HP Compaq Business Notebook 6715b Laptop Notebook Review

This HP Compaq laptop combines power with a good design and other great features to give you this fantastic business laptop. The laptop is Compaq's Business Notebook 6715b, which you can probably guess from the name is designed and specifically made for business people, and so therefore comes with vindows vista business already in installed on it, this offers some extra features and programs compared to the other vistas and comes with Intervideo WinDVD, HP Quick Launch Button Software, HP ProtectTools Security Manager, HP Wireless Assistant, Synaptics Touchpad Driver, HP Backup and Recovery Manager, Roxio Easy Media Creator 9, HP OpenView Radia Management Agent, HP QuickLook.
The design is really good too. It is all in one colour, which is usually something that puts me off laptops, however this all black laptop has a cool square like shape to it and I think it makes the laptop look really modern. The edge around the screen isn't huge and is quite thin making this laptop look better and also reducing its size.
You would be forgiven for thinking, after seeing all the TV advertising, that the only notebooks you can buy are powered by Intel processors. But there are AMD alternatives out there and some offer good value for money. One of the latest in HP's Compaq business range is the AMD-powered 6715b, which offers a good set of features for under £650.
Even if you didn't know about Compaq being HP's business range, one look business notebook 6715b battery tells you all you need to know, as its austere black and grey styling leaves you in no doubt about the market sector at which it's aimed.
It's being sold under the ‘Balanced Mobility' banner and, while the first part of that is fine, we have to question whether a notebook that weighs in at 2.9kg (including power adapter) and measures 357 x 265 x 35mm is truly mobile.
True, it's lighter than most desktop replacement notebooks out there, but you are still going to suffer if you have to lug it around all day, and while the whole thing feels well built, the screen has a noticeable amount of flex in it, so hp compaq business notebook 6715b battery care should be taken as to what you pack next to it.
Both laptops are based on AMD’s M690T chipset supporting up to 4GB of 677MHz DDR2 memory. It features integrated ATI Radeon X1250 graphics with up to 512MB of shared system memory and with S-Video output. There are also Gigabit Ethernet, a 56k modem, as well as four USB ports, PC Card slot and memory card reader in each model.
Regarding data storage, the HP Compaq 6515b and HP Compaq 6715b include SATA hard drives with choice of 80GB, 120GB, and 160GB 5400rpm units or with 80GB HDD at 7200rpm. These notebooks will ship with dual-layer DVD burners, including drives with LightScribe technology.
HP’s new business laptops provide enhanced security by using HP ProtectTools, TPM Embedded Security Chip 1.2, HP Fingerprint Sensor, optional Smart Card Reader, Kensington lock and optional HP Privacy Filter.
HP Compaq 6515b and 6715b weigh 5lbs and 5.7lbs respectively and come with Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems.

Hewlett-Packard Pavilion ZD8000 Review

Hewlett-Packard's zd8000 sits firmly between the "too cool for school" and the kitchen-sink style of laptop. This Media Center monster weighs in at 10.5 pounds and has just about everything under the sun stuffed into its 11 x 15-inch body. There is a DVD burner, a six-in-one card reader, four USB 2.0 ports, and a FireWire port. The system uses a Harman Kardon speaker system and has a beautiful 17-inch LCD. HP has begun using brighter and clearer screens, resulting in better viewing angles and great DVD playback.

The HP Pavilion zd8000 is a terrific multimedia notebook that's packed with new technologies like Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005, PCI Express graphics, and an ExpressCard slot.
The zd8000 scored the highest multimedia ratings we've seen on any notebook. It also has a gorgeous BrightView 17-inch widescreen display and an external HP USB Dual TV tuner, which lets you watch one show while recording another. Its Harman Kardon speakers had impressive sound.
The zd8000 comes with the new ExpressCard/54 PC Card slot—which offers high-speed transfers of 250 Mbps each way—and PCI Express graphics from the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X600 card. But its gaming test scores were average, because of its basic X600 GPU.

HP Pavilion ZD8000 Specifications:
Mobile Pentium 4 520 2.8GHz, with Hyper-Threading1GB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz(512x1) from MicronToshiba 80GB hard drive 5400 RPMLG GWA-4080N DVD+/-RW Drive - CD-ROM (40x); CD-R (40x write); CD-RW (24x write); DVD-ROM (16x); DVD-R (8x write); DVD-RW (4x write); DVD+R (16x write); DVD+RW (4x write); DVD+R Dual Layer (2.4x write)ATI Mobility Radeon X600 with 256MB dedicated RAM17.0" WXGA TFT LCD ViewBright display 1440 x 900 resolutionIntegrated V.92/56K modemRealtek RTL8193 10/100 Ethernet LANBroadcom 802.11b/g Wireless LANBuilt-in Harman/Kardon stereo speakersIntel ICH6 AC97 Sound Card5-in-1 Media Reader (Secure Digital, Memory Stick/Pro, MMC, xD Picture Card)

The star of the Media Center is an external dual TV/FM radio tuner manufactured by Adaptec. This dual tuner let us bring in two shows at once and record one show while watching another. The hp pavilion zd8000 series battery runs Windows Media Center 2005, which looks incredibly rich and full on the huge screen. We were able to record TV and burn it to CD or DVD with Sonic Solution's embedded Media Center burner.
To add TV or video to our DVD, all we had to do was select "Other Programs" from the Main Menu, insert a disk, select the video with HP's new slimmed-down remote, and sit back and wait. The zd8000's 4X DVD-R burner did the rest.
For the geeks out there, however, the zd8000's motherboard includes PCI Express and a PCI Express(otherwise known as ExpressCard/54) slot on the side. HP has chosen a PCI Express-enabled graphics card, the ATI Radeon Mobility X600 with 256MB of memory for high-end game playing. The card isn't much faster than a standard AGP card, but it's still powerful enough to pump out 11152 3DMarks.
In fact, PCI Express is almost overkill in this system. The technology is a super-fast variant of the PCI standard, and is just beginning to appear on desktop motherboards. The fact that the technology is actually appearing simultaneously on laptops and desktops speaks to the popularity of portable PCs.
What does PCI Express give you right now? Not much. ExpressCards are not widely available and any speed increases offered by, say, an ExpressCard USB card are obviously offset by the slower speeds offered even by USB 2.0. In the zd8000's case, HP is basically future-proofing an already steep investment.
The pavilion zd8000 series battery also includes 1GB of 400-MHz memory and a USB digital drive bay, which is a USB flash or hard drive that pops into the side of the laptop. We long for the day when the optical drive is a relic of the past and we simply carry around a full complement of flash drives containing all our software.
Generally, this laptop performs admirably when stacked up next to other media notebooks, and the next-generation hardware adds to the general ?gWow?h quotient. The case is standard, with an off-center trackpad with raised scroll surface, a full keyboard with a numeric keypad, and volume and wireless controls below the screen.
Unsurprisingly, with great power come great big fans. This laptop sounds like it's ready to take flight. As a result, we were lulled to sleep while watching TV, thanks to the white noise emanating from the zd8000.
All in all, PCI Express is not yet all it's cracked up to be. But as it is, the zd8000 is definitely a step into the future.