HP unleashes new laptop lineup

From laptops with Intel's new 2nd generation Core chips, to the tiny $599 DM1 portable.

We've just been given a look at HP's new 2011 laptop lineup, and there's a lot of new machines hitting the market.

The big news is the arrival of new Sandy Bridge laptops, with Intel's new 2^nd generation Core CPU. We've already covered Dell's Sandy Bridge lineup, and made note of the fact that the new machines are already pushing into budget territory.

HP's new lineup is also interesting for the same reason. The company has introduced a new "g series" which sits between the Compaq and more expensive Pavilion models in terms of price and features.   

Impressively the Pavilion G series starts at $599 with Intel's new Sandy Bridge platform. There are two sizes a g4 and g6, at 14in and 15.6in. At more than 2Kg it's not a particularly light machine, but as far as value for money goes, this will be a machine to look out for.

Also starting at $599 is HP's tiny DM1, an 11.6in machine powered by AMD's Fusion platform. As we've noted before, Fusion machines are a great alternative to Atom netbooks. If you're willing to spend a couple of hundred dollars more, you should see better performance for things like HD video playback.

Stepping up to the mid range, and we have HP's dv4, dv6 and dv7 - all with the new Sandy Bridge Intel platform. The dv4 and dv6 start at $999 and include Beats audio, which when enabled adds punch to music playback.

The dv6 has a trick up its sleeve - "Coolsense" technology detects whether the laptop is sitting on a desk or on your lap and adjusts cooling so in theory, your lap doesn't get too hot. Other highlights include ability to wirelessly send video to a TV, via an Intel WiDi equipped set top box.

Finally, the HP Touchsmart 610 adds something potentially useful to the touchscreen desktop - a screen that can be tilted on an angle. There are three varients of the new Touchsmart, not with Sandy Bridge, mind you. Highlights include a dedicated subwoofer output, and a feature that matches audio if you have a subwoofer connected.

The big demonstration HP likes to show for the Touchsmart is the game RUSE - by using the touchscreen, it's possible to zoom down and control your vision of the playing area. It looks quite impressive, and is one of few occasions up till now that we've actually seen a real use for touch on a desktop.