HP Pavilion DV1000 Review

HP has dabbled with blue status lights before--check out the HP Pavilion zt3000--and the HP Pavilion dv1000's blue lights illuminate an entire row of handy buttons nestled above the comfortably large keyboard. In addition to the requisite power and volume controls, the Pavilion dv1000's DVD and CD(the same wiht the hp Pavilion dv4000) quick-play buttons let you play DVDs, CDs, or MP3s stored to your hard drive without booting up. To the lower right of the keyboard are menu control keys and tiny Back/OK buttons for navigating through DVD menus; additional playback controls run along the top of the keyboard. When couch-bound, you can use the included full-featured remote control, which HP has ingeniously stashed inside the system's single Type II PC Card slot--a handy storage spot (when not filled with another card).

The HP Pavilion dv1000 heaps on a generous helping of ports and slots. The left edge offers ports for 56Kbps modem, Ethernet, VGA, docking, and one USB 2.0 connection. In keeping with its consumer bent, the Pavilion dv1000 ships with Windows XP Home. HP's Quick Play application is the real star in the system's software lineup, however, allowing you watch DVDs or play music without booting up the operating system. Otherwise, the Pavilion dv1000 ships with a decent lot of software: a few Microsoft offerings, including Works, Money 2004, and Encarta Plus, as well as Sonic's RecordNow for burning CDs and InterVideo's WinDVD for watching DVDs when the system is booted up.

HP Pavilion DV1000 Battery life (Longer bars indicate longer battery life)
BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes

HP Pavilion dv1000 Battery 246
Sony VAIO VGN-A190 Battery 163
Dell Inspiron 700m Battery 143

Battery life analysis written by CNET Labs assistant lab manager Eric Franklin. To measure mobile application performance and battery life, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's MobileMark 2002. MobileMark measures both application performance and battery life concurrently using a number of popular applications (Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2002, Netscape Communicator 6.0, WinZip Computing WinZip 8.0, McAfee VirusScan 5.13, Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1, and Macromedia Flash 5.0).

The HP Pavilion DV1000 specs were as follows:

1.8ghz M Processor
512mb ram (512x1)
WinXP Pro
80gb 5400rpm HD
CDRW/DVD-ROM combo drive
Brightview Option
Intel 2200 b/g wireless w Bluetooth
6 cel battery
Remote Control
2 pair earbuds

Display and Graphics. The HP DV1000 with the "Brightview" option which is supposed to enhance color and contrast. This coating does indeed make the screen quite reflective, but it's not so bad in most viewing situations. I have read enough user reports on Brightview to convince me it does indeed increase color and contrast enough to justify the added glare. At first glance, the lcd appeared to very nice contrast and color. However, the screen turned into one of its weakest aspects. Once I started examining DVD movies and photographic images I found that the DV1000 exhibits some very annoying viewing angle behavior. When viewing such content, the lcd suffers from the dreaded "inverse color" effect in dark areas at VERY narrow angles.

The DV1000 has excellent speakers when compared to most notebooks on the market. It sports Harman Kardons, which are mounted slight upward angle that does indeed improve delivery of sound. Also, the unit has two headphone jacks which could prove quite handy when traveling with a companion.