Laptops Arena

The HP laptop dv4t is part of the Pavilion series, one of the best sellers from HP. The starting price is $600, so you can also get your hands on this laptop which has some pretty nice specs if you're looking for a cheap and nice multimedia laptop. You can get a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 processor and 4 GB of RAM. The Toshiba hard drive provides us with 320 GB of free space for storage purposed and as far as the graphics card goes, we are dealing with the nVidia GeForce 9200M GS with 256 MB of dedicated video memory.



With 5 lbs of weight and 13.15" x 9.45" x 1.34" dimensions, the HP laptop dv4t has a design which makes it elegant. Some people may think it's too shiny and too glossy but that is the touch that makes it look so elegant. The glossy black lid has the HP logo imprinted in white on it. The durable plastic of the chassis makes this laptop very solid and the painted surfaces are able to handle minor scratches even they are a bit of a fingerprint magnet. The plastic of the palm rests is rigid but it will flex if you apply heavy pressure. However, there are signs that you can transport this laptop in your backpack without worrying too much. The glossy display makes the color really sharp and vibrant. It has a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The brightness levels are ok so they can cover most light situations. The contrast is a little weird ass it seems a bit washed out but other than that, images are ok. the horizontal viewing angles are also good, as they should be on a multimedia laptop which you will probably use to watch a good movie with a couple of friends.





And here comes one of the greatest features of this laptop: the Blu-ray drive. This means that you can now enjoy HD movies of cinema quality right at home on your laptop. The difference is better noticed if you had a higher monitor resolution. The keyboard is comfortable to use and the spacing is also great. This whole keyboard area as well as the keys are silver and it really makes a beautiful and elegant contrast with the glossy black which is used on the lid.

The touchpad shows signs of lag but the problem is minor. Otherwise, it is very responsive. It is glossy and it's really attracts fingerprints and finger oil so it would be nice if you cleaned it from time to time using rubbing alcohol. The left and right mouse buttons are easy to click using your thumb and you can hear a click. Above the keyboard there is a set of touch sensitive multimedia control button which come really in handy for the exact same purpose, especially when you're watching movies and clips. Here you will also find a button to switch the wireless on and off.



As for the integrated speakers, well, HP could have done much better. The sound coming out of them cannot be considered loud even if the volume is turned to maximum. There is no bass and that could bother you when you're watching movies. We recommend some external speakers for better sound quality. Ports and connections are also important when we are dealing with a multimedia notebook. This laptop has 3 USB ports, an eSATA and USB combo port, an Express Card slot, an Expansion port 3 (which is used for connecting a docking station), an Ethernet port, a VGA port, a HDMI port, a Kensington lock slot, a 5-in-1 media card reader, 2 audio ports and one microphone jack.

There is nothing special to write about as far as heat and noise goes. The fan keeps the laptop under normal temperature even if the area of the palm rests gets a little hot. The fan can be pretty loud compared to other similar multimedia notebooks and if you are used to working in a very quiet environment, this noise can become annoying.



As for the battery life, we can say that the 6 cell battery manages to provide 3 hours and 25 minutes of laptop functionality if the screen brightness is set to medium level and the wireless card is enabled. There is also a 12 cell battery available from HP but we couldn't exactly tell you what is the average laptop usage with this battery. Note that if you want to carry this laptop around and you choose the 12 cell battery, it will increase the overall weight of the laptop. To fully benefit from watching movies using the Blu-ray optical drive, it's nice if you could attach an external monitor with the help of the HDMI port. Like I said, a higher resolution could improve the quality of the images so you can feel that you're watching a high definition video. There is a "SmartBay" removable storage drive which is more useful if you want to increase the amount of storage space.





The docking station connection can prove to be really useful if you need a portable laptop which you can carry here and there but you still have to attach a lot of devices to the unit. A docking station will allow you to increase the functionality of the laptop without having to mess around with cables all day long as you only have to attach and disconnect one single cable to your laptop. This laptop can be configured to better meet your needs if you go to the HP official website. Remember that the more features you choose for your laptop, the more expensive the unit will become.

Overall, it offers good performance even if you choose features for a cheaper notebook. It's safe to say that HP has much better Pavilion models for those that are looking to benefit from a high quality multimedia notebook. It's elegant and useful so you can use it at home, at school and at the coffee shop and the nice design won't embarrass you if you use it at the office as well.