For those searching for an economical laptop / desktop replacement PC, this unit might be just the ticket. While it’s not all that small, nor is it light as a feather, the unit has more than adequate CPU horsepower, respectable graphics, and outstanding audio. In the coming weeks and months, you may find this unit (or similar ones) discounted even further.
HP and Compaq have pretty much merged their laptop computer offerings. It used to be that the HP product was a definite step up in quality, price, and performance. Right now, it is hard to tell the difference.
I bought this unit after responding to a CompUSA newspaper flyer ad on 8/21/06. The ad was for a DV5000z which is a Configure to Order (CTO) unit which uses the AMD Turion64 ML-34 processor. At the store, the salesperson directed me to a computer kiosk where I could configure and order the unit with some options or substitutions. I decided to substitute a standard dual-layer DVD burner for the higher cost Lightscribe. I also substituted the larger 12 cell battery for the standard 6 cell unit for more time between charges. The invoice was for $639 plus $8 waste fee plus $53 tax. A $100 rebate form was also included. Total price before tax: $546. I later bought a single 1GB DDR2 SDRAM for $99 plus tax. The shipping is free and it took a total of 14 days before I receive the box. The unit shipped directly from China.
What I received was an HP DV5000t instead of a DV5000z. The primary difference from what I ordered is that it uses an Intel Core Solo T1350 processor instead of the AMD. The packing material in the box clearly said I could return the unit to a CompUSA store if I was not satisfied. My receipt said I have 21 days after receipt of the unit to return it for whatever reason.
I was somewhat disappointed when I opened the box because of this. I feel the AMD processor is slightly better than the Intel unit. I decided to give the unit a test drive anyhow. I upgraded the two 256MB Samsung DDR2 SDRAM unit with a single 1GB OCZ PC5400 unit. So now only one of the memory slots is occupied.
Here is a listing of the unit as tested:
HP Pavilion DV5000t part# EX203AV
Intel Core Solo T1350 @ 1.86 GHz
1GB DDR2 OCZ PC-5400 SDRAM (single stick, paid $99 add )
80 GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
8X Super Multi DVD/RW with DL
Intel PRO wireless 3945ABG built in
15.4” WXGA Brightview Widescreen 1280x800
128MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 (dedicated, ie not shared)
12 cell Li-Ion battery
Altec Lansing speakers and sound system
Unfortunately, the unit comes with a lot of useless free multimedia type software. M$ XP media center is the OS.
The unit includes one each of the following connectors built-in: External speaker or headphones, microphone, ethernet, modem, PC card slot, 1394 (firewire), external analog monitor, external SVHS(TV), Expansion Port 2, memory card reader. There are three USB ports, and a security lock hole, and of course, a power supply jack.
As you can imagine, the unit is quite heavy, about seven pounds. Adding the high capacity battery did not help in this regard either.
The unit is generally quite solidly built. Carefully applying pressure does not seem to deflect the cabinet, however the front screen can be easily bent without much effort. Because the screen hinges are very stiff, one must carefully hold down the base in order to open and close the display.
I like the keyboard feel. The keyboard is rather stiff, and firm typing is needed to work well. If you look carefully, you can see that the neighboring keys wiggle a bit.
The mouse slide pad control takes a bit of time to adjust to. It’s one of those newer type pads where you rub the pad to move the cursor. The right side of the pad works as a scroll tool, which is really handy. The buttons are rather firm and hard to push, and tapping on the pad serves as a left mouse button.
The widescreen display is a mixed bag. The size and brightness is very nice. But there is quite a bit of reflectance which takes some getting used to. I’m not sure, but I guess this is tradeoff assuming the glossy stiff plastic outer cover is there to protect the LCD screen. Then I can accept it. I would prefer as little reflection off the screen as possible. My HDTV / LCD monitor has next to no reflection at all but is probably more vulnerable to abuse.
I was somewhat surprised that the Altec sound system worked so well. Right out of the box, it sounded very good. Obviously, there is no low frequency (bass), but the rest of the hearing range is surprisingly clear and crisp. To really wake up the full potential of the audio system, you need to install AC3filter1.09 or later http://ac3filter.net When I set the output speaker format to Dolby Prologic II, the unit really came to life. The music and sounds instantly began to seem to be located all around the room, in front and behind.
Conclusion:
As with most things I buy, the final determination is about value. I hardly ever buy the least expensive product, and rarely buy the most expensive either. I want high performance, and I want it at a price point that does not break my back account. This HP dv5000t offers acceptable CPU performance, very good graphics (I dislike “shared memory”), and at about $600, you won’t find anything nearly as good.
Testing Results:
Performance Test 6.0 http://www.passmark.com/products/pt.htm
Computer-HP dv5000t
CPU - Integer Math-69.02
CPU - Floating Point Math-217.34
CPU - Find Prime Numbers-313.05
CPU - SSE/3DNow!-1811.63
CPU - Compression-1833.37
CPU - Encryption-11.92
CPU - Image Rotation-298.29
CPU - String Sorting-1238.98
Graphics 2D - Lines-141.50
Graphics 2D - Rectangles-60.68
Graphics 2D - Shapes-31.22
Graphics 2D - Fonts and Text-99.90
Graphics 2D - GUI-163.74
Graphics 3D - Simple-179.74
Graphics 3D - Medium-35.93
Graphics 3D - Complex-21.28
Memory - Allocate Small Block-1369.18
Memory - Read Cached-1263.54
Memory - Read Uncached-1257.61
Memory - Write-811.83
Memory - Large RAM-170.97
Disk - Sequential Read-30.85
Disk - Sequential Write-28.44
Disk - Random Seek RW-1.59
CD - Read-3.92
CPU Mark-508.63
2D Graphics Mark-365.66
Memory Mark-360.27
Disk Mark-220.18
CD Mark-479.32
3D Graphics Mark-75.83
PassMark Rating-349.65
3DMark-2003 (partial) http://www.futuremark.com
Benchmark--
Width-1024-
Height-768-
Anti-Aliasing-None-
Post-Processing-No-
Texture Filtering-Optimal-
Max Anisotropy-4-
Vertex Shaders-Optimal-
Force PS 1.1 in GT2 & GT3-No-
Repeat Tests-Off-
Fixed Framerate-Off-
Comment--
--
3DMark Score-3832 3DMarks-
GT1 - Wings of Fury-136.1 FPS-
GT2 - Battle of Proxycon-22.8 FPS-
GT3 - Troll's Lair-20.7 FPS-
GT4 - Mother Nature-26.3 FPS-
CPU Score-765 CPUMarks-
CPU Test 1-89.7 FPS-
CPU Test 2-12.9 FPS-
Fill Rate (Single-Texturing)-662.3 MTexels/s-
Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing)-1558.9 MTexels/s-
Vertex Shader-17.6 FPS-
Pixel Shader 2.0-74.7 FPS-
Ragtroll-13.5 FPS-
No sounds-0.0 FPS-Not supported
24 sounds-0.0 FPS-Not supported
60 sounds-0.0 FPS-Not supported
System Info--
Version-3.6-
CPU Info--
Central Processing Unit--
Manufacturer-Intel-
Family-Genuine Intel(R) CPU T1350 @ 1.86GHz
Architecture-32-bit-
Internal Clock-1862 MHz-
Internal Clock Maximum-1862 MHz-
External Clock-0 Hz-
Socket Designation-U1-
Type-Central-
Upgrade-ZIF Socket-
HyperThreadingTechnology-N/A-
Capabilities-MMX, CMov, RDTSC, SSE, SSE2, PAE, NX
Version-Genuine Intel(R) CPU T1350 @ 1.86GHz
Caches--
Cache--
Level-2-
Capacity-2048 KB-
Type-Write Back, Internal
Type Details-Burst, Pipeline Burst
Error Correction Type--
Associativity—
Memtest386 v1.65 http://www.memtest.org
L1 cache 9127
L2 cache 5350
Stock SDRAM Memory (256Mx2) 1915
New SDRAM Memory (1028Mx1) 1818
Battery Discharge Test
While running Windvd7 continuously and disabling any XP power-saving settings, the unit was able to play a movie for 4 hours and 40 minutes before stopping at 10% battery life. I would rate it as a 5 hour capacity to run DVD movies.
Recommended:
