If you're a road warrior who still needs all the features of a computer to be productive, HP has a netbook for you. The Pavilion dm1-3010nr (Verizon) ($769.99, $599 with two-year contract) uses Windows 7 as its operating system and has a decent screen, a full-size keyboard, and a performance-minded AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) for handling computing and graphics tasks on your travels. It's also equipped with Bluetooth and a Verizon 4G modem that will get you online anytime, anywhere. The dm1-3010nr has quite a bit to offer, provided you're a user looking to do more work than play.
Design
Like a majority of netbooks wanting to keep costs low, the HP Pavilion dm1-3010nr has a plastic clamshell design. The difference here is that the lid and bottom are made of resin, which is sturdier and more refined than glossy plastics. The entire chassis weighs 3.43 pounds, putting it on the heavier end of the netbook category. At 2.98 pounds, the Acer Aspire One AO722-0828 ($349.99 list, 3.5 stars) is definitely one of the lightest in the class; the 3.05-pound Sony VAIO VPC-YB35KX ($549.99 direct, 3.5 stars) is about average.
The 11.6-inch widescreen on the dm1-3010nr is big enough for working comfortably in one program. The screen displays in 1,366-by-768 resolution, a standard among netbooks. There's a VGA webcam above the screen for video chatting. The adjacent chiclet keyboard provides a wonderful typing solution for users on the go. The Pavilion dm1-3010nr utilizes HP's ClickPad, a frustrating feature that the company has since done away with in its laptop lines and newer dm1z netbooks, as it tends to cause the cursor to jump. (We experienced that while we were testing this netbook, too.) One way to circumvent this issue is to use one-finger touch-to-click navigation.
Features
There's a 320GB hard drive inside the dm1-3010nr, which is small compared with the 500GB drives you'll find on the Aspire One AO722-0828 and Sony VAIO VPC-YB35KX. Like the Pavilion dm1z ($449 direct, 4.5 stars), however, the Pavilion dm1-3010nr's drive spins at a faster 7,200rpm, whereas the Aspire One AO722-0828 and VAIO VPC-YB35KX spin at a slower 5,400rpm. This difference in speed does affect overall performance, although on a small level. Unfortunately, a considerable amount of bloatware litters the drive, including shortcuts to Netflix, Hulu, and eBay on the desktop, Blio ereader, Bing Bar, Fences desktop organizer, and Times Reader. So, if you want a bloatware-free system, you'll have to set aside a considerable amount of time to clean off some of these extraneous programs.
4G Performance
Tested in eight locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, New York, we found that the HP's built-in modem gave the dm1-3010nr a significant signal advantage over our Editors' Choice Pantech UML290 USB modem ($99.99-$249.99, 4 stars), which was connected to a Lenovo U400 laptop. Receive signal strength varied from -3 to -11dBm better than on the USB modem, with resulting average download speeds almost twice as fast: 8.62Mbps down compared with 4.86Mbps, with a max of 24.51Mbps rather than 10.20Mbps. On one test, we couldn't connect with the USB modem at all; the HP netbook pulled in a weak?but acceptable?signal.
Upload speeds were closer, with the USB modem actually besting the HP notebook at 6.82Mbps average speeds for the USB modem compared to 6.04Mbps for the HP. And in our Web tests, processor speed mattered more than which modem we used. The Lenovo's 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor let it load Web pages more quickly through curl than the HP's 1.6GHz AMD E-350, even though the Lenovo's USB modem got a weaker signal.
Computing Performance
The dm1-3010nr utilizes AMD's E-350 APU, a 1.6GHz chip that has the CPU and graphics processors on the same die; it's also loaded with 2GB of RAM. The system garnered a score of 54 on SYSmark 2007 (an overall performance gauge). The VAIO VPC-YB35KX (AMD E-450) had the same results, but the Editors' Choice Pavilion dm1z and Lenovo IdeaPad S205 ($579.99 direct, 3.5 stars) each scored 57 with the same APU. The main differentiating factor between the three systems is the amount of RAM (the IdeaPad S205 has 4GB, the Pavilion dm1z has 3GB, and the Pavilion dm1-3010nr has 2GB).
For netbooks, battery life is one of the biggest deciding factors. The dm1-3010nr's 55Wh battery lasted 6 hours 41 minutes in our MobileMark 2007 rundown test, enough to last through a coast-to-coast flight and then some. But you can do better: The dm1z, which has the same 55Wh battery, lasted 7 hours 8 minutes; and the Sony VAIO VPC-YB15KX/S ($599.99 list, 4 stars), loaded with a slightly smaller 54Wh battery, lasted 7 hours 53 minutes.
The HP Pavilion dm1-3010nr is a fine computing solution for business workers and other users who spend at least as much time traveling as they do chained to a desk. Verizon's 4G and standard 802.11n Wi-Fi will keep you connected wherever you are, and the netbook's battery life will get you through most of your workday. But if your job and life don't require you to be jacked into the Internet constantly, the Editors' Choice HP Pavilion dm1z is a better portable solution, especially if you're looking to go the cheaper route. You always have the option to buy a 4G modem for the dm1z later on. But if you're looking for an all-in-one wireless package the dm1-3010nr is one of the best options out there.
Eugene Kim contributed to this review
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
COMPARISON TABLE
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