To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more

HP Pavilion dv5-1000ea review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £585
inc VAT

Specifications

15.4 in 1,280×800 display, 2.7kg, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, 3.00GB RAM, 320GB disk, Windows Vista Home Premium

http://www.cclonline.com

HP’s dv5-1000ea is a smaller version of the dv7-1000ea that won a Best Buy award two months ago.

It has a smaller 15.4in screen, and doesn’t have a Blu-ray drive, but it looks identical, with a smart, glossy black lid and a beautiful dark-grey case with a chrome finish along the edges.

A row of touch-sensitive buttons sits below the screen to provide volume and control media playback. Sandwiched between this and the keyboard is a metal grille that houses a pair of Altec Lansing speakers. These are surprisingly clear, but even at their maximum level, the volume isn’t really loud enough for watching movies in a medium-size room.

Unlike the Dell 1525 or the Toshiba A300D, the HP has a resolution of 1,280×800. The 15.4in display is bright, but the glossy finish is highly reflective. Colours are realistic and vibrant though, and it’s one of the better screens this month.

The keyboard is firmer than the dv7-1000ea’s, and the keys don’t wobble as much. They’re large and have good travel, although we found them to be a bit slippery. The touch pad is shiny, which will make it harder for your fingers to slide over it in humid conditions, but the buttons are large and easy to push. A Media Center remote control is included, and can be stowed in the ExpressCard slot.

With 3GB of RAM and a GeForce 9200M GS graphics card, the HP beat the other 15.4in laptops in our PCMark benchmarks. However, it isn’t powerful enough to satisfy gamers, scoring 7.2fps in our Call of Duty 4 benchmark. It’s good to see four USB ports, a 320GB hard disk and support for Draft-N WiFi, though.

The dv5-1000ea is a good all-rounder, and looks great too. However, the Inspiron is £116 cheaper, and most people won’t notice the performance deficit. Factor in the higher-resolution screen, and the 1525 is better value.

Basic Specifications

Rating ****
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo P7350
Processor clock speed 2GHz
Memory 3.00GB
Memory slots 2
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 4GB
Size 42x357x259mm
Weight 2.7kg
Sound IDT HD Audio
Pointing device touchpad
Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption idle 28W
Power consumption active 54W

Display

Viewable size 15.4 in
Native resolution 1,280×800
Graphics Processor Nvidia GeForce 9200M GS
Graphics/video ports VGA, HDMI
Graphics Memory 256MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 320GB
Optical drive model Optiarc AD-7561S
Optical drive type DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 4
Total Firewire ports 1
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11a/n
PC Card slots 1x ExpressCard/54
Modem Yes
Supported memory cards SD, MMC, Memory Stick Pro, xD
Other ports eSATA (shared with USB socket), 2x minijack audio output, minijack microphone input

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows Vista Home Premium
Operating system restore option restore partition
Software included Cyberlink DVD Suite
Optional extras Carry cases from £11, Docking Station £79, Extended Warranty (3yrs) from £107, Mice from £15, Power adaptor from £45

Buying Information

Warranty one year collect and return
Price £585
Details www.hp.co.uk
Supplier http://www.cclonline.com

Read more

Reviews