HP Pavilion dv6500z

There's a lot to like about HP's Pavilion dv6500z, especially if you're a multimedia enthusiast. For just under $1,000 you get strong dual-core processing power, a better-than-average graphics solution, and a generous assortment of ports.

 

The Pavilion dv6500z is decked out in the now-familiar glossy black Radiance-patterned finish, which looks great but has a tendency to show off every smudge and fingerprint. Under the lid is a 15.4-inch widescreen display with a maximum resolution of 1280 x 800, which is on a par with other budget notebooks. The display delivered a sharp picture with good color accuracy, but the glossy coating was too reflective for our tastes. Videoconferencing is easy, thanks to a pair of microphones and a VGA webcam embedded in the upper bezel of the display.

 

The shiny silver keyboard deck contains a wide-aspect touchpad with two large mouse buttons, both of which were smooth to the touch and not overly sensitive. The keyboard provided good action, with well-spaced keys and plenty of wrist room on the lower deck. You'll also find a fingerprint reader to the right of the touchpad. Above the keyboard is a thin strip containing a set of soft-touch multimedia controls that are activated by lightly tapping or sliding your finger across the blue LED icons. Doing so activates HP's QuickPlay, which lets you easily launch DVD movies, display photos, and play music files. Above the strip are two Altec Lansing speakers that were loud and distortion-free. 

 

The Pavilion dv6500z offers virtually every I/O port you could hope for in a budget notebook, including HDMI, VGA, and S-Video connections, as well as three USB ports, a FireWire port, and the usual Ethernet and modem jacks. There's also a 5-in-1 card reader, an ExpressCard/54 slot, and an Expansion Port 3 connector for use with HP's xb3000 Notebook Expansion Base ($149). As with the Dell entry, two headphone jacks and a microphone input are conveniently mounted on the front of the notebook. You'll have plenty of room to store all of your multimedia files on the 160GB hard drive, which came with Windows Vista Home Premium and an assortment of bundled applications, including HP PhotoSmart Essentials, RealRhapsody, and Muvee AutoProducer.

 

Powered by AMD's 2-GHz Turion 64 X2 processor and 2GB of memory, the Pavilion dv6500z performed remarkably well on our PCMark05 test with a score of 3,884. The Pavilion dv6500z performed well on MobileMark 2007, too, with a score of 111. Battery life was pretty impressive: 3 hours and 18 minutes with Wi-Fi disabled. While we're pleased that the wireless adapter supports 802.11n, we were disappointed with its low throughput scores of TK at 15 Mbps feet and TK Mbps at 50 feet from our access point.

 

This notebook's 3DMark03 score of 5,196 was second to none, however, thanks to the Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics engine. It's nice to see a robust graphics solution in a budget notebook. The Pavilion dv6500z averaged 42 frames per second on our F.E.A.R. gaming tests in autodetect mode (800 x 600) but dropped to 8 fps when set to maximum resolution (1024 x 768), which means you can expect a reasonably good 3D gaming experience as long as you play at lower resolutions.

 

You can't ignore HP's discrete graphics and multimedia features and with its solid performance and stylish design, the HP Pavilion dv6500z is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a multimedia notebook for less than $1,000.

 

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