The HP Pavilion dm3t holds lots of promise with the very modern metal look and ultra-thin shape. The dm3t promises that you will experience 9.5 hours battery life with the great speed from the dual-core Intel ultra-low-voltage processor. One thing that benefits you is the dm3t's is quite affordable price of $599. Keep on reading if it really is a good value or just a gimmick laptop.
HP Pavilion dm3t specifications:
Windows 7 Home Premium
1.3-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300
13.3" WXGA LED display 1366x768 resolution
Low-light webcam
Up to 8GB of memory
500GB of hard drive space; options for a 160GB Solid State drive
Intel GMA 4500MHD; options for a 512MB Nvidia GeForce G 105M
HDMI port
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
Optional external CD/DVD drive or Blu-ray drive
Integrated wireless LAN; Optional mobile broadband with Qualcomm Gobi technology
"Modern Argento" brushed aluminum chassis
4.2lbs and and less than and 1" thick
Display and Speakers
The 13.3" LED screen you get with the dm3t ultra-thin gives you the same
amount of resolution as other ultra-thin laptop computers, 1366x768. At this
resolution you will enjoy movies and just regular Internet browsing. Windows 7
functions like having two windows open at once work great at this resolution,
it's better on a bigger screen but it's still adequate with this screen. The
viewing angles are also adequate but this laptop is best used sitting directly
in-front of you and in a place that isn't too bright.
The HP Pavilion dm3t comes with Altec Lansing speakers that are supposed to
offer you premium sound. They are placed underneath the front of the laptop
computers lid. The speakers can be turned up close to the maximum limit without
distortion but quickly becomes distorted when you get to the maximum. I found
using headphones with this laptop much more enjoyable, there is a headphone
jack on the left side of the laptop.
Keyboard and Touchpad
One the dm3t's high points would have to be it's chiclet style keyboard. The keyboard on the dm3t is one of the best in its class. The key's are perfectly spaced making it easy to type with almost zero mistakes. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that the keys like shift and arrows keys are a little smaller. Also for the night-owls out there the keyboard is back-lit so night or day your good to go.
Now the touchpad is the absolute opposite of the keyboard, it is the HP Pavilion dm3t's weak point. The first thing that was a terrible design idea was the glossy surface the touchpad has, this of course makes it a fingerprint magnet and if your fingers are greasy or sweaty forget about comfortable use. The touchpad also is small they could have made it bigger. The bottom buttons are the only thing good about that area of this laptop, the buttons give good feedback when pushed.
Ports and Webcam
The dm3t offers you a fair amount of ports with all the necessities like usb, headphone and mic. The left side of the dm3t keeps the power jack, Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, two USB, a 5-in-1 memory card reader, and headphone and microphone jacks. The right side of the laptop computer has two more USB, wi-fi on/off button, power switch and the Kensington lock slot.
The low-light VGA webcam on the Pavilion dm3t laptop performed great in a well lit room and also in a darker room. The low-light name isn't a lie and with the HP software already pre-loaded the dm3t can have you video chatting quick as long as where ever you are has an Internet connection.
Conclusion
The dm3t offers you a fair amount of performance if your only getting the base setup but if you do some upgrading like in the processor and graphics card this can turn into a beast of a portable laptop computer. As for the base version of the dm3t it's good but not the best if you compared it to other computers in the same category, mostly due to the processor and Intel GMA graphics adapter.
Also the touchpad is a problem if you don't plan on carrying an external mouse I'd really have to advise you to go try the touchpad in person before buying. Other than the touchpad the rest of the machine is solid and if you use the windows 7 power saving settings you can achieve around 8 hours battery life. The HP Pavilion dm3t is a laptop that you just have to try-out in person before buying because you could not see a problem with the touchpad like I did and it is priced really well.
