HP Pavilion DV6-1030US

HP Pavilion DV6-1030US - great multimedia features, power and nice modern design

Why to choose it:

• 16 inch widescreen has a native resolution of 1366 x 768, which is better than most notebooks;
• 4GB RAM (up to 8GB)
  
• large disk space - 320GB;
• Draft-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth
• Altec Lansing speakers providing unbelievable sound,
• HDMI port for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable
• very inexpensive price - under $800. This notebook has great features for the money;

HP Pavilion DV6-1030US at www.notebook-online-store.com

Product summary:

Offering an eye-catching modern look, the entertainment-focused HP Pavilion dv6-1030us notebook PC makes it easy to enjoy your favorite music and videos while on the go, as well as keep you productive with a speedy dual-core processor and 64-bit Windows Home Vista Premium operating system. Enjoy full screen viewing with the 16-inch screen's 16:9 aspect ratio--perfect for full-screen viewing of HDTV and other HD content. And the BrightView display looks good even in direct sunlight. You'll also enjoy movies or music in seconds with the external DVD or music buttons to launch HP QuickPlay (which bypasses the boot process). Control playback settings from up to 10 feet away with the included HP remote, then store it conveniently in the Express card slot. Turn your next instant message into a live video chat with the integrated webcam and omni-directional microphone. Optimized for low-light environments, it's great for capturing short videos to share on your favorite social networking site.
This notebook has a 101-key keyboard (with integrated numeric keypad) and a touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical/horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad. It also includes two quick-launch buttons (HP QuickPlay Music and DVD).

Technical details:

• 16.0-Inch display
• Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 Processor (2.0GHz)
• 4GB RAM
  
• 320GB HDD
• DVD multi drive
• MS Windows Vista Home Premium

Ports and connectivity:

• 4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (with 1 eSATA + USB 2.0 combo port)
• 1 HDMI output (for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable)
• Analog video output: 1 VGA
• 1 ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
• 2 headphone jacks
• 1 microphone jack
• 1 Expansion Port 3 connector (for use with the HP xb3000 Expansion Base or the HP Notebook QuickDock)
• 1 IR receiver
• 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet networking
• 56K modem (V.90)

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Toshiba Satellite L305-S5939

Toshiba Satellite L305-S5939 - great performance at great price

Why to choose it:

• Very good overall performance;
  
• large disk space;
  
• nice-looking design;
  
• media control buttons above keyboard and volume dial along front edge add convenience;
• includes a Webcam--a feature not found on all entry-level laptops;
• price under $700;
  

Toshiba Satellite L305-S5939 at www.notebook-online-store.com

Technical Details:

• Intel® CoreTM2 Duo Processor T6400 2.0GHz;
• 4GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM - 320GB Hard Drive;
• DVD-SuperMulti drive (+/-R double layer) - Built-in Webcam and microphone;
• 15.4" widescreen WXGA with TruBrite® Technology - Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/g/n);
• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit);

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Lenovo IdeaPad Y430 14.1-Inch

Lenovo IdeaPad Y430 is a great laptop at great price.

Why to choose it:

Solidly constructed, comfortable keyboard and touchpad, HDMI, one-touch back-up, versatile wireless adapter, light weight, low price - under $650.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y430 at www.notebook-online-store.com

Product description:

Intel Pentium Dual Core T3200 2GHz / 3GB RAM / 160GB Hard Drive / Intel GMA X4500MHD / DVD+-R/RW / Webcamera / 802.11AGN / Vista Home Premium 14.1 diagonal WXGA (1280 x 800) Glossy VibrantView Display 1.3 Megapixel Webcamera Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500MHD with up to 1277MB Shared Video Memory DVD+-R/RW Drive with Double Layer Intel WiFi Link 5100AGN 802.11a/b/g/n 10/100 Ethernet LAN 6-in-1 Card Reader (SD/SD pro, MS/MS pro, MMC, XD) ExpressCard 34 Slot Ports - 3 x USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, Headphone; Microphone, VGA, HDMI, RJ-11 (Modem), RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 13.1 (W) x 9.5 (D) x 1.5(H) Approximate Unit Weight - 5.2 Pounds

What I like:

• Great battery life. 3.5-4 hours of web surfing, 1.5-2 hours with more strain (i.e. Photoshop). I haven't tried to watch DVDs as I didn't buy it for that reason. Not bad for a small PC though on battery life.
• Snappy. I have a desktop that I built myself with similar specs and this seems to be slightly faster in some respects.
• Illuminated media controls and equalizers above keyboard.
• Light weight. Weighs in at about 5 pounds or so. A little heavier than I would like but a lot better than my previous HP that was 8.5 pounds. Dell's are also notorious for being heavy as bricks.
• HDMI out. I cannot stress how much this came in handy for me over the last few weeks. I use my Xbox 360 to stream media across my network but when I got a Red Ring of Death (my first in 3 years) this little laptop was my life saver. I bought a $4 HDMI cable, hooked it up and was back in business.
• Media card reader. Great feature, though I wish it read CF cards as well.
• The design. I love it. textured top is not a finger print magnet and the laptop actually feels really sturdy.
• Built in webcam. Pretty much a standard on any laptop these days but the camera is nice. I use it for Skype all the time.
• On that same note, the built in mic is nice as well for Skype.
• Keyboard. I love the keyboard (with the exception of the Function Key). Keys are nicely spaced, spring is nice and very comfortable.
• Vista Premium. Forget all the nonsense surrounding Vista. After the Service Pack it is really a stable and secure system. I cannot go back to XP and the plus is this laptop will run Windows 7 nicely.

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