HP Pavilion dv7 QE

20.10.2011
The HP Pavilion dv7 Quad Edition is HP's higher-end model in its dv7 series. It's undoubtedly a gorgeous machine, but in performance it doesn't quite measure up to other desktop replacement laptops. Still, it's lighter than most 17-inchers, and it has a fairly long battery life, so it's worth a look.

Our review model, priced at $1495 (as of October 20, 2011), features a second-gen -2630QM processor, 8GB of RAM (upgradable to 16GB), and a 500GB hard drive. The dv7 also has a 160GB solid-state boot drive for quick startup. HP bills it as a performance machine, and it includes all the perks, such as switchable graphics (an HD 6770M discrete graphics card is in there) and a Blu-ray Disc player. The dv7 runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Though this laptop is large, it's also surprisingly sleek. It weighs just 7.0 pounds by itself (light for the desktop replacement category), and 8.7 pounds with the power brick. Luckily, the dv7 also has decent battery life: In our tests the dv7 lasted about 4.3 hours, a good 30 minutes longer than the average battery life we've seen from recently reviewed desktop replacements.

The black lid is simple brushed aluminum, with a small HP logo in the lower-left corner. The logo appears mirrored when the computer is closed, but lights up when the computer is turned on. Regrettably, although the brushed aluminum initially looks rather sexy, it's prone to fingerprints.

The interior of the dv7 is as attractive as the exterior: The deck features the same black brushed aluminum as the cover, and slopes gradually downward into the glossy keyboard area. The keyboard offers matte-black island-style keys against a shiny black background, and is full-size with a ten-key number pad. It’s quiet and easy to type on, and the keys give good individual feedback despite having a soft touch. The arrow keys are a little small, no doubt to allow room for the number pad. This arrangement might annoy some people, though you can of course use the 2, 4, 6, and 8 number-pad keys as arrow keys too.

Below the keyboard is a smooth black touchpad with rounded corners and two discrete mouse buttons. The touchpad is large and responsive, and both mouse buttons are big and easy to press. A thin white light surrounds the touchpad and mouse buttons, but you can turn it off by pressing the Fn key and the spacebar. Pressing and holding the upper-left corner of the touchpad allows you to disable it should you happen to use an external mouse.