HP Pavilion
Hewlett Packard’s entrant into the laptop arena is the Pavilion, which comes in a wide variety of different models. Ranging in price from just above $500 to over a thousand, the Pavilion has three different sizes to choose from.

The smallest and most portable model is the 2000 series, which has a 14.1 inch display and is 1.04 inches thick. Weighing in at 5.3 pounds, it is a bit heavier than some of the other laptops that purport to be ultra-portable, as you can find laptops that weigh around four pounds with most of the same components. Processing speed starts out with average, mobile processors such as the Intel Celeron M in the 2000t model and the Mobile AMD Sempron in the 2000z model, both at around 1.7 to 1.8 gigahertz, but there is an upgrade option to move up to dual core processors from both chipmakers.

Like the 2000 series, the 6000 series also has separate models, “t” and “z”, depending on whether you choose an Intel or an AMD processor. Also, this model contains the exact same choice in chipsets as the 2000 series. The main difference between the two types of laptops is the size, as the 6000 series has a 15.4 inch LCD display, which is a fairly good size for a laptop of this price.

The HP Pavilion 9000 series, on the other hand, is the high-end version of this lineup. With a 17 inch display, this model is designed for multimedia viewing and processing. It also contains a full-sized keyboard with a numeric keypad, and the capacity for two hard drives, both of which are rarities on a portable computer. With all of these extra features, having a 9000 is like carrying around a small desktop computer that only weighs 7.8 pounds. The 9000z offers a small bump up from the AMD processors that come with the 6000z model: the Mobile AMD Sempron 3500 is available instead of the 3400, which basically means that you get an extra 256KB of cache for a total of 512KB. And likewise, the top choice is a 2.2 gigahertz Turion rather than a 2.0 gigahertz one with the 6000z. The 9000t model’s Intel processors have higher clock speeds than their 6000t counterparts as well.

The bottom line is this: HP Pavilions are not the fastest or lightest, and they don’t have the most add-ons, but for the money, they represent one of the best values out there in terms of performance and price.