HP Launches Pavilion dv2 Notebook for $749

By Jane McEntegart
published

Some of you might recognize the HP Pavilion dv2 from CES. The company showed off the 12.1-inch notebook in Las Vegas in January and we gotta say that HP has really scored a hat-trick with this one.

The dv2 offers portability along with power, something users are becoming increasingly more aware of. While the almighty netbook is a bargain to be sure, your average not-so-tech-savvy Joe is fast realizing things like battery life, RAM and screen resolution are actually important parts of your computing experience, who knew?

Enter the HP Pavilion which weighs in at under 4 pounds, packs a 1280 x 800 LED BrightView display, an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor, a 320 GB HDD, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 graphics with 512 MB dedicated, 4 GB DDR2 system memory, SuperMulti 8x DVD+/-R/RW Drive with double layer support and of course, includes your bog-standard, must have for netbookers, built-in webcam and microphone.

At $749 it’s more expensive than a netbook and more in the range of an ultra portable; a great option for those who’ve realized that a netbook won’t cut it when it comes to anything more than classes, business trips, Facebook or browsing. It might be pricey but it’s definitely bang for your buck. We’re waiting for the Microsoft advert showing Brad or Nicole buying one of these. Our only beef is that the keyboard isn't quite full-sized.

Jane McEntegart
5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • The Third Level
    Is the Athlon Neo AMD's version of the Atom?
    Reply
  • It appears to be somewhere between the Atom and the Core 2 series based on power consumption and performance. Slower, less power draw than the Core 2 and faster. more power draw than the Atom. The particular chip in the HP is the 1.6ghz dissipating 15w.
    Reply
  • koss64
    This looks like a powerful little device.
    Reply
  • Mucke
    Is the Athlon Neo AMD's version of the Atom?

    You could call it that way. It is basically a single-core athlon @ 1.6GHz. That makes it more powerful than the atom. If you consider Atom a nice idea, but a little too slow, this is the CPU you want to have. It has a higher power consumption, but the chipset saves the day (compared to atom).

    Here in Germany there are three versions available: dv2-1001eg, 1050eg and 1070eg.
    All of them come with windows. This thing is 50% netbook, why isn't there a Linux version?
    Reply
  • jacobdrj
    I would argue the biggest advantage of the netbook form factor is cost. Anything over $400 USD and you are in premium territory, and might as well get something with a C2D U series.
    Reply