Review: HTC Touch Cruise P3650

HTC has had considerable success in Australia with its Touch line of products - the Touch PDA / smartphone and the Touch Dual slider. They're about to introduce a new high-end Touch model - the Touch Cruise - which packs in most of the features that the other two Touch variants lack, whilst still maintaining a traditional 'candybar' PDA form factor with no numeric keypad.

Design

The Touch Cruise looks quite different overall from the other two Touch models; most of the front has a glassy finish to it, with only the directional pad and soft keys finished with a stronger substance. 

In terms of physical features, the Touch Cruise packs more into the whole handset. On the face, you will find the send / end keys, a shortcut for GPS, a shortcut to Internet Explorer (or Opera, which is also included) and a very interesting and highly effective directional pad that as well as serves for left/right/up/down selections, also works as a rotary jog dial for quickly scrolling through menus. In the middle of this circle is a select button framed by a white light.

Above the display, which although only operates at 240x320, looks bright and clear, is a VGA self-portrait camera, and the earpiece with two multi-function notification lights built in.

The left side features a shortcut that could be customised to Windows Live Messenger; it features a graphic similar to an instant messenger speech bubble. Further down you will find a spring-loaded volume rocker.

The right side features a microSD card slot and a camera shortcut. The top of the device features a power button, whilst the bottom features HTC's ExtUSB port (which is compliant with existing mini-USB cables and HTC's own cables), a lanyard slot, and the stylus port - as this is a bottom loader. Personally this is a pet-hate of mine, but I quickly grew used to this.

The back of the device is very similar to the other Touch models in that it is finished in a deep grey soft-touch material; it is emblazoned with 'HTC' and 'Touch Cruise', and of course, features the 3.0 megapixel camera and self-portrait mirror.

Overall the device looks very professional. Although it follows the 'smartphone-standard' grey and silver mix, it wears it very well. The more vibrant silver running along the side profile of the device gives the impression that it is slimmer than it is, and, overall, it bears a nice weight in the hand. The footprint of the device is quite large, to accommodate the 2.8" display, but it is certainly pocket-friendly and is comfortable to use.

Performance

During the time when we were reviewing HTC's last Touch model, the Touch Dual, a claim arose from the HTC fan community that the manufacturer had not included proper, full-speed video drivers with some of the most important (and expensive) HTC models - such as the Kaiser (HTC TyTN II), and indeed, the Polaris (Touch Cruise). I did notice significant lag at some times - especially when switching between applications and changing the HTC Home menu. This was simply unacceptable for a phone that will cost more than $950 when available in stores.

Luckily, HTC has promised a software fix to the driver issue, so it shouldn't be a problem for much longer. Apart from this lag time, actual performance within applications themselves was well above average. The Touch Cruise felt snappy and alert; the camera application was quick to start and media playback was fine. 

We were disappointed, however, with the camera itself. Smartphones often don't carry great cameras and they don't aspire to. The Touch Cruise, however, packs a three megapixel shooter so I was hoping the quality of the shot would be at least acceptable so the bigger prints would come out well. This wasn't the case - the snaps were grainy, overexposed and blurry.

Cold boot-up time was above average, though, and switching on from standby was very quick.

Day-to-day use

HTC's Touch Cruise does well in most everyday situations. Text messaging and emailing on the go, while walking, though, was quite difficult due to the smallish stylus, glossy screen and virtual keyboard. HTC has made some effort to increase mobile texting usability with larger on-screen keyboards, but you really need to stop to bash out a message accurately and quickly.

Despite input problems, the screen itself is beautiful. Although it's only at 240x320 resolution, HTC has repeated its excellent work from the Touch and Touch Dual in creating a really good-looking display. In low or bright light, it maintains a good brightness level and generally, it worked well wherever we were.

Controlling most menus and programs was easy thanks to the jog-dial / D-pad below the display. A blaring omission by HTC in the shortcut key bank below the display (which includes GPS, Internet Explorer and send / end) is a Start menu key; if we needed to access an application in the Start menu, we either had to use a finger, or get out the stylus, which defeats the purpose of one-handed control with the jog wheel.

The Touch Cruise has all the network capabilities you could want at this point in time; it stocks 3G, HSDPA downloads, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and WiFi 802.11b/g. Browsing the internet over WiFi was quicker on the bundled Opera browser than on the standard Internet Explorer - it was a good move by HTC to include the option. Bluetooth connection to a computer and to various other phones was reliable and data transfers were fast to complete.

Our prerelease review model didn't come bundled with any GPS navigation software, but expect the retail version to include a free CoPilot Live license. With Google Maps, however, the GPS was fairly accurate but it was slow to lock on to our position; sometimes taking up to five minutes.

Mobile internet is still a bit slow; broadband speeds are still not very realistic. Email on the go was fairly easy to setup, but it doesn't match BlackBerry ease of use.

Conclusion

The HTC Touch Cruise offers all the features and connectivity you could want in a stylish, slim form factor - except a physical keyboard. Not everyone wants a slide-out keyboard, though - so if you can deal with having to stop and text, then the Touch Cruise could be the work- and play-orientated smartphone for you. Until HTC figures out its video drivers issues, though, it's not for us.

BlackBerry reviews are coming!

At TB Tech we try to report on and review products that appeal directly to Australians; one big success down under has been the BlackBerry from RIM; both corporate-owned models and consumer variants have appealed widely to business types here.

We will be conducting our first ever one-week BlackBerry review from tomorrow until next Wednesday, with the Pearl 8120 model. This is a consumer-focussed model with a SureType half-QWERTY keyboard, camera and extra multimedia capability. It does include the standard BlackBerry Connect advantages in push email and server integration.

We are currently upgrading our Flickr account so you can expect the far overdue pictures of the HTC Touch Cruise (review coming), Nokia 5610 XpressMusic and the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 later this week.

Review: Nokia 5610 XpressMusic

Note: Please excuse the temporary lack of images in this review; we are currently experiencing problems with our photo server.

In order to continually satisfy the huge variety of markets that the Finnish telecom giant Nokia serves, the manufacturer consistently churns out new models -- sometimes to replace predecessors which are less than six months old.

The Nokia 5610 XpressMusic is such an update -- to which model, it is not entirely clear, but the 5610 refreshes and builds upon the successful XpressMusic multimedia-focussed phone range well.


Design

The 5610 is a very handsome phone. It takes the glossy design ideas from the up-market N81 model and combines them with more colourful, interesting highlights common to the other XpressMusic models.

We received the black/blue model, which could be considered to be the 'underdog' in terms of Nokia's marketing schemes for the 5610; the black/red model seems to be more popular and more advertised. However, I have grown to like the blue aspects of the device over the week that I've used it.

On the face of the device (with the slider closed), we see the lovely 2.2", QVGA (240x320 pixel) display which sits under glossy, black surface of the phone.

Below the display, there is a distinctive, spring-loaded slide that Nokia calls the 'Music Slider' - flicking this will skim between the home screen, music player and the radio with a smooth transition in between the changes. When using the music features, this is especially useful, as there are now no external play/pause/fast forward/rewind buttons on the phone, unlike XpressMusic slider phones of the past.

Under the Music Slider, we find the two standard soft keys; the send and end keys; and the five-way directional pad, whose centre button is emblazoned with a play/pause logo which serves that purpose when in the music player.

Above the display, you find the call speaker, and a front-facing camera with light. For reasons unknown, you can't use the front-facing camera to take photos of yourself - something we found on the Nokia 6500 slide, which runs the same Symbian S40 3rd Edition operating system.

Flick up the slide, and you'll find a standard T9 numeric keypad -- with number keys that are slightly raised above the surface of the phone, and separated from each other via an indent. This is great: it makes dialing and texting by feel so much easier than on a phone with a flush keypad.

The back of the phone is endowed with a golf-ball like texture which is probably designed to prevent slip. I found it, for that use, to be quite ineffective as I felt the phone slip in my hand in fast-moving conditions. Above the huge Nokia logo that advertises the maker in camera mode, is a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, and a dual LED flash.

The left side and bottom of the phone are both devoid of features, save for a lanyard slot on the bottom left corner.

On the right, we find a volume rocker near the top and a camera shortcut / shutter button near the bottom.

The top of the device features the various ports; unusual in a phone of this form factor, but it's being done increasingly with Nokia sliders. From left to right, we find the Nokia proprietary charging port; a proprietary mini-USB port for sync only; the back cover eject button; and a 2.5mm headphone jack. This size headphone jack is unusual for a music phone, as people generally want to use their standard 3.5mm headphones: luckily, Nokia includes a small adapter which doubles as a FM radio receiver.


Performance

The general speed and snappiness of the 5610 left us a bit let down. Although the music slider function skimmed between music menus quickly, general reaction time through the phone menus, phonebook and internet applications through the D-pad control felt a bit average.

Once you get used to the speed not being lightning fast, it's not a bother and it's not annoying. Its performance is better than more expensive Samsung models we've tested, and that's a good thing.

Performance in the camera application was very good. The 3.2 megapixel camera is quick to activate and focuses quickly and sharply; I suspect that it may be a Carl Zeiss lens, as it seems to be the same camera from the Carl Zeiss-equipped 6500 slide.

Picture quality was significantly above average for a phone camera. However, if you want a similar model, yet camera-focussed as apposed to music-focussed, we suggest the previously-mentioned Nokia 6500 slide ($689)


Usability

As the 5610 is powered by the common-in-midrange-Nokias Symbian S40 3rd Edition operating system, everyone who we asked to have a go on the phone was able to use it perfectly. It does what you tell it to do, and all of the controls are in the places that you expect.

As long as you use this phone, there will most likely be no nasty surprises, no unexpected problems; it is a phone built with Nokia's undebatable build quality, and the internal software seems spot-on.

The organisational features on the 5610 are easier to use than on some Windows Mobile smartphones. I found the 5610's software layout to be intuitive and extremely easy-to-use, and using the phone in day-to-day use was an absolute breeze.

Nokia has bundled some 3rd-party software to really make the 5610, and similarly-equipped S40 3rd Edition models, exceptional. You'll find Yahoo! Go and Opera Mini 2 on the home screen, and both of these applications provide a rich, user-focussed web experience.

Yahoo! Go quickly became my favourite application on the phone, with its Flickr integration, weather service, RSS reader and stock reports. It incorporated the best of the web into one data-friendly package.

Opera Mini also performed well. It formatted our blog into an easily-readable, yet still good-looking mobile version. Its RSS reader was only average, however, with lots of scrolling required to navigate the list of articles in long RSS feeds like Engadget.

It was also dead easy to use the multimedia features - especially the music ones. The current music playback status is displayed on the home screen, and a flick of the nifty Music Slider allows quick pause, and change of track.


Conclusion

In a giant sea of consumer phones, the Nokia 5610 is a fairly small fish. However, it really does deserve to rise above the average Nokia slider phone; its bevy of easy-to-use applications and rich multimedia features make it the best mid-range Nokia we've ever seen. It should, like several of the XpressMusic models before it, appeal to the music-loving tweenage/teenage masses, and despite a few niggles, it is quite a bargain for its A$599 pricetag.

Review: HP iPAQ 112 Classic Handheld

Pros

• Snappy, satisfying performance
• Runs Windows Mobile 6
• 802.11b/g WiFi
  
• Works well as an organiser

Cons

• No phone or cellular data connection
• Eerily, strangely light
• Fairly plain looking

HP is in the final stages of its plan to revitalise the ageing and increasingly tired iPAQ range of handhelds, and the first model to hit the shelves in Australia has been the iPAQ 112. This PDA - which cannot be referred to as a smartphone, as it is phoneless. The iPAQ 112 is actually a Windows Mobile 6 Classic device, which acts just as an organiser/PDA, similar to Palm consumer devices (not Treos) or older HP iPAQ models.

I was immediately interested in having a look at this device - just to see how a modern PDA-only device would actually perform. I wasn't expecting anything special, and I was neither surprised, nor disappointed.

Design

The iPAQ 112 is a fan of the all-too-common dark grey and black colour scheme that is, well, wild with PDAs and smartphones at the moment. Although it does look professional, I found the particular shade of grey featured in the iPAQ 112 to be quite boring. It's a darker, slate grey in a matte finish, unlike the more expensive iPAQ 221 which has a glossy black design.

The entire device seems very normal. On the face, there is a large, 3.5" TFT display, which is only at 240x320 resolution, so it looks stretched when switched on, which is unacceptable. Below this, there are four soft keys: (L-R) Calendar, Start, OK/Close, Messaging. In the middle of the soft keys is a five-way directional pad. Above the screen, there are dual notification LEDs, and an IR sensor.

On the left, there is a full-sized SD card slot, which is quite nice. On the right, there is the power button, and a voice notes shortcut. The bottom features a mini-USB connectivity port for sync and charge. This is commendable, as HP is only new to the world of mini-USB interfaces, and it works well.

However, after all this, the device gives you the feeling, that, in your hand, it is too light. I immediately thought that the battery was not inserted - but it was. It is eerily light, and I found it slightly unsettling, as I like my devices with a bit of weight to them.

Performance

Performance is the most significant feature of this device. It's a screamer - something I would have expected from the 624 MHz 32bit Marvell PXA310 processor. Everything feels snappy and satisfying. The operating system - Windows Mobile 6 Classic, which is vanilla except for the HP Wireless Manager addon - is fast and fair looking on the display.

The built-in WiFi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth (2.0) connections were quick to activate and engage. Performance over an 802.11g wireless network was fair, but Internet Explorer Mobile was better than I expected.

All the standard Windows Mobile applications were fast. That was good, because with a simple, phoneless device such as this, you shouldn't have to make compromises. It's still A$399, and you would expect a good PDA for that amount, especially when competing Palm Tungstens can be found for significantly less.

Usability

Unfortunately, I couldn't use the HP iPAQ 112 as my main device. It didn't offer enough to be my standard everyday companion, but I tried to use it as much as possible as a good organiser. For this purpose, it is really good. For what it tries to be, it's great.

Google Maps, an application I added, delivered fast performance over my WiFi network. It retrieved directions well, and I could see this application being a good addition to this product for busy home users.

Otherwise, Windows Mobile 6 Classic is a fairly easy operating system to get around. Everything is laid out well, and although the screen is big with a small resolution (which is bad in our books), this makes buttons and fonts bigger, making this perfect for someone who can't be squinting around menus, or a senior who would appreciate such a device.

You could use the iPAQ 112 everyday and never have a problem. It's a good organiser, and it works fine.

Conclusion

The HP iPAQ 112 Classic Handheld is absolutely a niche product. In days when professionals and increasingly, home users, are looking for a product which incorporates a mobile phone, internet browser, music player, and e-mail retriever, the iPAQ 112 stands out as lacking the most important of this quad - the phone connection.

I cannot see this product making much of an impact. Even two years ago, the iPAQ 112 would have taken products like Dell's Axim to war and it would have easily won. But in 2008, it is simply not what people want anymore. This is unfortunate, as this is a well-made and helpful device. However, HP will make its money from QWERTY-keypadded smartphones and fast data connections, not organisers.

View: TB Tech Flickrstream: HP iPAQ 112

Review: Apple iMac Core 2 Duo (Refurbished, 17", white)

From using the Apple Refurbished iMac from such tasks such as basic note-taking, to creating this review, the iMac has made both creative and business projects a breeze.

As computers become more and more expensive, there is a need for more inexpensive options, and one of the best turns out to be the refurbished iMac.

The refurbished iMac is a second hand, repolished, repaired (if needed) Apple Certified white Core 2 Duo model. This cheaper option performs the same as any other 2006-spec white Core 2 Duo model. This model has now been replaced by the thinner, aluminium/glass model, but is still a screamer performance-wise.

As being a Mac user I have always believed that they were superior of their PC rivals in almost every sense. In the desktop category the iMac aesthetically- and performance-based is in a different category. The matte 17" widescreen, which also encompasses the entire computer setup, is only 3.5cm thin. This is a huge difference over anything comparable using Windows; the closest would be the Dell XPS One, which still manages to be more boxy and conspicuous, where the iMac is streamlined and stylish.

The included Mac OS X ‘Leopard’ (10.5.1) operating system is really fantastic. It is reliable, secure, and beautiful. These will appeal to home users and families - especially because of its built-in parental control functions. The also included iLife package includes all the key applications you need to organise your digital life, like iPhoto (photo album), iMovie (for creating movies), iWeb (easy website creation), GarageBand (music track production) and iTunes (digital music manager).

The white Core 2 Duo imac comes in 17, 20 and 24 inch screens as well as with the choice of Combo Drive (CD reading and burning and DVD reading only) or SuperDrive (DVD and CD burning and reading). The 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor makes for incredible performance, especially with Leopard. The flawless white, glossy finish looks great in any room, from a kitchen to a bedroom.

Pricing for the refurbished iMac varies with timing and deals in the Apple Store, but generally prices start from A$1,449. This makes it affordable and easy for purchase by a student, and even better value from buyers looking in other price ranges. A 2.16GHz, Core 2 Duo 24" white iMac can be found today for just $1,879 - a fantastic price.

If a new family desktop is in need, I would highly recommend looking at this great piece of power from Apple.

Review by Alex Lennon (editing by Tom Baker)

Review: HTC Touch Dual P5500

Pros:

• Professional and stylish
• runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• Excellent slide-out numeric keypad
• Easy to use
• Standout call quality

Cons:

• Using the stylus can feel strange
• Difficult to type without the keypad
• No mini-USB connectivity
  
• Not a full QWERTY keyboard
  

HTC has come a long way since its extended operation as an original equipment designer over the past few years. Since buying out Dopod, and severing ties with O2 Asia, i-mate and other manufacturers who previously sourced devices from HTC, the company has succeeded in creating a somewhat-known brand that takes and increases on the quality of the devices that it made for other brands.

The original HTC Touch P3450 debuted in June last year, and although it offered users a dramatically simplified Windows Mobile experience called TouchFLO(if they wanted), it was seen to be less than it could be, as it did not have any form of text input other than on the virtual keyboard.

However, in October 2007, HTC announced another product for their now expanding Touch line - the HTC Touch Dual P5500. This took the excellent features of the existing Touch and built upon them, namely with the slider form factor featuring either a numeric pad (T9) or a dual-key QWERTY keyboard under the slider, depending on region.

Here in Australia, we get the 16-key T9 numeric keypad, with built-in Start, Messaging, Back and Internet shortcuts. Inputting text and numbers on the Touch Dual still isn't as good as on a smartphone with a full slide-out QWERTY keypad (as featured on other HTC devices such as the S730 and the TyTN II), but it is dramatically easier than on the original Touch model.

Design

The Touch Dual, when closed, features a design quite similar to the original Touch. The Touch Dual is only available in dark grey with silver accents, for now.

On the front of the device, we see the reasonably-sized 2.6" TFT display at 240x320 resolution. When turned on this looks clear and bright. Below the screen, there are send and end keys, and a five-way directional pad. Unfortunately, and annoyingly, there are no soft keys for selecting the two options on the bottom of the screen, unlike many other Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices.

Above the screen is the speaker, and a VGA front-facing camera, which is an addition over the Touch. The Touch Dual is a little taller than the Touch, and feels a bit more spacious.

On the top there is a power button; on the left hand side, a microSD card slot and the HTC ExtUSB proprietary port, for sync + charge + headphones; on the right, we have a camera shortcut and the stylus at the top. The bottom is devoid of any features.

On the back, there is a two megapixel camera, without a flash but with a self-portrait mirror.

Around the sides of the device, there is a silver chrome strip - this is a classy feature which adds to the grey/silver theme, but also makes the device seem a little slimmer.

Performance

The Touch Dual runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional, with a few specialised HTC plug-ins that really assist the user in getting around what can be quite a complicated operating system faster, and with ease.

On the home screen, which is, by default, grey to suit the device, you see HTC Home, an add-on which allows quick access to the time, weather, ring/vibrate settings and the phone features of the device. This is a very nice feature, but I found it to be a little slow and for some of the buttons to take a second press. It didn't like my fingertips too much, either, which was a real niggle as the stylus was sometimes difficult to get out, and was also too small.

Otherwise, Windows Mobile 6 was fast enough on this device, but general speed and performance could have been better. Although the Touch Dual features a 400 MHz Qualcomm chipset, the operating system was sometimes slow, and it wasn't as snappy as I would have liked.

Some features, however, were pleasing. The camera was very quick to start, and pictures were easy to take and processing didn't take long. Picture quality was also fine, but nothing special.

Day-to-day use

The Touch Dual is very easy to live with. Its rubberised finish makes it easy to hold in the hand, and reduces slip when in fast-moving conditions. Access to key features when time mattered was generally fine, and the device consistently performed above average in all areas.

Call quality was a standout - the Touch Dual maintained a strong signal at almost all times on Vodafone Australia's 3G network around Sydney, and callers were able to hear us fine on the Touch Dual, just as we found the party on the line to be strong and clear.

Bashing out text messages varied in speed depending on the input method - I found it best to type on the T9 keypad with predictive text turned off. The on-screen virtual touch keyboard and keypad were helpful sometimes, but they ended up being slow and irritating.

Interestingly, the screen is flush with the surface of the phone. This is something relatively rare in a stylus-based PDA, and I found it to be an annoyance. It certainly looked better than a screen that sits lower than the surface, but the stylus sometimes 'didn't like' the glossy display and I felt like pressing too hard might break it. Finger tapping was far more satisfying than using the stylus, and that became my preferred way of using the device.

I didn't choose to use HTC's TouchFLO interface much. TouchFLO lets you use Windows Mobile 6 in a very iPhone-like way - scrolling around HTC-designed menus with finger flicks. I found it was much faster to access the features normally through the standard software.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to test out data use on the Touch Dual, but I'm sure it would perform very well on any HSDPA network.

Finally, the device synced well and charged quickly. After just ten minutes charging, I saw the battery increase 5 percent, which I considered to be quite outstanding.

Conclusion

The HTC Touch Dual is a very enjoyable smartphone. It maintains a reasonable balance between form and function, with good looks combined with easy-to-use features and a good keypad. I found the Dual a huge improvement over the original Touch, and that's a good thing. HTC has taken a big step in the right direction with the Touch Dual, and I would easily recommend it to anyone seeking a smartphone with looks and brains.

What we're reviewing at the moment

This afternoon, Will (our design adviser and occasional blogger) and I received from our friends at HP and HTC:

1. an iPAQ 112 Classic Handheld (from HP), featuring Windows Mobile 6 Classic, and
2. a Touch Dual (from HTC), featuring all the nice HTC Touch features, Windows Mobile 6 Professional, and a T9 numeric slider keypad.

We'll have our unboxings up soon, as well as the reviews over the next week.

A return to the 'old' PDA: HP's iPAQ 112

The HP iPAQ 112 Classic Handheld is a funny one. Whereas smartphone and PDA manufacturers such as HTC, Asus, Palm and even HP itself are leaning towards developing devices with full QWERTY keyboards, 3G phones and thin profiles all included, the iPAQ 112 goes against most of the now common PDA rules.

It's a return to the 'old' style of PDA, like the PalmPilots of the 1990s, and early HP iPAQs of the past few years. It features a big, beautiful oversize 3.5" screen, but no keyboard. It runs Windows Mobile 6... but it's the Classic edition, so there's no phone. It's quite thin, though.

What's my point: We're receiving one on Wednesday, for our review of a return to the 'old' PDA style in HP's latest budget model.

Stay tuned!

Review: HP Pavilion dv2632tx notebook

Over the week since I received my evaluation model of the HP Pavilion dv2632tx notebook computer, I have tried my hardest to test this computer in almost all my everyday tasks, in a variety of environments, as I do with all notebooks.

I’ll cover the different aspects of this notebook in categories.

Design

The design of the Pavilion dv2632tx is, like most of the new consumer HP laptops, lovely. All of the usable surfaces – the lid, the palm rests, screen and keyboard surrounds – are glossy plastic. When you first take the Pavilion home – or as I saw after receiving it from a courier through HP’s media program – you see the intricate and beautiful ‘Radiance’ theme on the black, glossy lid. It’s just a fancy array of circles and swirls... but it really does thrill for the first little bit of using the computer. After that, it looks great, but it’ll just become a fingerprint nightmare.

On the inside, the palm rests are decorated in the same fashion. If you think the pattern is subtle, you’re quite mistaken. It’s there, and the ‘Radiance’ pattern wants to be noticed.

The keyboard, many will be pleased to note, is not glossy, or decorated. It is made of a durable, matte material that feels nice under the fingers and gives the feeling that the keyboard can handle greasy fingers, crumbs, and hard use. Around so much glossy plastic it feels a little out of place, but it doesn’t feel cheap.

Along the palm rests, from the right, you’ll find a fingerprint scanner. This is a great help if you don’t want to remember all of those passwords you use for various websites, clubs, emails and the computer itself. The biometric scanner can keep them all under one umbrella and simply accept your own finger.

The touchpad is glossy, which sometimes can become a little annoying, as are the mouse buttons. You can also switch off the touchpad, via a button above, which is a nice feature if you work with a mouse.

Finally, above the keyboard, there is a row of touch-sensitive buttons, which are a really nice touch. They’re for controlling QuickPlay, HP’s own media manager. QuickPlay is somehow a little bit contradictory to Windows Media Centre, which comes standard with this computer as it is running Windows Vista Home Premium. However, they do work for most other applications. The best of these touch buttons is the volume up/down – to control it, you just swipe your finger up or down. This is quite lovely, and definitely gives this computer a more expensive feel.

Screen

The dv2632tx, I believe, has a great compromise when it comes to the screen. Most people go for a 13.3” laptop if they want a portable machine that still has a widescreen. However, many other people don’t need so much portability so they go for a 15.4” laptop, which affords more screen space and higher resolutions.

The mid-size screen on the Pavilion, at 14.1” is fantastic. It offers the portability of a 13” laptop, with the screen of a 15” notebook. I have very much enjoyed working with a screen of this size, and would preferably buy a laptop with this screen size for myself.

The screen is glossy, as well, which everybody knows will reflect the light quite a bit. And this one does. But with the way colours look on this laptop, you’d never care. The screen is particularly beautiful. Once again, I compare this laptop to the MacBook – and this screen is better.

Performance

Ah, the wonderful dual-core processor. They offer faster performance, quicker response and smaller wait times. Fantastic, one thinks. The dv2632tx does have a dual-core processor, in fact, an Intel Core 2 Duo, which is a good one. However, since it’s only powered at 1.5Ghz, it’s not exactly a screamer. However, although it’s processor speed seems to be fairly low, we need to take into account the fact that the dv2632tx is a Dual Core notebook – so therefore usually 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo will be quicker than say, a 1.8GHz Pentium 4 or Centrino.

The speed of the Pavilion is fine. It’s definitely not slow – this laptop would be perfect for students, home users, mums, or perhaps for some light office work.

Expansion

You can find more detailed ports expansion information on our main review site (http://web.mac.com/tom.bakes/tbtech).

For just a moment I’ll talk about the DVD drive: This is fantastic, as it has LightScribe labelling. So, with a blank disc that supports LightScribe, you can create your memories on DVD with the included Windows DVD Maker, then laser a nice label onto the DVD right there in the disc drive. Ingenious! Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to try out the LightScribe feature, but I have used it on an HP desktop and it works well.

Operating System

The dv2632tx comes standard with Windows Vista Home Premium, an operating system that both suits it and runs very well. In the week that I have tested this notebook, Home Premium has suited the Pavilion to a ‘t’, except for the large annoyance I suffered when I discovered that Home Premium does not support the Samba (SMB) server networking environment. My home Windows servers run on the SMB protocol and for it to be left out in Home Premium is not good in TB Tech’s books.

For home users, contrary to the beliefs of many tech review sources, is better suited to home users than Windows XP Home or Professional, TB Tech finds. On average, it was easier for the average home user to navigate the Vista operating system as a first timer than it was to navigate XP. We did not have any hiccups with Vista over the week of testing, either, and all basic to moderate tasks were easily completed.

Portability

As I previously commented, 14.1” is a very nice size for a notebook – offering easy portability with a good size (wide)screen.

The Pavilion is no exception to this. It is light, at only 2.43kg (official weight for Pavilion dv2500), and it could easily be carried around every day, but you’d want it in a bag. The glossy surface of the lid makes it a bit difficult to carry securely in the hand.

Carrying this to a local cafe, to work, or just around the neighbourhood would an easy task.

Battery

The battery lasted between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 hours on our tests here at TB Tech. On average, with word processor use, spreadsheets open, browsing the internet over WiFi and listening to some music occasionally, we got approximately 2 3/4 hours of battery. Watching a DVD reduced this down to between 2 and 2 1/2 hours.

These numbers are quite respectable, as the screen is quite bright even at lower settings, and multimedia and internet on this device looks and sounds great.

Conclusion

The Pavilion dv2632tx has been a pleasure to use. The interesting and rare perks of the hardware, like the 2 headphone jacks, or the touch-enabled media controls, should be features in more notebooks.

If you are a home user, student, busy mother, or perhaps someone who does a balance of home use with light work use, the Pavilion dv2632tx could certainly be the notebook for you.


You can find the HP Pavilion dv2632tx Entertainment Notebook at many electronics or computer stores. It retails for $1,599.