HP - Pavilion Laptop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor - Bronze/Chrome

So it took me like 2 days to make my final decision for this computer, I was running out of time because next morning I took a flight back to my country so I was concerned about it because if this laptop was slow I wouldn't have other choice that keep it. So here's what happened, I checked some reviews on line, and what I read is what I feel now: Elegant presentation, nice color, it's heavy, even heavier than my first HP laptop back 4 years ago; but it's worth it, it hasn't last more than 5 hours for me, but is more than you can get, right? The price I got it for 729.99 plus taxes and now is 30 dollars less so it is what it is. I have some problems with the Iexplorer but who doesn't, iexplorer NO BUENO!! so now I use Firefox and runs great. Some ppl complaint about the keyboard, on me it feels great because I don't have to look on the keyboard to type, so it doesn't bother me. Vista this time surprised me, it works ok, no problems at all so far. I'd recommend this laptop for those like me that doesn't have too much money to spend in fancy computers. Finally, the wireless works great so if you are still not sure about this pc, get it!! it's worth it.

This laptop is so great.. Not only of the price but the function, style and the long life battery.. I love the way the battery is set up like that coz it gives the battery more ventilation and gives me a good angle to type in the keyboard.. I love the color... And i just love this laptop...

After researching laptops in the $600-800 price range for several hours, I decided to purchase the HP dv5-1235dx. I read over 100 reviews on both bestbuy.com and cnet.com and narrowed it down to the HP and the Toshiba Satellite M305-S4910. Both these laptops received excellent reviews from nearly everyone on both sites. So, I went to Best Buy to compare them in person. I really like both and it was a difficult decision. I went with the HP for a couple of reasons. Web Cam: The web cam has clearer resolution on the HP than the Toshiba. As one reviewer noted about the Toshiba, it has a grainy picture somewhat. It's not too horrible, but definitely not as clear as that with the HP. I also liked the software that HP provides with the webcam better than what Toshiba offers with their webcam. There are a number of different, fun filters and special effects you can do with the HP web cam. It is a lot of fun to mess around with! Speaker sound: Some reviewers said that the Toshiba had better sound than the HP and that the HP's volume didn't go loud enough. I think they both have great sound quality, with the Toshiba just edging out the HP with it's Harmon Kardon speakers compared to the Altec Lansing speakers on the HP. And neither laptop reached a volume level I'm completely happy with. If you like to listen to your music loud on your laptop, you'll need some additional speakers. Don't get me wrong though, I think most people will be happy with the speakers on both laptops, I just like to listen to my music pretty loud. Keyboard: Both have pretty glossy keyboards that have a good feel to them when typing. Many people complained about the Toshiba's getting smudge marks real easily and I can see why. It's black keyboard has a real glossy sheen to it that shows the smudges. That was not really a big deal to me though. My one complaint with the HP in this regard is that the keyboard is copper colored with white letters. You do have a hard time seeing the keys in the dark, wish the keys were illuminated. Not really a huge deal if you can type without looking but occasionally I did find it hard to find a couple of rarely used keys that one doesn't use that often. The keys on the HP don't show the smudges like those on the Toshiba, though for those that are curious. Laptop Shell: both have glossy finish that will smudge easily, but I think that the black on the Toshiba will show the smudges more so than the copper colored shell on the HP. Touchpad: some people complained about the glossy feel to the HP's touchpad. This was a concern of mine. In the store, I found it hard to move my finger along the touch pad very easily as my finger would stick to the high gloss finish. The Toshiba's touchpad is not glossy and does not have this problem. I nearly purchased the Toshiba for this reason, I couldn't get over how uncomfortable it was to glide my finger over the touchpad. When I got home with my HP though, this wasn't a concern. It didn't seem near as sticky as the display model in the store. Maybe, the touchpad in the store was dirty and sticky or something. Performance: Both have awesome battery lives with the HP slightly performing better at 6 hours and 45 min! Both have 4 gigs of RAM upgradable to 8gigs. Both have Intel dual core processors but the Toshiba is the slightly better Centrino model. I don't know what the major difference is with the Centrino, but I didn't notice a difference in performance. Both have huge hard drives 320gb, tie there. Ports: The HP does have the HDMI port which the Toshiba doesn't (can be upgraded for more, ~$100 I believe). This will allow you to hook up the HP to a tv screen for viewing, definitely a bonus feature to have. Also, the Toshiba has 2 USB ports vs the 3 USB ports on the HP, advantage HP. Lastly, the Toshiba has a firewire port (not sure if it is the 400 or the faster 800) and the HP doesn't have a firewire port but does have an eSATA port which is faster than either type of firewire port (firewire 400=480MBps, firewire 800=800MBps vs the 1.5GBps transfer rate of the eSATA port on the HP), advantage HP. Overall: I think the HP offers greater performance and features and it has a slightly larger screen (15.4" vs 14.1") so I chose it. I couldn't be happier with it, definitely the most fun I've ever had with a PC. I do think I would have been happy with the Toshiba too though, both are awesome laptops. I spent probably 2 hours at Best Buy mulling the decision, but am definitely happy with my choice. I hope this review helps, I spent nearly 7-8 hours reading similar reviews and it really helped. Just wanted to return the favor...happy shopping!

I was looking to get a laptop because I was returning to school. I have always had desktops and wanted to make sure that my first laptop purchase was going to be a good one. I researched them for about 2 weeks before making my purchase. I checked every vendor out there and reviewed numerous laptops through customer reviews on retail websites and also on CNET. It was a toss up between this model and the 17" model sold at Best Buy with the same price ( I wanted the 10-key pad). I kept coming back to this model so I figured this must be the one. I am so glad that I stuck with my gut instinct!!! First let me address the extended battery that everyone seems to be at odds with. I love that the battery sticks out on the bottom, tilting the laptop up at an angle. I am one of those people who used my destop keyboard with the tilt legs out so that i was typing at an angle. It has always been easier for me to type like that. So if you are like me, this will not be an issue for you. Also, it seems that having the battery stick out like this helps keep the base of the laptop from overheating which seems to be more of a prevalent problem of other laptops. The glossy keyboard does smudge, but 90% of all laptops on the market have glossy keyboards. The advantage with this computer is the smudges don't show as badly as opposed to a black or gray keyboard. Unless you have an extreme case of OCD, this really shouldn't be an issue. They sell wipes that can be used to keep your keyboard clean. I'd rather have smudges than the dust build up that used to collect on my desktop keyboard, that drove me nuts! This model doesn't have backlighting to the keyboard which can be a problem for those who type in the dark and maybe those who don't know their way around a keyboard. Don't let this stop you from purchasing this great computer! Just turn on the light or get closer to the keys if you have problems viewing it in the dark. LOL The keyboard itself is smooth and types relatively easy. My only complaint that I have with this computer is that the display seems faded. The colors don't seem as vivid as I would have imagined. Granted, my opinion may be a little jaded because I am used the display of my TV that I used on my desktop. At first I thought it was my laptop, so I went to best buy to check out other HP's in the same laptop family and they all seem to have the same faded display. There is probally a way to adjust the color to get it close to what other laptop displays have and close to the colors of a TV, but I haven't gotten around to figuring that one out. Also, when I first got the computer-I spent 8 or more hours creating all the backup disks and performing application updates and deleting bloatware. I didn't think I was ever going to be able to use my new computer!!! I was worried at first that this thing was going to be slower than my outdated desktop!!! I really haven't had a problem with speed since so I can't figure out what the fluke was with it that first day. Just be prepared that if you choose to create all the backups and perform all the updates as soon as you get home, you probally won't get to play with your new toy when as soon as you might have expected. Overall, this a great computer. Ive had this laptop for about 2 months now and have had no issues with it. If you are looking for a great laptop that is not only fast, but is expandable RAM wise to get you through the years then I would recommend this model. I am no computer expert, but this model was a no brainer choice to me. I would advise that whatever laptop you are leaning towards, review it carefully and weigh out the pro's and cons-then go to a store to physically test it out and see how it feels to you. You won't really know until you actually bring it home and have it all to yourself. That is the true moment of joy where you feel like a kid opening presents on your bday. You don't want that moment ruined because you made the wrong decision. It wasn't for me on my laptop purchase.

Being 25 (almost 26) years old, I had the fortune of growing up during my teens when computers really went mainstream and started getting into our houses across America. As a result, I have owned MANY computers in my short life, both PC and laptop. Over the last three years or so, I have grown extremely fond of laptops. I am a student, writer, and music lover (metal FTW) so the ability to move a laptop anywhere really appeals to me. i can study, write, and listen to music whenever and wherever I go. After purchasing a laptop that turned out not so well, I took it back to best buy (their customer service was excellent...they didn't give me any problems at all bringing back the opened machine) and found this one. I'm a computer/net junkie so I wanted something rather powerful that I wouldn't have to upgrade for a while but also wanted something cheap, as i am on somewhat of a budget. Well, here we are. This computer is powerful (dual core, 4 gigs of ram, decent hard drive space) and cheap, only cost 750 bucks. My previous laptops had windows vista 32 bit and this one as 64 bit. the differences are minor but i'm not having any problems with it. The computer is very sleek looking, feels smooth, is shiny, and has keys that push down easily but don't feel cheap either. The touch screen buttons (volume, cd controls, wifi) are a nice additiona nd I like how it lights up at night too. The built in webcam and microphones are made right into the top of the monitor which is very cool as well. It's called an entertainment laptop and when you play some music you will hear why. Laptops aren't generally known for the great sounding speakers but this is easily the best sounding I've heard from a laptop. That doesn't matter though since I have my own speakers but they aren't as portable as the laptop so it's nice to know that I can still rock out when not at home. It has a hi def LCD screen with the ability to pick up HD tv channels, which is a plus for me becauise I don't have an HDTV. A very cool bonus is that it comes with a remote that lets you control alll your media from it. It is so effective that I gave away my cd player in my room and now use my computer to rock on on. Also, the remote fits INSIDE the comp too! Very cool. Some people have been complaining about the battery sticking out but I don't see the problem. It actually allows for better ventalation and props it up for you make it easier to type. When away from my desk with it sitting on my lap, i can barely even notice it's sticking out. It isn't a problem at all. You do have to remove it if you want to put int in a body case but it takes .1 second to remove the battery for travel. Speaking of the battery, it lasts an extremely long time. I haven't fully tested it or paid a great detail of attention to it but I used it for five hours the other day and it wasn't even close to being in the danger zone of cutting off due to low power. The best thing about this laptop (and this is the hardest thing to find in laptops) is that it is QUIET and doesn't get very hot at all. When the fan is going, you can barely hear it. As for the temp, it stays pretty cool even when I don't have it setting on a fan pad. I usually stays between 38 and 45 degress, depending on what I'm doing with it. In sleep mode, it goes well below 20 degrees. However, just in case as with all laptops, I would suggest getting some sort of cooling pad for it. All in all, it is easily the best computer I have ever owned and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a powerful computer but doesn't want to spend a 1000 dollars on it. Now go click the buy button!

Like a lot of us in the market for a laptop, for me it came down to two machines: the Intel based 15.4" dv5-1235dx and the AMD 17" dv7-1245dx. As I weighed the pros and cons of each: Intel vs AMD, 17" screen vs 15.4", with prices within $35 of each other, I chose the d7-1245dx for the bigger screen and keyboard. I know this is a review for the dv-1235dx... but this is leading somewhere! I took the d7-1245dx home and installed all of my stuff, personalized it and started getting used to the awesome 17" display. This thing smokes compared to my old Dell Inspiron. Then came the trials. I installed some of my pro audio gear, the main reason that I bought the machine, pretty basic USB outboard soundcard that operates way under the machines specs. I knew that I chose a slower AMD Turion processor with a 17" screen over a smaller screen and Intel inside. BUT, I never dreamed the discrepancy in all around performance would be this big! And since the AMD's speces were more than enought to run the audio stuff, I though I was in the clear. WRONG! All sorts of problems, pops and clicks in the audio, a wasted call into tech support and a wasted day! After analysing the task manager on the AMD with the audio apps running, the system was operating at around 30% capacity. So I take the dv7-1245dx back to Best Buy and brought home the dv5-1235dx (don't you hate it when you screw up a 50%-50% decision!). Got home, started installing the same old software on tthe new machine. After seeing the 17" display of the old machine all day, the 15.4" looked rather sad! But when I saw how much FASTER my apps were loading during install, I thought the installer apps were crashing right in the middle of the install, because I was used to waiting so much longer on the AMD. I installed all of my apps in half the time. Plus all of the regular functions like web, email, videos, ran in light speed compared. I was amazed but, the true test for me, the audio apps, were going to make or break the dv7-1235dx. Right out of the gate, the Intel machine ran the audio apps without a hitch. I even went into task manager, with the audio apps running, to see where the system perpormance capacity of the Intel machine was compared to the AMD: dv5-1235dx - 8%-10% dv7-1245dx -30% I am old school with computers and still remember there being debate between AMD and Intel. As far as I am concernerd, the debate is over, at least in the mobile department! The only real complaint I have with the dv5-1235dx is the battery size so often cited in this forum... First the good: this 12 cell battery lasts forever, like 5 hours. The Intel chips run so cool and quiet, the battery just lasts and lasts. The Bad: this batter is huge! Its really an accessory type "extended" battery.. you know the one that you normally buy when you want to sacrifice weight and size for extra battery life. It protudes so far from the bottom of the machine that it looks like an after market job. The cool thing is that it angles the unit up from a flat surface enough to be very usefull for typing. It also creates an air-flow space between the flat surface and machine keeping it cooler. I am currently looking for a smaller battery to use when on the fly. It's pretty awkward until you get used to it.

Bought two of these laptops, one for myself and one for my wife. The battery is outstanding and acts as a great kickstand which slopes the keyboard like it's in a docking station. It also makes a handy handle for easily putting the laptop in and out of my case. The battery life is fantastic as I have yet to run it all the way down. Can take it to work and use it most of the day (4-5 hours) without running out the battery. This elimates the need to carry the AC adapter around everywhere you go. Although the battery is heavy, not having to carry the AC adapter makes an excellent tradeoff IMHO. This laptop scores 3.8 on the Windows Vista Experience Index. That's pretty good for an off the shelf laptop. Comes with Vista 64-bit SP1 which I have already upgraded to SP2 with no problem. The webcam works very well and is 1.3 megapixel for an excellent image. The hard drive has plenty of space and the multimedia remote and on-board buttons are handy. There is also an available slot for any future upgrades you may want to make. The display is great on performance but I find ATI graphics gives a slightly better display than the Intel graphics on this machine (although the ATI graphics tend to be slower on performance). The only issue I have personally come across is that at times the keys can be hard to see in certain light. HP used a reflective finish on the keyboard and so it can reflect light back at you making the keys harder to see. There is also no Bluetooth or wireless N but I have not had the need for either yet. But I could see where that could be an issue for some folks. Overall an excellent laptop for the price. No wonder it's a top 20 pick and a Laptop Magazine Editor's Choice.

This review is my initial impression, based on just 3 days of ownership. This computer is very responsive, and is quick on both bootup and when starting applications. It came with little "crapware". The 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student had an option that allowed activation with a previously-purchased license, which was nice because it removed the need to do the (slow) uninstall followed by the (slow) install from media. The initial setup, including building the recommended System Recovery DVDs, took close to 3 hours. In part, this is because it creates 3 DVDs. I think that the tutorial said that just 1 DVD-DL would have been needed, and it would have taken 20 CDs if I'd chosen to use CDs. The process included verifying the media, which provided some feeling of security. The tutorial also stated that it's only possible to burn one set of Recovery media on the computer, probably to prevent illegal copying of Windows. The process can be interrupted between DVDs, if desired. The initial Windows Updates took a while, since there have been many Windows updates since Vista SP1 came out. The downloading occurred in the background without interrupting anything, but the first time I tried to do a shutdown the installation of the updates took more than 30 minutes. Windows Vista runs quite well on the machine. Our normal use of the machine (with an IM program, an email program, and a browser, plus anti-virus software, etc.) uses about 1.8GB of the installed RAM plus 2GB of the swap file. The integrated graphics processor, unfortunately, can take up to about 2GB of the shared RAM. In any case, the machine's responsive and doesn't get bogged down. I even ran a manual a/v scan today while everything else was running and I was using the browser, and I didn't notice a decrease in responsiveness. This is not a gaming machine, of course. It's quite sufficient for running Vista's Aero interface, but the limiting factor on the Windows Experience Index is still the integrated graphics. The webcam and microphone both performed well, with no video "ghosting" even under relatively low-light conditions. The frame rate was a little slow with lower light, but still acceptable. All of the machine's devices worked flawlessly with Vista, since all of 64-bit drivers were included on the machine. The screen is bright and sharp, with no visible pixels missing. I would have preferred a less glossy protective cover on the screen, but this seems to be what's available now. The media switches above the top row of the keyboard are activated by touch, not pressure. The lights on those switches are a bit bright, and I haven't yet taken the time to find out whether their brightness is adjustable. As mentioned by other reviews, the over-sized battery sticks out of the bottom. The positive side of this is that it allows plenty of airflow around the notebook's vents, preventing overheating. The negative side is that the battery is not centered, and it does cause the notebook to wobble slightly, even on a hard flat surface. For now, we've got a folded-up piece of paper under the right front corner of the computer. The pertruding battery also makes this notebook uncomfortable to use on the lap. Everyone who's sat down at the machine has had trouble finding the Delete key the first time. It's small, and located in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard. The touch of the keyboard is a little different from the other notebooks that I've used, but everyone in the family has gotten used to it quickly. We've had a little trouble using the webcam for video IM with the Windows Live Messenger. The video part works fine, but the microphone seems to have some feedback and a problem with echos. Adjusting the volume of the speaker and of the microphone didn't fix the problem. It's not an issue with the hardware itself, since recorded video and audio work perfectly using the included HP software. The wrist rest is metallic, or perhaps metalized plastic. Like other metal surfaces, it provides a place to discharge static electricity in the low-humidity conditions in our house.