Customer Reviews

HP Pavilion dv7-4070us 17.3-Inch Laptop

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

 

 

Overall I am very happy with the DV7-4070us laptop. I purchased a Dell for my wife last year, a Toshiba for myself just a couple weeks ago, and now this HP for my mom, so I think I have a fairly good point of reference. I chose the HP based on a Consumer Reports review and its specs, as well as some faith in the HP name.

Pros - With the i5 450 processor, performance on Win 7 64 bit with MS Office Pro 2010 (added after purchase) is very good. Resumption from standby is nearly instant, and all programs are very responsive. Sound quality for a laptop is very good also, much better than my Toshiba (tho the HP is a bigger unit which helps). I also like that the HP has single finger buttons for volume and other commonly used features - they are clearly labeled and you do not need to hold a function key (but you do trade off needing to hold a function key to get F1, F2, etc.). Battery life has also been very good, and the display is the best of the laptops I have. I would also say the overall feel of the unit, with its metallic feeling shell is excellent - no plastic creaks when you pick it up and the hinge seems substantial. Keyboard also is very good, a nice layout without annoying function key presses for home, end, pg up, etc. lie on our year old Dell. Keyboard feel is ok, good throw but I would like a little more positive tactile feedback. Installed software on the HP (webcam and other features) is very good, and the way it walks you through setup is very used friendly.

Cons - The touchpad is less responsive than my Toshiba. Single finger pointing is fine but gestures like two finger scrolling took some getting used to before they worked reliably for me. I'm also not a fan of the buttons being part of the pad - they are stiff, and clicking sometimes moves the pointer unintentionally. Click and drag takes some practice. The Toshiba with a smaller pad but dedicated buttons and a lighter touch is much better to use. Another oddity is that the power and disk access lights are on the right edge of the unit, and you can not see them in normal operation. Perhaps it is because I'm a tech geek, but I really like to see the disk light to understand what is going on when a PC gets busy.

Last oddity to note - after loading MS Office 2010 Access did not work - it would most always hang when opening a table for view. Turns out this is caused by the DigitalPersona software loaded for the fingerprint reader. After stopping and disabling the "Biometric fingerprint.." service Access is fine. This quirk is apparently shared with other HP and Dell laptops that have fingerprint readers, and impacts Access 2007 as well. See the thread at [...] . When I receive word from HP on a permanent fix I will update this review.

Overall I think this is a great unit. Everything has worked smoothly, wireless has been reliable, and performance is great. Be wary tho of any laptop with a fingerprint reader if you really intend to use it along with MS Office pro and MS Access.

The Pavillion dv7-4070us is a fine spec machine. However, what lets it down massively is it's HORRIBLE touch pad which is at times uncontrollable and extremely infuriating. Even with sensitivity turned up to the max it still stutters and sticks all over the place. Not only this, but the buttons are ridiculously stiff also. I had hoped I would get used to this but have given up and now connect a mouse. If you are happy to do this then the machine is fine, but it rather defeats the purpose of a laptop in my view.

Aside from that the machine is good - only annoying thing is the amount of annoying HP clutter on the machine, constantly badgering you to buy Norton and share your music etc...etc... If you can turn a blind eye to this then fine. I bought this model specifically for the sound and no complaints there.

Luv this computer. If you do basic 3-D Gaming like WOW you're gonna love the ATI 1GG Video Card it's like having a 2nd processor. So with 4GB RAM, plus the 1GB Video Card, in effect you've got 2 processors running (the Intel I5 clocked at 2.4 GZ & the 1GB ATI 5650)and basically a total of 5GB Memory to run video making for a very smooth ride.

And HP adding the BLU RAY drive (just awesome) now its a high def TV too! If HP would get some common sense and for a thousand buck computer also give you the back up disks (for Windows & Drivers), that would be even better. I don't have an "extra" exterior hard drive lying around just to back up a mirror image of the computer. What would it cost them to throw in the back up disks a dollar? And this is a consumer friendly PC?

2 other Caveats. Take a look at the HP Direct site & see if you want to custom order this unit (right now they are throwing in 6GB RAM upgrade free at a lower price point & free ship) Also, even though I love the Blu Ray drive thrown in to this unit, my kids' Dell Studio 17 (same specs Intel I5 & ATI Card) is clear winner for awesome bass sound quality, more solid build, 9 cell battery standard & a glass LCD display that seems to go on forever.

Just my opinion. Find em in a store and try em out for yourself first( before you plunk down a grand.) Both are nice. Real nice. Sweet!

I bought this computer last week and I have been using it every day, for work and personal entertainment. I have to say it was a very good purchase, the i5 processor works as expected (I have been dealing with computers since 1986 and I have a lot of experience with hardware and software as well).

As today I can't afford the i7 processor or the Envy series, I am quite comfortable with the 4070 performance in general. The touch pad is the only thing I don't like, because it is too hard to manage.

With the size of this laptop (17.3"), I use it basically as a replacement for my desktop (actually I don't have one), so the touch pad issue is gone, being replaced by a wireless mouse. If you like a portable laptop, this will not be the one, you better buy a lighter and smaller one. The fan on the side tends to extract all the air from below the laptop, so you will feel the heat coming out, but is OK due to the size of this computer, it was expected.

The screen is very nice, 17.3" diagonal, it is very sharp and has bright colors. The sound is awesome, I am playing some MP3 and some FLAC files and they sound great. Blu and HDMI out make it worth the money (U$S 949 in Amazon) besides the 640 GB hard drive, which it is not huge, but I have some additional external HDD's storing Tera-bytes.

Windows 7 Home Premium works pretty nice too, although this version does not allow you to join domains, like for my job, but no big deal, I solved it with a VPN connection. It has a quick start from HP which allows you to browse the web or listen music or see pictures without booting W7, but I normally don't use it. The 4GB RAM works OK, but as I will do some music and video editing, I will add another 4GB to complete the allowed total of 8GB RAM. All bundled software is gone pretty quick if you uninstall it.

It has a fingerprint reader which I like, although it only lets you log in to web pages with IE and not Chrome, but that is Chrome development issue, not HP... The brushed aluminum finish (Argento I think is called) gives this computer a great look. The integrated webcam and microphone worked perfectly.

The keyboard is extended with numeric pad. The battery is a 9-Cell battery, so it is much better than the 6-Cell batteries.

It also has Wi-Fi a/b/g and n and a Gigabit Ethernet card. Perfect for what I need. I have not tested the multi card reader yet but it should be working just fine.

I would like it to have USB 3.0, but it only comes with the Envy Series so far, I think it will become more popular next year. This computer has 4 USB 2.0 ports, and one of them is shared with an external SATA port if you need to connect some of those SATA drives.

Pros: Big display, fast processor, HDMI, Blu, W7HP, Fingerprint reader, etc.

Cons: Touch Pad, not the best touch pad I have seen, too hard too manage and sometimes uncontrollable.

PS: Please, excuse my English, it is not my native language.

I loved this PC on paper...Intel Core i5 processor, discrete graphics, LED screen, Blu-ray player too. But, after having this PC for 45 days, the hard drive died. This laptop is not meant to be moved so if you are getting a laptop because you expect it to be portable, DON'T BUY THIS ONE. I took this notebook on a weekend road trip (in a protective padded laptop bag) and it was gently handled. When I returned home and plugged in my laptop, I got a black screen stating "Boot Device Not Found". HP is sending me a new hard drive but I still have to reinstall everything on a brand new computer which I feel is unacceptable. Secondly, if you want to play games or watch recorded TV from your DirecTV DVR, it doesn't work for that either (even though the DirecTV software comes pre-installed). What HP neglects to tell buyers is that the dual (switchable) graphics cards prevent you from updating the ATI Radeon drivers. No updated graphics drivers means no DirecTV and no advanced gaming. Overall, the rest of the computer works well but I felt someone needed to report these major drawbacks.

I won't take up space to reiterate what has already been said, except to say the fussiness of the touch pad can be reduced by turning off gestures (thereby reducing the extra functionality it added to begin with). Many of us tend to work with both hands on the touch pad - one on the pad the other on the buttons. This touch-pad reads the surface of the buttons as part of the touch-pad causing it to respond to all movements as gestures unless you are careful to only be touching one at a time.

Additionally, touch-pad surface extending to the buttons means you must be very precise when clicking. Rolling your fingertip as you click will cause the cursor to move off the point you intended to click and cause unintended results.

With all the focus on energy these days, it's hard to understand why HP added a light on the cover (like the Apple on the MAC). It just turns your computer into a billboard for HP and uses energy.

The button on the Bluray drive is small and inset, making it something of a challenge to operate (especially for us old folks). I can catch it with my thumb nail and get it open but it is not nearly as friendly as the button on my old laptop.

That said, the audio is great compared to most laptops I've seen. My biggest adjustment has been having to move from XP to Windows 7. I'll never understand why MS thinks it needs to change the name and location of things, forcing us to discover where the put them in the latest version.

Overall, I very pleased with the machine so far. It has a good balance between the things I need everyday with enough enhancements for media and games to make it acceptable for my purposes.

This laptop was a gift for a friend and her daughter and mother and they all love it. It's a beautiful computer and should last for many years.

Very happy with my purchase! Love the 17.3 display, very quick response to start up and resume from standby, everything running with no problems at all! Great battery life so far.

The GOOD,
This laptop is fast and sounds great with BEAST.Yep, that's all I am sure.
The BAD,
I am a HP stock holder. I worked for HP and Agilent before they got the spin off. I must say all HP computer design ARE ugly and lack of slick, eye-catching, turn-head designs, but apparently it is now not just the appearance but the quality of the product is now get compromised too.
The design for this HP laptop is below average. It is heavier than most in its (17") class.
The touch pad/mouse pad is what I call a stupid design which I can't put up with. Beside the issue that the touch pad has a mind of its own, the clickers on the touch pad are VERY hard to push.
The clicking noise when I make a mouse click or touch pad is so annoying. The noise appears only when surfing the net, it sounds like something is about to break inside the laptop.
The DVD, If you want to open it, here is the procedure, left hand hold tight and lift the laptop up, right hand use your middle finger (yes the middle one) keep pushing the door until it open (there is no telling when).
If you are not convinced try it for yourself and go to your local Wal-Mart, BestBuy, Costco and try on any HP laptop you will see what I meant. The DVD also comes with stereo sound itself. It makes a lot of noises while running/loading a movie.
The picture is average at best and is far inferior comparing to the Sony Vaio I bought back in 2005.
The UGLY (truth)
I may have to keep this laptop because it is the cheapest 17.3" laptop in its class I can find out there for $578 + ($60)tax + ($16)e-waste + ($99) 2 years extended warranty = $753 (that is not including any software i will have to buy later). I hope I can restrain myself from cussing and slamming it on the floor every time I use this laptop.