It's hard to believe, but my tech friends have declared HP's prognosis terminal. But while the other sectors of the multinational diverge, the company's PC manufacturing arm seems to be ticking over. HP continues with its Pavilion notebooks, the middle-class compatriot of the snazzy Envy range, with a new series of PCs. The specifications look impressive on paper, but do they deliver anything new to the series that is starting to become a little long in the tooth? Let's see if HP's persistence with the Pavilion series can increase the manufacturer's longevity.

FORM

Although the design follows an established path for the Pavilion range, it shows some welcome departures from previous models. For a start, the materials are more practical, without all the gloss and sheen of the plastic of the past. The lid and palm rest inside are brushed metal, with some sleek contours to match the understated finish. The unit is no lightweight at over 3kg, but it feels sturdy and durable (although you wouldn't want to drop it _ if you managed to lift it off your desk). Overall, the build quality is impressive, and some fresh visual cues give the range a needed lift.

FUNCTION

Inside, the changes continue on a pleasing path. The glossy 17.3-inch screen is decent without being amazing. It handles glare well and is impressively bright, albeit at the cost of battery life. But it only offers a resolution of 1,600x900 pixels, which is a little disappointing for this class. Full HD would have been better here, given the Blu-ray capabilities on board.

In the engine room, an Intel Core i7-2760QM CPU clocked 2.4GHz is featured in this configuration. It's beefy enough to handle gaming, smooth Blu-ray playback and multimedia editing, helped along with 8GB RAM and a Radeon graphics card, so no power problems here. Two welcome additions are WiDi 2.0 to connect the unit to a compatible TV, and the Beats Audio technology of the Envy series. Through the unit's various speakers, the sound seems to come from all parts of the notebook's base, creating as surround-sound an experience as possible for a portable. The bottom end is still missing, but this is a middle-ranking range, so don't expect premium audio capabilities.

The keyboard is nice and spacious (although not backlit), with good tactile feedback from the keys. But a little space between the character and cursor keys would be nice for orientation of fingers. The track pad, while sensitive enough for a double touch, is a little jerky to use, especially when scrolling with multi-touch gestures, which can be very frustrating while web browsing. Its buttons are positioned like a continuation of the bottom of the pad, which makes them annoying. MacBooks forge ahead here with their buttonless pads, which, once used to, reign supreme in their simplicity.

On another negative note, the power adapter is massive and heavy, which reduces the notebook's (already low) portability _ not a main concern for a desktop replacement, but still a factor. Also, the unit barely passes the tropical test, and much prefers indoor use, in air con, which is no surprise given the specification. And while the battery charges up relatively quickly, the life it yeilds is low at around three hours, reducing further any real ambitions of portability, but this is standard for this class.

VERDICT

Persistence has paid off for HP with its new Pavilion dv7 series. This is the most alluring iteration of the company's mid-range yet. Users will like the understated design, the sturdy spec and the bright screen, but may be turned off by the track pad and the bulky dimensions. The dv7-6b06tx will keep HP in the manufacturing race, but it's up to the other parts of the company to make sure consumers can keep benefitting from the decent machines being turned out.