2 reviews

HP Pavilion dm3z

$500.00 Released October, 2009

The Pros:Affordable price point. Thin and lightweight (1" thick, 4.2 pounds). Good performance for the price - dual core CPUs, the latest onboard graphics from AMD.

The Cons:Below average build quality. Expensive upgrades. Louder and warmer than competing options that feature Intel processors and graphics.

The HP Pavilion dm3z is a low-end notebook laptop that seeks to balance portability and power. At 1" thick and weighing only 4.17lbs, the Pavilion dm3z is on the smaller end of the notebook size range.

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HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion dm3z Notebook by PriceGrabber.com

However, its 13.3" LED screen has a native resolution of 1366 x 768, demonstrating that the dm3z still has some power. Looking deeper, its AMD Athlon II Neo Processor options and higher-end AMD Turion II Neo Dual-Core processor option, ATI Mobility Radeon HD graphics card options and 3GB-8GB of DDR3 RAM show that despite its size, the Pavilion dm3z is capable enough for some heavy multi-tasking and even HD video playback.

Its lowest single core AMD Athlon II Neo Processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 Graphics card configuration still give the Pavilion dm3z enough kick for everyday home or office tasks such as web browsing or word processing. At its higher configurations, the dm3z could even be a light to moderate gaming machine, especially with its optional 8GB of DDR3 system memory. An optional Blu-ray rom/DVD+/-R/RW drive rounds out the dm3z's high-end options, transforming it into a highly portable, fully HD-capable machine.

Features

Processor options: AMD Athlon II Neo K125 (1.7GHz, 1M L2 cache) to AMD Turion II Neo Dual-Core K625 (1.5GHz, 2M L2 cache)
Graphics options: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 to 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430
3GB - 8GB DDR3 RAM
Hard drive options: 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive to 640GB 5400RPM SATA, 128GB SSD
Optical drive options: Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer or Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
13.3" diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1366 x 768)

User Reviews (2)

Add Pros & Cons

ProScore

Pros

2

affordable price point
2

thin and lightweight (1" thick, 4.2 pounds)
2

good performance for the price - dual core CPUs, the latest onboard graphics from AMD
1

beautiful brushed aluminum enclosure
1

respectable battery life of about 6 hours
1

13.3" high definition (720p) display - 1366 x 738px resolution
1

HDMI output
1

4 USB ports - impressive considering that 3 is standard on higher end laptops and is somewhat restrictive to some users
1

comes with Windows 7
1

full sized chicklet style keyboard and a fair sized multitouch trackpad
1

respectable base configuration (dual core 1.7GHz CPU, 3GB RAM)
1

much more balanced than an Intel-based system with graphics that are quite capable next to Intel GMA
1

configurable directly from the manufacturer

Cons

1

below average build quality
1

expensive upgrades
1

louder and warmer than competing options that feature Intel processors and graphics
1

not entirely made of aluminum - plastic interior