Notebook Review Spec : Samsung NC20 Review

BY: Kevin, NotebookReview.com Editor

The Samsung NC20 is a 12.1" netbook and larger brother to the 10" NC10. The NC20 offers a larger nearly-full-size keyboard, large 6-cell battery, WXGA resolution display, and the VIA Nano platform. Since the last VIA-based netbook in our office was the Everex CloudBook with less than stellar performance, the biggest thought on our minds is if the VIA Nano can compete against the trusted Intel Atom platform. In this review we see how well it compares against its netbook brethren, and if it changes our thoughts about VIA processors in notebooks.

Samsung NC20 Specifications:

• 1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250 (800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache)
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM (2GB Max)
• Windows XP Pro w/ SP3 (Ships with Windows XP Home)
• 12.1" WXGA LED-Backlit Widescreen Glossy Display (1280x800)
• 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• VIA Chrome9 HC3 Integrated Graphics
• 802.11b/g and Bluetooth
• 3-in-1 card reader
• 6-Cell Li-ion battery
• Dimensions: (LxWxH) 11.5 x 8.5 x 1.2
• Weight: 3lbs 5.8oz (4lbs 3.4oz travel weight)
• Price as configured: $549

Build and Design
The design of the Samsung NC20 is very clean with a consistent color scheme inside and outside the netbook with a thin border of chrome around the edges. The pearlescent white on our review sample has the same almost-dirty appearance that the original ASUS Eee PC 701 had. I think a pure white looks better or even better would be going all black. The black configuration of the NC20 looks stunning from the samples I have seen and if I were buying one that would be my only choice.

Build quality is above average with durable feeling plastic throughout the body. Flex is minimal on the lower half of the notebook, usually an added perk of having such a thin frame packed with components. Flex under the keyboard structure is non-existent which adds a level of quality that you notice while typing. The screen lid has some minor flex that when squeezed shows some distortion on the panel.

User upgrades to the NC20 are limited to swapping out the RAM or hard drives. Samsung has a single panel on the bottom of the it that gives quick access to the hard drive bay and single memory slot. No “warranty void if removed” stickers were over the cover or screws.

Display
The 12.1” WXGA display on the Samsung NC20 is above average compared to most notebooks. The LED-backlighting is very even across the screen with barely any backlight bleed around the edges. Image quality is excellent thanks to the glossy surface, with vibrant colors and nice contrast levels. Vertical viewing angles are average with a narrow viewing sweet spot where colors are not washing out or inverted. Horizontal viewing angles are better, staying true at steeper angles. Screen backlight brightness was good for viewing in a bright office setting, but you would be pushing the limits trying to use the NC20 outdoors on a sunny day.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The Samsung NC20 has an almost-full-size keyboard that is comfortable to type on and very easy to transition to from larger notebooks. Compared to other netbooks the keyboard is very good, but notebooks still have an edge on it. Business notebooks in the 12-inch form factor have been able to incorporate completely full-size keyboards, but they are generally higher priced. Individual key action is smooth with no sound emitted when clicked. The ability to type covertly in a quiet classroom or office meeting could easily be added as another feature.

The NC20 offers a Synaptics touchpad that is nicely sized for a netbook. Measuring in at 2.75" x 1.63" it is larger than the touchpad on my Lenovo ThinkPad. The surface texture is a fine matte finish that is smooth to slide your finger across even if your hands are moist. Sensitivity is excellent once adjusted, since the default driver settings put the "PalmCheck" adjustment at max, which made movement very twitchy. The touchpad buttons are controlled through a bridged button that connected the left and right side. Feedback from it is shallow with a mild click noise when pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection is average compared to most netbooks on the market, offering three USB ports, VGA, LAN, audio jacks, and a 3-in-1 multi-card reader. With the increased real estate of the 12.1” frame I think Samsung could have easily fit an additional USB port on without any problems.

Front: Indicator lights and 3-in-1 multi-card reader

Rear: Screen hinge and battery

Left: LAN, one USB, VGA, and audio ports

Right: Two USB, AC power, Kensington lock slot, and power switch

Samsung includes an imitation-suede netbook sleeve with the NC20. It works very well to keep the netbook smudge and scratch-free during transportation, but does little to pad it from impacts. I like the suede appearance of it more than the neoprene slip cases, which have that Spandex-vibe.

Performance
Compared to the last VIA-equipped netbook in our office the VIA Nano was a huge improvement. System performance of the NC20 was in-line with the Intel Atom platform, above in some areas and below in others. Day-to-day use the system handled tasks like web browsing or typing documents with ease. Entertainment use was limited to older games or less tasking modern games with the integrated graphics. Standard definition videos played smoothly without any hint of lag, but when you try to play HD movies the limits of the processor were noticed. Standard 720p x264 content played at 15-17FPS on scenes with little motion, but slowed down to 5-10FPS under panning or action. With enough tweaking HD content might be playable at full frame rates, but you would have to ask yourself if it would be worth it. In our synthetic benchmarks the VIA Nano platform scored lower in wPrime and PCMark05, but slightly higher under 3DMark06. Still nowhere near as fast as a full-size notebook with integrated graphics though.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	32.119 seconds
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240 seconds
HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 @ 1.60GHz)	103.521 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	114.749 seconds
Acer Aspire One (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	125.812 seconds
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	126.406 seconds
Samsung NC20 (VIA Nano ULV U2250 @ 1.30GHz)	173.968 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (2.40GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, Intel X4500)	4,298 PCmarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	2,191 PCMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,851 PCMarks
Toshiba Portege R500 (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	1,839 PCMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,555 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,535 PCMarks
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,478 PCMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	1,441 PCMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.60GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,520 3DMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,417 3DMarks
Samsung NC20 (1.30GHz VIA Nano ULV U2250, VIA Chrome9 HC3)	151 3DMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks
HP Mini 2140 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	118 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	92 3DMarks
Sony VAIO P (1.33GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 500, Windows Vista)	88 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Speakers
Audio performance was limited by the small size of the drivers located on the bottom of the NC20. Bass and midrange were completely lacking and peak volume levels were under similarly sized notebooks. For viewing YouTube clips or watching streaming TV shows this might not be a problem, but I would still highly recommend a nice pair of headphones.

Battery
Battery life was good compared to most notebooks, but when compared to the latest netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE, it was hindered by the larger screen. The Samsung NC20 with the processor set to adaptive, screen brightness set to about 70%, and wireless active managed 5 hours and 55 minutes before it went into standby at 4% remaining. A larger battery would definitely improve the runtime, but then you would have to deal with an extended battery sticking out the bottom of the notebook to allow the screen to still pivot.

Heat and Noise
Thermal performance is normal compared to other small netbooks, where the body tends to warm up over time, and develop some hot spots under heavy use. Under light activity temperatures around the palmrest and bottom of the notebook were within reasonable levels and very lap friendly. The left side of the palmrest was higher than the rest, which might be explained by a wireless card located in that region. Fan noise was minimal when browsing the web, but when you tasked the processor it would ramp up to whisper levels.

Conclusion
The 12.1" Samsung NC20 is a netbook that is just on the fringe of being the same size as regular notebooks. It offers a large keyboard, higher resolution screen than most netbooks, and long battery life that you would expect from a ULV platform. With a retail price of $549 it is set to compete against the Dell Mini 12 and HP Pavilion dv2. Overall we were pleased with the performance from the VIA Nano platform, which was a massive step up from the lackluster performance of the older C7 we saw in the Everex CloudBook. My only complaint with our review sample was it not being the much better looking black model, but that can be easily fixed by buying that version instead.

Pros:

• Nice display
• Keyboard is excellent for a netbook
• Modest battery life
• Great performance from a VIA platform

Cons:

• Poor speaker performance

Read rest of entry

Notebook Review Spec : Dell Studio XPS 13 Review

by Jerry Jackson

The Dell Studio XPS 13 packs high performance features and impressive style in an extremely mobile 13-inch laptop. The metal and leather accents on the Studio XPS 13 will certainly make a statement in your next business meeting or class. Hybrid SLI graphics from Nvidia gives you extended battery life when you need it or offers extreme graphics performance if you want to play games. Will the Studio XPS 13 turn out to be as impressive as the larger Studio XPS 16? Keep reading to find out.

Our review unit of the Dell Studio XPS 13 features the following configuration:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz)
• Memory: 4GB - 2DIMM DDR3
• HDD: 320GB 7200rpm
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 9500M GE 256MB
• Display: 13.3" WXGA UltraSharp LCD with TrueLife WLED
• Optical Drive: Slot Load DVD+/- RW with Dual Layer DVD+R write capacity
• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64 bit)
• Wireless: Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n and Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR)
• Battery: 6-cell battery
• Dimensions: 0.9-1.4 x 12.6 x 9.3 inches
• Weight: 4.93 lbs with 6-cell battery
• Price as configured: $1,444 (Starting price: $1,099)

Build and Design
The Dell XPS M1330 was a major success in late 2007 and revitalized the Dell brand name in the eyes of consumers. It's no big surprise then that Dell's all new Studio XPS 13 is a multimedia notebook that combines the latest technology with much of what made the M1330 a success.

The Studio XPS 13 proves that Dell has come a long way since the boring gray laptops from previous years. They've taken the sleek lines and brushed aluminum accents from the XPS line and combined it with the multimedia features and a few chassis design elements from the Studio line to create a solid mobile notebook. Unlike the larger 16-inch Studio XPS 16, the Studio XPS 13 is designed for people who need to keep their laptop with them at all times ... but need the same high performance found in larger notebooks.

The Studio XPS 13 does a surprisingly good job balancing mobility with solid design and construction. As mentioned above, the Studio XPS 13 takes several design elements from the XPS M1330: the wedge-shaped profile, drop hinge, slot-loading optical drive, and touch-sensitive media buttons are all hallmarks of the XPS M1330. That said, the new Studio XPS 13 is thicker and heavier than the older 13-inch notebook.

One nice design touch is the use of leather on the lid over the hinge area. We've seen leather-wrapped notebooks before, but this subtle use of leather looks a little more appealing and might even be practical. Since many people carry their laptops in their hand with the hinges pointed down this leather area provides a soft, textured surface for you to hold and keep a tight grip on your notebook. We aren't certain how well the leather will hold up over time, but it was durable enough to resist scratches during our testing period.

In terms of overall chassis construction the Studio XPS 13 is extremely solid and suffers from virtually no flex or creaks when squeezed and twisted between your hands. Construction is mostly magnesium alloy and some plastic with brushed aluminum accents around the hinges and the outer edge of the notebook. The Studio XPS 13 isn't quite as rugged as the Dell Latitude or Precision business notebooks but it should survive a drop from your desk without significant damage.

The one design element I have mixed feelings about is the bottom access panel. Rather than have the typical RAM cover, hard drive cover, and main panel on the bottom of the notebook, the Studio XPS 13 uses a single, massive panel that provides access to all of the notebook at once. While this is helpful for those people who want to make multiple modifications or service their notebook it also means you have to remove 10 screws from the bottom of the notebook just to upgrade the RAM.

Screen
The 13.3" WXGA UltraSharp TrueLife WLED display is quite nice, but not nearly as beautiful as the RGBLED display available on the larger Studio XPS 16. Colors and contrast are rather average but viewing angles are surprising good. You won't have any trouble sharing a DVD or Hulu clip with your friends using this screen.

A potential problem for some owners is the fact that Dell only offers the Studio XPS 13 with a "frameless" glossy display ... the type that uses a separate glossy protective layer in front of the actual display panel. This gives the screen a very modern look, but the trade-off is a significant amount of reflections on the surface of the screen under strong indoor lights. Outdoors under direct sunlight the screen reflections are so strong it can be extremely difficult to see anything on the screen.

If you keep your office lights dim or live in your parents' basement with the lights turned off this won't be a problem.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Media Controls
The keyboard on the Studio XPS 13 is quite nice and similar to what is used on the Studio XPS 16. The keyboard is firm with only a minor bit of flex detected near the "Enter" key. All the keys have excellent travel and cushion. The only complaint some may have is that the keys are "flatter" than the ones used on other Dell notebooks, so touch typists might have a learning curve when using this notebook. The keyboard also features a nice white LED backlight function when you're typing in the dark.

The Synatics touchpad works well enough, though it seems a little too small considering that most notebook manufacturers are switching to larger touchpads. The mouse buttons, though small, have excellent travel and cushion when pressed. The good news with the touchpad is that it's responsive, has dedicated scroll areas and the glossy textured feel is extremely good.

A series of touch-sensitive media buttons with white LED backlights are located above the keyboard. The media button LEDs stay lit constantly rather than turning off after a fraction of a second, so they might distract you and reduce battery life by staying lit all the time. The only negative issue we experienced with these buttons was that they flicker slightly when the notebook is running on battery power ... which can give you a mild headache if you stare at them.

Ports and Features

The port selection on the Studio XPS 13 is rather unique for a notebook of this size and will probably take a few people by surprise when they notice it has three video out ports. Here's a quick rundown of what you get:

Front: Indicator lights, card reader, dual headphone jacks, microphone jack, and IR port.

Rear: No ports, just battery and heat exhaust.

Left: Security lock slot, VGA, Ethernet, USB, DisplayPort, and HDMI.

Right: ExpressCard slot, FireWire, slot-loading optical drive, combo USB/eSATA port, and power jack.

The built-in HDMI is a very nice thing to have for those that want digital video and audio output. Likewise, the addition of DisplayPort is a nice addition for road warriors using the latest external displays. That said, I'm a little disappointed that Dell included three different video out ports but only two USB ports. Since most $300 netbooks have three USB ports it's completely unacceptable that a premium notebook only has two.

Speakers
The speaker quality is average for a 13-inch multimedia notebook, but noticeably less impressive than the larger Studio XPS 16. The speakers perform roughly as well as the speakers on the older Dell XPS M1330, but since they're so small they tend to produce a rather hollow sound with plenty of highs and mid tones but virtually no bass.

The speakers on the Studio XPS 13 are located next to the hinges on both sides above the keyboard. The speaker grill surface is rather small, but that's to be expected with 13-inch notebooks.

Performance and Benchmarks
At the end of the day the most important parts of a laptop are the internal components that do all the work. Our review unit came equipped with the Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor (2.4GHz) which offers excellent performance in terms of number crunching and video encoding. The 4GB of DDR3 system RAM is enough to satisfy Vista and still provide enough RAM for most needs. The 320GB 7200rpm hard disk drive (HDD) in our review unit offers plenty of storage for most of your entertainment needs.

The big news with the Studio XPS 13 is the inclusion of Hybrid SLI graphics in the form of Nvidia GeForce 9500M GE graphics. Without getting too technical, the Studio XPS 13 essentially includes both low-power integrated graphics and high-performance discrete graphics. When you need the best possible battery life you can use just the integrated graphics, and when you want to play video games the integrated graphics and the discrete graphics combine forces to provide as much video processing power as possible. The synthetic benchmarks listed below will give you some idea of how this system performs compared to other systems on the market.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
HP Pavilion dv4t (Core 2 Duo T9600 @ 2.8GHz)	26.972 seconds
Dell Studio XPS 13 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4GHz)	31.951 seconds
Toshiba Satellite U405 (Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.1GHz)	37.500 seconds
HP Pavilion dv3510nr (Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.0GHz)	38.656 seconds
Dell Inspiron 13 (Pentium Dual Core T2390 @ 1.86GHz)	44.664 seconds
HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 @ 1.6GHz)	103.521 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
HP Pavilion dv4t (2.8GHz Intel T9600, Nvidia 9200M GS 256MB)	5,463 PCMarks
Dell Studio XPS 13 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia 9500M GE 256MB)	5,450 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv3510nr (2.0GHz Intel P7350, Nvidia 9300M GS 512MB)	4,920 PCMarks
Toshiba Satellite U405 (2.1GHz Intel T8100, Intel X3100)	4,145 PCmarks
Dell Inspiron 13 (1.86GHz Intel T2390, Intel X3100)	3,727 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.6GH AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	2,191 PCMarks

3DMark06 graphics comparison against notebooks @ 1280 x 800 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Dell Studio XPS 13 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia 9500M GE 256MB, Hybrid SLI)	3,542 3DMarks
Dell Studio XPS 13 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia 9500M GE 256MB, Integrated)	2,090 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv3510nr (2.0GHz Intel P7350, Nvidia 9300M GS 512MB)	1,865 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv4t (2.8GHz Intel T9600, Nvidia 9200M GS 256MB)	1,741 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,355 3DMarks
Toshiba Satellite U405 (2.1GHz Intel T8100, Intel X3100)	539 3DMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	502 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 13 (1.86GHz Intel T2390, Intel X3100)	470 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

Heat and Noise

Like its big brother the Studio XPS 16, the Studio XPS 13 generates more lap heat than what we'd like to see. Our review unit gets quite hot whenever the processor or graphics card are working hard. After running multiple benchmarks and watching 30 minutes of a streaming online TV show the Studio XPS 13 got uncomfortably hot on my lap. The heat isn't horrible, but if you are sensitive to laptop heat then this notebook might be a little too hot to use as a "laptop." The temperatures listed below are in degrees Fahrenheit.

As mentioned previously, noise was a bit of a mixed bag with the Studio XPS 13. The slot-loading optical drive made some noise when inserting or ejecting a disk but it was reasonably quiet compared to older slot-loading drives. The hard drive in our review unit was rather noisy and suffered from random clicks when accessing data. The cooling fan was noisier than expected and even when running idle the fan was loud enough to be head by people several feet away in a quiet room. When we stressed the CPU and GPU during the benchmarks the fan became quite loud.

Battery Life

The Studio XPS 13 comes with either a 6-cell battery or a 9-cell extended-life battery. The 6-cell lithium-ion battery included with our review unit provides reasonable battery life without adding extra weight or bulk to this 13-inch notebook. With Vista's power management running in "high performance" mode, screen brightness set to 50 percent, wireless on and using hybrid SLI graphics, the 6-cell battery delivered 2 hours and 12 minutes of battery life. With Vista's power management running in "power saver" mode, screen brightness set to 30 percent, wireless on, and using integrated graphics only, the 6-cell battery delivered 4 hours and 5 minutes of battery life.

While these numbers aren't bad, this is less battery life than what we expect from a "premium" notebook priced at more than $1,000.

Conclusion

The Dell Studio XPS 13 is a solid notebook that combines attractive style and performance in one easy-to-carry package. The Nvidia Hybrid SLI graphics do a fantastic job of balancing battery life and performance, and the available Core 2 Duo processors have all the muscle you need to get serious work done. That said, all this style and power comes at a price ... both literally and figuratively. Not only is the Studio XPS line priced above the Inspiron and current Studio lines but the Studio XPS 13 is also more expensive that the popular XPS M1330. In all honesty, it's hard to overwhelmingly recommend the Studio XPS 13 as long as the XPS M1330 is still available for several hundred dollars less.

Pros:

• Excellent build quality
• Nice keyboard
• Solid performance as configured

Cons:

• Glossy screen with glossy protective layer
• Only two USB ports
• Battery life okay but not great
• A little too expensive for what you get

Read rest of entry

Notebook Review Spec : HP Pavilion dv2 Review

BY: JerryJ, NotebookReview.com Editor

The newest 12-inch notebook from HP is no ordinary ultra-portable laptop. Featuring the new AMD Athlon Neo processor, the HP Pavilion dv2 promises to bridge the gap between low-performance netbooks and higher-priced ultra-portable notebooks. This thin and light laptop can handle 1080p Blu-ray movies or even get you to the next level of your favorite video game. But at a price of $750, will consumers buy this instead of a $300 netbook?

Our HP Pavilion dv2 (dv2-1030us) features the following specifications:

• 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo Processor MV-40
• 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM 666MHz (1 Dimm)
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
• 12.1" WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280x800)
• 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 Graphics (512MB)
• 802.11a/b/g/n wireless and Bluetooth
• 5-in-1 card reader
• External Lightscribe SuperMulti 8x DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• 6-Cell Li-ion battery
• Dimensions: 11.50 in (L) x 9.45 in (D) x 0.93 in (min H) / 1.29 in (max. H)
• Weight: 3.95 lbs (with 6-cell battery)
• Price as configured: $749

Build and Design
The design of the Pavilion dv2 is brand new for HP and features the AMD "Yukon" platform designed specifically for ultrathin laptops. The body of the dv2 is smooth with rounded edges, making it extremely comfortable in your hand while carrying it around. The design is compact, but the overall footprint is almost as wide as a 13-inch notebook because of the bezel around the keyboard and screen. The screen also sports a latchless design, making it easy to open the notebook with one hand. Although the lid lacks any latch to keep it held shut, the hinges feel nice and strong, keeping the lid secure. Pressing firmly onto the back of the screen cover will produce some ripples on the screen ... but you must apply significant pressure to cause this.

What might look like a giant beefy hinge for the 12-inch display is actually a standard 6-cell battery with a small hinge on either side of this thin and light laptop. The plastic covered, alloy-reinforced lid features a glossy black finish that looks subtle and stylish and doesn't scream "LOOK AT ME!" the way that the HP Imprint Finish does on most HP Pavilion notebooks.

The magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis is quite rigid and suffers from no flex or creaks even when twisted between my hands. Granted, this is due to the fact that the dv2 is less than one inch thick ... meaning there isn't much empty space inside the notebook for anything to bend under pressure. Bottom line, this notebook can survive the use and abuse from students who will toss it into a backpack every day for several years in a row.

In terms of upgradeability, the dv2 is much easier to upgrade than most netbooks and even some notebooks currently on the market. One panel provides access to the single RAM slot and a place for a Gobi WWAN card (available on custom configurations starting in June). Another panel gives you access to the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card, and a final panel contains the hard drive. Although the dv2 provides easy access for upgrades, you won't be able to add more RAM to this notebook since it comes maxed out with a 4GB RAM module.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Most low-priced, full-size notebooks currently on the market feature poorly built keyboards that show significant flex/bounce when typing pressure is applied. This isn't the case with the dv2 thanks in large part to the ultrathin chassis design. There simply isn't space inside the notebook for the keyboard to flex or bounce.

Each key press has the perfect amount of resistance with soft, quiet clicks. The keys are accurate and responsive and I enjoyed typing on this keyboard. The overall size of the keyboard looks virtually identical to what we've seen on other 12-inch notebooks from HP ... and that's a good thing. This keyboard is much nicer than what is featured on most netbooks. The keys are easy to read and are a good size ... except for the top row of Function keys which are a little too small and not particularly easy to press without hitting another key by mistake.

The touchpad is an ALPS model and feels very responsive with little lag. The entire touchpad surface is made of a high gloss plastic, and can sometimes be hard to use depending on how dry or oily your fingertip happens to be. The surface needs to collect some of your finger's natural oils to allow for easy movement on the touchpad. While the reflective touchpad surface looks cool HP probably would have been better off using the same type of textured touchpad surface used on the HP Pavilion tx2500 and TouchSmart tx2. The touchpad buttons are in a great location and are easy to control with your thumb. The buttons provide mild feedback with a shallow movement that gives an audible click when pressed.

Display
The 12.1" WXGA glossy widescreen display features LED backlighting and is bright and vibrant with excellent colors for viewing images or movies. Contrast seems a little better than what we've seen on the larger 14-inch screens on the HP Pavilion dv4, but blacks aren't quite as deep as we would like to see. The 1280 x 800 resolution is significantly more than what you get on the average netbook screen and is the perfect match for a 12-inch screen.

Viewing angles are average with limited vertical viewing angles that give you a sweet spot of +/- 15 degrees. Horizontal viewing angles are much better with colors staying true even out to very wide angles. Brightness levels are more than adequate for viewing in a bright office setting. Sunlight readability is limited, but as long as the sun isn't shining directly at the glossy screen the dv2 is perfectly usable outside on a table at a coffee shop.

Ports and Features
The HP Pavilion dv2 comes equipped with most of the ports you need, including three USB ports and a media card reader. While three USB ports might not sound like a lot, that's the same number of ports found on most 13-inch and 14-inch notebooks. The other thing to keep in mind is that the dv2 is between 0.93 and 1.29 inches thick. Some ultrathin notebooks like the Apple MacBook Air only have a single USB port. The really impressive thing to mention here is the addition of a HDMI port for connecting video and audio to an external monitor or HDTV.

We would have liked to see at least one USB/eSATA combo port and possibly even a docking station connector on this notebook, but given the ultrathin form factor and $750 price point we can forgive these omissions. One thing worth mentioning is that the HP website claims the dv2-1030us configuration of the dv2 doesn't include Bluetooth. However, our review unit does indeed include Bluetooth and several new dv2 owners in our discussion forums also report that the dv2-1030us inlcudes Bluetooth. That said, here's a quick tour of the sides:

Front: No ports, just indicator lights and the speakers.

Rear: Battery and hinges.

Left: Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, two USB 2.0 ports, and heat vent.

Right: Power switch, Wireless on/off, SDHC card slot, microphone in and headphone out, USB, power, and security lock slot.

Performance
HP offers the Pavilion dv2 with the new AMD Athlon Neo 64-bit processor. This single-core processor is bassically a scaled-down version of AMD's current 65nm notebook processors with a lower TDP (15 watts) which means this notebook shouldn't get as hot on your lap and should last a little longer on battery power. While the power consumption of the new Athlon Neo isn't as low as the Intel Atom, it's clear from our synthetic benchmarks that the 1.6GHz AMD Athon Neo is faster than the 1.6GHz Intel Atom. Likewise, the processor inside the dv2 can encode video or run Photoshop filters in a fraction of the time it takes the Intel Atom processor to perform the same task.

The only time the Athlon Neo processor seemed noticeably slower than a low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor was when we attempted to launch multiple applications at the same time. Multitasking in this way generally created a delay of a few seconds, but the delay was never severe enough to cause problems.

Not only does the dv2 run 64-bit Windows Vista with ease, but it's packed with a full 4GB of system RAM in a single DIMM module. That's four times the amount of RAM you get in a netbook! The 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue hard drive also gives you plenty of storage for a full entertainment library. As great as all that sounds, the big news with this laptop is the availability of discrete graphics thanks to the new ATI Radeon HD 3410 graphics and 512MB of dedicated memory.

While it's true that a few netbooks (such as the ASUS N10) offer discrete graphics, the reality is that the Intel Atom platform lacks the muscle to truly take advantage of discrete graphics when playing games ... at least based on the netbooks we've reviewed so far. Our own lab tests confirm that Atom-based netbooks with dedicated graphics cards only perform marginally better than Atom-based netbooks with integrated graphics when playing games. This is yet another reason that the dv2 should be labeled as a notebook rather than a netbook. For the first time ever consumers have a low-cost ultra-portable that offers flawless 1080p video playback and can even play many 3D video games at reasonable frame rates!

The dv2 was able to play Bioshock at 1280 x 800 resolution at 12-30 frames per second with detail settings at medium and at 24-40fps with detail settings at low. Likewise, the dv2 can handle Unreal Tournament III at 1280 x 800 and keep frame rates in the low to mid 30s. A newer title like Left 4 Dead only managaes an average of around 26fps, but that's still pretty impressive. Notebooks equipped with Intel integrated graphics just can't handle games like that.

The dv2 is at least several hundred dollars less expensive than other thin and light 12-inch notebooks that offer similar or superior processor performance and lower quality graphics, so it's hard to find serious fault with the dv2 in the performance department.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.40GHz)	32.119 seconds
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.2GHz)	76.240 seconds
HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 @ 1.6GHz)	103.521 seconds
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (Intel Atom N280 @ 1.66GHz)	114.749 seconds
Acer Aspire One (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	125.812 seconds
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (Intel Atom @ 1.60GHz)	126.406 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, Intel X4500)	4,298 PCmarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	2,446 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.6GH AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	2,191 PCMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,851 PCMarks
Toshiba Portege R500 (1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	1,839 PCMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,555 PCMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	1,535 PCMarks
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (1.6GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	1,478 PCMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,520 3DMarks
ASUS N10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, NVIDIA 9300M 256MB)	1,417 3DMarks
Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks
HP Mini 2140 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GM1 950)	118 3DMarks
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950)	92 3DMarks
Sony VAIO P (1.33GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 500, Windows Vista)	88 3DMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against notebooks @ 1280 x 800 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion dv4t (2.8GHz Intel T9600, Nvidia 9200M GS 256MB)	1,741 3DMarks
HP TouchSmart tx2 (2.4GHz Turion X2 Ultra ZM-86, ATI Radeon HD 3200)	1,685 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv2 (1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo, ATI Radeon HD 3410 512MB)	1,355 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet (Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz, GMA X4500)	921 3DMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	502 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 13 (1.86GHz Intel T2390, Intel X3100)	470 3DMarks
Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Core 2 Duo U7600, Intel GMA 950)	122 3DMarks

HDTune for the built-in hard drive:

External Optical Drive
Another important feature to consider with the dv2 is the external Lightscribe SuperMulti drive. Power and data are handled over a single USB connection so you only have to sacrifice a single USB port on the dv2 when the drive is connected. In the coming months HP will also make an identical Blu-ray drive available to consumers as well. The Blu-ray drive (which was included with our review unit) allows you to take full advantage of the the dv2's ability to handle 1080p content over the HDMI port.

Keep in mind that the pre-configured dv2-1030us version of the dv2 only ships with a standard LightScribe SuperMulti DVD drive. The Blu-ray drive will not be available until May or June when the dv2 shows up on the custom order page on the HP website. The cost of the Blu-ray drive is not known at the time of this writing.

Regardless of whether you're playing a DVD or a Blu-ray disc, the most important thing is that it works ... without complications. The HP MediaSmart software that comes pre-installed on the dv2 instantly recognizes when we insert a DVD or Blu-ray movie into the drive and begins playing with a single click. This type of ease of use makes the Pavilion dv2 an excellent choice for college students who need a mobile entertainment center.

Speakers and Audio
The speakers on the dv2 are pretty impressive for a thin and light 12-inch notebook. The two Altec Lansing stereo speakers located on the front edge of the netbook produce fantastic volume levels with minimal distortion and acceptable range. However, it's worth complaining about the less-than-ideal placement.

Since the speakers are located on the front edge of the notebook the sound isn't being directed up and toward the user when the dv2 is used as a laptop. In fact, our staff usually refers to laptop speakers with this type of placement as "crotch speakers" because the speakers are directing sound to your lap rather than your ears. Given the compact design of the dv2 there weren't many other places for the speakers to go unless HP made them smaller, but we'd like to see a different speaker location on next year's model. Nevertheless, the speakers sounds great if you're using the dv2 on a desk.

The headphone jack on the dv2 works well with the two different brands of earphones I used during the test. No static or other noise was noticed through the jack besides imperfections in the audio source itself. The other benefit to having an HDMI port on the dv2 is that you can connect this video/audio port to an HDTV and home entertainment system speakers as well.

Heat and Noise
Nothing spoils a great notebook like heat. A "laptop" needs to keep external temperatures under control so it can be used on a lap. Unfortunately, notebooks equipped with AMD processors typically run just a little hotter than notebooks with Intel processors. Thankfully the new AMD Athlon Neo processor keeps heat under wraps.

The hottest spot on this netbook was the area around the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth card ... meaning AMD deserves some credit for the lower thermal output of the the new Yukon platform. The external temperature readings below (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded while browsing the Web and running two HDTune tests in a row after approximately 30 minutes of use:

In terms of noise, our review unit of the dv2 remained quiet during the testing period ... even during the synthetic benchmark tests. When the system was stressed during our review the internal cooling fan kicked into high gear, but the fan noise was barely noticeable.

Battery
Under normal use, backlight at 50 percent and using wireless for web browsing and Vista set to "Power Saver" mode, the 6-cell battery managed to deliver four hours and 12 minutes of battery life. This is pretty good for a $750 ultra-portable notebook, but the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE netbook was able to deliver almost nine and a half hours of battery life with similar settings. If you switch to the "High Performance" mode in Windows Vista and boost the screen brightness to maximum then the battery life of the HP Pavilion dv2 drops to a modest two hours and 24 minutes.

Conclusion
I started this review with an important question, "at a price of $750, will consumers buy this instead of a $300 netbook?" The answer is, yes ... or at least I hope so.

The HP Pavilion dv2 satisfies an important need that low-cost netbooks never could. When netbooks originally hit the market at the end of 2007 every notebook industry analyst was certain that netbook sales would cannibalize the notebook market. Why would consumers buy a regular laptop if they can buy a $300 netbook? What ended up happening is that 95% of consumers who purchased a netbook purchased a netbook in addition to a notebook. Netbooks are great for travel but just don't have the performance and features needed to replace a regular laptop for most consumers.

The HP Pavilion dv2 is thin and light enough that it can replace a netbook, and it has enough performance to replace a full-size notebook. The only people who might need more performance are extreme gamers and people who need extreme processor speed and multiple cores for multitasking work like encoding two or more video formats simultaneously.

If you want to connect your laptop to your HDTV and watch 1080p video, the dv2 can handle it. If you want to edit high-resolution images in Photoshop while you're on vacation, the dv2 can handle it. If you want to play new video games and don't need extreme detail and frame rates, the dv2 can handle that too.

Pros:

• Excellent value
• Impressive graphics performance
• Good speakers (see below)
• Optional Blu-ray drive works extremely well
• Lots of RAM and storage ... and easy to upgrade
• Thin, light and well built

Cons

• Battery life is OK but not the best
• No eSATA or ExpressCard for high-speed expansion
• Bad location for speakers
• Processor performance good but not great at multitasking

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