Laptops Arena

IF we are to talk about cheap HP laptops, some of the cheapest are probably those 10.1 inch small notebook called HP Mini's. After the success of the Mini 1000, HP had to come up with something as least as brilliant as that model and so the HP Mini 110 was born. To our huge surprise and satisfaction, this new mini laptop is about $200 cheaper that the Mini 1000. Let's find out why.

The hardware is pretty much the same. You get the usual Intel Atom processor which is present in most such small gadgets. You also get 1 GB of RAM and 160 GB of hard drive space which is pretty ok considering that similar netbooks usually have somewhere between 80 and 120 GB. The keyboard is ok considering it is almost full-size which is a delight for people who are horrified of typing on small keyboards. The 3-cell battery is not what we would expect from such a portable laptop as it delivers only 2 hours and 50 minutes of computer usage. We recommend you buy a spare battery if you are going to take the HP Mini 110 with you when you travel. It will cost you an extra 40 bucks but it will provide a couple of more hours of battery life so you can things done. Surprise! This mini comes with a VGA port, an absent feature in almost all netbooks. The speaker which is located right under the display produces unpleasant sound so we recommend headphone if you are travelling or some external speakers if you are using this netbook at home. The HP Mini 110 is available in a black standard color, but just like the guy at Dell, HP will charge a small fee if you want the white or the pink models. You can also upgrade to 250 GB of free disk space and even add some more RAM to a maximum 2 GB. Considering its price, we think the 2.33 pound netbook will do its job and help you get your done while you are still on go.



Another cheap HP laptop (we think it's cheap considering the specs and the price of other HP laptops) is the G60t. the starting price is $530 but depending on how you configure it, you can end up paying almost $1000. This laptop comes with a black lid which is glossy and this mean it's a fingerprint magnet so keep your average fiber cloth in handy. The palm rest and the touchpad are both silver and this adds a nice touch to the whole design because plain old black everywhere would have been kind of boring. We like it, it looks like an expensive laptop and the color combination makes it look elegant and really business-like. This is a laptop that we would recommend for students because of its low price and good specs. It will surely help you get your student-stuff done. The processor is an Intel Pentium T4200 and you also have 4 GB of RAM. This is not exactly the most powerful CPU on the market but if you are going to use this laptop for web surfing, messenger chatting, document editing and other similar mainstream tasks, this laptop will please you with its speed.



Be careful, you will probably receive your laptop with lots of preinstalled software which "eats through" your 160 GB of available disk space. We recommend some serious disk cleaning as most programs are not even the full version (full version means more money). The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD means this laptop is not for gamers. This is a weak graphics card and you won't be able to play top of the line games like Crysis. However, you can go with the nVidia 9200GM graphics card which HP has made available for the G60t but it is still not the latest material when it comes to gaming video card. There are other HP models which you can buy exclusively for playing games. As for the ports and connections, you get 3 USB ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, an Ethernet port, both VGA and HDMI out, an ExpressCard slot and the headphone plus the microphone jacks. The keyboard is ok, the keys give a soft response (some people may think it's too soft) but the touchpad is really ok. We still think an external mouse is much better than using those touchpads.



The battery life is another disappointment. The 6-cell battery that came with the reviewed unit lasted only 2 hours and 20 minutes even if Windows Vista was is power save mode and the laptop was only used for typing a document. Not exactly a good achievement, especially if you consider the rather weak processor and graphics card inside this laptop. They were supposed to give you some extra battery life. What will happen if you decide to upgrade and buy a better video card? Anyway, you can buy the 12-cell battery which will hopefully double the life (at least). As usual, HP has chosen to put a pair of Altec Lansing speakers inside this laptop and we are happy with them. Even if they don't offer the same bass like a good subwoofer would, the sound is still clear even when you turn up the volume.



We think this laptop offers a pretty good value for the money. The 16 inch HP Pavilion G60t will definitely help you get around with the basic computing needs even if the video card is not exactly a "killer". Not to worry, there are other gaming laptops out there. You can buy the laptop from HP's online store but you will probably find some good offers in other stores. If you plan to use this as a desktop replacement, then the 16 inch display is a good argument to do so. Even if there are no fancy shapes or colors, we like the looks of this simple laptop.



You won't be happy with all the preinstalled software but who knows? Maybe you'll find some applications in there that you might really use. If you are looking for a portable laptop to take to class and do not have any power outlets around, the battery will disappoint you so you should really consider buying the 12-cell battery.