Glitz and Glamour.

HP promises "chic design and high end entertainment" with the HDX16.  In fact you're dazzled by all of the high gloss and chrome surfaces when opening the laptop. The reflective 16-inch display with full HD resolution, as well the touchpad, which could also have been a makeup mirror, contribute their parts equally. Equipped with a broad range of interfaces as well as solid hardware components (Core 2 Duo CPU, 9600M GT graphics) the laptop leaves little to be desired when it comes to multimedia.

In order to make the HDX16's case eye-catching, HP has obviously pulled out all the stops. Generally, components are finished with shiny chrome paint, and everything else at least has a high gloss clear coating. The only exception is the underside of the laptop, which isn't seen in normal operation anyway. Whether the HDX16 is a real eye-catcher is out of the question, as long as you keep it clean and you always remove the clearly visible dust particles.

The form of the case resembles that of the recent Pavilion dv6 series. It's only through the display that both series pursue different concepts. Whilst the dv6 has a conventional display with reflective surfaces and a high gloss enclosure, the display of the HDX16 employs an "Edge-to-Edge" design, which is to be seen in the current Macbooks or the Studio XPS laptops from Dell. Optically speaking you should have nothing against this, as long as you can get along with the reflective display.
The surfaces are adorned in end-to-end lacquered patterns, which are integrated harmoniously into the overall look of the laptop and under no circumstances are these patterns disturbing or even intrusive.

When it comes to input devices obviously the design was more important. For example, the keyboard has a silver coating, and it feels however very glossy and almost gluey. As for layout and the keys on offer in the HDX16, nothing is objectionable. In the enclosure you'll even find room for a separate number pad, which fortunately doesn't cut back the standard keyboard in its size.  As a single mistake in the design of the keyboard there are the arrow keys, which are barely half the size of the numeric keys. Especially from intensive use, such as steering in a racing game, there is a very unpleasant hand posture. There is only the possibility of reverting to the optional cursor keys on the number pad.

The feel of the keys is characterised by a medium to somewhat longer stroke and a particularly strong pressure point. It is also remarkable that a slight but clearly possible bending of the keyboard exists, which when typing causes an elastic typing feel. However, we particularly liked the subtle typing sounds, even when the keys are attacked more vigorously.

The touchpad is covered in a chrome layer, just like the corresponding buttons. The resulting mirror effect looks very good, but doesn't contribute anything to practical use. As a result, unsightly fingerprints collect here very quickly and also the slipperiness of the keys can only be seen in a positive light by those with dust-dry fingertips. 
Both of the corresponding buttons are indeed very pleasant to use, which are , however, above all responsible for a generous keystroke.

Like almost all of the models in the Pavilion range, HP provides the HDX16 with a variety of extra buttons, which decorate the chassis in the form of white, LED-backlit touch-sensitive zones above the keyboard. Apart from the learning curve when it comes to using the volume control as well as the customisation option for treble and bass, they are also very pleasant to use and respond well.

Also the possible viewing angles are determined by the reflective display. Both horizontal and vertical fields of vision end up with a departure from ideal perpendicular viewing angles which briskly causes disturbing reflections, even before visible changes to the picture appear.

A multimedia pro with the vocal name HDX of course also calls for solid hardware equipment. With the Intel P8700 CPU and the Nvidia    Geforce 9600M GT, HP has indeed not put especially exciting components into use, but a rational basis for a multimedia laptop is indeed offered all the while.

When it comes to the employed CPU, the 45 nanometre technology is used for the Penryn range chip. As a representative of the P-series the processor makes do with a TDP of merely 25 Watt, compared to the Txxxx models running at 35 Watt. The further benchmark data like the clock speeds of 2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz front-side bus and 3MB L2 cache certify the CPU's good performance reserves. At a price of 241.- US Dollars the chip is comparatively low priced, and only marginally more expensive than  the slower representative of the Pxxxx series from Intel.

Currently the Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT graphics card is almost considered a discontinued model, but the GT 120M and GT 130M , the successive graphics cards for middle class multimedia laptops from Nvidia,  are still in the starting blocks.
In any case, the 9600M GT chip still counts as a representative of the upper middle class of laptop graphics cards. Admittedly HP has saved on one point, or rather packed a hidden stumbling block into the device. It's about the video memory configuration of the employed graphics card, which has 512MB of memory as standard, but has only the DDR2 memory type available. Laptops with the quicker GDDR3 graphics memory modules can overtake the HDX16 when it comes to performance, which is shown in the 3D Mark 2006 comparison.

"Chic design and high end entertainment" – HP hasn't promised too much with this advertising slogan. Thanks to the Blu-Ray drive, full HD display, DVB-T TV tuner and a brilliant sound system, the HP HDX16 becomes a mobile multimedia workshop. Admittedly it is somewhat problematic when it comes to the mobility of the basic configuration. Barely 2 hours of battery life isn't convincing in this respect. Luckily the laptop is also available with a larger battery.

The design is covered by a particularly generous use of chrome surfaces, which also look quite nifty, but is indeed very inclined to visible dirt. In our opinion, in final analysis the gloss lacquered keys and the touchpad with a reflective coating have overreached themselves. The display also has a reflective coating, and indeed this covers the entire width. Unfortunately the brightness of the panel as well as the illumination don't fare very strongly, whereby the range of use of the HDX16 is rather limited to indoors.

There is also criticism from us when it comes to the performance capabilities of the hardware. The benchmark data of the device indeed sounds promising, yet the individual benchmarks stay under our expectations.
Furthermore, for our taste the temperatures of the case were too high. With temperatures of up to 57 °C on the underside of the case, the HDX16 belongs to the "hothead" of its class. Luckily the system noise of the device is to some degree limited.

The rather meagre overall score of 80% is a result of a multitude of only lukewarm measurements from the display, emissions and battery life.
At a price of around 1300.- Euro indeed you can currently get laptops which are clearly stronger when it comes to performance, but the HDX16 can thoroughly justify the price due to the complete multimedia package on offer.