A Product Review of the 15.4" HP Pavilion DV6785SE Entertainment Laptop: Heavy on Memory Low on Price

HP is one of the most popular and well known computer manufacturers currently on the market. They have a number of different styles of Pavilion but one of the most popular is their line of entertainment notebooks. I have been lucky enough to get my hands on one of these notebooks; the 15.4" HP Pavilion DV6785SE. I'm going to give it a brief review but first lets get started by first popping the hood and reviewing some of it's basics.

Hardware:

Processor: a 1.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 dual-core

Storage Space: a 250 GB hard drive

RAM: 3GB of RAM (upgradable to a 4 GB maximum)

Optical Drive: an HD DVD ROM drive with integrated CD R/RW and dual-layer DVD +/- writer

Graphics Accelerator: an Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics card (using up to a total of 1535 MB of available memory)

Dimensions: 14.0" x 10.1" x 1.5" and weighs 6.0lbs.

This notebook is marketed with an exclusive Influx imprint finish in silver. I would check this out in person, I expect that you'll like this as much as I do however when it comes to funny laptop bezels it is best to see it in person before you make the purchase. This notebook is loaded as far as memory goes, I love the 3GB of RAM and the huge 250GB hard drive. The real gem is the HD DVD drive which allows you to check out the next generation of movies right on your notebook.

I experienced only a little lag on this notebook when performing general tasks. Things like web browsing and watching movies etc is no trouble, but editing graphics or intensive games is off limits for this thing. It is very compact but seems a little heavy for my liking.

Connectivity:

Integrated Wireless

Integrated Bluetooth

1 Ethernet port (to be used to connect to wired networks)

3 2.0 USB (these are used to connect mice, digital cameras, printers, and MP3 players among other things)

1 FireWire port (this is used for high speed data transfer between digital camcorders or other PC's)

1 HDMI output (so that this notebook can be connected to a high definition television)

1 VGA output (this is a typical monitor connections)

1 S video output (this is used to connect to projectors or compatible televisions)

1 ExpressCard slot (so that peripherals like cellular modems can be added)

2 audio outputs / 1 microphone jack

5 in 1 memory card reader (this is available for the insertion of memory from mobile devices like digital cameras)

56K modem port (so that this notebook can dial up)

This notebook can be found a little cheaper then would generally be expected especially considering that it has a next generation optical drive as well as an HDMI input. This is likely because it has an HD DVD drive which will soon be antiquated thanks to the recent decision in the format war pointing to BluRay as our next generation media. This is good news for the consumer because otherwise this is a top notch notebook coming in at an average online price of $989. It will likely make most notebook consumers very happy.