HP Pavilion dm4-1065dx

Pros: It is easy to use, lightweight and faster than expected. Some nice features (e.g., organization) if you place photos on it.

Cons: Hard drive failed within two months of purchase. Scrolling pages is difficult. Battery life is not 6 hours as represented. Windows Office is not pre-installed as was represented to me at purchase - only the Trial version is included.

Summary: I bought this because I thought it a good value for the price. Not so. I maybe should have waited until I had enough and gone for the Mac.

On this HP, the hard drive failed within two months of my purchase of it. It is out at the manufacturer for replacment under warranty. Neither the warranty nor my maintenance plan with BestBuy cover reinstallation of the Operating System. The OS will be wiped off the laptop when the hard drive is replaced. That said, make sure if you purchase this to immediately make the recovery disks (DVDs) using Recovery Manager and keep the disks safe. After the hard drive went, I learned from two other people that the hard drives in their HP laptops also failed - each within 6 months of purchase.

I had read negative reviews about scrolling using the pad. It does required two fingers, which is irritating. I figured since I have small hands and fingers I may have an easier time of it. Not so. Sometimes I can't scroll a page and when I can, I have very little control over my scrolling. Get a mouse.

I was told by the BestBuy agent that this laptop came with Windows Office pre-installed and that I would not need to later purchase Word or Excel. Not so. Only the trial version is included. If you are told by a vendor that Windows is pre-installed, make sure you confirm that the Product Key is included in the laptop box or is otherwise provided to you at purchase. I had a chat with Microsoft and they said they no longer permit their software to be pre-installed. They only permit trial versions to be sold with laptops these days.

The battery life is disappointing based on what I had expected. I had expected 6 hours as stated upon purchase. I get 3 - 4 hours.

HP has a little menu of HP particular features that pop up upon start up. You can minimize them. However, as I type, my hand must wave across something because that little menu constantly pops up and interferes with what I am doing and I have to minimize it again.

On the positive side...this laptop is nicely shaped and lightweight enough. It is faster than I expected. I have found its features fairly easy to navigate. The keyboard is good for someone with bigger hands as the keys are larger than I have seen and spaced fairly generously apart. The monitor provides a decent enough picture. I use it to look at photos and have only once used it to watch a TV program. The sound was ok enough. If there is background noise (lawn mowing, people talking) you may wish to use headphones.