8. HP Pavilion DV1000T Notebook: Great All Around Performance

Reviewer: Barry Gerber

The HP Pavilion DV1000T is a state-of-the-art laptop PC, complete with a 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU and an Intel G945GM chipset with integrated 950 GMA graphics processor.

The HP DV1000T displays the MobilityGuru website.

With dimensions of 13.15" x 1.52" x 9.24" and a weight of 5.47 pounds with a 6-cell battery the DV1000T is neither the biggest nor the heaviest around. It qualifies as a standard laptop by MobilityGuru's standards. Nevertheless, its 14" LCD display offers workable native resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels with plenty of viewing area, color and clarity for business applications. This DV1000T also comes equipped with wired and wireless LAN capabilities, a built-in Bluetooth receiver, an IR port, a modem and a docking socket.

The Pavilion DV1000T makes a very good business computer. Well built and designed from an ergonomics perspective, this laptop can also handle typical office applications and even light multimedia tasks. Battery life is a strong point, with lifetimes of around four and half hours for most applications. Even when playing back DVDs - a job this unit does reasonably well for those who like to view their own entertainment while in the air - you can expect nearly four hours of viewing time from the unit's 6-cell battery (a 9-cell is also available).

At under $1,400 as configured for our tests, the HP DV1000T is a good deal for almost anyone, including the dads your list in need of a quality work and personal entertainment machine.