HP Pavilion dm4-2180us 14" Laptop

Fast and frosty

The speed -- especially for multi-tasking -- achieved with the i5 CPU (2d generation?) and six GB of memory is impressive. It may not be a gaming system but it is faster ...Read complete review

The speed -- especially for multi-tasking -- achieved with the i5 CPU (2d generation?) and six GB of memory is impressive. It may not be a gaming system but it is faster than anything I have become accustomed to. I tried to load as many programs as possible while still in the store and there was never any perceptible slowing. I see the same thing at home, but have not yet loaded my really heavy-duty memory-using programs yet, just FireFox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice. I have used these simultaneously without any problem.

It is also the coolest-running computer I have ever used. The probable reason there is no backlight for keys is to provide the convection ventilation that comes up through vents underneath and up around the keys. I have yet to feel a warm current. Even the transformer in the power cord only feels lukewarm after hours of connection. How do they do that?

This unit should not be referred to a laptop inasmuch as instructions advise that it should always be used on a hard surface so that circulation is not impeded. I have heard the fan; it was not loud and not a distraction on this unit.

The keys that control speaker volume and wireless have tiny lights in them that tell you they are set or not. All signal lights on the notebook are the same, tiny and still noticeable. My guess is that all these new THIN notebooks will have a little less sound quality -- you cannot get deep bass sounds out of tiny, thin speakers. Still, this works out well for me. Treble sounds are what I need to understand speech from videos. This is probably not a great music listening system except with external speakers, but I have been able to understand all the videos except for a short passage in one in English with a notable accent and careless pronunciation. I have no trouble with commercial videos.

The keyboard is both better and worse than previous styles. I believe I make fewer typing mistakes because the island-type (or chiclet style) keytops have more separation from adjacent keys, but there are other problems. They require a little more depression in their use. I can cope with that by just doing more practice typing. Another way I may also cope with the keyboard differences is to use a Bluetooth keyboard. I have noticed that the keyboard eccentricities seem to come in short "waves" every now and then when it loses my strokes -- even spaces. I wonder if the system may be sharing some of the keyboard time with other processes. If one of the cores could be devoted to the keyboard after a few seconds of use we might get a fix from HP that will give the keyboard priority when we need it. For heavy keyboard users I cannot recommend this notebook. I would like a unit that did not lose my keystrokes. If it is just an individual characteristic I would like one of the better units.

Right on the big poster "Start this way" on top when you unpack the box, are instructions on how to switch the touchpad off. That was helpful. I would like to switch it off more durably - make the default "off" but I have not found a way to do that as yet. Each time the system "goes to sleep" it defaults ON and must be tapped lightly twice to turn it off. I haven't made use of the touchpad's finger-zooming and other shortcuts.

There are more HP freebies on this computer than earlier units. Long-time DOS and Windows users might want to reinstall Windows 7 on this unit to eliminate them, but I have found a lot of the needed maintenance easier to set to work automatically with HP's software. I will alter settings where I see a need and run other 3d party utilities.

There are some helpful programs which come free with this notebook and work automatically without registration. There are several 60-day free trial programs which come loaded, some from Microsoft. Trial programs require registration. I have opted to register for Norton 360 Security rather than downloading and installing a free program for two reasons: 1) the free programs are good, but Norton is better, 2) Some of the free programs have become INCONVENIENT in their persistent pursuit of subscribers, 3) it is now more convenient to renew commercial anti-malware than to cope with repeated offers from the freebies.

There is also a friendly whale in the room! All the features of the HP Pavilion dm4-2180us combine to make the battery last a whole day for me. I use this notebook intermittently during the day and its battery endured from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm with HP's initial settings. I have tweaked this and it now can last until 9:30 pm.

It dawned on me that I no longer need to be limited to a table with a nearby power outlet, no longer have to unpack the power cord and transformer; I can use this system on battery and wirelessly without other pieces -- for any meeting I attend. That's nice! I will still use my wireless mouse.

I don't need the security of the fingerprint reader on this unit, but I did see a note that it also had software for secreting passwords -- which is a problem for all of us.