| Product: |
HP Pavilion zd8255EA |
| Date: |
30/11/05 (494 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: 17" widescreen display is a delight
Disadvantages: Battery life, heat and fairly noisy fans
Buying a laptop is a risky business.
Firstly, you need to decide why you want one.
Secondly, you need to decide what you will do with it.
Finally, set yourself a budget and realise that your laptop maybe out of date in a couple of months.
I required a desktop replacement for a number of reasons. Wireless networking would be handy around the house, the occasional out and about trip for study classes and work, Bluetooth connectivity to and from the mobile phone and similar power/functionality ratio for work and leisure as with a desktop such as burning DVDs/CDRs, watching films, playing a few games.
After reading numerous reviews and getting first hand advice from other friends and colleagues, my choice was clear. I wanted a fantastic screen with plenty of space, a good sized keyboard and connectivity.
The Sony Vaio was a tempting proposal. The styling is spot but what didn’t impress was the specification. It didn’t help either with PC World not being able to demonstrate its connectivity features.
So, I considered the Toshiba and discounted it as the screen didn’t look great.
I finally settled on the HP. The one thing that really stood out was the screen size. Measuring 17” diagonally, this is a beast of a screen and the picture quality is fabulous. My eyes don’t hurt from using it. In some ways, it improves upon the CRT but that’s my opinion as I know others would disagree.
The design is elegant and a well presented package. The keyboard is excellent with a nice spring action and the separate numeric keypad is a godsend.
Connectivity wise, there is so much on here, that you wouldn’t believe it but here’s the list: One type I or II PC card slot. CardBus-enabled One ExpressCard/54 slot. 1 VGA port; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 1 IEEE-1394; 1 RJ 11 modem connector; 1 RJ 45 Ethernet connector; S-video TV out; Remote control infrared port (Remote Control optional); 1 Headphone-out, 1 Microphone-in ports; Cable docking connector. 54g™ 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM / SpeedBooster™ support. 10/100 LAN Ethernet integrated. HP USB Digital Drive. Digital Media Reader (6 in 1) (xD, SD, Smart Media, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Multimedia Card).
Everything else – 100GB hard drive, a Lightscribe DVD-/+ CD rewriter, 1GB of RAM and a 3.2ghz processor. A 128MB ATI Radeon X600 graphics card….oh and there’s a nifty remote control to go with the package.
Set-up is extremely simple and maybe annoying for those who are technically savvy. Still, for novice users, HP’s implementation is fantastic.
So, how good is it? Speed wise, the processor is quick and with 1GB of preinstalled RAM, it races along very well. You can throw virtually anything at it (except intensive games) and it churns and spits everything right out.
The DVD/CD rewriter is adequate. It burns DVD-Rs at 8x and DVD+R at 4x. CDs are burnt at 24x. However, I suspect there is no buffer memory as the speed appears to drop and then increase during burning so don’t tax it with too much work.
The memory card reader is superb. However, you’re out of luck if you want to use Compact Flash cards – they aren’t supported. Should you wish to use Memory Stick Duo, you need to buy a special adapter that slots into the reader.
Software wise – you get Sonic burning software and MS Works. The whole system is held together by Windows XP Home Edition.
Restore discs are included which is rare as most manufacturers don’t provide backup discs of operating systems.
How about the disadvantages?
The right hand side of the hand rest heats up. Not to the point of being uncomfortable but you can feel it.
Fans – there are three of them. If you’re doing some intensive stuff, those fans kick in and you’ll hear them.
The laptop needs to be put on a flat surface with sufficient ventilation otherwise the fans are on all the time. Don’t stick the machine on your lap – it's just over 4kg and the heat can cause injury.
The touchpad is cleverly designed – maybe a little too clever as it is very sensitive so I invested in a separate optical mouse.
Battery life – well, for it's size, it is not surprising there is a high price to pay. Don’t even consider burning or watching a DVD on battery power. I could only get 80 minutes by doing some typing and browsing.
Weight – this is not a portable machine. Yes, you can move it around but carrying it around with you all the time, it becomes noticeable.
This is not a games machine - if you want portability and power, the Dell XPS and Alienware laptops are the ones to consider.
So it’s been three months and my observations? What the hell is a desktop – I hardly ever use the desktop anymore due to the freedom and flexibility of this machine.
It comes highly recommended and if I had to buy another one, I’d go straight back to HP.
Summary: An outstanding laptop
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