I bought mine in Jan 2009, and within a year it started playing up.

If I didn't use it for a half hour or so, then it would go into standby mode, and then it wouldn't revive itself! The only thing you could do was hold the power button down and shut it off, take the power lead in, turn it over and give it a few pats on the back and then plug it back in again and hope for the best (this is what the guys at the computer shop told me to do!) Ended up also having to put an external hard drive on, as was advised I may have too much data on it, however, the problem still persists. I can't afford a new one, so I am putting up with this at the moment.

On a brighter note, it did come with internet explorer, HP Help & Support, HP Total Care Advisor and some Norton Anti-Virus. It also came with Windows Vista. I purchased Microsoft Office separately for just under £100 from PC World.

The keyboard has a nice touch - a bit "clicky" though for me. The mouse is built-in - no little red roller mouse in the middle of the keyboard like some laptops, the mouse is located at the bottom of the keyboard, with 2 buttons for right-click and left-click.

It has a built-in camera, which is very good quality, and I use it for Skype every week.

As for battery, I think it lasts about an hour at least without being plugged in; it's hard to tell as I usually sit with it plugged in all the time. When you do unplug it though, you will find that the screen goes a bit darker than normal, which can be a problem if you are sitting in a sunny room.

As for weight, if you are carrying it around in a shoulder bag for a while, it can get a bit heavy, but ideal for shorter journeys.



It is one of the cheapest laptops you can buy if you can put up with some of its glitches!