HP Pavilion DV9650US 17-inch Entertainment Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5250, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

Other products by Hewlett-Packard

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 6.7 x 1.6 inches ; 13.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000W12V86
• Item model number: DV9650US
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,384 in Computer & Accessories (See Bestsellers in Computer & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Balance your need for productivity with great multimedia performance with the HP Pavilion dv9640us notebook PC, which features an amazingly bright, widescreen 17-inch BrightView display--perfect for multitasking between document windows and watching movies in their native aspect ratio. Enjoy movies or music in seconds with the external DVD or music buttons to launch HP QuickPlay (which bypasses the boot process). Control playback settings from up to 10 feet away with the included remote control, which stores conveniently in the ExpressCard slot. It offers a cool, modern look with a durable, high-gloss piano black finish and wavy inlaid design inspired by Zen rock gardens as well as a subtle blue backlit media control panel that responds to the slightest touch. It also has an integrated 1.3-megapixel WebCam (and integrated microphone), enabling easy video conferencing via VoIP and video IM chats.

This notebook is powered by the 1.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor, which offers a 20 percent performance boost over its predecessor while using 28 percent less power--so you get the benefit of a powerful dual-core PC plus all the benefits of mobility. It includes Intel's 4965 AGN wireless LAN, which will connect to draft 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g networks as well. You can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, which also includes LightScribe technology for personalized silkscreen-quality, laser-etched CD/DVD labels. Other hardware features include dual 160 GB hard drives (for 320 GB of capacity), 2 GB of installed RAM (4 GB maximum), an integrated NVidia GeForce 8600M video/graphics card with 1023 MB of shared video RAM, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI A/V port, and multi-format memory card reader.

This laptop also comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

The Basics

• Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor has a 1.5 GHz processor speed, fast 667 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and large 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

  The Intel Core 2 Duo processor has two computational execution cores in a single processor, providing greater system response when running multi-threaded applications simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. It's optimized for multitasking and is ready to support the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. It can simultaneously run multiple demanding applications--such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching business productivity applications--while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background. Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include:

  • Smart Memory Access: Improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed.
  • Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
  • Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
  • Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.

• Hard Drive: This system offers a total of 320 GB of hard disk drive space from two 160 GB drives (5400 RPM). These Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives also quicken the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to FireWire and USB 2.0.

• Memory: The 2 GB of installed RAM (2 x 1024 MB DDR2) will satisfy many users, but this notebook's two DIMM slots have a maximum 4 GB RAM capacity--perfect for high-end video editing and 3-D gaming. The additional capacity helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card.

• DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 4x DVD-R DL Write Once, 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds.

  This LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and images on to CDs and DVDs . Your software, PC and discs work together for a no-hassle way to burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert and burn your label--anything from a simple title to a full-disc work of art.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a 101-key keyboard and a touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical/horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad. It also includes two quick-launch buttons (HP QuickPlay Music and DVD).

Screen, Video & Audio
The 17-inch WXGA+ high-definition BrightView widescreen (1440 x 900 resolution) provides a 45 percent larger picture for DVD movies than a 15-inch screen. Video is powered by the NVidia GeForce 8600M graphics card, which provides up to 1023 MB of available RAM/video memory (256 MB dedicated RAM) for unmatched HD video performance on a notebook PC. With support for Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), it lets you rip through all of today's most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications. Experience real-time photo editing, or immerse yourself in the most complex, true-to-life gaming environments.

The Altec Lansing speakers provide exceptional sound, and a pair of stereo earbud headphones with volume controls is included. You'll be able to privately share enjoyment of multimedia with a friend via the dual headphone jacks.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with the integrated Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965 AGN LAN chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and Wi-Fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range--great for closed office environments). You also get super-fast wired connectivity, with a Gigabit Ethernet port (10/100/1000).

It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 54/34 card slot (though no standard PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. You get a good offering of connectivity options:

• 4 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 HDMI output (for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable)
• Analog video out: 1 VGA monitor and 1 S-Video TV
• 1 ExpressCard 54/34
• 2 headphone jacks, 1 microphone jack
• 1 notebook expansion port 3 (for use with the HP xb3000 Expansion Base or the HP Notebook QuickDock)
• 1 consumer IR (infrared)
• 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
• Integrated 56K modem (V.90)

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Includes Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition (60-day trial), Muvee Autoproducer Basic Edition, Roxio Creator 9 Basic, PC Recovery, HP PhotoSmart Essentials, and Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007 (with 60 days of Live Update).

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 15.16 x 11.65 x 1.57 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 7.8 pounds.

Power
It's powered by a 8-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which has a battery life of up to 2.5 hours (depending on usage).

What's in the Box
This package contains the HP Pavilion dv9650us notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, IR remote control, earphones, and operating instructions. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase as well as technical telephone assistance for one year. Software is also covered for 30 days from date of purchase.

Product Description

HP Pavilion dv9650us Entertainment Notebook PC. HP innovation is most visible in its breakthrough notebook PC designs that truly integrate fashion and technology for today¿s mobile, digital lifestyle. High gloss HP Imprint finish encases the elegant, curvilinear form and is more durable than traditional painted surfaces. It features a subtle HP exclusive new Radiance pattern that captures the emerging trend towards ornamental design. Building on the original design of concentric waves, Radiance is an ornate mixture of ripples on a sea of radial lines speaking to the fluid way we've come to live and connect. Encouraging more direct interaction, the backlit media control panel responds to the touch or sweep of a finger. HP QuickPlay provides access to DVDs, videos, photos, music, karaoke, streamed streamed or recorded TV and now games at the touch of a button. Watch DVD movies on the full screen using simple media controls. Add music to your slide shows or videos with drag and drop functionality. Stream, watch live and record TV. Throw an impromptu karaoke party or play preinstalled games from leading brands. Find and stream media from universal plug and play devices such as Windows Media Connect. Listen without disturbing others with included stereo earbud headphones. And control content from up to 10 feet away with the HP Mobile Remote Control that can be stored in the system ExpressCard slot for convenience. Dual hard drives provide extra storage storage for media files and an easy backup solution. Dual headphone jacks and Altec Lansing audio allow you to share your entertainment. And Intel mobile dual core technology enables use of multiple demanding applications, such as photo editing, DVD burning and playing a game, at the same time. This 7.7 lb, starting weight, light notebook delivers desktop comparable performance with its 17.0 inch High Definition BrightView widescreen display and separate numeric keypad.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some flaws, but a tremendous value nonetheless, November 28, 2007

By	Robert Santa (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Let's get the negative out of the way.

CON:
- Yes, the right shift button is small. Is that annoying? Sure. Is it a deal breaker? Not in the least. You get used to it after a while.
- The battery life is some 2.5-3 hours. Not horrendous, but you will definitely want to invest in an extra, longer lasting battery.
- There are cooling vents on the bottom of the laptop. The "feet" on the laptop raise the case and allow for proper ventilation. If, like me, you are fond of working with the laptop directly on the bed, that can quickly lead to overheating since you cover the vents. Always use this laptop on a flat surface, even when in bed. A $20 cushioned laptop desk can make your experience more comfortable and pleasant all the way around.
- The TV Tuner heats up quickly.
- Vista. Oy! This not a problem with the laptop itself so much as its a problem in general. Vista is a memory hog. Even when you strip it down to basics and ditch the heavy GUI, Vista still consumes more system resources than XP. Sadly, at the time of this writing, HP doesn't provide a downgrade strategy for this model. Their support site does have _some_ XP drivers for the dv9650us, but none for the SCSI/RAID hard disk controllers. That makes manual downgrading nearly impossible.

Okay. Those are the major negatives to the dv9650us. You might be wondering how I came up to a 5/5 score then. Surely, I must be mistaken. Stay with me.

PRO:
- 17" 1440x900 Widescreen: First of all, the screen is crisp, clear, bright, and utterly gorgeous. Best of all, you can manually turn down the brightness
- 2GB RAM: Naturally, Vista is a bit of a hog, but 2GB is a great deal for this price. Many laptops in this price range still only offer 1GB; some less. Better yet you can upgrade to 4GB if you need the extra RAM. As someone who does a lot of graphics and video work, that's great.
- Core2Duo: Some of you may scream that it's only a T5250 1.5GHz and not a 2.0GHz. Believe me, that is REALLY not a big issue. In fact, the 1.5GHz actually performs nearly as well as my Pentium4 3GHz (HT) and PentiumD 3.4GHz (Dual Core) desktop machines. The multi-threaded performance is very solid, which is great if you use 3D software that takes advantage of the multiple cores.
- 320GB Hard Drive Space: You may be thinking, "Well, I've got a TB on my PC. What's the big deal?" 320GB on a laptop, at this sub-$1,500 price is a wonderful bargain. Very roomy. Some people might find it annoying that the 320GB is actually 2 separate 160GB hard drives, but I prefer it. Keeping your data away from the applications is a smart move though. This way, if the OS somehow gets corrupted, your data stays safe. Plus, if you use Photoshop, keeping your scratch files on a separate drive (not partition) improves performance.
- NVidia GeForce 8600M GS: It's not the top of the line GeForce 8 model, but it is definitely more than powerful enough to handle current games. Desktop 3D performance on a laptop is hard to find, especially at this price. Most sub-$1,500 laptops resort to integrated video. A dedicated 3D card with its own, separate 256MB of RAM pretty sweet.
- HD DVD: Okay, I haven't used this feature yet. I'll admit it. My movie collection is still old school DVD. Still, it's a nice option to have. Most laptops don't include next gen DVD players. Those that do, such as the Sony Vaio models, include Blu-Ray and often cost more if you try to match overall feature sets.
- Hybrid Analog/HD TV Tuner: I am a sucker for this one. The include antenna does a decent, albeit predictable, job of picking up analog signals. However, it really shines with HD signals. I was not even aware that my area was already broadcasting HD over the air yet. This tuner & antenna pick up the HD signals perfectly every time - cable quality reception every time. As an added bonus, the dv9650us includes TWO media center remote controls. The first one is a much more standard sized remote with external USB IR receiver. That's nice and all, but you don't always want to lug around that setup. The second option is the included portable remote, which conveniently stores in the expansion slot and communicates with the built-in IR port.
- ON/OFF button for the touch pad. Such a small feature. So convenient. If you use an external mouse, you can just turn off the touch pad and never worry about accidentally moving the cursor when typing.
- TWO (2) Headphone ports: Great for those long trips where you want to watch a movie with a friend, but don't want to bother everybody else around you.
- Integrated web cam. Some people may gripe that external web cams would provide crisper video. However, as a portable solution for teleconferencing, you could do much worse. It's not meant for creating your next Youtube masterpiece. Why should you expect it to so? I'm in the camp that favors bang for the buck.
- Solid construction: Unlike the Sony Vaio laptops, the HP Pavillion doesn't feel fragile to the touch. You'll still have to treat it with the same respect that you would any other non-rugged laptop, but it doesn't feel at all like a toy. While 7.7lbs might seem heavy for an average portable, remember that we're talking about a 17" widescreen machine that's brimming with desktop level features. In that regard, it's a very manageable weight.
- Attractive design: The smooth, glass-like exterior with its embedded ripple design makes this one of the prettiest laptops to behold, even when closed and turned off. Your friends and colleagues will want to dump their stocky, utilitarian looking laptops in a heartbeat. If fingerprints or smudges easily annoy you then you may want to invest in a handkerchief. However, if you're an iPod or Playstation Portable owner you're probably used to this non-issue already. The sleek, futuristic design is more than worth the occasional fingerprint.

The HP Pavilion DV9650US is not just a steal at this price, but also a miracle. Desktop features and performance without the scary laptop price. I must have researched a couple of dozen laptops before settling on the DV9650US. At the time of this writing, you simply will NOT find a more feature rich laptop for the price. I usually steer far away from HP desktops, but they have done a bang up job on this laptop. In a word, "Wow!"

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice Computer, November 11, 2007

By	D. Hunting - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: HP Pavilion DV9620US 17-inch Entertainment Laptop (AMD Turion 64 Processor TL-58, 2 GB RAM, 240 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) (Personal Computers)

This is my 4th laptop and by far the best one I've had yet. The only reason that it received 4 out of 5 stars is the size of it is sometimes too bulky and it is quite a bit heavier then any of my previous laptops so be prepared to have some sort of stand or table to set it on while you are working or your knees will pay for it. This computer came with everything you need to do some serious Video to DVD creations. If you don't plan on packing this computer around much, then you will absolutley love it!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars HP Pavilion DV9650US 17" -- HD DVD flaw, December 20, 2007

By	Mirror Image "Time is luck" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

One of the reasons I chose this model was the technology to use this laptop as a digital tv tuner, DVR, and HD DVD player, hooked up to a big flat panel LCD TV display, via HDmi, component video cables, etc. Well -- when play a HD DVD it only fills up about 1/3 of the screen in hp's "quickplay" program. No apparent way to use the full screen for the movie. So much for 17"! Okay, well -- it should be viewed on the big LCD TV anyway, so I hook it up via HDMI. "Cannot display in this [two screen or other screen] display configuration" blocks image! DRM-evil strikes to rip off the consumer again! What a waste! Why buy an HD DVD drive (or sony blu-ray) if it won't export image to the TV? Save your money - get a similar model without an HD DVD (or blu-ray) drive. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it appears quite pointess at this time.
This package is otherwise nice. Though - yes, the tiny shift key is witless, given the giant 17" keyboard!