HP Pavilion dv9700t

The HP Pavilion dv9700t is a model series of laptop/mobile computers manufactured by Hewlett-Packard Company^[1] featuring a 17.0 inch (diagonal) display and an Intel Crestline PM965 motherboard mounted in a clamshell-type case. This model was released in January 2007 and is no longer in production. The DV9700 line has been replaced by the larger DV7 series and smaller DV6 series. The specific internal components can be custom-chosen by the consumer or pre-selected by the manufacturer for the retail market. It is comparable to the Dell XPS M1530 and the MacBook Pro.

Characteristics^[2]

Dimensions (inches): 15.16 length x 11.65 width x 1.57 maximum closed height
Weight (pounds): approximately 7.7 to 8.2
Display Size (inches): 17.0 diagonal widescreen 14.4 inches wide x 9.0 inches high, 1.6:1 aspect ratio
Display Type: WXGA (1440 x 900) or WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) High-Definition HP BrightView Active-matrix liquid crystal display. The WXGA+ comes in either a single or dual lamp configuration, while the WSXGA+ comes in only a single lamp configuration.^[3]
Video Output: HDMI 1080p, S-video, VGA (resolution depends on graphics display adapter)
Speakers: Integrated Altec Lansing stereo speakers
Audio Output: analog and digital. Early releases of this model had three separate audio outputs: one 3.5 mm stereo, one S/PDIF optical, and one HDMI. Newer releases of this model have only two audio outputs: one 3.5 mm stereo and one HDMI. HP product documentation alludes to this.
Chipset: Intel Crestline PM965 (see Intel Mobile Chipsets, ) featuring I/O Controller Hub 8 (ICH8) southbridge (see Data Sheet)
BIOS: Phoenix BIOS
RAID: BIOS does not support hardware RAID. (Note: Windows Vista does not support Stripe Volume or Spanned Volume for the system volume, thus eliminating RAID support for this system.)
Front Side Bus: 667 MHz to 800 MHz (dependent on processor model); The T5550 is limited to 667 MHz.
Memory: 4 GB maximum, 2 slots DDR2, 1.8 volt unbuffered, asymmetric or interleaved operation supported. Intel specifies that the chipset only supports 533 to 667 MHz memory clock speed is supported however HP Pre-sales telephone support has stated twice that the motherboard supports 533 to 800 MHz memory. The sales team does not differentiate between compatibility and utilization. 800 MHz DDR2 is being installed for orders that include 800 MHz-capable processors.
Hard Drive(s): 2 internal SATA drive bays [bus speed, max capacity, dimensions requested]
Network: Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN (with or without Bluetooth)
Processor Series: Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile with Micro-FCPGA package
I/O Ports: 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0) (3 on models with fingerprint reader), IEEE 1394 Firewire, PCI expansion port 3 (proprietary bus for docking port), ExpressCard/54, Integrated Consumer IR (remote control receiver), 5-in-1 digital media card reader, microphone in, RJ-11 (modem), RJ-45 (LAN), VGA, TV out (S-video), HDMI. Does not have external SATA port.
Accessories: remote control, 90 watt AC power adapter
Dock/Base: The HP xb3000 Notebook Expansion Base is intended for this system.

Optional integrated components

Processor Options: T5550 1.8 GHz, T8100 (SLAUU) 2.1 GHz, T8300 (SLAPU) 2.4 GHz, T9300 2.5 GHz, T9500 2.6 GHz
Graphics Options: 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS or 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
Battery Options: 8 x 2.2 AHr Cell Lithium Ion Battery (17.6 AHr total) or High Capacity 8 x 2.55 AHr Cell Lithium Ion Battery (20.4 AHr total)

It also has options for integrated Bluetooth, mobile broadband from the Verizon Wireless V740 ExpressCard, microphone, 1.3 megapixel webcam, and/or fingerprint reader.

Performance

Note: current listings are posted from independent testing by author. Updates/revisions are requested from verifiable third-party websites.

High Capacity Battery: test on an out-of-box model with dual hard drives, 2.4 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, no external attachments, Wi-Fi enabled, Balanced power plan, approximately 75% screen brightness yielded 2 hours 35 minutes of DVD runtime before system automatically shut down at 5% battery power.
Windows Vista: test on an out-of-box model with 2.4 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, 256 MB graphics adapter, 7200RPM hard drives, no external attachments, WIFI enabled, Balanced power plan yielded a Windows Vista Windows Experience Index of 3.4, with the two lowest scores being Graphics (3.4) and Gaming Graphics (4.5). Comparatively, the Dell XPS M1530 with matching configuration yielded a Windows Experience Index of 5.1.

Upgrades

Windows 7 will run on these laptops using the Vista drivers from HP's website. Some may have to be installed manually by bypassing the installer and extracting the files to install directly through device manager, but they will work. Windows 7 drivers from NVIDIA's site can sometimes be used as well, though they may have other glitches or incompatibilities with this hardware. NVIDIA video drivers 341.81 of 15-Aug-2015 are not recommended for 8600GS on Windows 7 x86/x64 due to recently discovered sleep and hibernation problems, but 311.00 of Jan/10/2013 are the latest that are confirmed to work as of May/2/2016. 179.48 is recommended for integrated graphics. Windows 7 Upgrade Guide for HP DV6000/DV9000 laptops

The Intel 7260AC 802.11AC wireless card is known to work well in this series of laptops with a BIOS modification to remove the whitelist (it is model-specific, so find the SP number for your specific model's BIOS on hp.com and look for the equivalent SPxxxxx.exe with the whitelist removed). It provides dramatically increased wireless connection speeds of up to 866Mbps (2x2). It is half the size, consumes less power and runs much cooler than the 4965, which is known for getting very hot in operation.

Known design flaws

HP recalled many notebooks during the period November 2008 - May 2009 for a common fault leading to one or both hinges fracturing. The use of thin flexible aluminium in a critical location of stress and tension to hold up the LCD screen was a poor choice for a product designed to be opened and closed frequently, with many customers reporting poor customer service from HP's warranty department. One customer even reported a service representative telling her to "just leave the laptop open and don't close the lid, or it may break!". Many customers believe that HP are not standing by their product, only offering a short 6-month period for repairs - which will simply reoccur due to the poor design of this product.

References

↑
↑ HP Store web site, May 2008
↑ http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01295898/c01295898.pdf

External links

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