HP Pavilion DV7-3180US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

HP Pavilion DV7-3180US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Review

I'd heard about HP's excellent video when I bought this laptop last summer. It did not disappoint.

After struggling with Vista 64-bit for 4 months, I finally resorted to paying someone else to reform this laptop and replacing Vista with Win-7 32-bit. I understand that 64-bit is the new norm but at the time (November 2009), 64-bit was before its time. Either there was no software, save for 32-bit, or the software was faulty. Lately, I've found my 32-bit Win-7 running at almost 100% Ram because it is using 32-bit instead of 64-bit. Wait a few months, perhaps a year, and everything will be 64-bit.

Here's the pros and cons:

Pros: * great speakers
* great visual experience
* fast CPU

Cons: * runs hot with cooling not where it should be (even with cooling pad)
* comes with clunky HP software that must be removed by IT specialist (I am an advanced user and couldn't kill it!)
* keyboard is faulty (I am used to it but it sticks near the U-O-P-Enter keys causing the cursor to jump; I am used to it by now.)
* only 4-low powered USB ports (It won't drive my 500G external drives or the cooling fan (at full power)

I bought Advanced System Optimizer to deal with typical problems with Win-7. Win-7 is great in that the firewall is very-good (to be distinguished from great.)

All in all, it's not a bad computer but I won't be buying another HP just like I won't be buying another Dell.

If this review was helpful, please add your vote.


PS, June 14, 2010
The laptop is still running well. I must switch to 64 bit soon because of the limits of running Win-7 on 32 bit. Fortunately, this laptop has 8M of RAM. Think of RAM as the amount of space on a desktop and your hard drive as a huge file cabinet. The more memory on your desktop the more files you can open at one time. 64-bit Win-7 allows you to use RAM more efficiently so 8M goes a long way. 32-bit Win-7 is not as efficient so running more than 3-4 applications starts to slow down your computer.

Add one more for the positive column: the Wi-Fi capabilities. The internal wireless modum is extremely good.

HP Pavilion DV7-3180US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Feature

• Intel Core i7-720QM processor with 1.60GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.80GHz
• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) (expandable to 8 GB)
• 640GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive, LightScribe Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer Support
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, * Up to 4.75 Hours of Battery Life
• 17.3 Diagonal HD+ LED HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1600 x 900)
• Nvidia GeForce GT 230M with up to 2815MB total graphics memory with 1024MB dedicated

HP Pavilion DV7-3180US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Overview

For those who want an all-in-one performance notebook with rich multimedia features, the HP Pavilion dv7 Entertainment series delivers desktop-replacement performance that looks as great as it runs.Powered by the latest processor and graphics technologies the latest processor and graphics technologies, it delivers optimal mobile performance to support your lifestyle.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 08, 2010 08:30:32

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