HP Pavilion dm4-2033cl

The HP Pavilion dm4-2033cl ($799.99 list at Costco) is a mainstream laptop that comes with second-generation internal components that will be able to handle all your Web browsing, Word-processing, and video-watching needs. It's sprinkled with some additional features like Bluetooth, Wireless Display 2.0 (WiDi 2.0), and a fingerprint reader to further entice, but the dm4-2033cl could do more future-proof features like a USB 3.0 port.

Design
The dm4-2033cl comes in a beautiful steel grey aluminum chassis. Its brushed metal texture will make it the envy of all your friends with laptops still sporting last season's plastic architecture. The whole 14-inch package weighs 4.24 pounds, making it lighter than even the 13.3-inch, 4.8-pound Dell Vostro 3350 ($741 direct, 4 stars). But it, of course, it's still heaver than the 3.2-pound Toshiba Portege R835-P50X's ($888.99 list, 4.5 stars).

Its 14-inch screen displays in 1,366 by 768 (720p HD) resolution. If you're looking for full 1080p HD you'll have to opt for a bigger screen and cough up a little more cash in order to get something like the Dell XPS 15z ($1,534 direct, 4 stars). However, you can view your digital content in 1080p if you hook the system up to your HDTV via the HDMI port or utilize the WiDi 2.0 feature. WiDi 2.0 allows you to wirelessly stream your computer's content to your HDTV, provided you have the Netgear Push2TV receiver ($99 list).

The full-size keyboard is in the chiclet-style?each key their own square island sitting in a glossy black ocean. The multi-touchpad responded well to commands, such as two-finger scroll and pinch-zoom, and provided a smooth navigating experience. Likewise, the two separate mouse buttons were a nice departure from the finicky clickpad of old.

Features
The dm4-2033cl comes with a fairly standard set of connectivity options: 3 USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader, VGA, Audio jacks, and Ethernet. I would have liked to have seen a USB 3.0 port, since this interface has been slowly working its way into the mainstream and provides fast data transfer speeds for external hard drives. There's Bluetooth 3.0?an often rare feature that will allow you to connect wireless peripherals, no dongle required. The fingerprint reader will provide added security, as will the case lock.

The hard drive is quite sizeable: 750GB (5,400rpm), which should be enough to fit most of your media. Other mainstream laptops, like the Editors' Choice Asus U46E-BAL5 ($699.99 list, 4.5 stars) also come with a 750GB (5,400rpm) hard drive.

Costco offers customers some added benefits. For example, whereas most vendors provide just a one-year warranty, Costco bumps that up to two years. It also offers Costco's Concierge Services, which a free service to Costco members who purchase electronics at the store. The service gives you access to technicians to walk you system setup, product use, and for troubleshooting. Lastly, the store accepts returns within 90 days (which takes care of buyers' remorse).

Performance
The dm4-2033cl comes with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M processor and 6GB of memory. Its scores on our PCMark 7 (2,268), Handbrake video encoding test (1 minute 53 seconds), Cinebench R11.5 (2.61), and Photoshop CS5 image filtering test (4:13) were virtually identical to the scores of the Asus U46E-BAL5.

Gaming, on the other hand, is certainly not the dm4-2033cl's forte, being that it lacks a discrete graphics chip. You'll be able to get by playing light 3D games like Torchlight and World of Warcraft, but anything heavier than that you'll have hiccups and frame rate issues when playing. If you're looking for something a little stronger, then something more along the lines of the Asus U41JF-A1 ($857 street, 4.5 stars) should do the trick.

The dm4-2033cl's 55Wh battery lasted 7 hours 56 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 test, which was just a little longer than the Asus U46E-BAL5's 74WH battery that eked out 7:19 minutes on our test.

The HP Pavilion dm4-2033cl offered up performance numbers that were on par with our current Editors' Choice for the mainstream laptop category, the Asus U46E-BAL5. But the two systems diverge in terms of the features they offer and the price at which they offered them: The Editors' Choice, the Asus U46E-BAL5 costs $100 less and gives users WiDi 2.0, WiMAX (a 4G wireless broadband option), and USB 3.0, whereas the dm4-2033cl only provides users with Bluetooth and WiDi 2.0. So if you're more the type that likes to tote around their laptop, then perhaps something on the lighter side will suite you. You'll just have to consider what matters more: Features or weight.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Pavilion dm4-2033cl with several other laptops side by side.

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