HP Pavilion DV4-2160US 14.1-Inch Laptop

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3 Comments

1. jsday12
   

   I looked for like a month before I bought this laptop (not sure what the difference is from the laptop on this page other than the color scheme).

   Pros:
   
   14″ screen.
   
   It has an impressive amount of features, including the intel i5-430 processor. I’ve had it less than a week, so we’ll see how it holds up.
   
   Fast
   
   No problems with stuck-on pixels.
   
   Nice keyboard. The DV4 has a full sized keyboard with full sized arrow keys. It actually has LEDs next to the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys. The num lock feature almost made me re-install the OS because I didn’t realize it was on, and I couldn’t log in. I had just used the windows easy transfer, and rebooted, and I was unable to log in. Lessons learned here: make sure you make a password reset disk, and make sure you make a second account just in case your first one gets locked out for some reason. Also burn your DVDs for system restore.
   
   LED backlight for battery conservation.
   
   Looks cool. The volume control and WiFi on/off switch above the keyboard are more of a proximity sensor, and are cool.
   
   Comes with windows 7 home premium.
   
   Wireless works well.

   Cons:
   
   The far right corner is dim, about a square centimeter area right in the corner. If I move my head to look directly at it, it’s not very dim. You might not even notice unless you move the task bar like I do.
   
   The screen is glossy. All laptops have glossy screens except for a few Dell business laptops. HP might have one too that you can special order.
   
   The hard drive is a little noisy (but I believe any noise is too much), and a little warm. The fan spins constantly, but you can turn it off in the BIOS (it still cycles when it needs to).

   Other:
   
   The touchpad seems like it has a lot of friction at first, but it got better, and if I use the tip of my finger with light pressure it glides just fine. The touchpad screen scroll feature works well. Has a button to turn off the touchpad if you don’t want to use it.
   
   Rating: 5 / 5

2. Happy Customer
   

   I have had this laptop for 1 week and have had no problems. I don’t find it to be any hotter than my Toshiba Satellite. The Toshiba fan vents on the side, but the battery compartment was hot from the start. The Hp vents on the bottom left rear corner, but the battery area stays relatively cool – so all in all it is about the same as the Toshiba for heat levels. My CPU usage stays in the 3% to 19% for all of the activities I have done so far (I use the “gadget” that came with the Desktop features to monitor the CPU usage). The keyboard has a nice firm touch to it and the touchpad is fine, just different – it is a smooth metal surface. The one thing that I have discovered (which is why I only gave it 4 stars) is that the internal wireless adapter – Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter – caps out at a speed of 150 Mbps. I went online to the Atheros website and read the specs, because I thought something was wrong with it initially – I was expecting a higher speed than that. I had purchased an inexpensive wireless N adapter from Amazon, for the Toshiba, that caps @ 270 Mbps and runs perfectly. I am thinking of using it with this HP, even though it is bulky, because I can see a download speed difference with large graphics. The speakers sound fine, far better than my Toshiba that stuttered everytime the fan turned on. I wish it had come with a longer life battery and a USB port in the rear. I am planning on replacing the battery with a 12 cell. I use a vendor on Ebay and have had good luck with their batteries – prices are great. The DVD drive is a little noisy so that’s a minus. I really like the dedicated scroll “bar” on the side of the touchpad. I did not realize when I was first configuring the Hp that there is a button to turn on the touchpad. Mine arrived with the touchpad turned off as the default and it took me several minutes to figure out why I could not manipulate the touchpad. Operator error clearly. So far, so good. I got this laptop for $649 after the $50 rebate that is not eligible through Amazon, unfortunately. So for $649, I am very pleased.
   Rating: 4 / 5

3. Nicholas Lucarelli
   

   Great Laptop, especially for the price. It runs fast, and has a good wireless connection. Speakers are solid, nothing great but put out good sound. And the keyboard feels great. Love this laptop.
   Rating: 5 / 5