After a lot of poking, prodding, reading reviews, etc., I finally settled on a laptop. Initially I passed up on this one, but I ended up coming back to the HP Pavilion DV3510NR (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9027714&type=product&id=1218010176167) at BestBuy. At $1,000, it wasn't cheap. I'm not going into a big review here, but I'll try to hit on some of the main points for choosing this beauty over others.
Pros:
13.3" LED WXGA (1200x800) screen - WOW
Beautiful backlit keyboard
eSATA connection
Wireless A/G/Draft-N
Bluetooth
Dedicated nVidia 9300M 512MB graphics
Intel P7350 Core 2 Duo processor
4GB DDR2 RAM
320GB 5200 rpm HDD
Fingerprint reader
Webcam
Less than 5 lbs
4 hr battery
Full size keyboard gives excellent feedback
2 year warranty
Norton Internet Security with 12-month subscription included
Did not come loaded with crapware
Not so hot:
Noisy mouse buttons
Does not have a physical volume control
Sound is adequate, but is lacking in bass
The unit came with 64-bit Vista Premium SP1 installed, but to be honest this computer provided the best "out-of-box" experience that I have ever had. Windows was about 90% setup, and I did not have to deal with uninstalling a bunch of unneeded junk and trial ware. I just had to go through the usual Windows Updates, which as always took too long.
Customizing the computer was uneventful until I installed 64-bit Java. It was a lot of heartache to learn that I needed 32-bit Java, since I have the 32-bit versions of IE7 and Firefox. Once I got that figured out and changed over, everything worked fine.
Overall, the laptop is a pleasure to look at and to use. I would have much preferred a physical volume control as opposed to the sliding touch control, but it's a minor annoyance. The mouse buttons are also louder than I prefer, so I'm finding myself tapping the touch pad instead.
The 13.3 inch LED screen provides a stunning picture. So much so, that my 20" Samsung on my main computer suddenly looks dull in comparison. The computer is also much faster than what I was accustomed to with the old laptop.
I might someday regret not getting the Lenovo instead, but so far I am very pleased with this unit - despite Windows Vista.
Best of luck with your new system.
Bill
I'm surprised they put the 32 bit IE7 instead of the 64 bit version I have on my Vista 64 machine (self built).
Congrats on the purchase!
Mark H
I am adept with Vista... but I am quite sure that I will never like it. I have tolerated it since its inception, and I have always looked forward to returning Vista computers to my customers. I swore that I would never own it, but here I am stuck with it. I will hopefully replace it with WinXP someday.
I wanted a small laptop for portability, and the last thing I need is to lug around any extra items. I already have a nice laptop mouse that has been gathering dust for the last 5 years.