Laptop News

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx – Good balance of performance and battery life

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Great performance, long battery life, well priced.

Thumbs Down:

Lacks Bluetooth, extended battery life adds to the bulk.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx is powered by Intel Core i3 I3-330M / 2.13 GHz, a dual core processor, it has L3 cache of 3 MB, memory installed is 4 GB DDR3 SD RAM which expanded to 8 GB. For storing data, there is 500 GB hard disk of 7200 rpm. Optical drive is DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM which is equipped with LightScribe Technology.

The 5 in 1 card reader can read the following cards -  Memory Stick Pro, xD-Picture Card, SD Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick. The display of the notebook is 14.1 inch big and has a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Graphics card bundled is Intel HD Graphics. The notebook has Altec Lansing speaker set.

Interfaces on the notebook include 1 x Remote control – Infrared, 1 x Docking / port replicator, 1 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 2 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45, 1 x Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) , 1 x Display / video – HDMI, 1 x Storage / Hi-Speed USB – Hi-Speed USB / eSATA, 3 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A.

Bundled software includes Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (60 days trial), Norton Internet Security 2010 (60 days subscription), Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Live Writer, HP MediaSmart Suite, CyberLink DVD Suite, HP Webcam Software, Adobe Flash Player, Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Works, HP Music Store, Adobe Reader, Skype, Ebay. Bundled OS is Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition.

Razzle Dazzle:

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx’s body is made entirely out of plastic. Everything on the notebook is glossy which makes it hard to keep it clean. You might want to keep a cleaning cloth close by if you are going to purchase this notebook. The only branding on this notebook is the manufacturer’s logo on the lid. When you open the lid, you get a black shiny LCD bezel and display hinges. The notebook sides are chrome covered along with the accompanying buttons and touch pad. The notebook comes with a big battery life and it is due to the large battery pack. This will add a lot of weight to your backpack.

Inside Dope:

This laptop is a rare combination of good performance and long battery life. Based on Intel’s i3 chip, this laptop is a good choice for multitasking enthusiasts. Other goodies include a big hard disk and 4 gigs of DDR3 RAM which all come together and make a strong argument against competition. It also beats the battery life of other laptops in this category. Perhaps the only downside to this is that the large battery makes the laptop heavy and also adds to the thickness. If you have strong shoulders, don’t mind the weight and cannot compromise for performance, we would strongly recommend you this laptop.

On the top of the HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx’s keyboard, there is a touch sensitive strip that is used to control the volume. There are also icons for turning the Wi-Fi radio on and off and also muting the audio. The strip lacks other dedicated media controls but you get a small remote control which has buttons labeled rewind, forward, stop, and pause/play. You can put this remote control in the ExpressCard slot when not in use. The keyboard is comfortable to use but it comes with lots of gloss so you will probably spend time on it cleaning because it attracts a lot of finger prints. The touch pad of the system is wide and short. This won’t bother you as much as the glossy surface which also attracts fingerprints and the chrome finish makes it difficult for the fingers to glide. There is a button above the touch pad which switches it off.

The 14.1 inch LCD gives a native resolution of 1280×800 pixels which is standard for this notebook size. The screen is sufficiently bright, icons and text are readable and movies look good. The quality of the picture dips when you view the screen at off angles but still it is better than competition. HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx comes with Altec Lansing speakers which give good quality sound and also gets sufficiently loud without any distortion. The speakers lacked bass but movies and music were still great on it. Finally, you get a microphone and Webcam above the screen.

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx comes with plenty of connections and ports. The HDMI port and USB/eSATA port are always welcome. There is no TV tuner or modem though. The networking of the laptops comes with 802.11n Wi-Fi and 10/100 Ethernet. There is no integrated Bluetooth but it is the only disappointment here. We won’t complain much about this anyways because manufactures seem to be ignoring Bluetooth increasingly these days.

You cannot tweak the components inside the HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx before purchase. If you want different hardware in the same body, you can do so post purchase. For example you may want to swap out a bigger hard drive and upgrade the memory. (The memory is upgradeable to 8 GB).

Multitaskers won’t have much to complain about the performance. Along with a Core i3 chip, 4 gigs of memory and fast hard disk drive, this system stays fast even with lots of applications thrown at it at once. You can browse the Web, run instant messaging clients, write e-mails, do light photo editing and basic office tasks along with streaming video and audio simultaneously. We tried all this, the system didn’t slow down. We also ran full screen AVCHD HD movies at full screen smoothly. Of course this doesn’t mean you can run all the applications on the computer and still expect it to run fast. For gamers, there is not much in the HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx. You cannot do anything more than light gaming.

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx has a big battery life this is because the huge 12 cell battery pack at the back of the notebook. When tested in our labs, this battery gave us juice for a little over five and half hours. Also keep in mind that the hard disk has a speed of 7200 rpm as opposed to the standard 5400 rpm. Our battery tests are quite grueling, you can get more with light tasks such as word processing documents and Web surfing.

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx comes with a one year warranty which is on par with what other manufacturers are offering. Other than that, there is a 24-7 toll free support available over the phone and you can also visit the manufacturer’s Website for real time chatting with the tech representatives. There is also a FAQ database if you want to troubleshoot the problems yourself. HP is also offering you an extended warranty but they are costly, just like other manufacturers, so we don’t recommend them.

Nitty Gritty:

HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx is an excellent choice for people who want a long battery life and cannot compromise on performance. Our only gripe is that the big battery adds to the weight but if you are willing to carry this, go ahead and get this laptop.