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HP Pavilion dv7-6000sa review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £494
inc VAT

A fantastic looking laptop, and it's great value, too

HP seems to be covering all bases with the new dv7 range. Not content with just releasing an Intel-powered model, the company is also targeting more budget-conscious users with a cheaper version equipped with an AMD processor.

First impressions were positive thanks to HP’s excellent design; the metallic chassis looks fantastic, with curves in all the right places. Build quality is a little questionable around the edges where different materials join, but otherwise it felt reassuringly sturdy. It’s not exactly lightweight at 3.4kg, particularly when you add the weight of the mains charger, but its compact dimensions mean it should still slip into a laptop bag.

HP dv7-6000sa right ports

Recent HP laptops had terrible touchpads that were a nightmare to use, but thankfully the dv7’s has had a much-needed redesign. Gone are the touch-sensitive buttons that would cause jittery movement and accidental mouse clicks, replaced with physical buttons that have plenty of spring and short travel. The touchpad itself now feels much more accurate as a result. A novel illuminated surround makes it easier to use in the dark, but we would have liked a backlit keyboard as well.

HP dv7-6000sa keyboard

The keyboard is something of a mixed bag. The function keys default to their pre-assigned shortcuts, which can initially seem confusing, and each QWERTY key has slightly too much travel, but enough spring that we didn’t have any major issues when typing.

We were pleased to see that the 17.3in widescreen display has a decent resolution. Although it isn’t Full HD, 1,600×900 is ideal for working on two documents side-by-side, browsing the web or watching 720p video. Brightness was reasonable, but colours were muted. It’s a shame that viewing angles were incredibly limited, as there’s a huge amount of screen tilt, but contrast quickly disappears at anything but a face-on angle. The reflective glossy screen finish doesn’t help either.

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Basic Specifications

Rating*****
ProcessorAMD Phenom II N660
Processor clock speed3GHz
Memory4.00GB
Memory slots2
Memory slots free0
Maximum memory8GB
Size416x275x32mm
Weight3.4kg
SoundATI HD audio
Pointing devicetouchpad

Display

Viewable size17.3 in
Native resolution1,600×900
Graphics ProcessorAMD Radeon HD 6470M
Graphics/video portsVGA, HDMI
Graphics Memory512MB

Storage

Total storage capacity750GB
Optical drive typeDVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports4
Bluetoothyes
Wired network ports1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support802.11b/g/n
PC Card slotsnone
Supported memory cardsSDHC
Other ports2x minijack audio output, minijack microphone input, 2x USB3

Miscellaneous

Carrying caseNo
Operating systemWindows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Operating system restore optionrestore partition
Software includedMicrosoft Office 2010 Starter, CyberLink DVD Suite 7
Optional extras£44

Buying Information

Warrantyone-year RTB
Price£494
Detailswww.hp.co.uk
Supplierhttp://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk

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