IdPedia: HP Pavilion dm4-1165dx

If you’re looking for a light laptop that doesn’t sacrifice screen real-estate for a lighter load, then the 14-inch HP Pavilion dm4-1165dx ($779.99 list), a Best Buy laptop, might be what you’re looking for. Combining a solid feature set with great battery life and good media performance, this mainstream laptop should rank high on your list.

Design
HP has started to integrate aluminum casing into their laptop design. The dm4-1165dx’s aluminum casing stands out from other similar aluminum-clad systems, like the MacBook Pros ($1,199 direct, 4 stars), with its unique laser-etch design. The pattern flows on the exterior and palm rest of the dm4-1065dx, similar to the dm4-1173cl ($900 list, 4 stars). The dm4-1165dx also weighs the same as the dm4-1173cl at 4.3 pound, and is minutely lighter than the Asus U45Jc-A1 (4.7 pounds).
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HP Pavilion dm4-1165dx : Top
HP Pavilion dm4-1165dx : Angle
HP Pavilion dm4-1165dx : Front
HP Pavilion dm4-1165dx : Left

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The 14-inch widescreen has a 1,366-by-768 resolution, standard for its class. However, if you want to bump up your pixels while still maintaining a 14-inch size, the HP Envy 14 ($1,286 direct, 4 stars) has a 1,600-by-900 resolution, but it will cost you.
Specifications

Type
General Purpose, Media
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Speed
2.4 GHz
Processor Name
Intel Core i5-450M
RAM
4 GB
Weight
4.3 lb
Screen Size
14 inches
Screen Size Type
widescreen
Graphics Card
Intel GMA HD
Storage Capacity (as Tested)
500 GB
Networking Options
802.11n
Primary Optical Drive
Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW

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The keyboard is full-sized and in the chiclet style, each key an isolated square. The touchpad is an all-in-one, where the buttons are integrated. HP’s touchpads have been known for their jumpy nature and this one is no different. I found that the one-click touch navigation method helped resolve the issue.

Features
The HP dm4-1065dx comes with all the standard connections: HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA/USB combo port, 5-in-1 media card reader, and headphone and mic jack. There’s also a dual-layer DVD drive. As an added security bonus HP also included a fingerprint reader. Like the Asus U45Jc-A1 ($867 street, 4.5 stars) and Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 ($1,049 direct, 4 stars), the dm4-1165dx comes with a nicely sized 500GB hard drive, but the dm4-1165dx’s drive spins at a faster 7,200rpm.

The dm4-1065dx is fairly clear of bloatware, there’s the designated eBay and HP Games shortcut, but other than that the trialware is minimal. Instead HP put up a designated dock with a link to the Download Store where customers can choose to purchase the software they want.

This system also goes beyond including your standard 802.11n Wi-Fi, with Intel’s WiMax and Wireless Display. WiMax allows you to have a 4G connection in any of the 54 cities that have erected WiMax-designated towers. Download speeds ranges from 2-5Mbps, allowing you to surf the web comfortably, provided you pay the $40 monthly fee. The Wireless Display or WiDi feature allows you to connect your laptop wirelessly to your HDTV, it’s like having an HDMI input without the cable. However, you’ll need to purchase the Netgear Push2TV ($100) receiver in order to complete the connection.

Its Dolby Advanced Audio pumped out the kind of audio you would expect from a laptop. The speakers are good enough for watching the occasional YouTube video, but anything beyond that you’ll want to put on headphones or get a set of external speakers.

Performance
The laptop’s 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-450M processor and 4GB of DDR3 RAM took the stage, allowing the dm4-1165dx to score well on our multimedia-oriented tests. It came out near the top on our Handbrake video encoding test, lagging only 3 seconds behind the HP dm4-1160us (2 minutes 52 seconds). It did well on our Photoshop CS5 test (5:11), beating out the Core i3-powered Asus U45Jc-A1 (5:46) and Core i5-equipped HP dm4-1160us (5:18). On our PCMark Vantage test (6,061) the dm4-1165dx again bested the Asus U45Jc-A1 (5,361), but lost out to the Lenovo Y460 (6,452).

Being that the dm4-1065dx has integrated Intel GMA HD graphics, it’s no surprise that it did not fare well on the 3D tests, like our 3DMark06, scoring 2,137 at 1,024 by 768 resolution and 1,908 at native resolution. It could barely eke out a score on out Lost Planet 2 DX9 test and couldn’t even play our Crysis DX10 test.

For the mainstream laptop class, the dm4-1165dx’s 6-cell, 55WH battery did well on out MobileMark 2007 test, scoring 6 hours 7 minutes. Comparably, it did better than the HP dm4-1173cl (5:48) and dm4-1160us (5:30), but fell short against the 9:27 score of the Asus U45Jc-A1.

Good battery life, a solid feature set, and good performance are staples the HP Pavilion dm-1165dx offer. Adding WiMax coupled with its light weight make it a solid choice for mobile users who don’t want a smaller screen. As an everyday laptop, the dm4-1165dx is able to handle your everyday and multimedia tasks. If you want longer battery life and 3D graphics performance, for only $88 more, the Editors’ Choice Asus U45Jc-A1 is still your best bet.

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