Solidall-rounder
HP Pavilion dv6524ei
I hadn't even plugged it in yet, and already I liked the Pavilion dv6524. It's elegant and sleek, doing a good job of presenting a full-featured collection of technology. Under the lid the keyboard and hotkeys are prettily laid out with backlights showing the locations of the hotkeys. The rim of the screen contains a microphone and webcam, while just under it is a set of Altec Lansing stereo speakers which is the first clue that this machine is built from the ground up for multimedia.
The sides of the case give away the power inside: they're positively bristling with ports, including HDMI high-def video, S-Video and VGA outputs, a card reader, a LightScribe DVD rewriter, three USB ports and more. A nice touch is small icons on top of the case showing the position of the ports beneath - no more fumbling along the side to find the socket matching your video cable.
But despite being well equipped for multimedia, this isn't a ridiculously over-equipped machine. HP will happily sell you a 20-inch model complete with separately mounted screen and more power than you'll know what to do with. This one's more moderately kitted out with a 15.4" screen, but it's a beautifully clear widescreen you can view from a surprisingly wide angle.
And unlike most of the notebooks on the shelf, this one's got an AMD processor. And quite a good one: it's a 64-bit X2 TL-58 which runs at 1900 MHz, but good luck finding that in the specs: AMD is always cagey about its numbers to avoid being dragged into another numbers war with Intel. Add to that 2Gb of RAM, a 160 Gb hard drive, and a dedicated nVidia graphics card with 128 Mb RAM, and you've got a very respectable machine indeed. Bizarrely, it scores only 3.6 on the Windows Experience Index, but that's because desktop graphics rated low. Everything else is in the upper fours, including 3D graphics. So take that number with a pinch of salt, and take my word for it: this is a nicely powered machine.
It does ship with Windows Vista, which doesn't perform as badly as might be expected: the AMD processor handles the load very nicely. And the Windows Media Center in Vista, neatly controlled by the included remote control, turns the machine into a very competent media centre. So well, in fact, that the inclusion of HP's own QuickPlay media software seems entirely redundant.
Redundant software is surprisingly minimal on this box though. We're so used to getting notebooks loaded with hundreds of pointless crap software bundles that the Pavilion was a welcome change.
Although at R9500 this isn't a cheap notebook, it's a good price for all the features included. This baby is completely capable, whether you want to do some serious work, kick back with a DVD or play some games.
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The sides of the case give away the power inside: they're positively bristling with ports, including HDMI high-def video, S-Video and VGA outputs, a card reader, a LightScribe DVD rewriter, three USB ports and more. A nice touch is small icons on top of the case showing the position of the ports beneath - no more fumbling along the side to find the socket matching your video cable.
But despite being well equipped for multimedia, this isn't a ridiculously over-equipped machine. HP will happily sell you a 20-inch model complete with separately mounted screen and more power than you'll know what to do with. This one's more moderately kitted out with a 15.4" screen, but it's a beautifully clear widescreen you can view from a surprisingly wide angle.
And unlike most of the notebooks on the shelf, this one's got an AMD processor. And quite a good one: it's a 64-bit X2 TL-58 which runs at 1900 MHz, but good luck finding that in the specs: AMD is always cagey about its numbers to avoid being dragged into another numbers war with Intel. Add to that 2Gb of RAM, a 160 Gb hard drive, and a dedicated nVidia graphics card with 128 Mb RAM, and you've got a very respectable machine indeed. Bizarrely, it scores only 3.6 on the Windows Experience Index, but that's because desktop graphics rated low. Everything else is in the upper fours, including 3D graphics. So take that number with a pinch of salt, and take my word for it: this is a nicely powered machine.
It does ship with Windows Vista, which doesn't perform as badly as might be expected: the AMD processor handles the load very nicely. And the Windows Media Center in Vista, neatly controlled by the included remote control, turns the machine into a very competent media centre. So well, in fact, that the inclusion of HP's own QuickPlay media software seems entirely redundant.
Redundant software is surprisingly minimal on this box though. We're so used to getting notebooks loaded with hundreds of pointless crap software bundles that the Pavilion was a welcome change.
Although at R9500 this isn't a cheap notebook, it's a good price for all the features included. This baby is completely capable, whether you want to do some serious work, kick back with a DVD or play some games.
Technology Home
© 2009 ITWeb
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