A Review of the HP Pavilion DV6415US 15.4" Notebook

Without a doubt the most popular size of laptops are the 15.4" models. These models often bridge the gap between performance and mobility. This time of year we see a drastic increase in laptop sales, especially the 15.4" models. I've been lucky enough to get a hold of the HP Pavilion DV6415US notebook. This is a popular and inexpensive 15.4" that you'll see all over college campuses. In this article I'm going to give it a quick review. First though lets pop the hood and take a look at a few of the basics.

Hardware:

Processor: 1.86 GHz Intel Pentium T2130 dual-core

Storage Space: a 160 GB (Serial ATA) hard disk

RAM: 1 GB of RAM (expandable to a 2 GB max)

Optical Drive: a CD R/RW with integrated 8x LightScribe DVD -/+ burner

Dimensions: 14.0" x 10.1" x 1.5" and weighs in at about 6lbs.

Graphics Accelerator: Integrated Intel GMA 950 video card

This notebook has a decent batter life of about a 2hr average, and of course that depends on how hard the notebook is running. This notebook has a nice processor in the 1.8Ghz Intel however this is limited by the lack of RAM. In my opinion Vista needs at least 2GB of RAM to operate smoothly. In fact a number of the visual features of Vista are disabled on notebooks with less than 2GB of RAM. The hard drive is decent however I would have liked to see something larger. The size is nice, about average and the weight is OK at 6lbs.

Connectivity:

3 2.0 USB ports (The gold standard in peripheral connectivity use with the likes of mice, keyboards, printers, and iPods)

Integrated Wireless

1 FireWire port (these ports are used for high speed data transfer typically between digital camcorders or other compatible PCs)

1 Ethernet port (so that this notebook can dial up an internet connection)

1 VGA port (this is a typical monitor connection)

1 S-Video port (this is used as a typical projector connection, and sometimes a compatible TV)

1 ExpressCard slot (to add temporary hardware like a Bluetooth adapter or cellular modem)

2 audio out (digital compatible) / 1 microphone input

5 in 1 memory card reader (these slots allow users to directly insert the memory from their mobile devices into the notebook)

1 Integrated Modem (this allows this notebook to dial up an internet connection)

No surprises in the connectivity of this notebook. The bottom line though I would certainly consider a RAM upgrade. Although it is a relatively inexpensive process this is unfortunate because no one wants to buy a notebook and immediately upgrade it. This notebook has less than average performance and would likely disappoint with the slow boot times and occasional system lag. Does it make up for it in the mobility department? Not in my opinion, and certainly not for $869 which is the current online price at a number of retailers. I would wait on this notebook to reduce in price which may occur around early August when the high season hits. Until then I would look around.