After the expensive Apple MacBook Pro I mentioned in One of The Best, I decided to look for a more budget-friendly notebook costing around $1000.

The problem was that the ideal HP Notebook which I spotted in the weekly ad of a retail store was not to be found anywhere else online. Ah! I had missed the “Exclusive to” catchphrase. So instead I searched for something with similar specifications.

The basic specifications I was looking at were a Dual Core processor, most likely an Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile, 2GB of RAM (just in case I actually wanted to try to run Windows Vista), a hard drive of at least 120GB- but the bigger the better, a DVD writer and built-in wireless (that’s pretty standard anyway). Also, the screen size needed to be around 14 to 15 inches, and the weight in the mid-size laptop range (6-7.5 lbs).

With these specifications I found quite a lot to chose from, a Gateway MT6916, Toshiba Satellite A205-S7458, HP Presario V6444US and even a Lenovo 3000 Y410.

With so many to chose from I settled on the HP Pavilion DX6650US Notebook, mainly because of it’s sizable hard drive, media card slots and upgradeable memory

Posted on January 4th, 2008 by mervyn