DV1170US aka dv1000

I have been recently thrown back into the market to search for a new laptop since my old Vaio had extensive screen damage after its 4 year extended service policy expired(of course).
Upon my own personal review for a laptop that was economically feasable, light weight, had a small footprint, long battery life and small power adapter, new XBright/Tru-Bright like screen. I ended up purchasing a HP Pavillion DV1170US from Best Buy this week.(Of course I opted into the extended service warrenty as well....)

PROS......
So far the laptop has exceeded my expectations with...
- widescreen with a descent screen quality (even though its at 1280x768, it could be better)....
- descent processing speed...
- Quick bootup and shutdowns...
- Low heat output...
- Quite fan n HD!!!
- A roomy 100GB HD...
- Fancy DVD and remote that can operate with or without Windows being booted!
- Sexy look and design!
- Built in Multi-Media Reader!
- S-Video Out!!!
- 2 headphone outputs! (Great for traveling!)
- Small 6 cell battery
- Small footprint with and thin chassis
- light weight 4-5 lbs
- 512mb ram expandable to 2GBs!
- easy to use and monitor blue light function keys
- great reception with the wireless card
- better than average sound from the Harman/kardon speakers.
- excellant documentation with complete set of CDs to reinstall the OS and/or drivers, apps, etc...

CONS.....
- The screen is nice but the glare is distracting at times...
- Comes loaded with WinXP Home. (I quickly upgraded back into XP Pro with NO APPARENT loss of any previous special key or laptop functions!)
- Tech support answered somewere in India! (within 5 minutes although.)

UNKOWNS....
- The battery life is still unkown to me. (just havent had to time to cycle the battery yet.)


MY CONCLUSION....
An excellant low cost alternative to a Vaio.
Let me know what your experiences/tips n tricks for this unit.

I will update with-in a week with further input about this machine.

Alex
Miami, Florida USA

So far, I can not install any other version of Norton other than the NAV 2005 that came along as a trial.
I tried to use my previous (paid in full) versions of NIS 2003, NAV 2003, NAV 2004 Pro, all with no sucess.

With the NAV 05 from the recovery disks I get to install, update and execute it but from time to time, I get an error code 3029,28 and there are NO supporting documentation on Nortons nor HP's site.....

Im guessing it's a processor and/or SP2 issue since I never used a Centrino b4.
Any ideas?

Alex
Miami, Florida USA

So far this model laptop has not performed poorly in basic tasks such as using MS Office, veiwing DVDs and web browsing.
I have been able to get up to 3hrs 15min hrs battery life with the unit set to MAX BATTERY life, WI-FI off, SOUND off and screen set to the lowest power/dim settings.
Otherwise I have been getting about 2hrs 15mins to 2hrs 30mins life leaving everything on and at full blast.
To recharge the battery is relatively fast, about 45-60 mins.

The included remote control does work with MS Powerpoint presentations slideshows. There are no documentaion for this, but none the less, it works.

Norton Antivirus 2005 is still giving me trouble with error messages from time to time and appears to be diminishing.
I have obtained a similar version of Mcafee and I plan to install that soon.

I have been able to load and play some older games, Rainbow 6 and eRacer works just fine.
They arent high end games, but then again I really don’t want to spend to much time gaming.

CONS:
The screen has a very high reflection from the glare but I guess that’s a trade off from the execllant screen image quality and a lower price machine.

I was comparing this machine with the Sony Vaio FS550 which is similarly equiped, but has less options than this HP. However, the Vaio has a better screen the HP appeared to me a much more productive/cost efficient machine:
See below:

Brand NameVaio FS550 vs. Pavillion DV1070US
ProcessorCentrino 1.6 vs. Centrino 1.6
Ram512mb vs. 512mb
Expan RAM1gb vs. 2gb
HD80 vs. 100
Screen Size15.4”WXGA vs. 14”WXGA
Screen TechXbright vs. Tru-Bright
USB Ports3 vs. 3
XtrasWI-FI vs. WI-FI
LAN vs. LAN
N/A vs. S-Video Out
N/A vs. 6-1 Multi Media Reader
1 Audio Out vs. 2 Audios out
? vs. DVD/CD works with or
without booting Windows
N/A vs. Remote Control
DVD Dual Layer + R/RW vs. DVD+/- R/RW
Battery Life2+ hrs vs. 3 1/2+ hrs
Graphics Card128MB Shared vs. 64MB dedicated
Weight6 lbs vs. 5 lbs

CONCLUSION:
Even though it says “Pavillion Entertainment Notebook” on the Keyboard, it seems to work just fine as a travel, and work notebook.

I work with network database management, web design and lite graphics design.
This machine seems to be working just fine for me for the time being.

I have tired this patch with no better results.
I still get the same error message from time to time.

I have now installed most of the programs I will be using and still have about 60mb HD left, so theres going to be lots of room for MP3s, DVD ripping, etc.... The only other problem I am having other than with Norton, is now with my Bluetooth adpater from Kensington. It works fine with my previous laptop, but I am having issues now.
Apprentely its a Win XP SP2 issue(surprise) and the BT driver and the BT chipset.

I have found the following links with ideas on repairs but nothing has worked as of yet.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=841803
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;883258
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/153992

I am using a Motorola V551 and a Kensington k33085
Everything was working well on the old system, but not on the new.
After reading up on this kensington USB device, I discovered that the its not well rated at all, 1.5 out of 5 on Amazon.com.

The main problem is that I can connect the device, but I only get a very low through-output and I can not browse my phone nor sync via OBEX Push or file transfer.

So looks like tomorrow I'll be picking up a Linksys or DLink at the store.
Before I do, does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for the quick reply.
As luck would have it, the upscale model DOES NOT have Bluetooth!
Figures!!!

Im contacting HP to bug them about that!

Alex
Miami, Florida - USA

Well, I spoke with 2 differant techs over at HP now, they both adivise me that the DV1170us DOES in fact have Bluetooth via the Intel Pro Wireless 2200 BG even thought it does NOT make that mention on everypage, it is in their tech support documentaion.
I checked the Intels site and the datasheet for this Intel Pro Wireless 2200 BG does mention Bluetooth.

However, I have NOT been able to get it to work.
Windows DOES NOT reconize the Bluetooth device in Device Manager.
I have installed , uninstalled, reinstalled the HP Bluetooth software, with NO sucess....

Is it a SP2 issue? What am I doing wrong?

When I install n connect the USB nodes, either Kensington K33085 of D-Link DBT-120, I still get limited connectivity speed for Dial-up (9.6kbs) and I can not file transfer on either.

Can anyone help?

Alex
Miami, Florida - USA

Well, I finally have the D-Link bluetooth (DBT-120) working, after hours spent on the phone with HP n D-Link and hunting on forums on the net.

I had to disable the built in XP SP2 Bluetooth, because it just kept interfering.
I NEVER got the built in Bluetooth to work, even after disabling the XP built in BT support, although HP swears its supposed to be there and be working.

If anyone has anything to add, please let me know.

Alex

I still can not get my internal Bluetooth/Intel Pro 2200 WLAN to comunicate via Bluetooth nor show any configuration settings via the Intel Pro Wireless or HP Bluetooth software.
HP tech support still tells me that its there and should, simply, work....

I hate to have to carry an extra USB D-Link dongle since its supposed to be an internal device! *Not to mention the extra $50 bucks I had to spend!

I know that there is a XP SP2 issue and I have disabled the SP2 Bluetooth support, this has enabled me to use my USB D-Link or Kensington Bluetooth dongle. But no life from the HP/INTEL Pro 2200...

Anyone have ideas/tips/screenshoots of their Bluetooth settings on the Intel for me.

Thanks..
Alex
Miami/Florida

There are no updates for the Bluetooth.

Even though, this is the same exact INTEL PRO/WIRELESS 2200 WLAN card from the Pavillions that are bluetooth enable, none the less this DV1170us, is not Bluetooth capable...

Because I really do need the extra hard driive space and I do not have time to run around shopping for another laptop, I will ahve to settle with this one for the time being.....

But its a shame, that HP would do that.

Alex