HP Pavilion dm4

Delivering a striking metal design and fast Core i5 performance, the HP dm4 packs practically everything you could want in a thin-and-light notebook. This 4.4-pound machine (starting at $729; $904 as configured) also sports an excellent webcam, and instant-on mode for getting online in a hurry, and software that makes it easy to Hulu and other media. However, the dm4’s somewhat frustrating touchpad prevents it from getting an even higher rating.

Design

The dm4 is about as thin (1.3 inches), light (4.4 pounds), and metallic as the 4.2-pound dm3, but with a few changes. While it still has a pale bronze aluminum lid and chassis and magnesium bottom, the surface is now mostly smooth, with the exception of some artful etchings that stretch across the lid and are mirrored on the palm rest (the dm3, in contrast, has a smooth lid and brushed palm rest). HP also saw to it that the touchpad and the indented area surrounding the keyboard all have gently rounded edges, a subtle, but nice, touch.

Aside from the champagne color and its etched design, the dm4 bears some resemblance to Apple’s MacBook Pro line, thanks to its black, island-style keyboard with integrated multimedia buttons, as well as its trackpad that integrates touch buttons. Not that the similarity is a bad thing: the dm4 is a beautiful machine.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The dm4 features a chiclet-style keyboard that’s fairly comfortable to type on. Even though the system’s right Shift key is undersized compared to the left one, we had no problem typing question and quotation marks without looking. We managed a respectable 86 words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing Test.

The touchpad is fairly large (3.5 x 1.5 inches), and we like that the left and right integrated buttons make a satisfying clicking sound when pressed. We also like that the soft touch surface is easier to navigate than the mirrored mess that was the dm3. The problem is that the touchpad still exhibited slight drag, which made the dm4 feel slower than it actually is when trying to do things like jump between browser tabs. In addition, on a few occassions the touchpad didn’t register clicks. Perhaps a driver update would help.

Quick Specs :

CPU: 2.4-GHz Intel Core i5-520M
Operating System: MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
RAM / upgradeable: 4GB / 4GB
Hard Drive: 320GB, 7,200rpm
Display: 14-inches, 1366x768

HP EliteBook 2740p

Remember when tablets were called Tablet PCs, and they were geared toward productivity instead of apps and entertainment? Here’s something to jog your memory. The HP EliteBook 2740p ($1,699 as configured) is a powerful convertible targeted at mobile professionals looking for pen and touch input. This 3.8-pound machine features a durable design, a fast Core i5 processor, and lets you get online and check your e-mail and calendar without booting into Windows. The touch functionality feels a little thin out of the box, and we wish the standard battery lasted longer on a charge, but overall the 2740p is a solid business tablet for the money.

Design and Durability
Tough but light enough to qualify as an ultraportable, the 2740p has an all-aluminum matte silver surface and a full magnesium enclosure. This modern-looking but slightly chunky convertible feels like it can stand up to a fair amount of abuse, whether you’re toting it from your office to the conference room or traveling cross-country. The hinge also feels sturdy, even if it’s not bi-directional like the Lenovo ThinkPad X201.



With a 1.3-inch profile, the 2740p has the same thickness as the ThinkPad X201 Tablet but is bulkier than the 1.1-inch thin Dell Latitude XT2. The 2740p weighs the same as the XT2 at 3.8 pounds, but is lighter than the 4.2-pound X201 Tablet (when equipped with a larger eight-cell battery).

Other durability features include a spill-resistant keyboard, a DuraKeys treatment that prevents the print from rubbing off over time, and HP 3D DriveGuard for protecting the hard drive. Plus, the 2740p was designed to meet the MIL-STD 810G military standards for vibration, dust, humidity, extreme altitudes, and high temperatures.



The front of the notebook houses a latch for opening the lid, as well as the power switch, and above the keyboard you’ll find small backlit mute and volume buttons that worked well. On the top of the screen bezel, HP positioned the webcam to the left of the display latch and a keyboard light to the right that pops out when pressed. A switch on the top edge of the bezel reveals a wireless antenna, Swiss-Army knife style. In tablet mode the right side of the system houses a jog dial (good for scrolling) and Esc key, along with a button for changing the display’s orientation.

Heat
The 2740p runs warmer than its biggest competitor, but it wasn’t uncomfortable to use. After playing a Hulu video clip for 15 minutes, the area between the G and H keys measured 87 degrees Fahrenheit, the touchpad registered 97 degrees, and the bottom of the system hit 101. By comparison, the ThinkPad X201 Tablet reached only 86, 81, and 88 degrees, respectively.



Quick Specs :
PU: 2.53-GHz Core i5 520M
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
RAM/Upgradable to: 4GB/8GB
Hard Drive Size/Speed: 250GB/5,400rpm
Display Size/Resolution: 12.1 inches/1280 x 800
Graphics/Video Memory: Intel GMA HD/Shared

HP ProBook 4720s

Made for business users on a budget looking for a big screen and enough performance to last the next few years, HP’s 4720s is the newest 17-inch member of the company’s popular ProBook line. With a snappy Core i5 CPU, discrete graphics, a high-res 1600 x 900 screen, and good battery life, this desktop replacement (starting at $925; $1,059 as configured) has what it takes to sit on a lot of desks. We also like the built-in software and security options. Unfortunately, an awkward touchpad prevents the 4720s from getting a higher rating.

Design
At 6.8 pounds and 16.2 x 10.5 x 1.1 inches, the 4720s is considerably more portable than other 17 and 18-inch systems like the Toshiba Satellite P505 (8.6 pounds), Dell Studio 17 (7.8 pounds), and Acer Aspire 8940G (9.2 pounds). Like other ProBooks, the 4720s has a brushed aluminum lid and deck with a glossy black plastic bezel and keyboard mount. Unlike the ProBook 5310m, which had a slick black aluminum lid and deck, the 4720s’s lid and deck are a bland coffee color. The bottom of the machine is constructed from hard plastic.



Keyboard and Touchpad
At first glance, the ProBook 4720s’s keyboard seems like everything we’d want in a workstation keyboard; it has a numeric keypad, all the keys are properly positioned, and there’s plenty of room to stretch out. As soon as we hpprobook4720s_sf_touchpad.jpgstarted typing, our opinion changed. The keys were a little small for our fingers, and not as responsive as we’d like. On the Ten Thumbs typing test, we scored a weak 74 words per minute with a subpar 4-percent error rate, while our typical score is 80 wpm with a 1-percent error rate.

The touchpad is much more difficult to work with than the keyboard, and the cursor jumped around as we navigated the desktop. Because the mouse buttons are built into the touchpad, users who use both hands will have a serious problem with the pointer jumping as they try to click. The pad supports multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, but we found them to be rather jerky and hard to control.



Quick Specs :
CPU: 2.26-GHz Intel Core i5 M450
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)
RAM/Upgradable to: 4GB/4GB
Hard Drive Size/Speed: 500GB/7,200 rpm
Display Size/Resolution: 17.3 inches/1600 x 900
Optical Drive: 8X DVD-RW
Graphics Card/Video Memory: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4500/512MB

HP G62t

How much do we love the HP G62t, a $599 Intel Core i3-powered laptop? Let us count the ways: it offers better performance and battery life than the competition, a cool yet understated design, and a blazing fast hard drive. We’re not fans of the single touch button, but overall, the G62t is far and away the best laptop you can get for less than $600.

Design
Taking a cue from HP’s higher-end Envy notebooks, the G62t has a sophisticated taupe color both inside and out, as well as a matte finish. Its textured pattern reminds us of the Envy 13, although it has a smooth metal lid; the G62t is made of a cheaper plastic and bears that pattern throughout. However, the brushed metal hinges make the laptop look more expensive than it is.

Other than a small power button, there are no controls in the area above the keyboard—just a discreet strip concealing the Altec Lansing speakers. HP emulates Apple’s MacBooks by adding multimedia and volume controls to the top row of the keys on the keyboard.

One of the things we like best about the G62t’s design is its light weight. At 5.4 pounds and 14.7 x 9.7 x 1.4 inches, it was easy to carry this notebook from room to room. The similarly priced Gateway NV5934u weighs 5.6 pounds, while the Toshiba Satellite L505-ES5018 weighs an even heftier 6 pounds.



Keyboard and Trackpad
The G62t’s keys adjoin each other at the base, but are terraced at the top with a soft matte finish that felt nice against the fingers. While we scored 83 words per minute on the Ten Thumbs typing test with a 0 percent error rate (not bad considering our high score is 88 wpm), we felt HP could have arranged the keys more efficiently. For instance, there’s no number pad, as there is on many other 15-inch notebooks. Worse, the right Shift key is undersized, something we noticed as we typed. Considering there’s an inch of unused space on either size of the keyboard, we see this as a missed opportunity.



We’ve given HP flack in the past for selling notebooks with high-friction touchpads, but the G62t’s was a delight to use, even if it’s largely indistinguishable from the surrounding deck. We love its spacious (2.3 x 3.5 inches), smooth, low-friction surface. Unfortunately, HP made a mistake in pairing it with a single, stiff mouse button instead of softer twin ones. We had to apply a good deal of pressure every time we wanted to press the button, though we expect it would break in over time.



Quick Specs :
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
CPU: 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M
RAM/Expandable to: 4GB/8GB
Hard drive size/speed: 500GB/7,200 rpm
Optical Drive: 8X DVD-Super Multi DL
Graphics/video memory: Intel GMA HD/shared
Display size/resolution: 15.6 inches/1366 x 768