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It supports wireless B and G. What you get is: 4 USB ports, 1 firewire, 1 memory card reader (it does not support CF), 1 HDMI, 1 RJ-11, 1 RJ-45, 1 Expansion port, 1 VGA, 1 S-video, 1 BD-ROM/DVD-multirecorder/CD-RW/DVD-RW with DL support (no lightscribe), PC Card Express 34/54, 2 mini-jack for earphones, and 1 mini-jack for microphone. Unfortunately, the PDF that I downloaded from the website had some mistakes or were not precise in the information. Since you have many configurations possible, it turned to be a nightmare to understand the specification tables. I bought to replace my desktop.
The laptop does support larger hard drivers than 250 GB. The Vaio models with BD-ROM does not have HDMI or the numeric keypad in the models below $1,000.The laptop is not a powerhouse. Anyway, I tried to connect my laptop through a TOS Link cable and it didn't work.Addendum 2: When I bought this laptop, it was $899. I forgot to mention, but check HP's website to see if you have any rebate on this model. They don't have the information in the manual.
BTW, even when the fan is running faster, it is not that noisy. However, I wanted a machine to play blu-ray, but able to output through an HDMI port. Neither the pictures in the Amazon's website is accurate. I don't know how much it affected the battery performance since I use my laptop always plugged.About the software, it does come with Vista 64. It does not come with bluetooth, wireless N, and e-Sata connector. I loved this laptop.
I installed a 320 GB 7,200 rpm. The graphic card is also good enough for HD decoding. The DV7 series does not have a firewire or S-video. The laptop does not get hotter. There is room for a second hard drive, but you must buy the brackets to install it. I do basically word processing, spreadsheet calculation, and Powerpoint presentations.
I was able to use them with Skype.Overall, a great laptop for a good price. Much cheaper than HP's store. After the update, I was able to watch movies without problem. You have to update the BD player online in order to play smoothly HD. The enclosed microphones have good quality. BTW, I noticed the picture in this link shows an "audio output" in the receiver.
The HP's support gave me this link: http://genioushelp.googlepages.com/spdif. Although it is a good laptop, I would not pay more than $1,000 for this one. I got a $50 one on mine by the time I bought it.Addendum: The S/P DIF output is a coaxial digital output, not optical. At the same time, I wanted the S-video port to plug into TV sets without HDMI and a firewire to transfer my movies from the camcorder. The processor is fast enough to play HD and it ran cool. I bought mine at eBay.
I checked the HP's website looking for the manual and specifications before buy it. The webcam does not tilt (it is indeed a bit inclined) and there are two microphones next to the webcam.
Even on 'HP Recommended' power settings, I watched a 1 hour 15 minute TV show on the return flight from Germany and that completely exhausted the battery. I really dreaded the thought of having another Vista machine since my home desktop HP with Vista is slow and hangs up quite a bit, even though it's got a hot processor and plenty of RAM. The speakers are better than most laptops I've owned but they are still limited by their size.Unfortunately, the quick play buttons on top and the buttons on the remote only work with a few applications (not iTunes for example) but I somewhat expected that to be the case. The biggest plus is the huge display that provides a great picture.
In short, this machine is a great desktop replacement with a fantastic display and lots of functionality.While I got off to a less than optimal start with this machine, with the first one being dead on arrival, then Beach taking a rather leisurely approach to shipping my replacement order, I've been pretty pleased with it. The large screen and full size keyboard is great but it also creates the laptop's other big problem, which is size and weight. One of the other drawbacks is the really bad battery life. Its purpose is essentially a desktop replacement for home use so I've been using it for surfing the web, audio video use, not very taxing spreadsheet and word processing.
I can't say I've done a ton of 'heavy' entertainment video applications but it was more than adequate for two weeks in Germany where I had downloaded a number of TV shows, knowing English programming would be scarce. It's a BIG machine that you definitely wouldn't want to lug around if you're a road warrior.In a nutshell, for those that didn't feel like reading my verbose review above:Overall Pros:- It Works with very few hiccups- Nice sized interface/keyboard- Great screen both quality and size- Lots of featuresOverall Cons:- It's a BIG machine - too big to lug around a great deal- Quickplay buttons don't work on all applications- Battery life is horrible No gaming yet but it's a possibility.For me, the biggest pro is that it works. However, this machine runs most applications well and loads them quickly.
I would install another version but then support goes out the window. I just wish it wasn't a 64-bit operating system, kind of spoils alot of my plans for it, as many of my apps require 32 bit vista. I was very pleased with how quiet this thing runs, compared to the old 17 inch media laptop I had from HP. Blu-ray player, great features, works wonderfully.
Now I have to reach over to the number pad to use the arrow keys, which is still annoying, but it's better than having the typing all hosed up. This laptop is very nice, but the way they have arranged the right shift key, they made it very small, about 1/3 the size of a normal shift key, and right next to it they put an up arrow key, so when you are trying to type, your finger invariably hits the up arrow key when you wanted the shift key and suddenly you are up one line typing in the wrong place.MOST ANNOYING THING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED.Follow-up: I discovered a really good keyboard re-mapper (sharp keys) (randyrants) (dot com) which is free and worked great to turn the up arrow into a shift key.
aside from this minor flaw in marketing tactics, this laptop is smoking. it has a little remote (you can get a better one, but this slides into a side slot) so you can play, pause, rev/fwd, volume adj etc from the couch (if you watch movies straight off your computer from say, certain swedish websites, and dont want to burn them to disc)it seems to be a well-designed computer.nicely put together. hyper fast as expected on the wireless end. well worth the investment, and it will last. hp has gone with this sort of spyrograpah pin-lined grey design (although only noticable within a few feet -- otherwise appears perfectly black).
i ordered a few hp pocket drives, printer. used macs most my life, switched to pc and was fairly loyal to dell. so, this changes things. sweet to play blu-ray discs on it and pipe it into my tv via the hdmi.
wasnt that long ago that a grand would just get you a hd dvd or blu-ray disc player. now, this would be something i would think to be nice to have as an option.or a 'skin'. i do run it through to a larger hd set. oh. so. anyway.
but you could entertain yourself quite splendidly on a flight, or when you dont want to work, etc. but.
i just wanted to give hp some props. i was just THAT happy with this thing :)
it has more, read the specs. but whatever.
the screen on the laptop itself is pretty impressive. that has always been an issue with virtually all laptops.
all the typical 'productivity' apps run smooth (office,photoshop etc.).i am really impressed with how much you can have going on at one time and maintain speed with streams, editing, etc with the 4 gigs of ram and and the processor.im not a 'gamer' -but i have nhl,nba,madden,fifa - all 2008 on it and it plays very well.smooth graphics at the highest res setting, and amazing sound. i have heard some things about the battery.
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