HP Pavilion dv2 Laptop Reviewed

Ultraportables seem to have been overshadowed by netbooks in a big way. This has not only to do with the smaller size of netbooks but also the price factor. HP Pavilion dv2 aims to reduce the price gap between netbooks and ultraportables without compromising on performance

Ultraportables seem to have been overshadowed by netbooks in a big way. This has not only to do with the smaller size of netbooks but also the price factor. HP Pavilion dv2 aims to reduce the price gap between netbooks and ultraportables without compromising on performance.

HP Pavilion dv2 specifications :

• Processor : AMD Athlon Neo / 1.6 GHz
• Display : 12.1″ TFT HP BrightView
• Display resolution : 1280 x 800
• Memory : 3GB DDR2
• Hard Disk : 160GB SATA-150 5400 rpm
• Graphics : ATI Radeon HD 3419
• Graphics memory : 256MB
• Optical Drive : External Blu-ray drive with DL support
• OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
• Battery : 4-cell Li-ion
• Approx. price : $699

The external Blu-ray drives is not included in the base price and you have to shell out extra for it. The design of the HP Pavilion dv2 is stylish and looks stunning in all black look. The laptop is not only ultra thin but also light weight at just 3.8 pounds. The usual imprint finish can be found all over the laptop.

The 12.1″ display on the laptop is as good as it gets for HP laptops. Having a bigger display when compared to netbook never hurts. The display has good contrast and the colors appear rich. Viewing angles are good but the glossy screen produces reflections in bright light.

Ports get the axe in ultraportables and especially when they are ultra-thin too. HP seems to have taken good care of that by including a good number of ports. One can find three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI 1.3 connector, a card reader, LAN port, VGA port and a Kensington lock port squeezed in as well.

The laptop does not come with a internal optical drive due to space constraints but you have the option of going in with either a normal DVD burner or a Blu-ray one which are both available as external drives powered and driven by a USB port.

The laptop has the latest AMD Athlon Neo processor under its hood. The processor is designed to run cooler and consume less power. The performance of the processor is almost twice as fast comapred to Intel Atom. The dedicated graphics card on the laptop offer flawless full HD video playback and also allow casual gaming. Overall the dv2 is a good performing notebook.

Pros :

• Good display
• Dedicated graphics
• Good performance
• All major ports present
• Great design

Cons :

• Average touchpad
• No internal optical drive
• Low battery life

Final Thoughts

The HP Pavilion dv2 is a nice offering from HP that puts in a lot of features in to the ultra slim ultraportables while keeping the price at a reasonable level. There isn’t much negative to write about this notebook and one should seriously look at it.