HP Pavilion dm1z 2011

Consumer Electronics Show, HP is back with a vengeance and they're bringing along a little friend: the all new Pavilion dm1.

Despite the fact that the new 11-inch Pavilion dm1 has an almost identical name to the old Pavilion dm1z, these laptops couldn't be more different. For starters, the all new exterior weighs in at about 3.5 pounds and looks more like a miniaturized version of the 13-inch Pavilion dm3t rather than the old dm1z.

The biggest change in the Pavilion dm1 is on the inside: HP is now using AMD's new "Fusion" technology combining the CPU and graphics processor (or GPU) into a single chip. The end result is lower production costs--meaning HP can sell this notebook for the starting price of just $449--and better battery life. The other key feature of the AMD E-350 Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is that the on-chip AMD Radeon graphics allow for significantly better video playback than what we've seen from Intel Atom based netbook in the same price range.
Not only can the dm1 handle standard definition video, but it also never misses a beat when playing HD video. The Pavilion dm1 features a 11.6-inch glossy screen that supports 720p video playback at 1366 x 768 resolution, but the dm1 also includes a HDMI port so you can connect your laptop to an HDTV or external monitor and watch 1080p quality video.

The AMD Radeon graphics support DirectX 11 and the dm1 should have more than enough power to handle PC games like World of Warcraft or Left 4 Dead 2 if you want to have some fun on the go.
Key technical specs for the HP Pavilion dm1 include:

* Windows 7 Home Premium
* AMD E-350 with AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics? (dual-core CPU at 1.6 GHz and dual DX-11 SIMDs at 500 MHz)
* 2 GB DDR3 RAM
* 250 GB SATA Hard Drive
* Three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, HDMI out, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and SDHC card reader
* 6-cell battery (More than 9 hours of battery life based on MobileMark according to HP)
* MSRP:$449

The team at NotebookReview.com will have a full review of the HP Pavilion dm1 following CES, so be sure to visit the home page next week for full details on this budget-friendly laptop along with real-world performance benchmarks.