Digital Trends

Even though HP lacks the option for Windows Media Center Edition, the dv2000t is still one of our favorite multimedia laptops. There’a credit-card sized infrared remote control that can be stored in the in the ExpressCard 54 slot. This can be used to control a PowerPoint presentation, navigating a DVD, or simply adjusting the volume. The dv2000t also includes a pair of headphone jacks, one of which is a mini-TOSlink S/PDIF device (digital audio output). A stereo microphone is integrated into the frame of the LCD – the positioning of the microphones and stereo design helps to improve the recording quality substantially.

 

A big surprise is that the HP has redesigned the keyboard for this notebook. It’s unquestionably the best keyboard HP has put into a consumer notebook to date. It feels very close to the feel of a “gold-standard” NMB-sourced ThinkPad keyboard. There’s minimal flex over the alphabetic characters, and the spacing of critical buttons such as the Alt (for alt-tab’ing) is superb. The biggest difference between the HP keyboard and the ThinkPad is that the HP’s springs have more resistance and a bit less tactile feedback.

 

I wasn’t able to break the 130wpm barrier with this keyboard, but it certainly came close and was one of the few keyboards where I was able to maintain 99% accuracy from the get-go.

 

Peak words per minute

Lenovo 3000 V100 (NMB)	138 wpm	99% accuracy
IBM ThinkPad Z60t (Alps)	135 wpm	97% accuracy
HP Pavilion dv2000	129 wpm	99% accuracy
Apple MacBook	125 wpm	97% accuracy
Dell Inpiron 700m	121 wpm	97% accuracy

 

While the Lenovo keyboards still offer the best performance, the new dv2000t is the best “consumer grade” keyboard I’ve encountered to date. Unfortunately, in what is becoming a disturbing trend, laptop manufacturers are spending less time optimizing the trackpad. While I complained about spongy mouse buttons on the Lenovo V100, the HP dv2000t’s buttons are even worse. The travel for the buttons is so deep that it results in missed clicks. HP should have gone with a design more similar to that of the Apple Macbook. There’s also a problem with the trackpad surface: there’s a dead zone that lies at the lower border of the sensing area.

 

Our system was configured with the following equipment: