Is the HP Pavilon dv2-1030us a good laptop?

[Danny]

Hi, I'm in the middle of searching for a laptop before I head off to college and I'm having trouble deciding which laptop to get. My uses on a computer mostly consist of web browsing, listening to music, watching movies, IM, and playing games. I'm currently looking at the HP Pavilon dv2-1030us laptop and from looking at the specs, it seems like a pretty decent laptop. The reason I was attracted to it was because its small and portable, but not too small like the netbooks. And it has a ATI Radeon HD3410 graphic card. I wanted to know if this specific laptop would be able to perform the activites I listed earlier. For games, I don't really play a lot of 3D intense games. Most likely I would be playing Counterstrike 1.6 and a few MMORPGs like Ragnarok. I do not plan on playing any of the new higher end 3D graphic games like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft. So with that said, would this laptop be a good choice? Any advice or suggestions would be helpful.

Here are the specs:
Notebook: HP Pavilion dv2
Processor: AMD Athlon Neo MV-40
Ram: 4GB
Graphics Adapter: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410
Display: 12.1 inch, 16:10, 1280x800 pixels

[Joey]

Hi Danny,

The PC you chose will do well on everything you you mentioned except for games. The weak part of the PC is the AMD Neo processor. It is comparible to the Intel Atom 1.6 GHz CPU which is on most Netbooks.

With all that being said it does pass the CPU requirements for CS 1.6 which is a 1.6 GHz CPU, but I don't know how good it will run on it.

[Danny720]

Oh, may I ask for your personal opinion on this particular laptop. I don't really know much about the processor besides the fact that its suppose to be slightly better in performance than the Intel Atom. I have also looked through a few other HP dv-series laptops such as the HP dv4t-1430us. It seems like a good laptop, except I'm unsure if it can handle games like CS1.6 with the laptop's specs.

Processor: Intel Duo Core Processor (2.1GHz)
Ram: 4GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD
Display: 14.1" HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)

With these specifications, would I be better off with this laptop or the first one? Thanks. I appreciate your help.  

[Joey]

Processor: Intel Duo Core Processor (2.1GHz)
Ram: 4GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD
Display: 14.1" HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)

With these specifications, would I be better off with this laptop or the first one? Thanks. I appreciate your help.  

This laptop would definably play CS and Ragnarok smoother than the one with the AMD Neo. You will be much happier with it. 

[Danny720]

Awesome! thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it! 

[Joey]

You are welcome