HP 650 Battery

One knock is that HP included a plastic dummy insert for the the PCMCIA slot, a flap is preferable as those inserts are tricky and tend to get lost eventually.

The design is basic and clean. I’d call it boxy in its looks, sort of like the Honda Element of notebooks. Somehow it still looks quite trendy though, I think the fonts on the keyboard keys and cool LED lights give it a nice balance of a new age look with retro shape and styling.

The installation utility installs the drivers for all parts of the docking station, including the network connection, audio jacks, and display adapter. Whenever you have the docking station plugged into your system a application sits in the system tray that gives you quick access to the display options to change the resolution and other attributes.

Conclusion
The HP USB Docking Station is a decent accessory to look at if you share your computer between home and work, and need to connect multiple devices at both locations. With a single USB connection you can connect external speakers, an additional display, network cable, and four USB devices. Pushing all of this data through a single USB connection does have its downsides, with limited video playback support and much slower USB transfer speeds. A true docking connector with pass-through connections is always the best option for connecting external devices, but if you don’t have that option this is your next best bet.The 14.1″ HP Compaq 6910p is one of the latest professional line portable business notebooks currently being offered by HP. The 6910p is much like the smaller 12.1″ screen HP 2510p we recently reviewed in terms of looks, but of course this larger notebook packs more power. The 6910p starts at a reasonable price of $1,199 with a basic configuration that includes the Intel Core 2 Duo (Santa Rosa) processor.

The 6910p is squarely in the business notebook category, this means there is no sacrifice made when it comes to security and communications features you’d want to have as a business person. Our review model has integrated Verizon EV-DO and you can get 802.11n for faster wireless. There’s a fingerprint reader for biometric security and it offers a TPM integrated security chip. The 6910p, being a business notebook, is designed so that it can share a common image with other HP notebooks if an IT department is standardizing on this brand. Furthermore, it offers Intel Centrino Pro so IT managers can remotely do such things as security updates to users machines.The 6910p is all business in its looks using only dark gray and black colors. It’s a clean and boxy look. To keep the look clean HP even goes so far as to make the media buttons touch sensitive instead of regular push button style. While the touch sensitive buttons look nice and the lights on them are pretty, I personally prefer the protruding buttons as it’s generally more user friendly to be able to “feel” a button. Thankfully the touch sensitive buttons do not beep loudly when touched like the old HP dv6000 series did, that wouldn’t go over well in a business environment.The overall build quality of the HP 6910p is very good. A latch is used to hold the screen down when stowed, I really like the rubber gripped latch opener because it’s easy to feel and find without looking down at the notebook and easy to operate. There’s no fiddling to open the screen. The screen has rubber stoppers around it to prevent the screen from slamming into the keyboard when you close it.

The HP 6910p included the latest Intel 802.11n capable wireless chipset, the Intel 4965agn. While I didn’t test the wireless with an 802.11n router, the wireless range and throughput was very good using an 802.11g router we have in our office. Wireless on/off power is managed using HP’s Wireless Assistant software, or you can simply tap on the touch sensitive wireless on/off switch at the top of the keyboard. The touch sensitive button is a little finicky and I would have preferred a “real” button, even if such a thing doesn’t look as fancy.

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• HP HSTNN-LB72 Battery

In addition to the Wi-Fi built-in HP has included a built-in HP WWAN card that works with Verizon’s network. Specifically the 6910p uses an integrated HP ev2200 1xEV-DO Wireless Module. Reception and connecting was good using this card, I have a Verizon Wireless card modem for my everyday notebook and in the same room as the 6910p the HP notebook was getting better reception and throughput. This indicates the reception antennas have been well placed on the 6910p.Outside of the ubiquitous Norton anti-virus software you get on any HP notebook, there was nothing I would describe as bloatware installed. There were a number of useful business-oriented utilities, primarily for handling security. Windows Vista Business did not present any surprises and worked without a hitch. HP still offers Windows XP Pro on this machine, which many businesses still use and probably will continue to do so for some time.

The built-in speaker performance on the Mini 311 is extremely good for an 11-inch netbook. I’m not a fan of the location of the built-in speakers since they’re located on the bottom front edge of the netbook, but the audio quality is quite good. The speakers produce excellent volume (enough to fill a small room) and there is minimal distortion even at higher volume levels. The speakers lack much bass, but the range of highs and midtones are perfectly enjoyable.

Granted, most audiophiles will want to use external speakers or headphones for a better listening experience … but the built-in speakers work well in a pinch. The audio output from the dual-function headphone jack/microphone jack produced some high frequency background noise/distortion with some of the headphones we used during testing, but other headphones worked fine with no distortion.

Input and Output Ports
In terms of port selection the HP Mini 311 offers a few more bells and whistles than your average netbook. You get three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, dual-function headphone/microphone jack, Ethernet port, and two video out ports in the form of VGA and HDMI.The HP ENVY 14 is a slim gaming notebook powered by the ATI Radeon HD 5650 graphics card. The new 14.5-inch model is the successor to the older 13-inch ENVY, offering a similar size but way more power. Read on to see what we think of the new ENVY 14.

The HP ENVY 14, like the previous ENVY 13 and 15 before it, has a very MacBook-esque look and feel. The body is comprised of a slick machined metal shell, covering the top and bottom of the notebook. The screen cover and palmrest are both etched with a unique pattern to enhance the look as well as increase traction for your hand while you carry it around. On the inside the ENVY 14 has an all-glass display that enhances the look of the screen, keeps dust off the LCD, and gets rid of the common recessed screen border. The bottom is designed with both form and function, hiding any separate access panels or battery, in favor of a single spring loaded panel to improve its appearance. The battery is hidden under this cover, as well as screws to gain access to system components.

Build quality of the HP ENVY 14 is well above average. The metal chassis feels rock-solid, which the same could be said about the Apple MacBook Pro as well. The upper and lower shells tie the system together to prevent flex and make the system feel very rigid. The metal screen cover gives excellent protection to the LCD-with some help from the front all-glass surface-and limits screen distortion from impacts to both sides. The screen hinges keep the lid tightly shut when the notebook is closed and limit screen wobble when the display is open, although tension isn’t strong enough to warrant two hands for tilting the screen back. The palmrest and keyboard are very solid, showing no flex under strong pressure. Even areas above the slot-loading optical drive are flex-free thanks to the metal body.

Users looking to upgrade or tweak the HP ENVY 14 shouldn’t be alarmed by looking at the clean design of the bottom of the notebook. Under the latched metal cover HP stores the primary system battery and hard drive for easy access. To get at other system components, like the wireless card, CMOS battery, processor, system memory, or even both heatsinks, you just remove five screws and take off the remaining bottom panel.

The HP Mini 1000 looks just like a condensed Pavilion notebook, with a sleek and smooth body, glossy Imprint Finish, and color coordinated design. Compared to the older Mini-Note 2133 HP took extra steps to reduce the thickness of the body; removing the VGA port in favor of a thin proprietary connection, using a 1.8″ hard drive instead of a 2.5″ model, and switching to a lithium polymer battery instead of the older lithium-ion cylindrical pack. HP also reduced the number of external connections, removing the ExpressCard slot, combining the microphone and headphone jack, and even hiding the LAN connector under a soft rubber cover. Compared to the other netbooks on the market, the Mini 1000 easily wins in the design category.

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Build quality is above average with high quality plastics used throughout the body. The plastics don’t creak or squeak when you are carrying it around, and when closed it has a very solid feel. The display cover provides more than adequate protection for the LCD, which can help out if you like to store heavy books in the same bag as your electronics. When open the palmrest and keyboard section are very stiff, but with thin notebooks this is normal with the reduced internal space.