HP Pavilion HDX9095EA review

HP's Pavilion HDX9095ea desktop replacement (£1699 inc. VAT) makes few concessions to mobility, weighing in at 7.3kg. It also features a truly distinctive design. Open up the large 20.1-inch display and you'll find the panel is double-hinged. As such, it can be swivelled up and down - as with a regular monitor - allowing you to find the perfect viewing angle.

We found it was in its element when displaying videos, helped by the widescreen aspect ratio and bright and colourful images. Multimedia use is enhanced by a series of touch-sensitive buttons above the keyboard, letting you control DVDs at the touch of a button.

The Pavilion also has an integrated HD DVD drive, letting you take full advantage of the large screen. High-definition movies looked great, with sharp images and space for plenty of detail. Colours were particularly impressive, with vibrant images and blacks and dark colours reproduced faithfully. For those wanting to watch movies on a bigger screen, an HDMI port lets you connect to HDTVs.

Graphics are provided by the powerful ATi Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT GPU, and 3D performance was very good. We had no trouble playing the latest games, and all of the applications we tried ran with ease. As quite a big machine, it's no surprise to find there's plenty of space for a large keyboard, incorporating a numeric keypad. However, it's a shame to see it crammed in the middle of the chassis, when more space could have been used.

To the left of the keyboard, you'll find a removable remote control. It's a neat touch, letting you control the TV tuner when you're sitting at your desk, or you can detach and use it from further away. The twin 200GB hard drives offer loads of storage space for recorded programmes.

The chassis is more than tough enough for daily use, and the screen was also firmly attached. With a thick bezel, the delicate panel is afforded plenty of protection. The design is let down by a lack of locking mechanism for the lid.

Intel Core 2 Duo

Processing power comes from a high-end 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, helped by 2048MB of memory. We were able to run multiple tasks smoothly at all times. Unfortunately, the 94-minute battery life wasn't long enough to run our MobileMark 2007 benchmark properly.

The HP Pavilion HDX9095ea is a great machine, offering excellent performance and all the features you'll need. Although its sheer size prevents it from feeling like a laptop, it is incredible value compared to several of its rivals.