Laptops Arena

The HP HDX 18 notebook is one unit which surely manages to impress everyone. It is one of the most powerful, stylish and expensive units that HP has ever launched on the market. It has the looks and the power to be considered one of the best desktop replacements that money could ever buy. The 18t is one HP HDX 18 notebook that delivers good performance for the money that you pay so a quick look though what this baby can do should be enough to convince everyone.

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This unit is based on a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 processor and some 4 GB of RAM. The graphics card is the nVidia GeForce 9600M GT with 512 MB of video memory (DDR3 to be more precise). The total storage capacity of the hard disks is 320 GB as we have 2 x 160 GB.

This unit is about to cost you about $2000 - $2100 which can be considered quite a spicy price by some people. With 17.17" x 11.26" 1.33-1.72" in dimensions and 8.92 lbs. in weight you can surely understand why this notebook is considered to be a desktop replacement.

The selection of ports and features was unlikely to be poor on an 18 inch laptop which is as huge and powerful as the HP HDX 18. The unit hosts 3 USB ports plus one eSATA and USB combo port, an Express Card slot, a VGA out, a HDMI port, a docking station connector, a 5-in-1 media card reader and 2 headphones out and one microphone in jack.

Since the unit also comes with a Blu-ray optical drive, the HDMI port is excellent news because you can now connect a HD TV to your unit and enjoy some great quality movies on a bigger display. Now it’s time for the popcorn to start popping and for you to invite your friends for a weekend movie marathon as the HP HDX 18 notebook supports you multimedia needs perfectly. Oh, did I mention that the laptop also comes with a built in TV tuner? This means that if you were planning to buy a small TV for one of your rooms, the HDX 18 has got you covered and there is no need to invest in a TV anymore.

The 18 inch display is without any doubt one of the most beautiful you will ever see on a desktop replacement. Since it offers full HD resolution the display supports 1920 x 1080 pixels. The horizontal viewing angles are great and you can even enjoy movies on the display of the HDX and only attach a HD TV when you have a lot of friends for visit. The colors are beautiful, sharp and vibrating due to the HP BrightView technology used.

I never expected to get more than 2 hours of battery life out of this unit especially with the demanding components which are located inside. The HP HDX 18 notebook manages however to deliver 3 hours and 10 minutes of battery life under the “high performance” power management profile and with the display brightness set all the way up to the maximum level, with the wireless card turned on and while surfing the internet. Quite amazing I might add.

The HP Mini 2140 notebook PC is more likely to be considered a netbook to its dimensions, weight and rather weak components which make this unit more usable for internet and document processing purposes. Instead of talking about the regular HP Mini 2140 notebook PC, we have found information about the HD version of this mini laptop so let us explain just what is inside this unit that has made the Mini 2140 so popular, it managed to sell quite an impressive number of machines.

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The HP Mono 2140 runs on a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 1 GB of RAM. The total storage capacity of the unit is 160 GB. The graphics card is the integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950. The 10.1 inch display has a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and this is why they refer to this laptop as the HP Mini 2140 HD.  You can choose from 3 different operating systems for your mini HP: you can either go with the Windows XP operating system, the Windows Vista or the Linux operating system.

The unit hosts 2 USB port, one VGA out, an Ethernet port, a SD card slot, an Express Card slot and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. With 1.05 x 10.3 x 6.5 inches in dimension and 2.96 lbs in weight, this unit is one of the most portable laptops that money can buy. $479 may seem a lot of money to pay for a netbook especially since you can find other models out there for as low as $350 but you have to remember that this unit comes with the 10.1 inch HD display and this is not something you find on netbooks.

One thing I have to hand it to HP: the mini laptop looks amazing. It is entirely silver and shiny like a diamond and the black display bezel creates a superb contrast. The keyboard is almost fully sized to getting used to the size of the keys is not going to be a torment. The keys are covered in a coating which makes them feel very comfortable to the touch.

The touchpad, on the other hand, may feel a little strange to use as the left and right buttons are located on the left and right sides of the touchpad area instead of being located on the bottom side as they usually are. It will always be a bit uncomfortable to use the touchpad of a laptop which only measures 10 inches in diagonal.

The 6 cell battery of the HP Mini 2140 HD has managed quite an incredible score. With the brightness set to 70%, the wireless card activated and the Windows XP power management profile set to “power saver”, the laptop will manage to stay on for about 5 hours and 25 minutes. The truth is that there are other mini laptop models, like the Asus Eee PC which have managed a performance that exceeds 7 hours but the specs are a bit different and HP is definitely the winner between these 2.

When it comes to an LG notebook review, the P300 is one model that we simply had to share will all of you. Back in 2008, the price of the unit reviewed here was approximately $1800. This unit was based on a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 processor and 2 GB of RAM. The graphics card was the nVidia GeForce 8600M GS with 256 MB of dedicated video memory.

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The 13.3 inch display of this notebook comes is a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and the glossy coating provide more sharp and vibrant colors. Horizontal viewing angles are great and distortion is only noticeable from extreme angles. The maximum display brightness level can handle even a powerfully lit room. The keyboard is very nice to type on and users will not feel they are working on a cramped space.

There is no flex registered in the keyboard area and the touchpad does not provide us with any complaining material either. The touchpad surface is very pleasant to the touch, with no friction and good sensitivity levels. The speakers are about as good as they can get on a 13.3 inch notebook. You can use them for all the regular computing activities, listening to music, watching movies and other Windows sounds and alerts.

The unit hosts 3 USB ports, one Express Card slot, an SD card reader, a Kensington lock slot, a HDMI port, a VGA out, an Ethernet port, a modem port and the headphones and microphone jacks. Quite a good selection for a 13.3 inch laptop I could add.

When first reading this LG notebook review, we never expected to find a HDMI port on this unit. When it comes to battery, we do have our preferences. And we would definitely prefer that since we buy an ultraportable laptop which we want to carry around here and there and everywhere, that this laptop also provides us with good battery performance (power outlets do not grow on the street, you know).

With the display brightness adjusted to 70% and the Windows Vista power management profile set to “balanced mode”, tests have managed to squeeze some 3 hours and 40 minutes out of the battery. It’s ok, considering that we can raise that score by lowering the display brightness with a couple of levels and set he power management profile to “power saver”.

In order to get a slimmer and lighter notebook, LG has chosen to remove the optical drive from the unit and so you will have to go with an external one. The drive that LG offers is quite slim and covered in a glossy black coating. It’s very easy to store this drive as it is small and light so no worries when you must travel. With a solid built in quality and even good gaming performance is we consider what the category average has to offer. With cool features like an integrated 1.3 mega pixel webcam and also an integrated Bluetooth, this is one ultraportable which you can’t go wrong with.

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.

Reading an Asus notebook N80V review has revealed a very stylish, beautiful and powerful laptop. With a price of 640 pounds back in May 2009, this unit cannot be considered expensive. A quick look though the specs will determine if this laptop is worth the effort, or it’s just cheap notebook with nothing particularly special to offer.

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First of all, the laptop is gorgeous. You cannot write an Asus notebook N80V review without saying a couple of words about the design. In my opinion, the looks are to die for. You will never be ashamed to take out this laptop in public as the bronze glossy chassis almost makes it seem like the laptop is made of wood. It has a 14.4 inch display with a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels which is ok considering the fact that this is a resolution commonly found on 15.4 inch laptops.

With 2.6 kg in weight, you can say it’s heavy, but not too uncomfortable to determine you to keep it inside the house forever. Besides, who is going to admire the unit if you don’t take it our “for a spin”? The unit runs on a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 processor which is combined with 4 GB of RAM. This means that our N80V can handle multi tasking at an excellent speed without having to wait too long for programs to launch and switching between tabs is not going to be a nightmare.

We did not expect to get a powerful graphics card on this unit. To our huge surprise, the notebook came with the nVidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics card which has 512 MB of video memory. It may not be able to handle ultimate game play, but games are not a mystery to this unit either. No super cool 3D games for you but you can play some good games at average frame rates nevertheless. 320 GB of free disk space are more than enough so you don’t have to worry about running out of laptop memory too soon.

Oh yes, the unit does come with goodies. You get a Blu-ray optical drive which means you can now watch DVD movies in HD on your 14.1 inch display. And another thing: this wonderful laptop also has a HDMI port. Not only can you watch HD movies on the 14.1 inch display, you can also attach a TV or a HD monitor and get an ever bigger kick out of this whole movie watching experience.

Here is another amazing thing: 5 USB ports on a 14 inch laptop?! Could this get any better? There is also a 1.3 mega pixel webcam if you ever want to have pleasant video calls with your friends via Skype, MSN or Yahoo! Messenger. I’m starting to wonder why I didn’t buy this laptop yet. It also comes with an integrated Bluetooth so file transfer between your laptop and your phone (and even between your laptop and another laptop) is now much easier and faster.