HP Pavilion dv4-1220us NoteBook AMD Turion X2 RM-72(2.10GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA 4GB Memory 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Radeon HD 3200 - Retail

64bit Vista + 4gb ram =great value

Reviewed By: andocommando on 1/15/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

Pros: -64 bit Vista, this allows you to use over the 3.5gb of ram that 32 bit windows limits you to
-4gb of ram.. this is a good amount of ram, and its expandable to 8gb because of the 64bit Vista.
-Media card reader is very useful
-My version has a eSata port which is great for external hard drives
-HDMI output for your hdtv
-Contains its own remote control! which can be stored in the expresscard slot. MediaCenter can be used to play all ur movies and stuff
-Not very heavy and if you need to u can take out the disc drive and put the provided bay cover which will save you half a pound.
-Interesting bronzish color

Cons: -3 USB ports but it only looks like you have 2 because the other one is hiding in the eSata port. I don't know how they combined the two but they did.
-No bluetooth, but u can always buy a dongle (love that word)
-lid doesn't actually lock when u close it, not really that big of a deal tho.
-keyboard isn't that great, keys seem a bit stiff
media card reader does not read CF, so u'll need another one if your camera uses cf.
-Screen has some glare issues if theres sunlight, im not sure laptop manufacturers do gloss coatings on their lcds.

Other Thoughts: This is a great laptop. I found mine on special at this store, rhymes with Maples. If you can find it for a good deal, this is a nice laptop to buy. 4gb ram + vista 64bit is a very nice combo

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Exellent laptop

Reviewed By: newbie on 4/27/2009

Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Very good deal on a very good machine. Others mentioned that it runs hot so I bought a cooling pad but have yet to use it.

Cons: Everyone was right about the battery. I got about an hour and a half of simple Internet usage (no gaming or videos) out of it before I had to plug in. I've ordered a larger battery and hope that will solve that issue.

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Good Cheap Laptop

Reviewed By: ninetynine on 8/20/2009

Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Its a great laptop for the price I got it for (six hundred, without using the mail in rebate yet), but it may be a little pricey for its current price. Its decently fast, the AMD processor doesn't quite stack up to Core 2 Duo in application usage unfortunately, seems weaker than my desktop's E6420 (bought 2 years ago). Screen, keyboard and touch buttons are all very nice as well as its Wireless N and card reader abilities (both large selling points for me). Radeon 3200 is low end, but supports HDMI output with sound, which is great. Small screen size, low weight and portability was a huge priority for me as I lug this thing around campus all day and it's great for that.

Cons: There are a few cons that come with buying such a cheap laptop though.
-Trackpad sucks a lot. Heats up with the laptop, seems to be made of a metal and when it heats up it becomes unresponsive. Its a shiny, smooth finish is inferior to textured pads, moving your fingers across it smoothly is difficult.
-Battery Life may be considered above average but still not great, with battery life saving software and little bit less than half brightness I get about 2 1/2 hours
-Not exactly a solidly built laptop, doesn't come close to those single piece aluminum bodies that you see from Apple and Sony; it's also much fatter than them. You can feel that it's a bunch of plastic pieces held together, the back of the LCD panel also has a lot of flex.
-DVD burner is very iffy so far, every large file I burn, (~4gb) has problems, from install CDs which cant read some file's to data CDs which say the file is corrupted. All in all not something I want to see from a DVD burner in terms of reliablity.

Other Thoughts: I know, super lengthy review but these were some of the things that struck me as important about this laptop. The cons aren't terrible and some of them come with the territory of buying a cheap laptop anyway so I don't detract much from the rating. The cheap price I bought it at and the portability of this laptop is what really sold it for me.

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Reviewed By: on 8/11/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: 64-bit Vista seems to run a lot smoother than 32-bit. The Radeon HD 3200 is doing a lot better than I expected in the way of gaming, very good for an integrated card in my opionion, though it is an integrated card so don't get your hopes too high. HDMI is a plus too. Despite some people saying it overheats, it has not gotten overly hot for me, even while gaming. Battery life has also been better for me than some others has written, I've gotten 2-2 1/2 hours with it. Fast computer out of the box and after a clean reinstall or at least uninstalling of hp bloat, even faster. Looks great and feels like an overall solid computer. I love it!

Cons: The power cord goes in the side of the laptop, not that big of a deal but I'd rather have it on the back. Along with that, it is already getting a little loose, hopefully the connection stays good. That may be my fault but I've treated some other laptops a lot rougher than this one and they've stayed good. No Bluetooth is also a con, but it is inexpensive to get a Dongle so...not that bid of a deal.

Other Thoughts: Screen glare, fingerprints...you're gonna deal with that on basically all laptops now.

I like how hp has two headphone outs.

Done a little audio and video editting...handled the little things I've done with ease.

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I am very happy with my decision.

Reviewed By: sengkenken on 7/25/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: - 64 bit
- Card Reader
- HDMI
- Remote

Cons: - Battery
- I wish it has track ball

Other Thoughts: Well after using my P4 1.8GHz Dell for 9 years, I feel that this laptop is very fast at least fast enough for me to do my work. I use it primarily for Java development. It can multitask very well. I don't have issue with Vista 64, Netbeans 6.7 works like a charm, playing dvd looks great.

When 4gb memory's price go down, that's the first thing I will add to this laptop. Plan to install Win7 later. Battery performance is very bad, but I always plug it in to the outlet so no issue there.

For $550 (after rebate), I am very happy.

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