HP Pavilion dv4-1275mx review: HP Pavilion dv4-1275mx

Editors' note: This review is part of our latest Retail Laptop Roundup, covering specific configurations of popular laptops that can be found in retail stores.

5.9

HP Pavilion dv4-1275mx

The Good

Attractive design; touch-sensitive media controls; long battery life.

The Bad

Slow performance; extended life battery adds considerable weight, heft; cool lid pattern inexplicably adds to cost.

The Bottom Line

The attractive HP Pavilion dv4-1275mx has excellent battery life, but is more expensive than faster HP dv-series laptops, thanks to a "Special Edition" lid design.

Smacked with a higher price for a "special edition" lid design and packing a slow AMD processor and a mammoth 12-cell battery, the $749 HP Pavilion dv4-1275mx Special Edition is not one of the better deals in our current roundup of fixed-configuration retail laptops. Trading up to a 15-inch display and a faster Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, we prefer the very similar Pavilion dv5-1235dx, which is a less expensive option--even if its chassis is bronze instead of blue.

Price and components aside, we really liked the look of the dv4-1275mx. The special edition midnight blue lid, with its crashing-wave-inspired imprint, is eye-catching and sophisticated. On the other hand, even though 14-inch laptops are relatively small, the included very large 12-cell extended life battery lifts the back up significantly, and makes the whole thing considerably harder to transport.

At the top of the keyboard is a row of backlit touch-sensitive media controls, including one for launching the HP MediaSmart applications for accessing music, video, Internet TV, photos, and the CD/DVD player. (A small IR remote control is bundled with the laptop for controlling things from afar.) There's also an icon for turning on and off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios. Average-sounding stereo speakers flank the controls. The keyboard itself is reasonably comfortable for a laptop this size, though the keys are a bit softer than we like. Also, the touch pad is short and wide, which is only upsetting if you're used to a larger one.

The 14.1-inch wide-screen LCD offers a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for both 14- and 15-inch screens. The display gets sufficiently bright, movies look good on it, and text and icons are highly readable. Above the screen is a serviceable Webcam and microphone.

The port and connection assortment on the dv4-1275mx is solid for a notebook of its size. In particular, the eSATA/USB combo port and HDMI out are welcome. There's also one of HP's proprietary expansion ports (for connecting to an HP-branded docking station), as well as 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Performance, however, was subpar for a laptop in the very popular price range of $600 to $899. It's one thing to score low on our CNET Labs' benchmarks, but the dv4-1275mx actually felt slow during regular use. Our current roundup of retail laptops has several better options for performance and features, from HP and others.

The dv4-1275mx ran for 4 hours and 25 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included 12-cell battery. That's an impressive score, but the giant battery is easily twice the size of a standard one--making the dv4 a hassle to lug around with you.

HP backs the Pavilion dv4-1275mx with an industry-standard, one-year warranty. Toll-free telephone support is available 24-7, and the HP support Web site includes real-time chat with a technical support representative and a detailed FAQ database.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

HP Pavilion dv5-1235dx
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 64MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 320GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm.

Dell Studio 17-162b
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 32MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 320GB Hitachi 5,400rpm.

Dell Inspiron 15-157B
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 32MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 320GB Hitachi 5,400rpm.

Sony Vaio VGN-NS240E/W
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 3,072MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 250GB Toshiba 5,400rpm.

Sony Vaio VGN-CS215J/W
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 250GB Hitachi 5,400rpm.

Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650; 320GB Toshiba 5,400rpm.

Gateway MD7818u Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 500GB Western Digital 5,400rpm. Toshiba Satellite A305-S6905
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 3,072MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 320GB Toshiba 5,400rpm.

HP Pavilion dv7-1245dx
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.1GHz AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core RM-72; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200; 320GB Western Digital 5400rpm.

HP Pavilion dv4-1275mx
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.1GHz AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core ZM-80; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200; 400GB Toshiba 5400rpm.

Asus X83VB-X2
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 4,096MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS; 250GB Seagate 5,400rpm.