Laptops Arena

A HP Compaq notebook has never been one my favorite choices for a laptop. First of all, it is well known that Compaq laptops have had some problems which made their users extremely unhappy. Things have evolved in a positive manner even since HP took over Compaq and HP Compaq products are more trustworthy than they used to be before.

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However, regardless of all the problems that Compaq has confronted itself with in the past, back in 2007 users seemed really happy with the new HP Compaq notebook: the 6720s. The unit came with a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5470 processor and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. The total storage capacity of the hard drive is 120 GB and the graphics card is the Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100.

Let us see if this laptop is worth our attention and if we could possibly fit it on our shopping list. The 15.4 inch display has a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and since it uses the HP BrightView technology, the screen is covered in glossy coating so it is very reflective and even if it pleases us with sharp and lively colors, it is not easy to read the display if you are in a powerfully lit room or under direct sunlight.

The speakers are below the category average and even if they are located above the keyboard, the speakers of the HP Compaq 6720s will surely determine you to buy external speakers or a good pair of headphones. This 15.4 inch notebook could have done a lot better at the ports and connections chapter.

The unit hosts 3 USB ports, one VGA out, an Ethernet port, an Express Card slot, a SD/MMC media card reader and the headphones out and microphone in jacks. So, we have no HDMI port, no FireWire port and I’m surprised that a 15.4 inch HP laptop is lacking these ports.

When it comes to battery life, HP said that the battery of the Compaq 6720s is going to last about 4 hours and 30 minutes and it’s one of those few times when the manufacturer actually delivers a products that lives up to the battery promise. The HP Compaq 6720s can indeed deliver about 4 hours and 30 minutes of battery performance. This performance is quite something else for a 15.4 inch laptop.

We like the fact that the Compaq 6720s has a long battery life and few other positive aspects as well. It does come with an excellent screen and an SD card reader was a pretty cool feature back in 2007 as well even if now it has become something that you always expect to find on the unit of a notebook. The laptop manages to stay under normal temperatures and it can also stay pretty quiet as well. We do miss the HDMI port but the laptop is pretty great when it comes to multitasking (except for those which are used to working on a very powerful unit).

The Pavilion dv6z is one HP entertainment notebook which has proven to be a great desktop replacement and a laptop that offers a lot of power for a starting price of $599.  The price of the unit reviewed here reached $775 so let us see if this laptop is as good as they say it is. This HP entertainment notebook runs on a 2.1 GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 dual core processor and 3 GB of RAM which can be upgraded to a maximum 8 GB. The storage capacity of the hard disk is 250 GB and the graphics card is the ATI Radeon HD 4530 with 512 MB of video memory.

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The 16 inch display has a native revolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and it offers a good display quality with great images. The horizontal viewing angles will allow movie watching with friends gathered round. The levels of brightness are acceptable as they manage to cover even the more powerfully lit rooms.  The keyboard is fully sized and it is accompanied by a numerical pad which makes working with spreadsheets a lot easier.

There is some flex in the keyboard area but nothing too disturbing. The keys are entirely black and shiny and they feel very pleasant to the touch. Even if the keyboard looks nice, the glossy coating of the keys is a fingerprint magnet so every time you have dirty, oily fingers, this will eventually be visible on the keys as well. The touchpad is silver and extremely glossy. In fact, this laptop is one glossy surface. I guess that the functionality of this touchpad depends mostly on how dry or wet tour finger really are.

A HP multimedia notebook always has a good selection of ports and features so here we have 4 USB ports, one Ethernet port, one HDMI port, a FireWire port, an Express Card slot, a media card reader, a VGA port plus a docking station connector and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. As usual, HP has chosen to integrate a pair of Altec Lansing speakers which are quite above the category average. The sound is clear and there is a bit of noticeable bass. The best part is that the speakers are located right above the keyboard so the sound is projected straight up, making the sound quality better as the sound is more clear.

Generally we never expect good battery life out of a 16 inch laptop which is meant to be a desktop replacement. The unit of the Pavilion dv6z can achieve about 2 hours and 10 minutes of battery performance with the screen brightness set to the medium level, the wireless card activated and the Windows Vista power management profile set to “power saver”. In the end, you have to admit that this unit offers good value for the money that you pay and even if the battery does not achieve any outstanding performance, you still get a good looking notebook, with a good processor and graphics card and good Altec Lansing speakers.

The notebook HP Compaq 6730s is considered to be a small business laptop for people who are not too pretentious about their working station as you will see later in this article that the unit does not exactly have the most powerful specs. As expected, the laptop does have a low price tag because it has some pretty basic specs inside.

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The reviewed unit came with a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5670 processor and 1 GB of RAM. The total storage capacity of the hard drive is 160 GB and the graphics card is the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3430 with 256 MB of video memory. When it comes to the looks of this unit, I have to say that too much black is sometime too dull. From the distance it does have the aspect of a business notebook but maybe a touch of silver here and there would have been a nice idea.

Since there are no glossy surfaces on this notebook (that’s right, not even on the lid) the unit is easy to be kept clean as it is not such a fingerprint magnet when you are dealing with matte surfaces. With 2.7 kg in weight it is not exactly a heavy notebook so let’s say that you can carry it around here and there whenever it is really necessary. Or maybe it should just stay on your desk in the office. The unit could come with the preinstalled version of Windows XP Professional but Windows Vista operating system will work fine even if the unit only has 1 GB of RAM.

The 15.4 inch display is average, with good horizontal viewing angles and good level of both brightness and contrast. The glossy covering of the display is a pain when you use it in a powerfully lit room or outdoors. The screen reflects pretty much everything that is in front of it when the light is too powerful in the working environment. When it comes to the performance chapter, this notebook HP Compaq 6730s was not that keen on achieving good benchmark results.

In WorldBench 6 is got the score of 63 which is very low. Some tests were difficult to run and since there were some problems with Microsoft Office 2003, experts blame it on the Windows XP Professional operating system. When running Blender 3D to check the CPU performance, the task was completed in 1 minute and 45 seconds which is pretty ok compared to the price and components of the unit.

If you were planning on running any games on this unit there are some good news and some bad news. You cannot run any DirectX 10 games as the unit is not capable of handling such gaming pressure. You should be able to run some DirectX 9 games on the other hand, but don’t expect the best frame rates of gaming performance. Playing older games is not a problem. Overall, the unit offers poor performance which is ok considering the price tag is “poor” as well.



When it comes to HP mini notebooks, the HP 311 has to be one of the best choices ever. I’m saying that because the standard unit comes at a price of $400 which makes this mini notebook a real bargain.

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The HP Mini 311 is a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 notebook with 1 GB of DDR3 RAM and a hard disk storage capacity of 160 GB.  The 11.6 inch display has a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. To our surprise, the glossy screen does not render the same color quality that glossy displays normally do. In general, a glossy screen provides sharper and more vibrating colors but the color seem faded, washed away on the HP Mini 311.

The horizontal viewing angles are good. The built in speakers produce much better sound than speakers on other HP mini notebooks. The truth is we expected the sound to be very muffled since the speakers are located on the bottom of the front edge but the sound quality is good and even when you turn up the volume, there is no disturbing sound distortion.

The keyboard is a beauty as the keys are 92% of the original key size. The keys have good travel and even better response so it will never feel uncomfortable using this keyboard. The touchpad is very sensitive and pleasant to the touch. The annoying part about the touchpad is the left and right mouse buttons which are a bit too noisy whenever you click on them. The selection of ports and connections is ok for an 11 inch laptop as it features 3 USB ports, one VGA out, the Ethernet port, a security lock slot, a HDMI port, a 4-in-1 media card reader and the headphones plus microphone jacks.

Battery life is very important on a 3 lbs. unit which was designed to be highly portable. Since this type of mini laptop is often used in travels, there is good chance you will not always have a power outlet in handy so the battery performance of the HP Mini 311 has to be good. The standard battery that comes with this unit is a 6 cell which manages some pretty cool performance.

If you turn the display brightness to 70% and activate the wireless card, the HP Mini 311 will stay on for 6 hours and 20 minutes of continuous use. Some experts say that there are netbook which can last for up to 10 hours but the nVidia Ion graphics card on this unit is probably eating up a lot of battery life. In fact, it is surprising to see a good graphics card on an 11.6 inch laptop. The pot selection is also neat as the HDMI port is another pleasant surprise. The battery life is acceptable considering that it could almost get you through a day’s work. The processor could be considered weak if we compare it to the GPU but, on the other hand, Intel Atom processors are quite common on netbooks.

The HP Compaq 6735b notebook is a business model which is surprisingly cheap as we know that business laptops are somewhat expensive. The unit reviewed here is as cheap as $829 which will bring up certain question marks regarding the quality and performance of this business laptop. Let’s see if we can bust the myth. It’s true. This is a business laptop. Except for the fact that it’s more dedicated to the small business market segment. The HP line with the best business notebook is definitely the EliteBook.

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The combination of black and gray seems to be quite appealing to the eye, making this notebook look really elegant. The keyboard is very pleasant to type on, providing the user with good tactile feedback and great key response. With 4 USB ports, one FireWire port, a VGA out, an Ethernet plus a modem jack, an Express Card slot, a docking station connector and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks, I have to say that I miss a HDMI port which would have been a nice touch.

However, the HDMI port is not mandatory since this is not a multimedia laptop. The 15.4 inch display comes in a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels but you can go with the 1680 x 1050 pixels screen which is going to cost an extra $25. The HP Compaq 6735b notebook runs on a 2.0 GHz AMD Turion RM-70 processor and 2 GB of RAM which can be upgraded to a maximum 8 GB. The storage capacity of the hard drive is 120 GB, quite small for a business laptop if you ask me.

Companies should not be worried about having to delete files from their computer due to the lack of free disk space. The unit does come with a DVD burner so you can make back-up copies of your files and store them safely on DVDs. The graphics card is the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 with 256 MB of video memory.

I’m not sure how important battery life is to a business notebook. I’m sure that most small companies buy these laptops so the office workers can use them but there are cases when firms buy laptops for their sales personnel, in which case, the battery life makes all the difference. The unit comes with a standard 6 cell battery that offers average battery life performance.

If you use the notebook to surf the internet continuously via a wireless connection (which means the wireless card is always enabled) the laptop will stay on for about 2 hours. Wireless connections eat up a lot of battery life so if you disable the wireless card and use the notebook for something as basic as word processing, you should get more than 3 hours of battery performance. In conclusion, this notebook is not a bad choice if you are running a small business as it makes a good working station for office usage. a lot of aspects can be improved, but you can never expect too much from a $800 notebook.