HP Pavilion dm1z Review Discussion

The new HP Pavilion dm1 (also called the Pavilion dm1z) is an 11-inch notebook that uses the latest AMD Fusion technology to combine a fast dual-core processor and powerful graphics inside a budget-priced netbook alternative. Is this the best new notebook for 2011? Keep reading to find out.

Read the full content of this Article: HP Pavilion dm1z Review

Related Articles:

• CES 2011: HP Pavilion dm1
• CES 2011 Pre-Show: AMD-based notebooks, Toshiba 3D and more
• AMD "Zacate" APU First Look: Hands On with the Brazos Platform

 

ThanX Jerry...

Looks like I can use this for my uni works. I hate carrying my G53. BTW wonder what happen if we add SSD? Also I think PCmark award extra points to MBA due to SSD.

 

Well, the only surprise here is how the bottom is removed. Unlike other sites reporting that you remove battery and move the tabs (no screws), this review states the screws under the feet for removal. No biggie, at least the user can still perform upgrades. I probably won't open mine when I get it. But its always nice to know I can replace a failed HD or bad memory.

This is the site that reported accessing the bottom without screws: HP introduces dm1z 11.6 inch notebook with AMD Zacate chipset

However, if you notice, the battery is black and not silver. The black battery models were prototypes. Models shipping will have silver color battery. And it appears they changed from a screw less bottom to one that is held by 4 screws on the production model.

 

Nice review ! Have you seen any overclocking option, at least on the GPU part?

 

Should expect up to 1 hour more battery life with SSD as well as the obvious performance boost of SSD.

 

High praise indeed. I might pick one up just to try it out but I feel bad when I abuse HPs excellent return policy.

 

Those CDM sequential numbers look low... although I've admittedly mostly been looking at 500 GB drives and up recently.

 

Yeah...I suspect that as well, quite low for 7K Rpm drive. Maybe too much background programs...

 

Other than the touchpad, this is a really nice notebook. Good job HP.

 

I am not too god at benchmarks, so could please someone help me out with this one



According to this graph, the CPU performance of HP's E-350 is not that much lower than Macbook Air's Core 2 Duo's SU9400, is that right? I mean, in all prior reviews of E-350 it was hard for me to get a straight comparison of E-350 with laptop CPUs (not Atom), like CULV series of Penryn.

 

I wonder how this fairs in SC2 if you put everything on super low

 

Very proud of AMD. They've finally turned the corner and produced a chipset that beats Intel in the graphics and price but doesn't destroy itself with heat and short battery life.

 

Basically the same conclusion as I came to when testing the Nile-based dm1z last year:

lgpOnTheMove - taking a new cut on notebook reviews: First Impressions - HP dm1z notebook

I'll be honest I'm not a big fan of the redesigned exterior on this newer model, the previous 311-based chassis was far better.

 

what's with the scores on PCMark05 and PCMark Vantage between the testbed and the hp dm1z?

 

This is a perfect example of why synthetic benchmarks can be a bit confusing. In terms of raw computational power for math calculations like wPrime, the AMD E-350 is roughly equivalent to the Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 used in the 11-inch MacBook Air. That said, so is the dual-core Atom processor used in the ASUS Eee PC 1215N ... but anyone who uses these three laptops side by side will notice that the HP Pavilion dm1 and the MacBook Air feel much "snappier" when switching between applications, opening multiple windows, and performing basic multitasking activities.

As I mentioned in the review and others have pointed out here, PCMark05 and PCMark Vantage also give extra points for fast SSDs, so the Pavilion dm1 took a bit of a hit in its PCMark scores because of the slower hard drive compared to the SSD in the MacBook Air.

You can definitely find Intel CPUs that are faster than the E-350, but for the budget price of this APU it provides a great deal of bang for the buck.

Intel still has the dominant play in the mid and high-end notebook market with the new Sandy Bridge processors, but they left a big hole in the entry-level market and AMD is taking advantage of that with these new Fusion APUs from their Brazos platform.

 

The testbed had an 80GB SSD. PCMark05 and PCMark Vantage favor fast drives (such as SSDs) so the testbed got a huge lift from that.

The same can be said for the 11-inch MacBook Air. It uses an SSD and if it was running off a slower hard drive then it would have produced much lower scores.

 

I ordered one of these yesterday my question is though:

so I wonder how removing the bottom of the laptop will be like because its all one piece and how the screws are under the feet, so does that mean that you have to remove them to get to it? can you just put them back afterwards, or do u have to re-stick them? and what about drivers? HP doesnt have drivers for this listed on their site at all. how and where can u get them?

 

I too am quite interested in getting one, and like everyone else would like more information as to removing the bottom cover to get access to upgrading the RAM/HDD. Anyone know?

 

An article on anandtech sheds some light on this. Multithreaded performance of the E-350 is similar to dual-core Atom, but single-threaded performance of the E-350 is a lot better than on the dual-core Atom.

The Brazos Performance Preview: AMD E-350 Benchmarked - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

However, Intel has some more expensive low-power CPUs such as the i3-330UM that will smoke both of them in both single-threaded and multi-threaded use.

 

HP usually post their service guide @ support section. (DM1Z>Support>Manuals)

 

Which reminds me of another issue. One of the prominent marketing pitches of the whole APU idea is that the developers can get easier access to heterogeneous computing (i.e. using the processing power of GPU alongside the CPU). Are there currently any end-user apps that gain benefit from APUs?

If so, is it adequate to use the same benchmarks for traditional CPUs and APUs?

 

As far as I know there aren't any apps that currently offer accelerated performance "exclusively" on APUs. However, these APUs take advantage of OpenGL and AMD/ATI Stream to allow for GPU acceleration so that calculations that are able to be processed by the GPU are offloaded to the GPU ... thus allowing the CPU to be free for other tasks.

Translation: There are apps that run faster on the E-350 than an Intel processor with integrated graphics, but those same apps would also run faster on ANY machine with a compatible GPU that can handle GPU acceleration.

All of the next generation of web browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome) will support GPU acceleration, and I suspect that we will eventually see the majority of applications take advantage of the GPU (whenever possible) in order to provide the fastest possible performance.

 

The Fry's in Sunnyvale, CA has this unit on the floor. I played with it this morning.

 

So the answer is still Asus 1215N then even a year after its release?

I must say that really Zacate performance is dissapointing given that the benchmark was set really with the original ION 1 device from Asus with Atom 330 and Ion 1. Im not sure if Zacate is actually any faster than that!

Oh btw i am looking for a netbook/sub notebook. ive had a DV2 with AMD Neo X2 1.6GHz and ATi 3410 dedicated in a 12.1" form factor. I was hoping that Zacate was going to be the silver bullet. Providing that extra battery life and extra OOmph. But it doesnt look that way.

 

Zacate's GPU is faster than both the ION 1 and 2. Zacate also is cheaper and has better battery life than any of the dual core atom platforms paired with ION 1 or 2. The CPU performance is identical though....but some of the multithreaded benchmarks are towards the atom because the atom is a dual core with hyperthreading and slightly higher clock speed.

 

Strange that you would draw that conclusion unless you only looked at the synthetic benchmark results.

Synthetic benchmarks are rarely the best measure of true performance since CPU/GPU manufacturers can tweak hardware and drivers to improve performance in the specific tasks being tested in the benchmark without improving actual real-world performance (speed in application switching, rendering feature-length videos, etc.). Tech publications just use those synthetic benchmarks to give readers a "ballpark" estimate of how one system stacks up against another.

I mentioned in the review that the new dm1 is snappier/quicker in Windows 7 and that it handled multitasking better than the dual-core Atom used in the Eee PC 1215N.

Not only that, but the dm1 delivered better battery life than the 1215N based on our standard test.

We tested the 1215N with Left 4 Dead (the original) but not Left 4 Dead 2. We used L4D2 on the dm1 because there aren't as many people still playing the original L4D. Left 4 Dead 2 is also a bit more stressful on the GPU than the first L4D.

When we tested the 1215N last year it wasn't able to play Mass Effect 2 at all. Nvidia has released several driver updates since then, so it "might" be a different story now (we no longer have the 1215n loan unit in our office to check), but last year the 1215N couldn't handle it and the dm1 was able to run the game just fine (albeit at low frame rates compared to a gaming notebook). The simple fact that the dm1 could handle Mass Effect 2 well enough for me to play several levels/missions without getting killed tells me the new E-350 APU inside the dm1 does a pretty good job.

Am I going to sell my Alienware M11x and buy a Pavilion dm1? No. But the new dm1/dm1z offers a substantial amount of "bang" for relatively few "bucks" if you're shopping for a low-cost ultraportable laptop.

For me the big question remains; "How will all the other notebooks/netbooks with the E-350 perform?" I saw at least 6 other similar laptops at CES using essentially the same hardware, so we'll have to see if the dm1 is "the best in its class" or if it's little more than identical to all the other AMD E-350 machines.

 

Its not though is it? have you read the review?

3dmark06 = ION2 victory by ~ 400 points?

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6018&p=3

then the reviewer decides to omit the actual gaming performance of Ion 2 vs Zacate GPU in the L4D game? i cant even fathom why you would do that in a comparative review...unless you have something to hide?

Jerry, no disrespect but you only provided a synthetic benchmark comparison, what else can i make a conclusion from if that is all you provide us with?!

I think what you mean is that HD6310 is better than HD3200 and HD4225 but there seems to be little compelling evidence that AMD Fusion is better than 2 hobbled together technologies (Atom DC and Ion 2)?

Like i said, AMD has only just, and i mean JUST caught up to 12 months of Ion technology?

Im not saying that the FUsion is a bad GPU, or that it cant do some gaming. But its not a paradigm shift for a netbook as we have had this level of performance for some time now.

it is a shame that you no longer have the 1215N to test it against with newer drivers.


What would be nice is to see the 'flash' performance of Zacate. I got my fingers burned with Ati with their 3410 chip which never recieved Flash 10.1HD support. Does Zacate go one better and do it properly? I know Nvidia ION can handle flash okay. But the HD3200 and 4225 never really did even with updated drivers. The CPU utilisation was still very high.

Also, can you maybe test 1080p H264 or some other. The whole point in owning a netbook that does multimedia would surely be to play intensive videos via the supplied HDMI output. Previous ATi chips were hobbled in so much that they could not do the profile layer 5.1 or whatever requiring a lower bitrate encoding to a different profile of 1080p video for H/w accellerated playback.

Is this fixed? or is it still an issue.

 

No disrespect taken.

Likewise, without any disrespect intended, I also wrote a lot of text in that review alongside those synthetic benchmarks to provide readers with a balanced perspective on overall performance.

If our readers only look at the synthetic benchmarks in every review and ignore everything else then they will have a very limited (and potentially inaccurate) view of how these notebooks and netbooks perform in "real world" use/applications.

If it was possible to evaluate laptops based on synthetic benchmarks alone then we would have no text in any of the reviews on this site ... just a list of synthetic benchmarks.

 

I can say on the last generation dm1, 1080P was no problem. Also, I've read tests that this new fusion model does 1080P at 60FPS smoothly without any dropped frames. More importantly, the dm1 overall performance in the windows environment is snappy (as it was on the last generation I can report that). When reviewers compare the 1215N to the dm1, the 1215N is not as snappy as the new dm1. That is, there is more lag when jumping from one application to another etc.. The 1215n is not working as fast as the dm1 in W7 environment. That is what is real and is being reported by those that use both these machines side by side. There was one review that 3D numbers faster for the 1215n in the game WoW HP Pavilion dm1 Reviewed Review - Display, Audio, Performance, & Graphics However, WoW is more of a CPU intensive game which taints the review. The ION2 has a higher cpu clock speed which explains the findings IMO. Other reviews show better 3D performance on the DM1.

I think Intel fans are missing a very important point here. And its a HUGE ONE. That AMD has come up with a ION2 alternative that is comparable that runs cooler and deliverers at least 25 percent more battery life. Now most people will tell you that battery life and heat, are two KEY issues with notebooks. And to improve in both these areas, and still deliver the same performance, and as reported as having faster performance in the W7 environment, is very impressive. You are not giving AMD any credit with improved heat/battery life. And they did this by combining the CPU/GPU into one APU. And its why there are allot of manufacturers scrambling at this very moment to release their version of AMD's new APU.. its because they can deliver cooler running chips, with longer battery life RIGHT NOW. Do you see, SONY, LENOVO, or ACER bringing in new ION2 models? NO. Why do that? Why sell a system that in many cases, will give a poorer W7 experience and deliver less battery life and more heat?

As for Sandybridge, it has no place in this form factor price point. Again, as stated before, Intel left a big hole here.

 

I cannot honestly fathom any of the major notebook makers out.

On one hand you have people like Asus making their own hybrid graphics ULV Notebooks in 13/14/15 form factors, and then dropping the development of the drivers after nvidia make optimus. Great what about pre optimus systems?

What about Acer timeline V1 with HD4330 hybrid with no further driver development?! WHY?!

Why did no one else apart from Asus make an Ion 2 notebook? i have no idea. Why cant i buy ANY sub 14 inch laptop with a dedicated graphics card in for less than $600? (here in the UK thats like £450). I just dont know. Its like they want to shoehorn Intel HD onto everyone like it was the best thing since sliced bread and keep 'dedicated' nvidia 310 (you know, 3 generations old, and the lowest performing discreet part you can get) in the $700-800 category as some kind of hideous upsell tool.

Notebook manufacturers are a law into themselves. They hate discreet graphics, and especially so in sub 14" machines.

So i dont think you can turn around and state categorically that a lack of Ion 2 netbooks at the low end give a terrible experience. Notebook makers are happy to peddle you a terrible experience, they just want to do it easily with an Atom 270 and Intel HD wherever possible as its less complex to manufacture.

Do you know that it costs £479 for a Dell 13" with AMD Neo x2 and HD4225? (m301z)

Or the next best/worst model the Lenovo Edge 13" X2 with HD4225 is £450.

The cheapest Alienware 11z is £749 and thats with U5400 CPU.

£749.00 GBP = $1,188.26 USD

This makes an Asus 1215N for £424.99 seem pretty good value. Except there are hardly any availability to buy.

So i dont think you can use some kind of reverse logic to make out that Ion2 is a dog because more manufacturers havent done anything with it. These manufacturers havent even tried and probably dont want to as it will upset their value added £500+ product line up.

 

I'll admit, your right that I am surprised in the last year more Ion2 systems did not roll out. Although, the AMD neo (nile platform), is probably why it didn't. The neo performed really fast IMO and did all the HD stuff I threw at it including MKV 1080P stuff. Hardly could tell the difference when working with it and the HDX 18 I am typing on right now. If I had not had a key go bad on that neo system, I would probably still have it. But for some reason, I decided to just sent it back on my 21 day for refund. And that night, I heard the first reports of the dm1 fusion. Less then a week later, I ordered one.

But the Nile was a great chip as well. Ran cool, and battery life was comparable to the ION2. Gaming performance was comparable with the fusion as well. Probably cost manufacturers less then the ION2 so it made sense money wise to use it. But I am thinking Intel is in real trouble with the ION2 now. Even Asus will probably drop the 1215N with news of the AMD fusion battery life and cooling properties. If Intel wants to keep selling the ION2 they better start charging less for it.

If anything, things have reversed where Intel has the hotter running chip that takes more power. In the past, it was AMD running hotter taking more power. So all things the same, Intel will have to take a second seat in this class of chip and lower their price. Which they probably won't. But you can bet they will build a new fusion chip to compete directly with AMD's fusion. Which is good. Without AMD, we all would be paying more for less.

 

UPDATE: We just realized that we overlooked the hidden bottom plate release for the new dm1z. I've updated the review since it is indeed possible to remove the bottom of the notebook without any tools once you remove the battery and know how to do it.

It's not the most obvious solution, but HP deserves credit for making it possible to perform upgrades without unscrewing the entire bottom chassis of the notebook.

 

Ok.. that is good to know. I was wondering why they would take that design feature off the prototype model. I guess the only thing that differs from the prototype was the black battery.

I'm also wondering if we will ever see these 11.6 form factor notebooks hit retail? I've never seen any 11.6 here in Albuquerque. This machine looks too good for retailers to give up so easily to online stores.

 

That is actually pretty awesome. Could

Concerning the ION2 vs Fusion debate. I will not touch the performance comparison, since I haven't seen dm1 yet (although I did use 1215n for a week or so). I would only like to point out one more thing. 1215n is a nice and balanced machine for its money. But it's really far from being perfect. I remember the frustration from the keyboard that was literally quaking under my fingers at a moderate typing speed. That, and the awful noise it produced. The low build quality and the glossy surfaces, the mediocre touchpad and the noisy hard drive - those are my main complaints with 1215n.

That being said, even if dm1 has the same performance as 1215n, the alternatives are highly welcome. Besides, Linux users are going to like it, since NVIDIA Optimus is not supported under Linux (and there is no way to make ION actually work, the system only uses Intel GMA).

 

Sorry if this comparison seems a bit out of left field... but I expect more.

When I look back 2 generations ago (10/09) to the ASUS UL30vt:

3.7lbs
13" screen
overclockable CULV C2D CPU
Switchable 310m GPU
legit 11 hr battery life

So better batter-life, power, GPU, bigger screen, same wt.
Unfortunately ASUS never released a 12" UL20VT, but you get the point.

Yes the price was higher. But I'm surprised that we have gone through several new generations of CPU's and GPU's and this older laptop does everything better. Shouldn't we be seeing progress, or at least the same for a lot cheaper? That is at least what we seen in the now low-voltage sectors.

 

I think there's a video available @ hp site.

 

You sort of answered your own question there when you pointed out the price range. You really have to look at the target price ranges when you compare the evolution of laptops.

It's okay to look at a current $1,000 MacBook and compare it to a $1,000 MacBook from one or two years ago.

But it's different if you look at a modern $450 laptop and complain that it doesn't blow the pants off a laptop from last year that originally sold for $800-$900 depending on configuration.

If you look at how the new dm1z performs compared to a $400-$500 11-inch notebook/netbook from last year then the dm1z is a pretty decent system.

 

The dm1z pretty loaded minus a 25 dollar coupon plus tax comes in at around 470 dollars total. The Asus UL30Vt-X1 comes in at around 720 dollars Add tax to that in my state and your at about 777 dollars. Amazon.com: ASUS UL30Vt-X1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop (11 Hours of Battery Life): Computer & Accessories That's roughly 40 percent higher cost or 300 dollars more. Now for three hundred dollars sure, you can get into a intel ultra low voltage processor. 300 buys allot in notebooks. AMD's new APU never intended to compete with Intel's ULV processors. Nobody here will argue that Intel's ultra low products are not good, but at a significant cost. AMD's APU is designed to compete at a different price point and targeted to compete against Intel's Ion and Ion2 processors. Not Intels ULV processors.

 

fair enough. i never understood why only a few 12" models offer full powered i-3's (like the x201 and e700.) Is the i3-um, like the one found in the $520 Acer 1830t less expensive than a full voltage/full powered i3 counterpart? Or is a heat issue where you need a more expensive cooling system?

Because you can get a 3820t with a a full powered i3 (and decent integrated graphics) for about $550. And it will run circles around the DM1z and give you decent battery life. And it weighs only a couple ounces more than the DM1z but it has a 13" screen so a wider footprint.

the additional CPU power could mean the difference between having a machine that last you 18 months vs 3-4 years- assuming it is not built to fail.

 

Well, first off, your using the 3820T as an example which has a pathetic intel integrated graphics. Even Acer says it will only play uncompressed HD files. So good luck playing your mkv files. And I think we all can agree that the Acer 3820t cannot play any modern games.. even with settings turned all the way down. The 3D in the AMD APU will literally blow it out of the water. The benchmarks are probably more then double that of intels. As for longevity, I'm banking the AMD will last a long time, mainly since it runs cooler. HEAT is a pc's worst enemy. And the new AMD's APU's are testing out to be some of the coolest running laptops ever.

As for the timeline, it costs about 160 more after taxes. With AMD's superior graphical performance I doubt you would notice any difference in the windows enviroment. And if you come across a graphical web page, or video that uses 3d acceleration, the AMD is going to stomp the acer. In fact, you would be surprised how snappy these new AMD chips are. I had the last gen neo 325 and literally could not tell the difference in general computing to my HDX. Again, the biggest breakthrough on the new AMD fusion is building a decent ATI graphics onto the CPU and still get respectable battery life without having to resort to a pathetic Intel integrated solution. Comparing the dm1z to a intel integrated graphics system is not a fair comparison. Even so, the 3d performance of the dm1 will crush the acer and do it for 160 dollars less. http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Timeline...XWX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295044514&sr=8-1

Like Jerry said, benchmarks, and clock speeds are one thing. Real world use is another. If the new dm1z is anything like last generations, I'm going to be one happy camper. These machines are very fast and snappy in windows seven and do wonders with HD when connected to my 55" vizio.

If you want to compare apples to apples, you can only look at the ION2. And the only system I know of that uses it is the ASUS 1215n. And reviewers that have used both systems will tell you, the AMD APU is faster in the W7 environment. And the AMD does it with 25 percent better battery life and runs cooler to boot.

 

Comparing 3DMark06 the ATI 6310 INTEGRATED graphics is only a bit better than the integrated 5700HD (which depends on the CPU for clockspeed, and is much faster with a i3-330m than when underclocked on a i3-330 um.

3dMark06:
ATI 6310: 2240
5700HD: roughly 1700 (depends on CPU ranging from 1100 for ultra low voltage(um) to 2200 for i7 full voltage)

I consider the 5700HD and 6310 to both be marginal gaming integrated graphics. Both are much better than the integrated graphics that come with Atom netbooks.

Not sure exactly how gaming framerates compare... but neither are "gaming" GPU's.

But then again 3dMark06 is somewhat influenced by the CPU, so maybe in practice the ATI 6310 is much better.

 

You're being misleading here, Intel HD Graphics won't have no problem playing HD videos as long as hardware video acceleration is working fine.

I wonder if Acer has plans to put Fusion into their 11-13" laptops? At CES they showed the 10" netbook with Ontario and then the 14" and 15.6", but left that big gaping hole that would seem perfect for Brazos. i.e. Take the TimelineX but replace Intel Core with Fusion and drop the price for those that don't need the CPU power.

 

As for the lifetime of your laptop- I'm saying that a full speed CPU is unlikely to bog down with newer programs and a cluttered system in 2 years as compared to a netbook class CPU. The AMD is faster than an Atom, but both are slow enough that they will seem really strained as the software and OS you run gets more sophisticated with time.

Its like trying to run a 5 year old Pentium 3 vs a 4 year old core duo. You'd have to really scale things back to try and use a PIII on anything other than Linux, while the core duo will do fine with XP SP3 or maybe even W7.

 

X2 I haven't any trouble playing ANY type of video on the Intel HD Graphics.

 

Getting one myself, glad to hear upgrading components is a breeze with the tabbed backplate.
Time to retire my old ATOM powered ACER Aspire 1 with this, not getting it to game but for everything else , screw it more than likely i am going to try some games on it and see what it can do after i add my SSD.
Wonder if these APU can be OCed? Maybe with AMD clock tools?
Oh yeah great review!

 

Seriously, have you even used the last generation Neo dual core? If so, you probably would not be saying that. Don't just read the text and make assumptions. These fusion chips are seriously fast in W7 64 bit environment. And you want to talk about future proof? Ok, the next generation of web browsers are going to use allot more 3D and will offload it to the GPU. Having a stronger GPU will be more important then ever in the future. Looking at this video, you will see that raw CPU power will not be enough. If you don't have a decent gpu on board, its going to have slow downs in some internet explorer 9 web pages. And remember, reviewers have noted that the production numbers for these test bed AMD fusions are right in line with what actually went into production. What you see on this video is pretty much what you can expect on the new DM1Z. I'm not worried in the least bit that the dm1 will hold its own in 3-4 years time. I will however, see problems with some integrated graphics trying to run some of the heavy 3d web content that is coming in the future: YouTube - AMD Fusion - First Demo of the Zacate APU

As you can see, it went up against an Intel i5 system and stomped it. Both in gaming and on a internet explorer 9 web page heavy with 3D HTML graphics.
Personally, I would not recommend anything with Intel's last generation integrated graphics. I recommend going with either the new Intel Sandybridge with the new InTru 3d technology or maybe saving a few bucks with the AMD fusion. IMO it appears both AMD and Intel are pushing towards more powerful 3d solutions. Now is not a good time to invest in last generations Intel integrated graphics if you are indeed concerned about future proofing. There is a real 3D push going on in 2011 in both web content and in hardware acceleration. Even adobe flash as we all know, is starting to offload more to the GPU.

 

so do I buy dm1z or 1215n

 

dm1z if you are going after best performance/price.

 

That is way I am leaning i have 5 to 6 hund and want portable i play old games ut 2004 Farmville Some photo editing nothing heavy but want best i can get for the money.

 

I've heard not so good reviews on build quality on the 1215N. Too much flex in keyboard. Too much glossy paint, and more importantly, its reported to multitask and work slower in the W7 environment. It may benchmark in certain areas a bit better, but in real world use, the DM1 is quicker. Some reviewers on Amazon also complain that the screen is not bright enough. If this new dm1 is anything like the last generation, that will not be a problem. Plus the DM1 will run cooler, give you longer battery life and provide much better speakers.. which are touted to be best in class. The only thing the 1215N has over the dm1 is a .5 inch bigger screen. But the resolution is the same on both.