HP HP Pavilion n5430 Notebook PC

WHAT'S HOT: Strong, rich sound and dedicated audio controls will please those who like to mix laptop work with listening to their favorite music. Buttons on the front of the Pavilion N5430 let you play, pause, and eject audio CDs without turning the notebook itself on. When you press a separate button, a bright, easy-to-read LCD cycles through a display of the remaining track time, the day's date, and the percentage of notebook battery life left; and green LEDs light up the controls for a few seconds for easier identification. A line-out jack on the front of the laptop makes plugging in headphones easy. The only two things we'd ask for in addition are a mute button and a volume toggle that doesn't require repeated pressing.

To help your work go more smoothly, four dedicated shortcut buttons provide instant access to files, applications, or Web sites you visit most frequently. A special pad-lock button disables the touchpad--a great time-saver for typists who constantly struggle with repositioned cursors.

WHAT'S NOT: The N5430's lithium ion battery turned in a disappointing battery life of slightly less than 2 hours. Without a docking connection, the N5430 makes a poor desktop replacement, and unlike other Pavilion models, it does not allow access to the hard drive. That means you'll have to ship the entire notebook to a service center if the hard drive fails. HP could also be more generous with its support policies. The company cuts off free telephone technical support (which is a toll call anyway) after only 90 days, and it covers parts and labor for just one year.

WHAT ELSE: The N5430 sports a midsize bluish-gray case with a silver lid and black hinges. Features include a fixed 8X DVD-ROM drive on the right side and a fixed floppy drive on the left, plus two USB ports on the back. The keyboard felt a little shallow to us, but it's nicely laid out, with reasonably large command keys and a separate scroll toggle located between the mouse buttons. The minimal documentation, however, is limited to a setup card and a slender print startup guide. The N5430 is plenty fast to handle most applications. Its PC WorldBench 4 score of 68 means that this Mobile Duron-850-based unit performed about as well as laptops we've tested with Intel's older Pentium III-700 chip.

UPSHOT: Consumers and small businesses in the market for a workaday laptop capable of after-hours fun will enjoy this nicely priced entry from HP--but business applications cost extra.

SUMMARY

HP Pavilion N5430 PC WorldBench 4 score of 68, AMD Mobile Duron-850, 128MB of RAM, 64MB of L2 cache, Windows Millennium Edition, 14.1-inch active-matrix screen, Trident CyberBlade XP graphics with 8MB of SGRAM, 20GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in V.90 modem and network interface, touchpad pointing device, 8-pound weight (including AC adapter and phone cord). One-year parts and labor warranty; free, 24-hour toll-call technical support for 90 days only. $1399 800/752-0900 www.hp.com/notebooks