times how important it is not to block the intake/exhaust ports. My boy takes his notebook to bed and lays it on the carpet and I don't have to worry too much about a overheating problem due to the side ports.

It's fast, it's sleek and inspite of no optical drive, a nice purchase for a kid/teen.

I'll add that it has a feature where it doesnt load Windows Operating system until you tell it to. It boots up very quickly so you can use Internet Exploer or uses DVD/CD's. I disabled this start up option to not confuse my 9 year old. He's used to Windows starting up normally so I easily disabled the quick start option which is probably a really nice option for teens who just want to use it more for internet applications or listen to music/DVD's.

Don't know why there isn't a whole lot of info available about this particular model, if its too new, too old, obsolete or what, but i just got it on Thursday, and i have to say its nothing short of perfect! Before i got it i looked at the dm4-1065dx at Best Buy which was $779.00. Yes, it had a MUCH more powerful processor (i5 450m) but honestly it just wasn't as nice as this one. (it was thicker, it only had 3 not 4usb ports and it had a weird BLACK mousepad with the two clicking buttons a part of the mousepad, weird!)

Also, since it was 14 inch with the same 1368x766 resolution, so it wasn't as crisp as this smaller 13 inch. The lid didn't seem to extend as far back as this one does, either.

Keep in mind with the advancements technology is making, if you get ANY laptop with 4GB 3DDR Ram, 7200 rpm speed drive, Windows 7 Home Premium on it and ANY dual core chipset, chances are your laptop is MORE than going to be capable of EVERYTHING you need. Sure the i3 processors are NICE, but for everyday lightening fast tasking, totally UNNECESSARY. There is ALWAYS going to be "bigger & better" but this laptop combines speed, style, portability, price with an awesome viewing & typing experience all in one!

But for you people who just "skim & don't read", i'll list the Pros & Cons : )

PROS:

1. 4GB DDR3 RAM
2. 7200RPM HARD DRIVE
3. THIN PROFILE (I'm talking skinny minny!)
4. Blazing Fast (I have yet to see it stutter)
5. Chicklet keyboard is THE BEST (bar none) i have ever typed on. Smooth as silk, light little clicking sound, i love it almost as much as SWYPE!
6. Beautiful shimmery champagne/graphite color, not the boring stainless steel)
7. Fingerprints do not show on entire casing. That's from the lid, to the keys, to the palm rests. Awesome design.
8. Lid extends the MOST far back as any notebook i have ever used (i have used hundreds!)
9. Quick Web feature is really nice, i didn't like the one on Asus (Splashtop) but this one boots up quick and if you want to bypass it, its easy with one click, or you can disable it completely
10. Speaking of boot up, the quickest boot up time of ANY full size laptop i've ever seen
11. Mousepad is very nice and slippery but responds great(i hate a mousepad that you have to draaaaag your finger across)
12. Love the 1368x766 resolution. Some 13 inch laptops have 1200x800 (awful)
13. Very solid build quality and feel
14 4USB ports vs the 2 or 3 on other laptops (even the 15+ some have only TWO USB's (and on the SAME side, thats just nutz!)
15. Battery life WITHOUT Wifi on and brightness at 50% is easily 5-6 hrs. With Wi-Fi you're prolly at around 3-4.
16. Windows Experience Indexis 3.6. That is a GREAT score, considering the netbooks get a 2.0, while the bad azz i5 processors are only getting a 5 or so.
17. Light at only 4.2 lbs. I carry this thing from room to room or on occasion to work and it is very portable. Makes me smile everytime i open it, i loved my ASUS which was a warrior, but Black plastic casing for a laptop is soooooooooo two years ago.
18. I don't consider not having a CD drive a negative. For one, i don't know why everyone runs out & buys an external optical drive. I just select "share" option on my Desktop's CD DRIVE, and i can read (and maybe even "write" but i never tried that) any CD right from my own network.
19. HP True Vision Webcam is REALLY great. It opens right away, not like the way it used to have a HUGE delay. They have totally revamped & improved it, from the settings, to the features & you can easily share any pic or video with Facebook, Youtube, etc or email it right from within the application. Picture quality is also much better than the 0.3MP found on most netbooks.
20. Of course, Windows 7 is amazing. And on a netbook you can only get a Starter Version, which is a decent amount of features, but lacks Windows Aero, which REALLY makes the Windows Experience "full tilt".

I love this laptop, and trust me, i have had them all. Sony Vaios, HP's, Asus, Dells, you name it, i've bought (and returned hee hee hee)it. But not this lil guy.

Definite, definite KEEPER : )

ooops, left off a VERY important PRO. Quietttttttttttttttt! I had the HP dm3z last year (AMD version) and that thing sounded like a jet about to take off and ran h-o-t and fan never shut down...noisy! This one the fan comes on for a split sec at startup and then you don't hear it again. HP FINALLY gets it right!

Any questions please feel free to send a Comment, i'm following this post, as this lil lappy has become my new favorite subject... this and (OF COURSE) My Samsung Vibrant phone....

Oh yeah... almost forgot

CONS
1. zip
2. nada
3. zilch
4. zero
5. null
6. none... (u get the point : )

TGG

Great little laptop!! If you're looking for a netbook but need processing power and storage, this takes the cake. Not as small as a netbook but nearly as light and mobility in no problem. Only downside is the lack of a cd/DVD drive, but you wouldn't have gotten that with a netbook anyway. So enjoy!!!

This laptop is exactly what I was looking for. It's very light weight, but has plenty of pop! I was very skeptical of the small screen, but the fact that it's a widescreen makes all the difference in the world. The AMD processor has the perfect blend of speed and power. The casing is excellent! HP did a great job of blending molded hard plastic with aluminum. I looked at the Toshiba that has basically the same features, but it didn't seem nearly as durable because it was all molded plastic. If I have an complaint, it's with HP because of all the unnecessary software they put on their machines. But, then again, they are no different than Dell, Gateway, etc....

I highly recommend this machine! Excellent price/performance sweet spot at $499!

It's a nice laptop with bijou appearance, and easy to operate I think the insufficient of it is not light enough.