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HP Pavilion AMD Turion 64 X2 Notebook PC

Monday, December 10th, 2007 | Laptop and Notebook Computer Reviews, News

A desktop replacement laptop computer with a 17 inch screen and graphics that leave little to be desired. This notebook computer review looks at a high-powered laptop computer with some hard hitting performance. Let’s start the laptop computer review.

AMD have had a tough time with Intel’s release of their dual- and quad-core processors. But despite this I still have a little soft spot for the underdog of the processor industry.

The HP Pavilion is based on an AMD chipset, offering fast performance from their tried and tested Turion X2 processor. With a direct connection to the memory from the processor, AMD processors get a boost in performance because the memory can operate at the same frequency as the processor.

Here are some of the main features:

• 1.8 GHz AMD Turion X2 processor
• 17 inch monitor
• 7.8 lbs
• Built-in webcam
• 1 GB of memory
• 160 GB hard drive
• USB
• Firewire
• LAN port
• VGA
• ExpressCard slot

Lets have an overview of the different specifications. As mentioned all ready, the processor gives good performance and does well for power savings, meaning longer battery life.

A 17 inch monitor is fine for anyone that intends to use their laptop computer exclusively. For modern computing this is about the least necessary for continuous use of the computer. Widescreen monitors give that little bit extra width, which is more useful that pure size, but this size is still fine.

Built-in features are very necessary for keeping the size of a laptop down. It is easy to have a small laptop, but which requires a handful of USB devices to accomplish very simple tasks like reading from a CD or DVD. The DVD writer is a bonus which allows DVD to burnt without an external device.

System expansion is handled by three external USB ports, a firewire port and an ExpressCard slot.

Video performance is good, thanks to the onboard video chipset. A built-in webcam allows video conferencing on the increasingly popular Skype of other VoIP networks, or just for taking still pictures.

The mouse pad is placed well, being by the center of the spacebar. Often it is placed at the center of the computer, which means it gets knocked by the ball of the right hand when typing.

Overall, a full set of features, with enough power to do any office work and play some games. There is no need for extra bits, which means the laptop bag, although a little heavy, doesn’t need to be weighed down by other goodies.

Tags: laptop computer reviews, notebook computer reviews