Notebook Hunter

For under AUD $600, this Intel Core i3 -powered HP notebook is an excellent deal. Notebooks in the $500-$599 price bracket normally come with cheap and cheerful processors like Celerons and Semprons and a minimalist 2GBs of RAM, which means they start to wheeze the moment you open up more than one office program. But in the case of this HP DV6-3203TU notebook on sale at Harvey Norman, you get a quite a powerful Core i3 CPU, even if the Core i3 is classed as Intel's entry-level processor. Since the HP also comes with 4GBs of RAM rather than the standard 2GBs normally offered at this level, it will comfortably handle everyday computing tasks (from running Microsoft Office to editing photo albums and playing HD videos). The 320GB hard drive is slightly smaller than the average 500GB found in most mainstream notebooks, but still large enough for general office and home storage.

In all, this is an excellent entry-level full-size notebook with a 15.6in (1366x768) screen and DVD drive that will easily handle the computing needs of the average person and not leave buyers feeling like they've ended up with slow budgetware. What's key here is the combo of Core i3 and 4GBs of RAM in this price bracket. Previous sub-$600 price busters have appeared with Core i3 processors, but with only 2GBs of RAM, which is just enough to get Windows 7 and one or two apps out of bed and not much more.

This HP is perfect for anyone wanting a good affordable computer who doesn't need to do anything too extreme or play games. It would make a great laptop for students at home. We're yet to find a better priced entry-level notebook with this combo of specs from a major retailer.

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