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Microsoft Windows Media Center has received its fair share of bad press, but not because there’s anything wrong with the software. Windows Media Center has such a rich combination of features, it’s difficult for PC makers to produce a machine that takes advantage of the OS, and at a price point that doesn’t scare off consumers.
Enter the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv8000 Series Notebook PC. Inside this large “desktop replacement” sized laptop, Windows XP Media Center Edition really begins to shine.
Plunk down $2,140 on the dv8000 and, you’ll not just get your money’s worth, you’ll end up with a device that replaces your desktop, DVR, DVD player and has enough power to take care of all of those functions at the same time without breaking a sweat. In fact, we started out this test by running the DVD player while watching live TV and working on a CD labeling program—all at the same time.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering the notebook comes equipped with an AMD Turion 64 and the ATI Radeon XPress 200M integrated graphics processor, with 128 MB of discrete VRAM. These are powerful graphics tools familiar only until now to the gaming crowd.
The 17-inch widescreen display is almost as impressive in size as the BrightView and dual-lamp technology behind it. We tried out Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, as well as the Animatrix, and the colors were stunningly accurate, especially compared to the same movies played on our own Compaq Presario laptop. The blues and reds in the Star Wars film were especially deep and vivid.
The dv8000 accepts any type of TV connection using the included HP ExpressCard TV Tuner. To begin using it, install the tuner and the infrared receiver for the remote control and press the Windows button. The onscreen menu makes it more than simple to find TV shows, record and review them without consulting an instruction manual—easy enough to record the Gilmore Girls and lets the girlfriend use the remote to find it later. At first, we were dismayed, thinking one couldn’t use the notebook while the Media Center was running. However, we realized there wasn’t a button on the remote that took you back to the desktop. You had to move the mouse to make the desktop tools available.
No matter what you record, there’s a ton of space to save it all. The laptop comes with two hard drives, equaling 240 GB of storage space. The system is already partitioned to use one hard drive for day-to-day data and software applications while the other drive is used to store recorded media files.
You’ll always know what’s on the disks if you use HP’s new LightScribe technology, included with the laptop. LightScribe laser-etches silkscreen quality images on CDs and DVDs, although not in color, yet. You just have to purchase the right disks and make sure the disk is turned so the side to be etched is facing down, the same direction you need to burn CDs. We burnt the new Panic! At The Disco CD, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, with the included Sonic software and then turned the disc around to etch the image to the other side. The image came from Amazon.com (an excellent free resource for album art).
And when it’s time to listen or watch your recordings, you’ll have plenty of time to do it, even if you don’t have the power adapter. HP includes two removable batteries so you can have a charged one ready to go when the power runs out. We watched The Wedding Crashers, using the DVD player and the first battery conked out just at the tail end of the film.
It’s one of those features that you never think about until you need it: an onboard numeric keyboard. Most laptops have barely the room for a regular sized QWERTY keyboard. However, HP’s dv8000 is so huge it does have the room, and even includes the quick launch button so someone can use the calculator without starting up the rest of the OS. The DVD player and music library work in this fashion as well. You can start up the DVD player, or listen to music at the touch of a button, without starting up the entire PC. And your movies and music will sound pretty good, even without speakers attached, since HP includes onboard Altec Lansing speakers.
Also included with HP’s newest laptop is a 6-in-1 digital media card reader, four USB ports, an expansion slot to hook the notebook up to an expansion base, as well as an integrated 802.11g WLAN card. –Brian Ploskina
HP Pavilion dv8000 Series Notebook PC
$2,140
Windows XP Media Center Edition
8.1 lbs, 1.48-inches thick
AMD Turion 64-bit mobile computing platform
17-inch widescreen monitor
DVD-R/RW with integrated LightScribe technology
Integrated Altec Lansing speakers
www.hpshopping.com
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