With an eye toward multimedia users, HP's family of dv-branded Pavilion laptops have always combined eye-catching design with cool features such as touch-sensitive media controls and dual headphone jacks. We're partial to 17-inch desktop replacements such as the Pavilion dv9500t--we'd happily trade a bit of portability for a larger screen in such an entertainment-oriented machine--but if you're looking for more of a compromise between screen real estate and total travel weight, the 15-inch dv6500t delivers nearly all of the features found on its larger cousin, including Intel's refreshed Centrino Duo mobile platform (formerly known as Santa Rosa). Our somewhat expensive review unit included high-end extras such as an HD DVD drive, but stripped down, the system starts at less than $1,000. Even at its base of $950, the Pavilion dv6500t is hard to beat for a basic multimedia laptop.
We love HP's contingent of touch-sensitive multimedia control buttons above the keyboard and the two headphone jacks on the front edge of the chassis. But while the company's QuickPlay multimedia utility was groundbreaking for letting you control music, photo, video, and DVD playback without booting Windows XP, the utility is an adjunct to the new Vista OS. And instead of gaining access to your files in about ten seconds (as you can with Dell's MediaDirect utility), you have to wait more than 90 seconds for Vista and then QuickPlay to launch. By that point, you might as well just use Windows Media Center.
A beautifully crafted consumer notebook, the new HP Pavilion dv6500t has backlit media controls and a stylish case that's made for showing off.
Capable of serious work as well, it's a strong performer, yet fairly light (6.2 pounds) and easily totable. The keyboard is a tad bouncier than that of its predecessor, the dv6000t. And though bright and readable, the 15.4-inch screen tends to reflect overhead lights. Also, HP downgraded the dv6000t's 1.3-megapixel (1280-by-1024-pixel) Webcam to 0.3 megapixels (640 by 480 resolution) on the dv6500t. These are minor nits, however.
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