Microsoft Windows Media Center has received its fair share of bad press, but not because there’s anything wrong with the software. Windows Media Center has such a rich combination of features, it’s difficult for PC makers to produce a machine that takes advantage of the OS, and at a price point that doesn’t scare off consumers.
Enter the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv8000 Series Notebook PC. Inside this large “desktop replacement” sized laptop, Windows XP Media Center Edition really begins to shine.
Plunk down $2,140 on the dv8000 and, you’ll not just get your money’s worth, you’ll end up with a device that replaces your desktop, DVR, DVD player and has enough power to take care of all of those functions at the same time without breaking a sweat. In fact, we started out this test by running the DVD player while watching live TV and working on a CD labeling program—all at the same time.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering the notebook comes equipped with an AMD Turion 64 and the ATI Radeon XPress 200M integrated graphics processor, with 128 MB of discrete VRAM. These are powerful graphics tools familiar only until now to the gaming crowd.
The 17-inch widescreen display is almost as impressive in size as the BrightView and dual-lamp technology behind it. We tried out Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, as well as the Animatrix, and the colors were stunningly accurate, especially compared to the same movies played on our own Compaq Presario laptop. The blues and reds in the Star Wars film were especially deep and vivid.
The dv8000 accepts any type of TV connection using the included HP ExpressCard TV Tuner. To begin using it, install the tuner and the infrared receiver for the remote control and press the Windows button. The onscreen menu makes it more than simple to find TV shows, record and review them without consulting an instruction manual—easy enough to record the Gilmore Girls and lets the girlfriend use the remote to find it later. At first, we were dismayed, thinking one couldn’t use the notebook while the Media Center was running. However, we realized there wasn’t a button on the remote that took you back to the desktop. You had to move the mouse to make the desktop tools available.
No matter what you record, there’s a ton of space to save it all. The laptop comes with two hard drives, equaling 240 GB of storage space. The system is already partitioned to use one hard drive for day-to-day data and software applications while the other drive is used to store recorded media files.
Enter the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv8000 Series Notebook PC. Inside this large “desktop replacement” sized laptop, Windows XP Media Center Edition really begins to shine.
Plunk down $2,140 on the dv8000 and, you’ll not just get your money’s worth, you’ll end up with a device that replaces your desktop, DVR, DVD player and has enough power to take care of all of those functions at the same time without breaking a sweat. In fact, we started out this test by running the DVD player while watching live TV and working on a CD labeling program—all at the same time.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering the notebook comes equipped with an AMD Turion 64 and the ATI Radeon XPress 200M integrated graphics processor, with 128 MB of discrete VRAM. These are powerful graphics tools familiar only until now to the gaming crowd.
The 17-inch widescreen display is almost as impressive in size as the BrightView and dual-lamp technology behind it. We tried out Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, as well as the Animatrix, and the colors were stunningly accurate, especially compared to the same movies played on our own Compaq Presario laptop. The blues and reds in the Star Wars film were especially deep and vivid.
The dv8000 accepts any type of TV connection using the included HP ExpressCard TV Tuner. To begin using it, install the tuner and the infrared receiver for the remote control and press the Windows button. The onscreen menu makes it more than simple to find TV shows, record and review them without consulting an instruction manual—easy enough to record the Gilmore Girls and lets the girlfriend use the remote to find it later. At first, we were dismayed, thinking one couldn’t use the notebook while the Media Center was running. However, we realized there wasn’t a button on the remote that took you back to the desktop. You had to move the mouse to make the desktop tools available.
No matter what you record, there’s a ton of space to save it all. The laptop comes with two hard drives, equaling 240 GB of storage space. The system is already partitioned to use one hard drive for day-to-day data and software applications while the other drive is used to store recorded media files.
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