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Review HP Pavilion DV9730nr

Excellent bang for the buck. Came loaded with a lot of added extras. I did not expect!

Specs
T5450 Core2Duo
3 GB RAM
320 GB HD space
16X DVD+/-RW with BlueRay ROM
Vista Home Premium

Extra include:
Windows Media Center Remote + HP IR remote
digital / analog TV tuner

Esthetics
Nice esthetically pleasing HP imprint design

Screen:
17" "BrightView" screen with a 900 x 1440 resolution; slightly lower than some of the high end laptops available today. Excellent Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS video card with dedicated 512 MB for the video card.

Keyboard
Nice full sized keyboard layout + nuber pad

Touchpad
Ok touch pad + scroll pad

Multimedia Keys
I like the non-mechanical (capacitive) touch switches placed at the top of the keyboard. The upgraded Quickplay application has been improved over the version shipped with the previous generation of HP hardware.

LEDS
No LEDs except for the back lit touch keys

Wifi
Built-in 802.11 A/B seems to function normally w/o any problems or hickups.

Speakers
Built in speakers no sub-woofer. Sound could be better a bit better even for a laptop. Although it might just require some more tweaking to improve the audio.

Input and Output Ports
Supports digital audio input / output through the RealTek audio chipset.

Front:
external microphone, external audio out put (2 jacks), on / off switch for the Wi-Fi.

Webcam Pictures
Decent web cam built into the lid 640 x 480 resolution

Right Side:
(2) USB 2.0 ports (1) PC Card Express Port

Left Side:
(2) USB 2.0 ports, a micro USB, digital media drive, HDMI, S-VHS and HP proprietary expansion port.

Rear:
None.

Bottom:
Easy access to memory, WiFi card and the two internal HD's

Benchmarks
No bench marks to post...yet.

Size and Weight
No heavier than the 17" HP Pavilion (AMD Turion X2) it replaced.

Heat and Noise
Quiet operation. Seems to generate slight more heat than than my previous HP Pavilion; however, it is not excessive.

Battery Life
Have yet to test the total battery life

Software
There is a LOT of HP included bloatware. However there is decent software too. The app's I like so far are:Cyber link Power 2 Go burner software, Power Director, Windows Media Center. and Cyberlink web cam app.

Accessories
HP IR-based remote control that controls / launches media center


Pros:
Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS plays Quake 4 at high resolution with ease
MS vista Home premium - like its features
Like the Vista Aero interface
RAM - 3.0 GB Helps make Vista run smoother

Cons:
MS vista Home premium - hate for being such a memory hog. Takes 1.0 - 1.5 GB of memory when booted.
RAM - could benefit with another GB of RAM

Conclusion:
Excellent laptop overall. I do not play the latest high end, demanding games, such as Crysis but the included Nvidia Graphics card plays all of the games I am interested in (Quake 4) with ease. The Blue ray ROM is an added bonus along with the TV tuner and additional MS Media center remote. I will enjoy this computer for a long time.

Thanks for the write up. Do you have any pics?