HP Pavilion DV2 in Laptops

Since Asus first introduced the concept of the low-cost netbook, everyone who's anyone in the laptop business has jumped on the bandwagon. But the landscape has so far been dominated by Intel's Atom processor, with very little difference in performance across the spectrum of chassis designs.

This looks set to change, however. First, VIA entered the fray, squeezing similar levels of performance into Samsung's NC20 (web ID: 249540), and now AMD has done the same.

AMD's Neo platform (formerly known as Yukon), which powers the new HP Pavilion dv2, aims to take on Atom at its own game by matching it for basic performance, low cost and power, and besting it on the graphics front. Its key components are the Athlon Neo MV-40 processor, and a discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 GPU. Other versions of the platform are available with slower Radeon X1250 graphics.

The processor's specifications make for familiar reading: it's a single-core CPU clocked at 1.6GHz - just like the Atom N270 - and boasts an L2 cache of 512KB. It results in performance in our 2D application benchmarks that also takes on a familiar look, although an overall score of 0.44 under Windows Vista is a touch quicker than any Atom-based netbook we've tested.

But it's the GPU that's most exciting. The biggest failing of most netbooks to date has been graphical performance; Intel's GMA 950 and GMA 500 both struggle to play back video, let alone even moderately demanding games. And although the HD 3410 chipset installed here is far from cutting edge - you'll struggle to get usable frame rates in Crysis, for instance - it's more powerful than the Intel equivalent.

In our video tests, YouTube HD clips were a slideshow and it struggled with DivX HD files, but it did manage to play all our other tests flawlessly in full-screen mode, including 720p and 1080p WMV files. That's quite something when many netbooks struggle with standard YouTube clips played back full-screen.

The hardware

In this instance, AMD's components are all wrapped up in a rather likeable package. HP's Pavilion dv2-1030ea boasts a 12.1in 1,280 x 800 LED backlit screen, which puts most other netbooks to shame. The colours aren't quite as vibrant as we'd like, but it's bright and clear with good contrast, and the backlighting ensures there's no bleed through at the edges of the screen at all.

It's one of the most stylish low-cost portables around too: finished in gloss-black and chrome-effect trim, it has just the right amount of bling. The fact that it weighs 1.64kg and measures 33mm thick is just icing on the cake.

The keyboard doesn't stretch to the edges of the chassis, but it doesn't need to. Its light yet positive action and the gentle contours of its keys mean this is a machine Mavis Beacon would be proud of. We're less keen on the mirror-finish trackpad, which feels a little sticky, and the hard-to-click buttons, but after a while we became used to them.

And, the dv2 is well-provisioned elsewhere. The hard disk in this mid-range model is a sizeable 320GB, plus there are three USB ports, HDMI and D-SUB outputs, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, Altec Lansing speakers built into the front edge of the laptop, and an external USB DVD writer in the box. The only disappointment from a features point of view is that there's no draft-n wireless, Bluetooth or Gigabit Ethernet.

Fly in the ointment

There are more serious issues than this, however. The first is battery life. In our light-use tests the dv2's 2,700mAh battery ran for just 2hrs 28mins, and when multitasking this dropped to 1hr 12mins. Samsung's NC20 managed 6hrs 46mins and 3hrs 53mins respectively - there's just no contest.