HP Pavilion dv7-6000sa review
A fantastic looking laptop, and it's great value, too
HP seems to be covering all bases with the new dv7 range. Not content with just releasing an Intel-powered model, the company is also targeting more budget-conscious users with a cheaper version equipped with an AMD processor.
First impressions were positive thanks to HP’s excellent design; the metallic chassis looks fantastic, with curves in all the right places. Build quality is a little questionable around the edges where different materials join, but otherwise it felt reassuringly sturdy. It’s not exactly lightweight at 3.4kg, particularly when you add the weight of the mains charger, but its compact dimensions mean it should still slip into a laptop bag.
Recent HP laptops had terrible touchpads that were a nightmare to use, but thankfully the dv7’s has had a much-needed redesign. Gone are the touch-sensitive buttons that would cause jittery movement and accidental mouse clicks, replaced with physical buttons that have plenty of spring and short travel. The touchpad itself now feels much more accurate as a result. A novel illuminated surround makes it easier to use in the dark, but we would have liked a backlit keyboard as well.
The keyboard is something of a mixed bag. The function keys default to their pre-assigned shortcuts, which can initially seem confusing, and each QWERTY key has slightly too much travel, but enough spring that we didn’t have any major issues when typing.
We were pleased to see that the 17.3in widescreen display has a decent resolution. Although it isn’t Full HD, 1,600×900 is ideal for working on two documents side-by-side, browsing the web or watching 720p video. Brightness was reasonable, but colours were muted. It’s a shame that viewing angles were incredibly limited, as there’s a huge amount of screen tilt, but contrast quickly disappears at anything but a face-on angle. The reflective glossy screen finish doesn’t help either.
The dv7 is the latest HP laptop to have the Beats Audio branding, which promises superior audio from the four speakers and small ‘subwoofer’. Our test tracks sounded very clear and we were impressed with the volume, but bass was still lacking. Even so, the separate woofer added some lower frequencies that are completely absent from other laptops.
The dedicated AMD Radeon 6470M graphics card is a good match to the display; it handles HD video easily and is also capable of some modest gaming. In our Dirt 3 test, it managed an almost-playable 23.6fps, so as long as you disable anti-aliasing, most games should be smooth at medium detail settings.
The AMD Phenom II N660 processor has two cores running at 3GHz. Unlike some Intel chips, it doesn’t have automatic overclocking to give it a boost in demanding tasks. Paired with 4GB of RAM, it managed only 36 overall: noticeably slower than the equivalent Intel-powered laptop. Even so, it should handle most everyday tasks without complaint. Battery life is reasonable, at just shy of four hours, and there’s a large 750GB hard disk.
We really liked the updated dv7, and this model is ideal if you have a £500 budget and want something with a large screen and some gaming potential. As long as you’re not planning on running demanding applications – such as editing lots of HD video – the relatively slow 2D performance won’t be an issue.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | ***** |
Processor | AMD Phenom II N660 |
Processor clock speed | 3GHz |
Memory | 4.00GB |
Memory slots | 2 |
Memory slots free | 0 |
Maximum memory | 8GB |
Size | 416x275x32mm |
Weight | 3.4kg |
Sound | ATI HD audio |
Pointing device | touchpad |
Display | |
Viewable size | 17.3 in |
Native resolution | 1,600×900 |
Graphics Processor | AMD Radeon HD 6470M |
Graphics/video ports | VGA, HDMI |
Graphics Memory | 512MB |
Storage | |
Total storage capacity | 750GB |
Optical drive type | DVD+/-RW +/-DL |
Ports and Expansion | |
USB ports | 4 |
Bluetooth | yes |
Wired network ports | 1x 10/100/1000 |
Wireless networking support | 802.11b/g/n |
PC Card slots | none |
Supported memory cards | SDHC |
Other ports | 2x minijack audio output, minijack microphone input, 2x USB3 |
Miscellaneous | |
Carrying case | No |
Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
Operating system restore option | restore partition |
Software included | Microsoft Office 2010 Starter, CyberLink DVD Suite 7 |
Optional extras | £44 |
Buying Information | |
Warranty | one-year RTB |
Price | £494 |
Details | www.hp.co.uk |
Supplier | http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk |