HP Pavilion dv6605us Budget Laptop Computer System

The Bottom Line
HP's Pavilion dv6605us notebook is a low cost notebook that offers a very good set of features for those needing a solid general purpose computer. It may not be the fastest, cheapest or have the most storage, but it is good all around.

Pros

* Spacious Hard Drive
* Good Features For The Price

Cons

* Has Lots of Trialware
* Not As Quick As Core 2 Duo Notebook Offerings In Similar Price Range

Description

* AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 Dual Core Mobile Processor
* 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
* 160GB 5400rpm SATA
* 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner With LightScribe
* 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) LCD And NVIDIA GeForce 7150 Integrated Graphics
* v.92 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wireless
* Three USB 2.0, One FireWire, ExpressCard/54, 5-in-1 Media Card Reader
* 14.1" x 10.1" x 1.7" @ 6.2 lbs.
* Vista Home Premium, MS Works, Muvee AutoProducer, Roxio Creator Basic, Norton Internet Security

Guide Review - HP Pavilion dv6605us Budget Laptop Computer System

HP has pretty much used the AMD line of notebook processors for the majority of their budget oriented notebook systems. This is true for the Pavilion dv6605us notebook that uses the AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 dual core mobile processor. It isn't as fast as the Intel Core 2 Duo processors that are making their way into lower cost notebooks, but it does perform well enough for most computing tasks. The 1GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory will let it run the Vista operating system alright as long as not too many applications are open at once.

Storage is one of the better aspects of the Pavilion dv6605us. Most low cost notebooks still use the 80GB hard drive sizes. HP has installed a 160GB drive into this notebook, doubling the size of an average budget laptop. This allows the user to fit more digital media files and programs onto the system. The included dual layer DVD burner also has the ability to burn labels directly to LightScibe compatible media. Rounding out all of this is the 5-in-1 media card reader.

Graphics in the budget notebook market are generally one of the last things that manufacturers tend to look at. The 15.4-inch LCD screen is pretty standard for most notebook computers. The included NVIDIA GeForce 7150M integrated graphics is a step up for 3D graphics over the common Intel graphics, but it still prevents pretty much any real 3D gaming.

HP unfortunately is like most of the companies and offsets the costs of budget computers and installs a large amount of trailware applications. These tend to slow the system down a good deal which is a nuisance for most computer buyers. It would be nice to see them remove many of them to make the Pavilion dv6605us an even better laptop.