Mid-range models come with Vista Home Premium

Jan 30, 2007 16:18 GMT  ·  By

Three new HP notebooks have been released today, coinciding with the world-wide release of Windows Vista.

First, there's the mid-range a1700 Pavilion desktop machine which comes with an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 250GB SATA Hard Drive and a multi-format LightScribe a.k.a. SuperMulti 8X DVD burner. However, this model has one notable downside: it features a weak NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE graphics card. Further more, we have two new notebooks ? the dv6255ca and the dv6265ca, which are both based on an equivalently weak GPU in the form of the integrated Intel GMA950 chipset. HP tries to balance things a bit and includes 2GB of RAM and 160GB of storage space. Other specs for the laptops include 1.6 and 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duos, 15.4-inch 1280x800 WXGA displays, built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam and microphone, and a/b/g WiFi connectivity.

All these models include USB2.0 slots (in this case, 3) and a digital media reader for transferring data purposes from digital cards to the notebooks. With the integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam and dual omni-directional microphones, it's easy to stay in touch with friends and family. The webcam can be coupled with an instant messaging application to have a live conversation with people who have an Internet connection anywhere in the world. Moreover, you can use a video application to capture video for playback later. You can even use the webcam to take still pictures and e-mail them to friends. The integrated microphone also supports VOIP applications.

As of yet, the only notebook to be found in stores is the dv6255, which is priced at AD$1,399 and ships from Best Buy's Canadian store starting today. This is the date when the other machines should be announced, since all the machines come with a copy of Vista Home Premium, which has also been released today.