The good: Competitively priced; HDMI output; excellent graphics performance; remote control; integrated Webcam; dual hard drive bays.

The bad: Non-swappable optical drive bay; no TV tuner; no Windows XP Media Center Edition option.

The bottom line: It may not be much of a productivity performer, but plug in an external TV tuner and the HP Pavilion dv9100 would more than satisfy your entertainment and gaming needs.

Read full review of the HP Pavilion dv9100 »

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Oct 2, 2006

Editors' note : HP has amended the price of the xb3000 expansion dock to S$399 (US$287.63) from the previously stated S$299 (US$215.54).

The Pavilion dv9100 belongs to HP's line of entertainment notebooks with a distinct industrial design that departs from the traditional chassis of its competitors. As one of the first Core 2 Duo-equipped laptops from the US-based vendor, it fills the gap between the budget-level Dell Inspiron 9400 and the premium-priced Toshiba Qosmio series, standing toe-to-toe with our Editors' Choice awardee Asus A7J. Though the HP Pavilion dv9100 is not considered a high-end gaming platform in the US market, which has a wider range of notebook brands like Alienware and Falconware which offer amazing visual experience, in Asia Pacific it can proudly stand as one of the top contenders when it comes to graphics performance.

	The dv9100 follows the same industrial design as its smaller siblings (Click for larger image)

Design
The genealogy of the dv9100 is apparent, as it shares the same design as the smaller HP Pavilion dv2000 and dv6100. The wavy pattern extends from the showroom-shine ebony top cover to the internal silver palm rest, both of which are laminated with a scratch-resistant coating. Unfortunately, the care that would have been taken to prevent disfigurement would need to be used on maintaining the chassis, which picks up fingerprints faster than bird droppings on a freshly washed car. Another gripe was the latch design which protrudes to spoil the overall sleek profile that's made worse by a flimsy catch.

As a desktop replacement system, portability is not too great a concern, though its 3.52kg weight is significantly lighter than the 4.1kg Asus A7J. The dv9100 tapers from the back to the front, giving an impression of sleekness despite its 396 x 285 x 41.8mm footprint. The unit's rear end is reserved solely for the battery, with connectivity ports lining the flanks. To prevent headphone wire tangles, the audio jacks are conveniently located next to the Wi-Fi switch in the front.

Features
As an entertainment machine, we have few complaints about this Pavilion system except for the omission of a TV tuner. The industrial design includes the use of multimedia capacitative buttons--touch-sensitive controls attractively illuminated by blue and red LED lights. Together with a mini remote control, excellent hi-res display, integrated Webcam, high-end discrete graphics and an HDMI connector, we were pleasantly surprised that the dv9100 cost S$3,299 (US$2,378.17) for the configuration we tested.

Built to satisfy your movie viewing needs, we were rather disappointed that an integrated TV tuner was not part of the package, considering that the similarly priced Asus A7J has both analog and digital tuners onboard. However, a USB TV tuner costs in the region of only S$100 (US$72.09), so this omission is not a deal breaker. Its choice of a mini remote control, which can be stored in the ExpressCard slot, instead of a full-sized remote will alienate some while appealing to others.

Instead of Windows XP Media Center Edition, HP has implemented its proprietary QuickPlay technology inside Windows XP Professional Edition to recreate a user-friendly interface. This allows the dv9100 to play multimedia files stored on both the optical disk and hard drive without having to wait for a boot-up. Movie viewing was a pleasant experience on its 1,440 x 900 transflective 17-inch widescreen, putting the display on par with the more expensive Toshiba Qosmio G30, with only the S$6,951 (US$5,010.81) Sony Vaio VGN-AR18GP having a higher 1,920 x 1,200 resolution LCD to complement its Blu-ray drive. Using a sensor, the screen even adjusts to the optimal brightness levels depending on the environment. For a more immersive experience, video can be streamed through the VGA, S-Video or--a feature rarely seen on a notebook at this price range--an HDMI port.

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