HP Pavilion dm1-3100sa review

Behind a long metal grille that runs along the front edge of the dm1 is a set of Altec Lansing speakers. These are surprisingly loud and have a clear sound, but they lack bass, so for watching movies you’ll want to either plug in an external set of speakers, or output both sound and video via the HDMI out to a home cinema amp. There’s also a headphone jack, and as with a lot of other laptops we’ve seen, it accepts headsets too, much like a smartphone.

Tapering towards the front, the dm1’s keyboard is at a slight angle, which makes it more comfortable to type on. It has flat, separated keys with a crisp, light action that gives excellent feedback for touch-typists. There’s a double-height Enter key and much of the layout is standard. Our only complaint would be the function keys – instead of using the Fn key as a modifier, they now perform shortcuts by default, although this behaviour can be changed in the BIOS.

Once again, however, HP has opted for an all-in-one touchpad – a single, touch-sensitive surface with a clicking action along the bottom edge. This might look smart, but it’s annoying, as clicking often means you move the cursor and miss your target.

With benchmark scores a lot higher than on the average netbook, the HP Pavilion dm1-3100sa seems like a decent laptop for standard office tasks. Sadly, the poor touchpad and dim screen detract heavily from it.