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HP Pavilion dv7-1000ea 17in Entertainment Notebook Review

Author Ardjuna Seghers
Published 23rd Oct 2008
Manufacturer HP
Price £679.80 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £781.77 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Design Score 9 for Design
Features Score 8 for Features
Performance Score 8 for Performance
Value Score 8 for Value
Overall Score 8 for Overall
HP Pavilion dv7-1000ea 17in Entertainment Notebook
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Another issue regarding the display are some rather mediocre viewing angles and more severe reflectivity than you would expect on even a glossy screen. Actually, with any kind of ambient lighting, we're pretty much talking about another mirror here. These factors combine to jump the display down from average to below par. For example, while text is sharp and it's reasonable at distinguishing between grey shades, finding a viewing angle at which this is visible is challenging at best. All of which is not to say that the dv7 can't provide a reasonable film experience, but you'll have to sit directly in front of the screen in a darkened room to get the most out of it, making it difficult for more than one person to view the screen at once.


Moving onto the aural part of the experience, things look up considerably thanks to the Altec Lansing integrated speakers and subwoofer. This set manages plenty of punch, with convincing bass at very audible volume levels and little audible distortion at high volumes. While they are simply no match for the excellent harman/kardons on Toshiba's Qosmio G50-115, they're certainly more than adequate for notebook speakers.


When it comes to battery life, the dv7-1000ea also impresses despite being a 'desktop replacement'. Its 8-cell, 73Whr battery was good for about two and a half hours of DVD playback at full brightness. In our multi-tasking productivity tests it lasted in impressive three hours and 36 minutes, besting both its 15.4in cousin and the Dell Studio 15. This excellence was matched in the lower intensity reading test, where the dv7 lasted for just over four hours. Consequently, this machine could take on light mobile duties, even if its weight, at 3.5 kilos, makes it anything but portable.


Verdict

Overall, the Pavilion dv7-1000ea offers good looks, brilliant ergonomics, loads of connectivity, decent specifications and speakers and even above average battery life for a relatively small outlay. This alone would normally garner it a recommendation, unfortunately HP hasn't conquered the main weakness of its Pavilion range since like its 15.4in bedfellow its display lacks brightness and suffers from prohibitively poor viewing angles. If you can live with this flaw it's still an excellent piece of kit, but it's worth seeking out a demo unit before taking the plunge.

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Latest 4 of 6 Comments

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comment basicasic said on 24th October 2008

I've never really understood the point of these gargantuan laptops. They are too big to carry around in any practical sense and as such will spend most of their time on the de... more

comment stelios said on 24th October 2008

Is the screen as bad as in the dv6000/9000 series?

comment Chris Reed said on 12th November 2008

I have just bought one of these laptops in the netherlands (albeit a cheaper model) and I can tell you HP must have been listening to the complaints about the screen as my DV-7 111... more

comment os400.1 said on 20th March 2009

hows DV7's LCD screen qualiy and brightness compared to MSI EX620 ? is DV7 that bad ?

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