The Dragon is powered by a Core2 Extreme 2.6GHz processor with 2GB of DDR2 memory. The 20.1in display has a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 driven by an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT card with 256MB of dedicated memory that rises to 1,023MB. Storage is rounded out with a pair of 4,200rpm 200GB SATA drives.

The Dragon boasts an integrated TV tuner with a remote control that clicks into a dedicated storage space on the notebook. HP put its weight behind the HD DVD standard by offering a drive as an option for the Dragon. There’s a memory card slot as well as four USB ports and FireWire input.

Connecting to a TV is easy, all we had to do was run through the setup wizard and we were watching digital TV. Sound is covered through usual 3.5mm sockets for headphones and a set of outputs for a 5.1 speaker system; and a standard coaxial connector connects to a TV antenna.

As you’d expect there’s 802.11g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. If you prefer to use a 3G or HSDPA service there’s also an ExpressCard slot for both 54m and 34mm cards.

There were some disappointments with the Dragon. While the screen is huge, we’d have preferred a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution so HD video could be viewed at its best rather than scaled back. Also, we’d have liked a Pre-N wireless card since some of HP’s competitors offer it at lower price points.