Comments on: HP launches Pavilion DV2 notebooks with AMD Yukon platform

By: ThinkyT

ThinkyT — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:07:00 +0000

The DV2 looks decent but I hate glossy screens and it should be closer to the Samsung NC20 in size. Dunno why Samsung chose to inflict a glossy screen on the NC20. From the photo it looks like too much space beside the keyboard on the DV2. For $699 they have the nerve to only provide a 160GB non SSD hard drive?

Still no reason to ditch my 4 yr old ThinkPad T42 running XP Pro even if it is only 1024x768. My old T42 is 4.5 lbs, thinner than most, and has a removable optical drive which can be replaced with a 2nd battery. Its probably 4 lbs without it.

I can get 2 hrs unplugged using WiFi even with my 4 yr old 6 cell (std) battery. I think a new 9 cell would get me to the 4+ hr mark for $65.

Debated getting a netbook since the processors are just about as powerful as mine but think a 9 cell battery and 320GB HD for my T42 would be a better investment at < $170. I can partition it to dual boot Linux and maybe triple boot XP Pro, Ubuntu & Windows 7 down the road.

If I were a frequent flier I may conclude otherwise but a 1lb lighter netbook is not a huge difference in the legal (folder) size bag I carry on mass transit, moving up to 1280x800 resolution is not worth the expense, and moving down to 1024x600 or 1024x576 resolution.

How about a Samsung NC10, Asus 1000HE or Lenovo IdeaPad (w 6 cell) with 1280x800 resolution?

By: ThinkyT

ThinkyT — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:07:00 +0000

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:05:22 +0000

I don't like this machine at all. 3.8 lbs is just too much when you can get 13″ units with built-in DVD drives and dual-core CPUs for similar money and weight/size.

By: diablow

diablow — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:13:08 +0000

I'll get one as soon it is available at local store. 12″ is perfect compromise between big notebooks and small-screen netbooks. I don't need powerfull CPU nor optical drive.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:24:58 +0000

I think there will be a market for this–it's nice to see HP finally shave a little more off the weight of their notebooks at this screen size. 4 lbs & < 1″ thick makes it a great travel machine. The price is on the high side for now, but if you give HP a year to let depreciation normalize the market price a little bit (and for the inventory of current models thin out), I think this notebook will become reasonably priced. For the occasional traveler & other users who don't regularly use their laptop to playback DVDs & Blu-Rays on the go, this is a great solution. The graphics card can handle 1080p hardware accelerated HD playback, which means users can still download HD movies/tv shows and play them back on their HDTV in full resolution without majorly impacting processor utilization. If users really need Blu-Ray @ home for playback on their TV, the required use of an external drive is probably attractive for the tradeoff in notebook portability (the price for an external Blu-Ray drive will drop dramatically this year as well). The other thing that's not listed here is that DV2 & DV3 will feature magnesium alloy cases–which means it'll run cooler & the durability should improve.

DV3, btw, will feature AMD Turion X2 Ultra processors & a slot loading disc drive, which should satisfy the crowd that desires a little more horsepower & the ability to play video on disc where ever they might be.

Now if HP could just create a better docking station, swap out the grabby trackpad for the sunken and dimpled one they use in their tx2 tablet PC series (or move back to a pad w/ a matte finish), put the pg up/pg down keys above the left/right arrow keys (which would allow the function keys to be full size & put home & end in a more appropriate location), and add a durable anti-glare coating to the glossy screen they insist customers love (man, talk about a headache), they'd have a pretty stellar line well poised for competition!

By: jake123

jake123 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:43:44 +0000

Well I personally like 12″ better than my 10″ eee, but I won't sacrifice battery life to this 30% increase in computing power.

By: likeit

likeit — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:49:03 +0000

I've been waiting for a slightly bigger machine with more screen resolution, and these new ones seem like they will fit the bill.

I'd ditch the Vista for XP pro in a heartbeat! How's the sound on this thing anyway? Hopefully a little better considering the size. (By the way, how come the sound is so bad on these machines? My kids have nintendo DS's which are much much smaller, yet have quite acceptable sound ouputs....)

But if it doesn't get 8 hours minimum with a reasonable (over)size battery, it's a non-starter...

By: thequinox

thequinox — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:43:24 +0000

It depends, once they start getting that big you start to want an optical drive and some kind of video capabilities…

By: BoloMKXXVIII

BoloMKXXVIII — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:41:00 +0000

Pass. Too big and WAY too expensive. Why would you buy one at that price point? If you are willing to go up to that size you might as well get a traditional laptop.

By: K_ozone

K_ozone — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:28:26 +0000

It's kinda chunky and ugly. And I like the new nvidia platform way better.
Yup chunky and ugly. Not a mini notebook either.