HP Pavilion zv5430us 15.4" Laptop (AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ (PowerNow), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive)

by HP

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 11.6 x 1.8 inches ; 7.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.9 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006ZM7G4
• Item model number: PR466UA#ABA
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 2, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The mid-line HP Pavillion zv5430us is a great desktop replacement, adding mobility to its powerful multimedia and home office computing features. The large 15.4-inch screen is perfect for watching DVD movies, and the Nvidia GeForce 4 440 Go video/graphics card keeps 3D gaming smooth. You can also burn your own CDs and DVDs with the multifomat DVD+/-RW and CD-RW combo drive. The zv5430us features a strong, 64-bit AMD Athlon 3200+ processor, 60 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, 54g wireless connectivity, and a multiformat memory card reader for easy access to pictures captured on your digital camera.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: The 80 GB hard drive (4200 RPM) is one of the larger sizes you'll find in a notebook, and it's befitting of such an entertainment-centric PC. It offers more than enough capacity for storing documents and productivity software for road warriors. You'll also be able to store a good-sized digital audio library.
• Processor: AMD's Athlon 64 3200+ processor is built for tomorrow's 64-bit applications, which will require a processor with significant power. This 2.0 GHz 3400+ processor offers a system bus with speeds up to a blazing 1600 MHz and 1 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.) It includes such AMD features as HyperTransport Technology (which increases the communication between integrated circuits) and Cool'n'Quiet Technology that conserves power while also keeping the PC nicely quiet.
• Memory: The 512 MB of built-in memory (2 x 256 MB, DDR SDRAM) is a good start for power users, and it offers a faster than average RAM speed (333 MHz). It has two memory slots in total, with a maximum memory expansion up to 1280 MB (1 x 1024 MB, 1 x 256 MB), which is a smaller maximum than other entertainment-centric laptops.
• CD/DVD Drive: The combo DVD+/-RW and CD-RW drive is compatible with a wide variety disc formats, including DVD+, DVD-, VCD, and SVCD discs. For DVD-RW discs, it has a 1x write/rewrite speed, while for DVD+RW discs it has a 2x write/rewrite speed (DVDs are read at 5x). For CDs, it has a 16x write/10x rewrite/40x read speed.
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 101-key keyboard and two-button touchpad with on/off button and dedictated vertical scroll up/down pad.

Screen, Graphcs and Sound
Nividia's GeForce 4 440 Go video/graphics card delivers high-resolution antialiasing and amazing detail, and it features 64 MB of dedicated DDR video RAM. The 15.4-inch WXGA high-definition BrightView widescreen display has a 1280 x 800-pixel resolution. You'll get TV-quality images, even in direct sunlight. The integrated audio card offers 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible audio through the internal Harman/Kardon speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The zv5430us has an integrated 54g wireless LAN that's compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g networks. You get a good offering of connectivity options, including both USB 2.0 and Firewire:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 1 S-Video out
• 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II, 32-bit)
• 1 parallel port
• 1 headphone jack
• 1 microphone jack
• Multiformat memory card reader, compatible with Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia (MMC), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, SmartMedia, and XD cards

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Gigabit Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
This system comes with the Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 operating system with Advanced Security Technologies, which helps to reduce unwanted downloads and pop-ups while surfing the Web. It also comes preloaded with Microsoft Works (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents), Symantec Norton Antivirus 2005 (with 60 days of LiveUpdate), Adobe Acrobat Reader, Sonic RecordNow, InterVideo WinDVD, InterVideo Home Theater, Apple iTunes and Apple iTunes Music Store, Adobe PhotoShop Album STE, Muvee autoProducer, Microsoft Money, MSN Encarta Plus, and Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition (60 Day Trial Version).

The included HP Image Zone Plus photo and imaging software makes it easy to organize, edit, share, print, protect, and store your photos and video clips. Organize and find your photos easily by timeline, keywords, and/or location using the unique photo-globe mapping tool. Remove red eye and fix other common problems. Share your photos quickly via e-mails that include thumbnails with links to the full-sized images--without downloading time-consuming attachments.

Dimensions and Weight
Best used as a replacement for your desktop PC, the zv5410us weighs 7.9 pounds. It measures 11.18 x 14.25 x 1.8 inches (LxWxH).

Power
This notebook is powered by a 8-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which offers an average of 2 hours of battery life (dependent upon computing conditions).

What's in the Box
This package contains the zv5430us notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limiited hardware warranty and 30-day free software support.

Product Description

Includes: 8-cell lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2, Norton Antivirus 2005, Works, Money, WinDVD, Sonic RecordNow, & more. hp Pavilion zv5430 Notebook PC - This notebook computer features superior graphics and audio support for your digital entertainment applications. The nVIDIA GeForce 4 440 Go with 64MB of RAM, lets you play more advanced PC games when you're on the road. And those games will sound great with 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible audio with internal Harman/Kardon speakers. nVIDIA GeForce 4 440 Go with 64MB of RAM 80GB 4200RPM HDD DVD Writer - supports DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, & CD-R/RW media 15.4 WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen with 1280x800 resolution 802.11b/g Wi-Fi Wireless Networking Adapter with 125HSM/SpeedBooster support 5-in-1 Integrated Digital Media Reader - supports Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, & SmartMedia 56k Fax Modem 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible with internal Harman/Kardon speakers 1 Type I/II 32-bit Card Bus Ports - 10/100 Ethernet, 3 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire, 1 Parallel, 1 Headphone, 1 Microphone, 1 VGA, & 1 S-Video Out Kensington MicroSaver Lock Slot

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best DTR Notebook Value, March 17, 2005

By 

AJC (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HP Pavilion zv5430us 15.4" Laptop (AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ (PowerNow), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

After reading all of the positive reviews on the HP v5430, I decided to take the plunge and get one myself. Almost 2 weeks later, I have been continually impressed with all the things I can do especially when compared with competing offerings, most of which cost more and have less.

The cool temperature of such a fast processor was quite refreshing. Also, the plastic case is solid, much more so than some of the flimsy stuff used on some Dell notebooks.

Probably I could have used another 200-400 pixels in the vertical display dimension, but that would have increased the cost. Setting fonts to a smaller display size definitely maximizes real estate, and the brightness makes this text quite readable. It drives an external display flawlessly at 1600x1200 75Hz. Gamers can expect some slowness with leading-edge games like Doom3, but some of this may be a lack of system RAM.

Another potential limitation is that maximum RAM is limited at 1280M (256M soldered in, swapping the 256M SODIMM with a 1G module). But so far, the 512M performs well for most tasks; heavy-duty graphics and software development environments may need more memory. Too bad that they didn't make both modules swappable for a 2G maximum.

Battery life is decent with about 2 hours+ of performance. I learned my lesson over the years with notebooks; frequent recharging will eventually shorten the battery life to minutes. I remove the battery when near an outlet, and reserve the battery only for those times when mobile use is needed. Yes, the disadvantage is that I lose the UPS ability of the battery to maintain state in case of a power outage. Also, one should be careful with the power supply plug into the notebook; it is awkwardly situated for true "on the lap" use, and can come out. Another nit; there is a plastic "bumper" on the battery which makes one corner unstable when the battery is removed (they should have put it on the computer case); this can be easily addressed by attaching a store-bought one.

The DVD+/- RW / CDRW works great; this makes the system fairly complete in terms of media versatility. A word to the wise; stick with + or +/- media to ensure forward compatibility.

Firewire, (3) USB ports, and built-in speakers work flawlessly. The 5-in-1 media reader needed a downloadable HP software update to recognize my 1G SD card. Speaking of which, HP's email support is superb; I've gotten answers to my questions within the hour after it has been routed to the correct department. A tip: once you get a good answer, simply keep replying to that email for fast, accurate information.

There's no built-in microphone, nor floppy, but there's a mic input for your own, and a USB input for an external drive should one really need one (given this age of flash drives and ubiquitous networking).

All in all, I'm still looking for reasons to return this notebook before my 2 week period expires, and I can't find any! If you decide to go for it, shop around for good pricing and rebates. Also, the sibling model zv5420US is available for under $1000 presently should DVD writing not be needed.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, February 3, 2005

By 

Lee McCoy "thereal" (Nassau, Bahamas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HP Pavilion zv5430us 15.4" Laptop (AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ (PowerNow), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

This computer rocks! Athlon 64! Very cool, no problems with heat and have had it on my lap for 3+ hrs! Nice keyboard/trackpad. This is a big computer, definitely not for the road warrior but excellent desktop replacement. Be careful with the specs of this site, there are certain things that are wrong, such as does not take XD cards. I wish there was bluetooth in it. For the money, you're not going to find a better desktop replacement.