HP's Pavilion HDX 16 entertainment laptop gets reviewed

First things first: LaptopMag's Pavilion HDX 16 was entirely more equipped than the basic $1,249 unit that was uncovered last night, so it makes sense that they were swooning over the (optional) 1080p display and the (optional) Blu-ray drive. Granted, those extras will cost you, but it's items such as those that made this notebook so appealing to critics. Overall, the unit performed well in all of the areas that mattered, with strong WiFi scores, decent battery life and excellent processing power. Of note, reviewers did wish for a smoother touchpad and more responsive touch-sensitive buttons, but outside of that, we didn't hear too many complaints. Looking for the 30 second version? "Overall, the HDX 16 is a desktop replacement in a mainstream notebook's body that delivers great value for the price." Got it?

Read - Hands-on
Read - Full review

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 16th 2008 9:35AM]

I don't know if I would call that the 30 second version.

Maybe the 3.

[Ignatius @ Sep 16th 2008 12:43PM]

If someone read that sentence that slow, I'd assume they also have Sticky Keys enabled 24/7.

[zshift @ Sep 16th 2008 12:52PM]

he was, of course, writing for the illiterate out there that try to read engadget. or maybe he was referring to his own reading speed. in either case... nvm, 30 seconds is a little overvoard. lol

[Christopher @ Sep 16th 2008 9:53AM]

So here's the infamous question; it had to be asked, so I may as well be the one asking it:

But can it run Crysis?

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 16th 2008 10:23AM]

You're right. Every village needs an idiot.

[Malweran @ Sep 16th 2008 10:23AM]

As cheesy as your question sounds i'll try to answer it.

I almost have the same configuration on my desktop and yes it can play Crysis on high(not max) at 1280x1024 with everything on max. Of course my desktop has a faster CPU and HDD(don't know if that makes a huge difference, probably not).

[zshift @ Sep 16th 2008 1:04PM]

@Malweran
laptops and desktops aren't the same. a 9600 gt in a laptop is similar to a 9500 gt desktop card (or slightly lower). also,processor speeds need to be compared not just with clock speeds, but cache sizes, fsb, as well as the fact that most laptop processor run on a tdp of about 35 (for c2d) and desktop processors run from 65-125 and up. if your desktop plays this at max at 1280x1024, the laptop definitely won't be close to that. the cpu makes a large difference in crysis, due to heavy physics and AI (especially at max settings). the only thing the hdd will affect is the load times of the levels/game. i had an asus g50v with a 9700m gt and it played crysis, but nowhere near the amx settings. a 9600 gt desktop is similar in performance to a 9800m gts/gtx mobile.

also, take into account that when on battery life, gpu and cpu settings are normally much lower and cause games to run much lower as well. putting settings on max cause battery life to reduce to almost nothing

but, overall, yes, it can play crysis, at very low settings.

[Malweran @ Sep 16th 2008 7:01PM]

@zshift

A thanks for the enlightenment!

[michas_pi @ Sep 16th 2008 9:59AM]

Oh God, so shiny/glossy, and by the transitive property, a fingerprint magnet.

[Adam @ Sep 16th 2008 10:08AM]

I used this at the store, and I agree. It really is a nice laptop. Very big, but worth it :)

[bidur @ Sep 16th 2008 10:36AM]

recently i have encountered 4 hp's with motherboard failure.. . ..

and i found its a big issue yet to be accepted by hp !! pav series ..

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 16th 2008 10:50AM]

Um, it's a pretty good, um, price for the, um, feature set.

[Jeff @ Sep 16th 2008 11:17AM]

I wonder if the usability lab found that making everything glossy with random wavy lines made the product hip?