HP Pavilion dv2500 (Core 2 Duo T7300 processor 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM)
The HP Pavilion dv2500 delivers an eye-catching case, a strong set of features, and solid performance at a lower price than competing systems. We recommend it for home or school use.
| The good | Strong set of specs for price; performance almost matches that of more expensive laptops; attractive 14.1-inch display; dual headphone jacks and fingerprint reader; includes most of the ports and connections home users need. |
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| The bad | Average battery life with the standard six-cell battery; opting for an HDMI port means sacrificing a USB port. |
CNET Editors' Rating
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CNET Editors' rating
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Rating breakdown
With the Pavilion dv2500, HP brings Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform to its popular 14.1-inch home laptop. Aside from the new components, much remains the same: The sleek, black-and-silver case still houses most of the features that a home user will want, all at a competitive price. The price is so competitive, in fact, that our
| Editors' note : This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.
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Design
We've always been fans of the HP Pavilion design, which combines sleek, rounded edges with a shiny (though somewhat fingerprint-prone) black-and-silver finish. Our dv2500 review unit's finish featured the "Radiance" imprint, a subtle pattern of organic swirls and circles across the lid. The laptop's LED indicators glow a soothing blue. Most helpful is the light ring around the power connection which lets you know when the battery has finished charging--thanks to that LED we discovered we'd plugged our laptop into a dead outlet. Size-wise, the dv2500 is more or less the same as other 14.1-inch laptops, such as the Dell Inspiron 1420, though it's worth noting that the Pavilion dv2500 weighs slightly less than the Dell.
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 The touch-sensitive buttons are light with blue LEDs. (Click for larger image) |
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The keyboard on the HP Pavilion dv2500 is almost full-size, with only a slightly abbreviated space bar and Ctrl keys. We never found ourselves hitting the wrong keys by accident, as sometimes happens on laptop keyboards, and typing for long stretches was extremely comfortable. We did accidentally graze the dv2500's touchpad (and thus misplace the cursor) while typing, an irritation easily avoided by using the touchpad on/off switch located right below the keyboard. The pad itself is a bit narrow, but functional and responsive. To the right of it sits an optional fingerprint reader, which frees you from remembering passwords. Above the keyboard you'll find a row of light-touch controls that launch HP's QuickPlay media software, control disc playback, and adjust volume. As with all Pavilion models, the controls provide an audible click when pressed; users annoyed by the sound can turn off the feedback in the system BIOS. Along the hinge edge sit the laptop's Altec Lansing speakers, which produce full, well-balanced sound. The final feature of note on the keyboard deck: Handy port labels that let you know where to plug in peripherals.
Features
The HP Pavilion dv2500 includes a fairly average selection of ports and connections for a thin-and-light laptop. We were a bit dismayed with our review unit's mere two side-by-side USB ports; it's the price we had to pay for the addition of an HDMI port, which took over the space otherwise occupied by a third USB port. (The HDMI requires a discrete graphics card, so if you opt for integrated graphics on the Pavilion dv2500, you'll get three USB ports.) The laptop does include a double-layer DVD burner with HP's LightScribe technology, which etches labels directly onto a disc's surface. We love that HP gives its users two headphone jacks, so they can share movies or music with a friend. We also appreciate the inclusion of an ExpressCard slot, which should make it easy to add a TV tuner or mobile broadband down the road.Performance And Battery Life
On CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks, the Pavilion vied for dominance against the similarly configured Dell Inspiron 1420. The difference among the two systems on the Photoshop and iTunes encoding tests--not more than 19 seconds--is so slight as to be negligible. The distinction is more apparent on our Multimedia multitasking test, where the Pavilion dv2500 scored as much as 10 percent behind the competition. Nevertheless we'd gladly sacrifice a little multitasking performance for the Pavilion's much lower price, especially considering that any current Centrino Duo laptop can easily handle the Web surfing, document editing, and media playback of the typical home user.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
The HP Pavilion dv2500 includes a common six-cell battery that lasted 1 hour 39 minutes on our demanding DVD drain test--on the low side of average for this category. You can expect longer life during typical Windows use, but we would have liked to see the Pavilion dv2500 hold out for at least 2 hours. For the power-hungry, HP offers a high-capacity 12-cell battery that should last between 3 and 4 hours on a DVD drain (CNET did not test this battery).
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
System configurations:
HP Pavilion dv2500
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 64MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS; 160GB Western Digital 5,400rpm
Lenovo ThinkPad T61
Windows Vista Business Edition; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 965GM Express; 100GB Seagate 7,200rpm
Dell Inspiron 1420
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS; 160GB Hitachi 5,400rpm
Fujitsu LifeBook A6030
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 965GM Express; 120GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm
Service And Support
The HP laptop comes with a one-year international warranty. At HP's support Web site, laptop owners can download the latest drivers and manuals. In the event of a simple malfunction, the company offers an online knowledge database and support forum for troubleshooting. Further diagnosis or repair can be made at the service center, though the owner has to bring the notebook there. Telephone support is available during normal working hours and for current or potential customers who are not sure which HP notebook is right for you, a dedicated number is available for assistance in purchase selection. If more comprehensive coverage is required, you can purchase an extended three-year pick up and return option in which HP will collect the unit and send it back after it's repaired.
Latest comments
Pros: For what it was worth at the time, I thought the HP Pavilion dv2500 was a good buy. It would be great for a college student or individual who was really only going to use it for small processing. It lightweight, which comes in handy when you have to cart it everywhere. Over all, I loved mine while it lasted.
Cons: HP support is not very good. I had to deal with someone from India and no offense, but they don't know what they are doing. After a year of having my Pavilion the hard drive crashed and wiped everything. I sent it in twice, with horrible service. It came back working fine, but I will never deal with foreign computer service reps. again. As for the computer, it over heats. If you have young kids, be careful with the computer. If it sits on your lap too long it will burn. Also, after a time some of the programs just stop working and you can't get them to upgrade or work again. It's frustrating. It doesn't crash, but it will break.
Summary: The HP Pavilion was a good buy for me, but I would also recommend really researching other brands. However, I will be a loyal user of this computer and say that I did love it while I had it.
Don't trust foreign reps, especially when they tell you to but the computer in a box and set the box outside your house to be shipped. They don't know what they are talking about. Be mindful of over heating, because it does over heat -- badly. I wouldn't say that the Pavilion has bad battery life, but compared to a Dell or Mac it rally does suck. The system is loud. You can hear the fan working at full speed. So, if you are sensitive to that, then know this model does have that quirk. The design is nice, but you shouldn't judge anything buy solely being nice to look at. All in all, I loved mine and would recommend and HP to anyone who is just going to use it for daily use, writing, or internet. But I will unfortunately be kicking mine to the curb to get a new one. Since it's now broken...again.
Pros: i got it as apresent from my sister when she bough brand new SONY VAIO
Cons: battery is deag, horrible graphic card, slow as a snail and hot as hell
HORRIBLE LAPTOP. My hope was that i will paly some new games. this is a laptop who have a 64 bit processor and a integrated nvidia graphic card that uses 1 gb memory, but i canot play newer games, i still can play old games what i played with my old MSI wind U100 netbook. I upgraded to windows 7 but still not bether. when i turn it on it starttng to beep, and it freezes, after few restarts it will turn on, and offcource after few minutes it will be hot so much that i gan cook sausages on it. I tryed to open it to clean the fans, but this crap wont open even if you remove the screws. Nothing you can do with this crap and it makes me nervous. I am not wonderind why my sister bough a new sony. I tryed many things to make the performance bether but with no sucess, and the battery is dead. I have two choises, i will take my repair tool THE HAMMER and smash it to pieces or i will give it as a present to someone. I hate this crap and i will use my MSI U100 who is older and bether
Pros: errrrrr, ummmmm......I got nothing.
Cons: battery does not work after one year, has a poor graphics card, runs slowly poor cooling design causes it to overheat, wifi signal is dodgy.
Summary: It's a 15.6" flashy laptop from hp and that's it
AVOID THIS LAPTOP AT ALL COSTS. I cannot say enough bad things about this laptop. It seemed like a good laptop when it was new but now it runs terribly. For one this laptop's battery does not last at all after a year of barely using it, now it shuts of after 3 minutes of use. It also has a poor graphics card which cannot play most new games and it even struggles to play 10 year old games. The graphics card alsouo stuggles to play Youtube videos at 720p, which is sad when Hp call it an "entertainment pc" whatever that means. Its poor fan exhaust design causes it to overheat, luckily I found out that it was a dust buildup that was causing this and thankfully it now runs fine. Even if you're not into gaming or vatch HD streaming videos, this pc should work fine.....if you're willing to put up with the horrible lag on Vista. For me personally, the lag got so horrible that I had to upgrade to Windows 7 and now it works fine but still can't do any of the aforementioned above. Of couse, upgrading to 7 has fixed the fact that my laptop cover is now warped do to the overheating, that's right, my laptop got so hot it WARPED! Now after 3 long years of owning this vile scum - I mean computer, I am ready to throw it into a bottomless pit - never to be seen again. Of couse that is not possible. But what is possible is to not buy another HP product which I will NEVER buy unless they come out with something as innovative as the Iphone, which I seriously doubt will ever happen anytime soon.
Pros: you can get on the web
Cons: everything else, slow...turns off, overheats
Summary: a very pretty piec e of junk
Big troubles, its slow and turns off regularly, it freezes all the time ...shame i dont live in the city i bought it because i would have taken it back, sure warranty has run out but there is something called and IMPLIED WARRANTY, google it and you will realise that extended warranties that you pay for are a waste of money.
Pros: cant think of any as i am all bogged down by its problems
Cons: system heat sup ,can cause burn injuries. hangs repeatedly, screen image splits and what not.
Summary: have been using a dv2500 for almost 3 years. it is only plagued with problems and customer service in the city i live is not even worth mentioning
Unless hp really wants to do something about all these complaints please stay clear of hp products. atleast people in india, where customer support equals to you your own money support to keep replcaing faulty parts and getting the system repaired
Pros: y
Cons: y
Summary: ac adapter
Recommond you a ac adpater for this laptop. Feature: Input Frequency 50 ~ 60Hz Input 100-240V Output 19V Output Current 4.74A Operating Environment: In Use 0¡ãC ~ +40¡ãC Storage -40¡ã C ~ +85¡ã C Relative Humidity 5% ~ 95%RH (non-condensing) Safety Approvals UL, CUL, TUV, CE, CCC, GOST-R, B Mark, NOM, NEMKO, PSB, S-Mark, S+Mark, RCM http://www.salesadapter.com/power-adapter.php/933+105719+hp,compaq+business-notebook-nw8000+laptop-ac-adapter
Pros: Good while it lasts....
Cons: Lasts only for a year!!!
Summary: Poor product with known problems
This laptop has a lot of known problems. I bought this laptop about 14 months ago and right now there is no display. HP says that the warranty is over. However this is not an issue specific to my laptop. Apparently there are some serious overheating and BIOS problems. Lots of other users around the world have faced the same problem. For more information, please visit the HP support forum at the link below; http://h30434.www3.hp.com/psg/board/message?board.id=Hardware&message.id=7009 DO NOT BUY THIS LAPTOP!!!!
Pros: None
Cons: Poor performance, faulty hardware
Summary: Do not buy this laptop
I have been using this model for a year now and its been really painful. The performance is really slow even with the best configuration and they load it with all the junk softwares possible and specially the worse one HP quick play.. I bet you can't find anything slower. It keeps crashing, bad support for graphics drivers.. search the problem related to display drivers stopped responding. Earlier it used to crash even on ancient games and now it doesn't even run for an hour. Got it fixed and same thing happened a week later..So my advice please stay away from it. HP support sucks and I would definitely advise you to buy some other model if you still prefer HP.
Pros: none
Cons: support sucks
Summary: laptop had problem in 3 months of purchase
laptop was sent back to me without being repaired.microphone problems existed. Was on a support call with a technician for 3 hours and problem still remains unsolved. would never buy or recommend a HP product ever again.
Pros: good looking
Cons: slow with vista
Summary: Quite bad performnace
I bought this product two days back. I think performance is not upto the mark or I can say its quite slow with all the heavy features of vista. So would prefer XP SP2 on this configuration than vista.
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