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HP Pavilion dv9000zJunk your old desktop and replace it with this big screen multimedia notebook. Price:
$2,831
By Jamie Bsales 
The latest big-screen Pavilion delivers everything we've loved about the platform and adds new options that are sure to please the pickiest multimedia enthusiast. It's a solid performer that deserves a look from anyone in the market for a desktop replacement.
The piano-lacquer exterior and glossy gray interior treatment make the Pavilion line stand out, as do HP's extra features. The improved-for-Vista QuickPlay 3.0 utility lets you access music, video, DVD content, and more without going through the OS, and the tactile multimedia control buttons above the keyboard should be copied by other makers. A 1.3-megapixel webcam is built into the bezel for video chats and Web conferencing. Another feature other notebook-makers should rip off: the dual headphone jacks on the front edge, which let you share a movie in the back of the car without having to buy a splitter. The centerpiece of the dv9000z is the 17-inch, 1440 x 900-pixel screen. It's a new-generation LCD panel ("Ultra BrightView Widescreen" is HP's name for it) that enhances the brightness and color gamut. Despite the relatively low resolution, the screen looked noticeably brighter than the glossy screens we've come to love. It provided very wide viewing angles, too, which makes the dv9000z suitable to share around a coffee or conference table. Sound from the desk-mounted Altec Lansing speakers was excellent. DVD playback on the new screen looked very good, with rich, saturated colors. And HD-DVD looked even better, except for a touch of motion blur during high-action scenes. (Credit the Nvidia PureVideo HD engine for much of that handiwork.) The HD-DVD drive makes the dv9000z an ideal choice as an entertainment hub, and you can output that signal using the onboard HDMI port. You can also add a TV tuner for $130, which plugs into the ExpressCard slot. If you go that route, you'll need to find a new hiding spot for the tiny Media Center remote that comes standard with the system. Performance was typical for this class of system. None of the scores was the best or worst on any given test, but rather, all were nicely in the middle. Although we couldn't get PCMark05 to run, the combination of the AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-64 CPU and 2GB of RAM handled productivity and multimedia chores without hesitation. The dv9000z returned a respectable 45 fps on F.E.A.R.'s autodetect mode. (If you prefer an Intel Core 2 Duo solution, look to HP's similar dv9000t line.) The 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 GPU is good enough for casual gaming, with a score of 7,124 on 3DMark03, though serious gamers will wish for a higher-end GPU, which HP does not yet offer for this series. The HP Pavilion dv9000z delivers a great mix of style, multimedia prowess, and performance. The excellent screen and welcome HD-DVD drive make it an ideal multimedia center. Suggested Stories:
Compare Prices | HP Pavilion dv9000z Specifications
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