Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Hp laptop battery
HP's Pavilion dm3-1040us is really designed for those looking at a highly portable laptop that provides a more stable computing experience compared to a netbook. With a $600 price tag, it certainly is affordable but does sacrifice the performance and running time compared to new ultra-low voltage platform laptops. Its lower cost does come with a few annoyances including a display with limited viewing angles and a difficult to use trackpad. Definitely a step up for those than want more than a netbook but don't want to spend too much.
HP's Pavilion dm3-1040us is designed as a low cost ultraportable laptop that offers a better experience than a netbook while still offering a fairly long battery such as Hp F4098A battery
, Hp F4809A battery
, Hp F4812A battery
, compaq 319411-001 battery
, Compaq Presario 2100 battery
(compaq 2100 battery
), Compaq Presario 2500 battery
(compaq 2500 battery
), Compaq Presario NX9010 battery
, Compaq Presario NX9000 battery
life. Much if this is achieved through the use of a single core Pentium SU4100 processor from Intel. This does hamper its performance compared to many ultraportables using dual-core processors but it pulls far away from the netbooks in terms of performance. The four gigabytes of DDR3 memory also help it with multitasking although it does run at a slower speed putting it on par with systems using DDR2 memory.
While the HP Pavilion dm3-1040us doesn't come with an DVD burner, they didn't skimp on the storage functions. The hard drive may have an average sized capacity of 320GB but the performance is quite strong thanks to the 7200rpm desktop spin rate. This allows for quicker access of data files compared to the average hard drive based ultraportable. It still doesn't top solid state based drives but it is much more affordable.
The 13.3-inch display on the Pavilion dm3-1040us is hampered by some very limited viewing angles. Moving just slightly off center can cause some very dramatic color shifting. This may be useful for those looking to have some screen security but it can be annoying at times as is the glossy coating that can produce a fair amount of glare and reflections under certain light. At least the Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics allow for HD video streaming even if it can't handle any sort of 3D gaming.
HP advertises the the Pavilion dm3-1040us can achieve up to ten hours of running time. In my streaming video test, the laptop was only able to achieve around three and three-quarter hours before it went into standby mode. More typical usage would probably yield around five hours of time which is well below HP's advertised running time. This places it well behind the new crop of ultra-low voltage systems design for running time and more in line with traditional ultraportables.
Those who have to do frequent typing on their laptop will be pleased with the keyboard on the Pavilion dm3. It uses the now common isolated keyboard layout. The layout for the most part is also quite well done although the arrow key layout might be a bit confusing at first for the up and down arrows. The trackpad on the other hand could really use some work. The surface of the pad can get a bit too sticky when moving your finger over the surface and the buttons are quite stiff and difficult to press.
What most people will like about the Pavilion dm3-1040us is the price. With pricing as low as $600, the laptop is not much more expensive than some high end netbooks but provides a much more stable computing experience. Of course, for just a few hundred more it is possible to get some ultraportables with even more performance.