Hewlett Packard Pavilion DM1Z Fusion Ultraportable Review

The touchpad is a Synaptics model with internal rocker switch which is again, very close to those you find on Apple MacBooks. The lower section, which is clearly marked, indicates the left and right button areas. The whole area supports tracking however so you can swipe over this area for pointer movement. Another great little feature.

In the top left there is a little dot. If this is pressed it disables the touchpad while turning the dot an orange colour. This is a great option for when you are in ‘full typing' mode and don't want any erroneous tracking accidents. When I used a Sony Bluetooth mouse with this machine I disabled the touchpad during normal use. There is full support for multi touch features, such as three finger swiping and two finger scrolling. It is a great touchpad, but when given the option I always immediately avoid using one.

By this stage I was starting to get a really good feeling about this machine, we often expect (and accept) compromises with ultra portable machines. So far the DM1Z is indicating that the designers really did spend time with every single function and setting.

The battery is removed by pushing a single lever on the underside of the machine.

The battery is a 10.8V model rated at 4770mAh. With the low power demand of the Fusion platform we are hoping for some excellent battery life results later in the review.

When the battery is removed, there is access to a SIM card slot for 3G connectivity. The rear cover can also be removed once the battery has been taken out. Hewlett Packard have cleverly designed the rear plate to be removed without the need for a screwdriver. Simply tug on several plastic retainer clips and the whole rear section can be removed.

The internal layout is very neat, with the Hynix memory (2x2gb) protected under a paper cover. The hard drive resides at the opposite side of the chassis to the cooling fan.

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