5. Case And Connectors

It may not look big, but is still pretty large: The Pavilion dv8000z is about twice the width of an 8 ½ x 11 inch piece of paper.

The plastic case impressed us with its rigidity and stability and overall quality. The case's silver-colored surfaces are also relatively resistant to scratches from sharp-edged items. If the outer shell picks up a couple of scratches over time, they're hard to see (or notice). To give this portable PC stable footing and a firm grip on smooth surfaces, you'll also find four large rubber feet on the underside of its case.

The clamshell case requires some effort to open or close, because the hinges are a bit to sluggish. But the hinges also keep the display in a stable position once the case is opened. While the housing for a typical 17" desktop TFT monitor may be stiffer and less flexible than that of the dv8000z, the stability of its display housing isn't especially problematic. It could be stiffer if it was reinforced with a different composite or a metal edge, but that would represent added costs for something that doesn't affect day-to-day use much.

Because it's so seldom used, HP put the modem connector on the back side of this case.

The only connector on the back side of the case is an RJ-11 for the 56K Modem.

All other ports and connectors are placed either on the right or left hand sides of the case. As an added bonus, the device not only offers a PC Card slot, but also one of the new Express Card slots. This latter slot accommodates Express Card 54 modules as well as smaller Express Card 34 modules.

The Pavilion dv8000z includes an Express Card slot among its many ports and connectors.