The Top Selling HP Pavilion DV9260US Laptop with the 17" Display

Popular as a desktop replacement opting 17" notebooks have seen a recent increase in sales thanks to the upcoming school year. There is nothing nicer than just picking up a 8lbs computer and moving it into a college dorm room when you consider the size of some desktops. I've managed to get my hands on the HP Pavilion DV9260US, which is a notebook that has been quite popular since it released. I'm going to give it a quick review and let you know how it performs for me. First lets get started with some of the essentials.

Hardware:

Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 dual-core

Storage Space: (2) 120 GB hard drives (for a total of 240 GB total)

RAM: 2 GB installed RAM (this is an unexpandable maximum)

Graphics Accelerator: an Nvidia GeForce 7600 video card (using up to 256 MB dedicated video memory)

Dimensions and weight: 15.1" x 11.6" x 1.5" and weighs about 7.8lbs.

This notebook has a great dual core processor. When bundled with the 2GB of RAM it leads to excellent boot times and decent performance. The graphics card is decent but won't do it all, so gamers beware. The dual hard drives lead to plenty of space however I'm afraid that it adds unneeded weight. Overall I like the performance and the size is fine, because as mentioned above, these 17" notebooks are more often desktop replacements then something you would carry around every day.

Connectivity:

4 2.0 USB ports (The gold standard in peripheral connectivity use with the likes of mice, keyboards, printers, and iPods)

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

1 HDMI output (this allows for the notebook to produce an HD signal and connect to a high definition television)

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)

1 audio output (with digital audio support) / 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)

While I like everything about this notebook the one thing I disagree with is the price. Some retailers have this notebook priced as high as $2000. This is a inflated figure and too much for the performance I've seen out of this notebook. I like that it has an HDMI port allowing you to connect this to an HD television, however it isn't worth doubling the price. This notebook would be a great desktop replacement for a student or a great notebook to go into the living room (because of that HDMI port) just wait until you see a price drop.