HP G60-438nr 16-inch Budget Laptop PC

Oct 8 2009 - HP's G60-438nr is a special retail version of their G60 laptop that features a very low $500 price tag. What they have done is modify a few of the components put into the system to try and reduce the costs. This gives it a little less space and not as robust wireless networking compared to previous models. Still, if you don't require these features and want a laptop with a larger screen, the G60-438nr works just fine as a general purpose laptop.

Oct 8 2009 - HP's G60-438nr is a low cost retail version of their G60 budget laptop. The company has reduced a number of features in order to bring the price down to $500. For some, these reductions in features won't mean much, but for others it can be fairly significant.

The two big changes from previous models on the G60 are the hard drive space and the wireless. Previous versions of the G60 came with a fairly sizable 320GB hard drive. This version drops the hard drive down to 250GB in size that is actually below the 320GB drives that many competitors are now installing. As for the wireless, HP used to include an 802.11n compatible wireless chip but this version drops it down to a 802.11b/g version that limits use of the recently standardized high speed wireless.

The rest of the features and design of the G60-438nr remain unchanged from previous versions of the G60. This means that it still has a larger 16-inch display along with a larger size that allows HP to use a full sized keyboard that includes a numeric keyboard. The trackpad is shifted somewhat to one side because of this but it isn't too difficult to work around. It also continues to have on it an HDMI port for connecting to HDTVs or digital monitors.

Unfortunately, some of the annoyances from the previous version continue to exist. This includes the large amount of trialware that comes preinstalled. All of this actually slows down the system somewhat until users take the time to remove any unwanted applications. The glossy exterior of the case also attracts a large amount of fingerprints and smudges that will require frequent cleaning unless you don't care much about the appearance of the exterior.

Still, if you are in the market for a larger notebook at a very low cost, the HP G60-438nr is a decent choice if you don't need the space or faster wireless.