Customer Reviews
A piece of junk. 
2008-08-19
This is the worst computer I have ever owned. I had it for a week and got so frustrated that I erased everything and put XP on it to find out they don't make the device drivers for XP. How convenient. I can't install any of my software on it. Some programs I paid hundreds of dollars for.
Love this Laptop!! 
2008-07-01
I purchased this laptop in February-use it daily and have never had one problem with it. I wouldn't buy any other kind than HP and if the house burns down, the kids will have to fend for themselves-I'm saving the laptop! I have recommended it to many people!!
WORTH THE MONEY 2008-05-15
i bought this laptop (typing this review on it now) a few months back when it was sold my amazon.com for only $[...] and i must say it is well worth it!
it has a built in blu-ray player which works like a charm, 320 GB hard rive enough to save EVERYTHING you can possibly download. NVIDIA GeForce 8600 clear, vivid picturing and video and gaming!
believe me it is WORTH every penny!!!
If it weighed more I could use it as a boat anchor. 2008-05-10
What a mistake! First thing, I can't even play my MP3s on Vista's WMP. I've had a codec problem from the start. When I tried to "downgrade" back to XP Pro, I found out that HP doesn't provide XP drivers for their Vista PCs. No problem, I'll just buy a sound card. Wrong! No expansion slots whatsoever. Not even 1. So I was stuck using RealPlayer. Then my external speakers starting picking up the WiFi signal, so now I hear buzzing and popping amplified through my music. This model is supposed to be an "Entertainment PC". Crappy sound and video that can't even handle a video game I tried to run on it. I wish HP would take this thing back so I could but a REAL computer. One positive thing is that it took some getting used to, but I like some of the Vista features.
Amazing !! 2008-05-08
I just got mine and i'm realy happy with it.. I'm a developer and this machine just fly..
I strongly recommend for everyone!
It's Everything I Hoped For! 2008-05-06
For those who want advanced digital entertainment capability coupled with desktop-replacement performance, the HP Pavilion dv9700 series Entertainment Notebook PC delivers! Dual headphone jacks and Altec Lansing audio allow you to share your entertainment. And AMD mobile dual-core technology enables use of multiple demanding applications, such as photo editing, DVD burning and playing a game, at the same time. Chat face to face or take pictures and video clips using the HP Webcam and Microphone. Listen without disturbing others with the included stereo earbud headphones. And control content from up to 10 feet away with the HP Mobile Remote Control that can be stored in the ExpressCard slot for convenience. This 7.7 lbs notebook delivers desktop-comparable performance with its 17.0" High-Definition BrightView widescreen display and separate numeric keypad. 17.0 diagonal WXGA+ (1440 x 900) BrightView Widescreen display NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M (UMA) with up to 1071MB shared graphics memory Built-in Webcam and microphone LightScribe SuperMulti 8x DVD+-R/RW Drive with Double Layer Wireless LAN 802.11A/B/G/N 10/100 Ethernet 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter - MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD 1 ExpressCard Slot (34/54 Slot) 4 USB 2.0, 2 Headphone out; 1 Microphone-in, 1 VGA, 1 TV-Out (S-Video), 1 IEEE-1394, 1 RJ-11, 1 RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 15.16 (W) x 11.22 (D) x 1.65 (H) Approximate Unit Weight - 7.7lbs
Looks and works great 2008-04-29
So far, this one has been a dream, boots up quickly and quietly, took software upgrades seemlessly, big, beautiful screen, it just feels right. I have not challenged it yet, but it logs on to wireless networks (hotels, etc) effortlessly. Glad I opted for the big, wide screen and the extra RAM.
satisfied 2008-04-29
I realy like my laptop. This version of windows vista is very fast as long as you don't muck it up with conflicting programing and keep it cleaned out from memory eating data. It rates 5 out of 5 stars!
The PC that made me a Mac convert 2008-04-27
This widescreen notebook offers a great feature set at an attractive price, but it's just too buggy.
Part of the problem lies with Microsoft Vista rather than HP. A year-plus in, Vista still behaves like a beta in many ways, even though it's being sold at a premium price. Given all the delays in the release date, Microsoft should really have delivered a more stable product. It's a shame, because XP eventually became a very stable, low-maintenance OS. Now Microsoft is already looking forward to their next release, which will likely come out just as the kinks have been worked out of Vista.
A huge thumbs-down to Nvidia, too, for their non-Vista compatible video drivers which frequently crash the system (their website passes the buck to HP as far as updates to fix the problem). From online searches I've found that this is a problem for thousands of users, especially gamers, but I find that it happens all the time just watching DVDs. It's pathetic that Nvidia, HP and Microsoft can't get on the same page after all this time.
Finally, my experience with the laptop confirms that of other reviewers who believe that HP has chosen to slack off on quality control. There are several dead pixels on my screen, one of the keys on the keyboard has a bad contact, and the manual eject button on the DVD drive broke after 2 weeks -- all completely unacceptable for a multi-hundred dollar piece of merchandise.
I've owned 3 computers before this one, and all were great consumer experiences. This one was a disaster, and has convinced me that Microsoft and HP don't care at all about quality control or customer satisfaction. From here on in, I'm planning to pay the extra money for Mac products and skip the aggravation.
Full of faults and can't even run XP that well. 2008-04-23
My GF has one of these notbooks and I spend most of my time fixing it, this laptop always has problems and god help you if you need to call HP for help, it's a no show. When im not fixing this piece of crap im using my Macbook Pro which runs perfectly and performs wonderfully. The next laptop i get for her or my son will definalty be a Mac.
