HP Pavilion dv3-2230ea preview

vassos 3 May 2012

Comment: I own one since Sept 2010. I bought it new for 499 Euros.
I spent another 500 € for upgrading from T6600 2.2GHz to T9900 3.06GHz , from 320 Gb 5400rpm hdd to SSD OCZ Vertex2 240 Gb
and from Win 7 Home Premium x64 to Ultimate.
Tweaked CPU, GPU, Northbridge cooling system, cleaned all
thermal pads and substituted with pure copper inserts and Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.
Mild OC GPU Clock from 640 to 685 MHz, Memory from 500 to 600 MHz, Shader from 1600 to 1710 Mhz.
Runs very stable, cool (SpedFan idle CPU 37 degC, GPU 46 degC)
and lightning fast (BooTimer.exe 16 seconds).
I am very happy with it working, entertaining and even playing
kids games (my grandson 3.5 y.o. especially enjoys the touchscreen interactive games and learning programs).
The only problem I have from new till now is with BIOS or ACPI or Win7 related (could not figure it out) concerning battery and CPU fan.
Battery suddenly shows 80-98% wear, on reboot reverts to normal 12% wear.
Running on mains with battery fully charged and connected, Fan suddenly goes full speed with no apparent reason (temps O.K. 38 degC) I disconnect battery, fan goes off. Strange, I eventually will
find out the reason.
This is my fourth notebook in the row I owned a Compaq run DOS and Win3.2 in the early days, a Sony Vaio-S150 WinXP, an HP netbook run WinXP and this one.
By far i enjoy this one the most.
Cheers to all.

Benj Ahern 7 June 2011

Good: Good performance

Bad: Overheating

Comment: Top laptop, touch screen isn't the best on Windows 7. Pretty sucky actually...with Ubuntu 11.04 it is amazing, as smooth as an iPad screen, unbelievable...

The only problem I have had with it is the CPU fan has broke (possibly my fault for using it in bed!!!), it will overheat (even on a desk and being ventilated) and shut down when it gets to 90Degrees (which is good), but it doesn't take long to get to that heat...

Bar the fan breaking it is a top laptop, I bought this when it was first released, too expensive for the price I paid but the current price around 600 is feasible.

cinders349 29 December 2010

Comment: I have had this since January 10 and the battery has now completely died. Sadly, I have been so far unable to find a replacement. Cant get any sense out of HP and every single supplier says all models in stock bar mine! Any one got any help. Other than this problem, I really like the laptop especially the touch screen but cannot get the best out of Windows 7 yet. I seem to be unable to master all the fab new things! No doubt in time, I wil be better

Ben Johnson571 24 November 2009

Good: 4USB Ports

Bad: Doesn't play some videos well, pauses

Comment: I am not a computing genius and so this machine is good and has served me well. I am just a normal home user not into gaming, just use word, internet, e-mail, stored lots of music and system reports that RAM is low. Bit of a downside really. However might have to find more powerful alternative as I am about to embark upon an oveseas project and need sharper performance.
That said I have liked this laptop and it is fairly quick despite what is reported. If you are just looking for a bargain basement fair all-round laptop then this is the answer.

pamela1976 22 November 2009

Good: Good Specs, Quality build and style and the Touchscreen!

Bad: Its a bit heavy but thats to be expected for a small laptop

Comment: Really is a bit of a conversation starter, i wanted something smallish and powerful'ish' but not with stupid pricetags, ii got both with the added extra of the touchscreen. Ive had it a couple of days now and love it, it performs very well, i tried race 07 on it and it plays it quite well on high settings, I very pleased with my choice as iv looked long and hard into finding a laptop that performs well with demanding games,and this does it all for me! Also HP have good support which is nice to know too!