HP Pavilion dv7-4070us 17.3-Inch Laptop

Published On Friday, September 03, 2010 By Admin. Under: HP Notebook. Tags: , , ,   

5 Responses to “HP Pavilion dv7-4070us 17.3-Inch Laptop”

  1. Bill Rocks says:
    September 3, 2010 at 3:16 am

    Luv this computer. If you do basic 3-D Gaming like WOW you’re gonna love the ATI 1GG Video Card it’s like having a 2nd processor. So with 4GB RAM, plus the 1GB Video Card, in effect you’ve got 2 processors running (the Intel I5 clocked at 2.4 GZ & the 1GB ATI 5650)and basically a total of 5GB Memory to run video making for a very smooth ride.

    And HP adding the BLU RAY drive (just awesome) now its a high def TV too! If HP would get some common sense and for a thousand buck computer also give you the back up disks (for Windows & Drivers), that would be even better. I don’t have an “extra” exterior hard drive lying around just to back up a mirror image of the computer. What would it cost them to throw in the back up disks a dollar? And this is a consumer friendly PC?

    2 other Caveats. Take a look at the HP Direct site & see if you want to custom order this unit (right now they are throwing in 6GB RAM upgrade free at a lower price point & free ship) Also, even though I love the Blu Ray drive thrown in to this unit, my kids’ Dell Studio 17 (same specs Intel I5 & ATI Card) is clear winner for awesome bass sound quality, more solid build, 9 cell battery standard & a glass LCD display that seems to go on forever.

    Just my opinion. Find em in a store and try em out for yourself first( before you plunk down a grand.) Both are nice. Real nice. Sweet!
    Rating:

  2. Geoff says:
    September 3, 2010 at 5:41 am

    The Pavillion dv7-4070us is a fine spec machine. However, what lets it down massively is it’s HORRIBLE touch pad which is at times uncontrollable and extremely infuriating. Even with sensitivity turned up to the max it still stutters and sticks all over the place. Not only this, but the buttons are ridiculously stiff also. I had hoped I would get used to this but have given up and now connect a mouse. If you are happy to do this then the machine is fine, but it rather defeats the purpose of a laptop in my view.

    Aside from that the machine is good – only annoying thing is the amount of annoying HP clutter on the machine, constantly badgering you to buy Norton and share your music etc…etc… If you can turn a blind eye to this then fine. I bought this model specifically for the sound and no complaints there.
    Rating:

  3. N. Erath says:
    September 3, 2010 at 8:38 am

    Overall I am very happy with the DV7-4070us laptop. I purchased a Dell for my wife last year, a Toshiba for myself just a couple weeks ago, and now this HP for my mom, so I think I have a fairly good point of reference. I chose the HP based on a Consumer Reports review and its specs, as well as some faith in the HP name.

    Pros – With the i5 450 processor, performance on Win 7 64 bit with MS Office Pro 2010 (added after purchase) is very good. Resumption from standby is nearly instant, and all programs are very responsive. Sound quality for a laptop is very good also, much better than my Toshiba (tho the HP is a bigger unit which helps). I also like that the HP has single finger buttons for volume and other commonly used features – they are clearly labeled and you do not need to hold a function key (but you do trade off needing to hold a function key to get F1, F2, etc.). Battery life has also been very good, and the display is the best of the laptops I have. I would also say the overall feel of the unit, with its metallic feeling shell is excellent – no plastic creaks when you pick it up and the hinge seems substantial. Keyboard also is very good, a nice layout without annoying function key presses for home, end, pg up, etc. lie on our year old Dell. Keyboard feel is ok, good throw but I would like a little more positive tactile feedback. Installed software on the HP (webcam and other features) is very good, and the way it walks you through setup is very used friendly.

    Cons – The touchpad is less responsive than my Toshiba. Single finger pointing is fine but gestures like two finger scrolling took some getting used to before they worked reliably for me. I’m also not a fan of the buttons being part of the pad – they are stiff, and clicking sometimes moves the pointer unintentionally. Click and drag takes some practice. The Toshiba with a smaller pad but dedicated buttons and a lighter touch is much better to use. Another oddity is that the power and disk access lights are on the right edge of the unit, and you can not see them in normal operation. Perhaps it is because I’m a tech geek, but I really like to see the disk light to understand what is going on when a PC gets busy.

    Last oddity to note – after loading MS Office 2010 Access did not work – it would most always hang when opening a table for view. Turns out this is caused by the DigitalPersona software loaded for the fingerprint reader. After stopping and disabling the “Biometric fingerprint..” service Access is fine. This quirk is apparently shared with other HP and Dell laptops that have fingerprint readers, and impacts Access 2007 as well. See the thread at [...] . When I receive word from HP on a permanent fix I will update this review.

    Overall I think this is a great unit. Everything has worked smoothly, wireless has been reliable, and performance is great. Be wary tho of any laptop with a fingerprint reader if you really intend to use it along with MS Office pro and MS Access.
    Rating:

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