HP Pavilion HDX

The Hewlett-Packard Pavilion line of computers has become very popular since its start in the 1990s, but the latest model in the series is not only the most pretty and powerful, but also most expensive.



Last year a HP Pavilion HDX was released with the code name ‘the dragon’ to imply its magnificent capabilities. Now the updated laptop comes to the market with even more powerful hardware: Intel Penryn Core 2 Duo (up to) 2.6GHz processors, 20-inch display, dual 250GB Hard Drives (500GB altogether!) Blue-Ray player and many, many more very interesting features.

The design is truly remarkable and the most eye-catching feature is the dual-hinge display. Thanks to the two hinges you can always adjust the height and position of the screen. Although it might seem a bit heavy with its 15.5 pounds, in fact it is relatively moderate concerning the big screen, hardware properties and similar computers made by other producers. Black and silver glossy casing looks really good, but it can quickly start to show your fingerprints.

The 20.1-inch high definition display is in itself impressive, but adding to that excellent backlighting and great vertical and horizontal viewing angles there is really not much to complain about. Its glossy surface might sometimes create some reflections, but you can deal with it easily by changing the position of the screen which is really simple thanks to the two hinges. The built-in camera is also of very good quality, high – 1,3-megapixel resolution with excellent low-light performance and high frame rates so as to ensure good video conferencing.

Even the speakers are exceptionally good for a notebook and what is Hewlett-Packard Pavilion HDX’s best asset is that it has a built-in subwoofer. Because of its large screen it was easy for the producer to include a full size keyboard, plenty of dedicated keys and a remote which is to be found the left of keyboard. The touchpad does not annoying noises and can be easily disabled if you prefer using an external mouse. Since it was designed as an ‘entertainment notebook’ it has plenty of ports for every occasion so that you can connect it with practically everything you want.

The HP Pavilion HDX is really quiet and works rather cool. It does not heat up too fast so you can work with it on your lap, but remember that it is quite heavy so you get fed up with its weight sooner than with its temperature. One last thing that needs to be mentioned is its battery life which could be better but is all in all not too bad. It is of course relative, but running on Windows Vista Ultimate and browsing the net wirelessly you can work on it for over two hours.