So do you prefer to call them laptops or do you prefer to call them notebooks. I am partial to notebooks as I never keep them on top of my lap. Jokes apart, purchasing a new notebook computer is really tough.

If you were to read the ads then each computer sounds better than the cat’s whiskers. But when you look close, they all look similar. At least the similarly priced ones tend to be similar. So, is there really a difference between one laptop and another? Or should I say one notebook and another?

To answer this very question, I am going to look at three popular computers that are currently on sale and compare them. The read can then take this to be the starting point and evaluate many other options to find the one that works best for them.

First of all, let us consider the HP Pavilion DV6426US, a machine that I powered by the Intel Core Duo Processor T2450. This multithreaded architecture based micro processor is well optimized for multi-tasking based performance. The fact that this notebook comes installed with 1 GB RAM should help run many of the contemporary popular applications at a good speed. It has a 160 GB Hard Drive which is nothing spectacular, but should do the trick in most cases. And the bundled operating system is the Microsoft Vista Premium. And I really like notebooks that come with an integrated WebCam. This HP laptop sure has one of those. In the absence of such a webcam, attempting Video IM becomes a serious pain.

Second let us consider the Sony VAIO VGN-FZ140E/B. This laptop too is powered by a Duo Processor, in this case the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100. It beats the HP one in terms of RAM, as it comes with 2 GB RAM. Its hard disk is bigger at 200 GB. So, if Freud was right and size does matter then, well, this one has the bigger Hard Drive. The duo-core multithreading micro processor will deliver performance similar to the HP machine. This laptop comes with Microsoft Vista Home Premium.

Finally let us look at the Compaq Presario F572US. Like both the previous machines, this one too has a 15.4″ screen. Though it has a dual-core micro processor, the Compaq uses the AMD Athlon 64 Processor TK-53 and not an Intel based processor like the other two I wrote about. Also it has 1 GB RAM like the HP machine. Where I think it scores lower is in its hard disk capacity, a mere 80 GB. It also comes with the Microsoft Vista Premium.

All in all, the machines have pros and cons. I have not listed prices here, as they would change faster than I could type them out. But, make sure to look at the prices too.

Let’s start at the beginning for this little HP Pavilion TX2530EA laptop, which for us involved a BSOD on booting. Since it was attributed to an internal power issue we correctly assumed that for its first boot it would need to be plugged in for an initial charge.

It didn’t get any better as the little machine was completely bogged down with HP’s bloatware, not to mention Vista Home. To make matters completely absurd we had to wait nearly 3 hours for the little [expletive deleted] to make its own recovery DVDs.

Obviously the crown prince of first impressions was not looking to good at this point, but since it was probably the first Puma based notebook in the country we decided to do what any rational person faced with bloatware on a bed of low grade OS minus DHCP sprinkles would do, and format. We upgraded the little guy to Vista Ultimate, installed all the drivers from HP’s site, 8 million Windows updates and harked at how slow it was.

Then something quite incredible happened. When updating HPs GPU drivers with the Catalysts from the AMD site, we noticed that the entire platform was being updated, busses and all. The machine suddenly began tearing through Vista and we even managed COD4 albeit at 1280xUGLY.

Now we are talking. Happy with the performance we achieved after two days of work, we suddenly cared that the tx was a tablet. Operating by touch is based on two modes, the first of which is passive and senses fingers or other body parts and will allow for a right click if held down. The second mode is active and involves the included pen.

The pen tip clicks, the side button right clicks and the back erases. There are a host of multimedia buttons around the screen when you are hiding your keyboard, which will allow you to rotate the image or play a movie and just in case these aren’t enough there is also a remote control.

The only price you pay for the awesome tablet features, is a slight compromise on screen quality. There is a perceptible grain that limits viewing angles slightly and makes the screen look as if some crafty devil applied Glad Wrap while you were sleeping. This gets worse when you introduce relatives to finger based solitaire but it’s hardly a turn off. Over time the subtle design elements also came into focus and we began to notice just how pretty the tablet was.

Despite the on/off switch getting stuck occasionally the overall design quality is very impressive considering this is quite possibly the cheapest tablet PC on the market. To add to the value, the notebook comes with a compact four cell battery as well as an enormous eight cell that will lift its backside. The smaller battery will keep you going for a couple of hours max at high performance while the big guy will last about 7-8 if used very sparingly.

It’s not a bad first attempt at a Puma platform, the performance and consumption are impressive for the size, it’s just a pity there was no XGP support for a little CrossfireX action. All in all, despite a rocky start the tx2530ea was a really impressive beast once you unraveled the layers of garbage it comes standard with. This is a great portable if you need a tablet, but a bad idea if you don’t.