HP Compaq NX9420 review

Many business notebooks are designed to be as portable as possible, so the 17in widescreen display on HP's Compaq NX9420 desktop replacement notebook makes it a bit of a rarity.

However, a big widescreen display has a number of advantages even if you're not playing games or watching DVDs. This notebook has a massive 1,680x1,050-pixel native resolution, so it can display over 70 per cent more information than a standard 1,280x800 screen.

With such a big, high-resolution display, the NX9420 is useful for presentations or if you work with large spreadsheets or image files. It's unusual to see a reflective finish on a business notebook's screen, though. While it makes colours look richer, reflections can be a pain under office lighting, particularly if, as in this case, the display isn't especially bright. In other respects, though, image quality is fine.

We're not sure why business users would want to play 3D games, but the NX9420 has a decent ATI Radeon Mobility X1600 graphics chipset. This could improve performance in high-end media-production packages such as 3D Studio Max, or prove useful should you upgrade the notebook to Windows Vista and run its Aero desktop theme.

This notebook has a very fast 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7400, which should ensure that demanding programs run smoothly. With 1GB of RAM, it was able to power through our benchmarks with ease. It's significantly overpowered for basic office tasks, but it's well suited to those who use desktop publishing software or work with large media files.

The chassis is fairly slim for such a big notebook. At 3.4kg it's not the heaviest desktop replacement we've seen, but you wouldn't want to carry it far on a daily basis. That said, it has a long battery life - lasting an impressive five hours in our light-usage test - so you can work with it on the road should you need to. The big battery takes up most of the back edge of the base, so the ports are distributed between the left and right-hand sides.

The keyboard is excellent, with just the right amount of resistance, feedback and key travel. Bluetooth is included, so you can connect to your mobile phone or PDA. The notebook's 120GB hard disk should be enough for most storage requirements, but the other two notebooks reviewed in What's New this month cost less and have 40GB more space.

The Compaq NX9420 is fast in Windows and 3D applications, has a great battery life and a high-resolution screen. Although it's quite expensive, its high specification means that it's still good value. It isn't likely to appeal to many business users, but it's a good choice for those who need a high-powered, occasional travelling companion.