Buy HP Pavilion DV7-1270US 17.0-Inch Laptop
Technical Details

2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 Processor
4 GB RAM (8 GB max)
320 GB hard Drive, Blu-ray Disc playback and DVD-RW/CD burning
Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 (64-bit version)
Widescreen 17-inch LCD display, Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT Graphics

   Expanding on the sophisticated elegance of the current line, the new DV7-1270US is defined by fluid, modern lines and metalized finishes with surprising innovations inside and out. The DV7-1270US Intersect Imprint features an argyle-like pattern for subtle contrast to the liquid appearance of the metallic finish. And touch media controls light up and become visible only when the system is powered on further enhancing the clean appearance. photos, music, karaoke, games, Internet TV, and streamed or recorded TV, with an optional TV Tuner at the touch of a button. Built-in demos show you how to add music to your slide shows or videos with drag-and-drop functionality, and much more. An HDMI port enables you to watch films on an HD TV. For those who want rich digital entertainment capability coupled with desktop-caliber performance in a stunning mobile design, the HP Pavilion DV7-1270US Entertainment Notebook PC delivers. The DV7-1270US ships with Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1, Intel Core2 Duo Processor P8600, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with up to 2302MB Total Available Graphics Memory with 512MB dedicated, 4096MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm), 320GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), LightScribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer, Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN and Bluetooth. Dimensions: 15.59 (L) x 11.22 (D) x 1.31 (min H) approx., weight: 7.64 lbs. approx.

   It's powered by the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor--with Centrino 2 technology--which boosts speed, reduces power requirements, and saves on battery life. The 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 includes a quick 1066 MHz front-side bus and 3 MB of L2 cache, providing an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved multimedia and multitasking performance. HP's ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection locks your 400 GB hard drive into place when it senses abrupt motion to help prevent data loss. The built-in eSATA/USB combo port enables fast backup to an external hard drive. Other features include 4 GB of installed RAM (8 GB maximum), Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics with up to 1918 MB of available memory, dual-layer Lightscribe DVD±RW drive (which also burns CDs), ExpressCard 54 slot, quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), and 5-in-1 memory card reader.

   It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 34 card slot (replacing the PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. It comes with the following external connectors:

4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (with 1 eSATA + USB 2.0 combo port)
1 HDMI output (for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable)
Analog video output: 1 VGA
1 ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
2 headphone jacks
1 microphone jack
1 Expansion Port 3 connector (for use with the HP xb3000 Expansion Base or the HP Notebook QuickDock)
1 IR receiver
5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet networking
56K modem (V.90)
Customer Reviews:By Ryan Rodemoyer
It looks great, but make sure you did a little deeper

   I first saw this computer at Sam's Club (eventually where I bought it too) and was completely infatuated. This laptop delivers amazing value for the price. HP has definately brought their 'A' game on this model. There are a couple things you *need* to know before you buy this laptop.


First, the model I bought advertised a 500 GB hard drive. This is true, however it is 2 x 250 GB hard drives. Not that big of a deal, but I cannot believe it is not listed as such.

Second, the laptop comes preloaded with a ton of junk and is heavily integrated with Windows Live stuff. Messenger, Live toolbar, etc. It comes with a trial of Norton Internet Security and a trial of Office 2007. My advice: Get Norton off the computer ASAP and install another anti-virus product.

Third, no operating system CD's come with the package. There is a "Recovery" partition that contains about 12 GB of stuff (not 100% sure what exactly is on there). I do know that when setting up the computer it tells you you should create recovery CD's. I went through the setup to create the discs and here's the kicker - they want 21 CD's or 3 DVD's to create the recovery discs. Talk about stupid.

As of now, I have wiped the OS partition and loaded Windows 7 Beta. The driver recognition is fantastic on Windows 7 - both my wired and wireless ethernet drivers were install out-of-the-box.

The look and feel of this model is gorgeous. The 17" HD screen is amazing and the whole laptop has this slick look and feel to it. The bronze color scheme really stands out.

All in all, you cannot beat the price of this laptop. For what it comes with, a comparable model from another vendor would cost $600-700 more than what I bought mine for ($898 + tax).

Last, this is just my opinion and should be taken as such. Please do yourself a favor and do not install XP on this. This laptop is too great to go back to XP. AERO does look nice and this laptop should be able to run anything you throw at it. Even a clean install of Vista should not give you any problems. While XP works great for most people, do not fight change and try to give Vista/7 a fair chance. Hell, even try the newest Ubuntu (I think 8.10) because that should look great on this too.

Data Recovery