The words “acquired taste” were seemingly invented for the HP Pavilion dv3-2230ea. Loading it up with a swirly design that has the distinct look of flowers isn’t going to be everyones idea of a lush laptop. But aside from the rather off kilter looks, how does this touchscreen machine hold up? Read our HP Pavilion dv3-2230ea review now and find out.
The touchscreen on the HP Pavilion dv3-2230ea is undoubtedly its hottest feature. Loaded up with Windws 7, it takes advantage of the Big M’s latest OS penchant for touchy feely apps. It packs in full multitouch for flicking through pics, zooming into docs and eschewing the keyboard altogether. It’s nice and accurate, HP obviously bringing its TouchSmart skills to this particular lappie.
That said, you can’t turn this into a Tablet, like the Eee PC T91, which leave you always reaching across to prod the panel. Plus it picks up fingerprints like a Copper on a night shift, so make sure you have plenty of screen wipes nearby if you do buy the HP Pavilion dv3-2230ea. At least there’s a dedicated button for switching off touch functionality when you don’t fancy using it.
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The 13-inch HD Ready screen itself is lush and handles video well, with deep blacks and rich colours in evidence. Likewise the keyboard is sturdy and didn’t offer any evidence of wobble.
Specs are pretty standard for a PC of this shape and size with a more than ample 320GB HDD, 4GB of RAM and an Intel Core 2 Duo, which will doubtless be getting a Core i5 bump in the future.
Battery life clocked in at just over three hours for us, with absolutely everything going at full pelt. So it’s hardly worth taking it out minus the charger. Do so and you risk being caught short. The HP Pavilion dv3-2230ea is certainly a decent machine, with plenty to recommend it, even if the looks will draw some funny glances.
