Hewlett Packard’s 14” dv2550 Special Edition (Verve) Pavilion is built on Intel’s Centrino Duo (Santa Rosa) platform, suitable for multimedia usage. HP Pavilions are some of the best looking notebooks available, with a sleek appearance and clean lines with the “Verve” Imprint finish with a unique pattern and attractive colours. There is even great detail into the finish, including the wave pattern right onto the trackpad. While not as strong as a ThinkPad, its construction is sturdy and can be considered above average for it’s price range (also, plastics used feel strong and scratch resistant).

HP’s BrightView 14 inch glossy very reflective screen, of 1280×800 resolution, appears bright, crisp, and vibrant in colors, but the viewing angles are poor. The sound quality of the Altec Lansing speakers provided on the HP Verve is excellent for their size even if like any other laptop sound system it lacks the bass. Also, 2 headphone jacks are conveniently located at the front of the notebook. The 1.5Ghz Intel T5250 Core 2 Duo processor is more than capable for most computing tasks, even for little a few 3D scenes rendering; the integrated Intel X3100 graphic included in this notebook completes the usability if the configuration.

Most of the time the fan is off or operating below ambient noise levels, and, at high speeds, the noise is still reasonable. However, the DVD drive is loud when spinning at full speed, about average noise during movies if compared to other laptops. The hard drive is the only part which seems to generate heat, warming up the left side to a quite high level. The dv2550 includes the following ports: a 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader, 3 USB 2.0, 2 Headphone out, 1 microphone-in, VGA (15-pin), S-video, RJ-11 (modem), RJ -45 (LAN), expansion port, Firewire, ExpressCard reader. The dv2550se includes a 12 cell battery which gives the notebook’s owner allot of mobility (even in the worst case scenario it can stay alive for more than 2 hours).

HP Pavilion Verve dv2600t Specifications