Hands-on with Affordable, Brushed Aluminum HP Pavilion dm3

Today’s HP notebook onslaught continues.  The company has announced the successor to the HP Pavilion dv2, the HP Pavilion dm3, a aluminum-clad 13-inch notebook that allows buyers to select either AMD or Intel as their engine of choice for a reasonable price.

Both models weigh 4.2 pounds and mesure from 0.9 inches to 1.2 inches thick. But the AMD model starts at $549 and features the AMD Neo platform, switchable graphics, and up to 6 hours of endurance when running the integrated GPU; the Intel version starts at $649, and comes with a choice of either integrated or discrete graphics, which are rated at 10 hours of battery life and 6 hours, respectively.

Regardless of which solution you select to power the HP Pavilion dm3, you’ll be treated to a machine with a 13.3-inch (1,366 x 768) display, 64-bit Windows 7 operating system, 4GB of RAM, brushed-metal “Modern Argento” finish on the lid on palmrest, and eye-catching metal accents along the sides. Check out our image gallery and video for to get our first impressions of this new system.