My new notebook: HP Pavilion DV7-1034ca
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that my old Toshiba Satellite 1800-S204 crashed which left me in quite a tough situation. Fortunately, I was due for a new notebook, but I had not started working as yet to draw on savings. Thankfully, my parents stepped in and helped me with funding and I just recently got an on-campus job, so I will be able to give them something in return for their kindness. Now, to the notebook…
The notebook I chose was an HP Pavilion DV7-1034ca, which I purchased at a local FutureShop. Although I would have preferred to order online and possibly save a few dollars, I preferred to be there on-site to actually see what I was getting.
The first thing that attracted me to the DV7-1034ca was the large 17″ glossy widescreen LCD monitor and high-gloss exterior finish. The keyboard surface has a chrome-like finish with silver grillwork to cover the Altec Lansing speakers. The finish on the rest of the notebook looks like dark carbon fiber.
The DV7-1034ca is not a small notebook at all! After looking at the specifications and a weight of 7.6 pounds this notebook actually screams “desktop replacement”. Here is a breakdown of the specifications:
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (45nm) P8400 at 2.26GHz
- HDDs: 500GB (2x 250GB) at 5400RPM
- RAM: 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2-SDRAM
- GPU: nVidia GeForce 9600GT with 512MB DDR2 dedicated graphics memory
- 17.0″ diagonal WXGA+ HD display (1400×900 native resolution)
- BD-ROM with multi-format double-layer DVD burner
- WLAN: Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN
- 5-in-1 digital media reader
- Fingerprint reader
- Built-in webcam
- Battery: 8-cell Li-Ion
- OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) with SP1
Let’s just say that the specifications blew me away! With tax and a special deal on Microsoft Office 2007 Student Edition and Windows Live OneCare the price came up to around $1,800. No, it wasn’t exactly inexpensive, but considering my needs in a notebook and my long turnover time with electronics I thought it was pretty good.
I stayed away from the more “mobile” notebooks because I was really looking for a desktop replacement. In addition to the other everyday uses that I needed this notebook to be able to handle, I also wanted a large screen for the Photoshop/Illustrator part-time work I do with some extra power to handle a few 3D games. I wished that Windows XP was supplied instead of Windows Vista as the OS, but once I got it started and tweaked Vista-64 does not seem too bad. I do not really have to worry about 64-bit compatibility for drivers, since they are all bundled with the notebook; I only needed to get special drivers for my Canon PIXMA MP160 and it works flawlessly!
I definitely do not feel that the hardware is holding back the overall speed of the notebook as I did with my old Toshiba Satellite. Right now I am again experimenting with Linux. Ubuntu 8.04 is a dream to use when Compiz is activated… but that’s for another post! I am truly grateful with this new notebook and I am enjoying it everyday.
