HP Pavilion ZE5440EA

If you're in the market for new PC but don't want a room-dominating desktop, HP's latest Pavilion could be just the ticket. Targeted at home users, the ze5440EA aims to combine the neatness and portability of a notebook without compromising on processing power or multimedia features. At least, that's the theory.

While its corporate blue and silver colouring won't appeal to everyone, there's no denying the Pavilion is well-built. Weighing in at 3.4kg this isn't a machine you'll want to carry about too much, but it's ideal for transporting around an office or occasionally moving from room to room. The case also has a particularly solid and sturdy feel, and should cope easily with the day-to-day knocks.

Much of the system's weight is down to the notably clear 15in TFT screen, running at a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels, and built-in floppy and optical drives. The latter is a highly desirable DVD+R/RW writer, which, in the same way as the Multivision reviewed on page 55, is doubly impressive given the reasonable price tag. The drive offers four-speed DVD writing and reading at eight-speed.

Other external features include three USB2 sockets, a Firewire connector, parallel, modem, infra-red and Ethernet ports, and an S-Video output for playing DVD movies and games on a suitably equipped TV. There's also a Type II PC Card slot, and the machine's reasonably comfortable full-sized keyboard comes complete with five additional silver programmable function keys. Sensibly, there's a button to disable the touchpad while typing and glowing blue LEDs finish everything off well.

Internally the ze5440EA boasts a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 and 512MB of DDR Ram, expandable to a whopping 1GB should you need more. HP has included a 40GB hard drive for storage, while graphics come courtesy of an integrated ATI Radeon chip, which borrows up to 64MB for video memory. Sadly, though, this isn't the sexy Mobile Radeon 9600 as found in the Multivision, and the HP machine turned in rather low scores in our 3Dmark and Unreal Tournament frame rate tests. Despite the powerful processor and HP's push towards the home user, the ze5440EA clearly isnåt a machine for gamers.

Overall system performance was much better, with a very respectable Sysmark score of 191. If you're looking to run general office software it should zip along well on the ze5400EA. That said, the eight-cell lithium-ion battery managed just one hour and 16 minutes under Batterymark tests so you'll need to make sure you're near a mains outlet if you plan to make the most of this machine.

Other noteworthy features include 3D Soundblaster Pro-compatible audio and integrated Wifi networking. The latter is compatible with the draft standard for 802.11g as well as 802.11b.

Even with a few marks against the hardware it's impossible not to be pleased with HP's software bundle. Along with Windows XP Home Edition you get the excellent Microsoft Works Suite 2003, which includes Word, Encarta encyclopaedia, Money and Autoroute among other titles. On the multimedia side, there's Roxio's EasyCD creator, Intervideo WinDVD and Musicmatch Jukebox to name a few, while virus protection is in the hands of Symantec. All good stuff.

Overall, we're impressed with HP's saucy new number. While it really doesn't offer much for those who want to play the latest 3D games, the hardware and software cover most other bases well and the inclusion of a DVD writer is a definite plus point given the price.

Contact: HP 08705 474 747
www.hp.co.uk

Specifications:

• 2.8GHz Intel Pentium 4
• 512MB DDR memory
• 40GB hard disk
• 4x DVD+RW, 16x CD-RW
• 15in TFT at 1,024 x 768
• Wired and wireless Ethernet
• Mobility Radeon graphics
• 3.4kg
• 329 x 272 x 45mm