This HP notebook is not new. To be honest it is more than one year old model. So why are we talking about this “old” model? Well there is one good reason: price tag (430€)! This is one of the cheapest models (or maybe THE cheapest) that we found so far that is powered by thoroughbred Core 2 Duo CPU. Don’t forget that this model can be found in more than few variations but model that we tested named FH542AA had Core 2 Duo T5200 CPU inside.

With this model HP aims two customer groups. First one is consisted of less informed customers that look for fast processor and search for easy recognizable Core 2 Duo sticker. Second group of customers are users that need large amount of CPU power but don’t have large budget to rely on so they cannot afford themselves all those fancy accessories.

Grey casing with unattractive appearing is built of solid quality matte plastics. Only interesting detail is Touchpad that has little holes all over it with two buttons below it that are precise but we found them little bit too noisy. Keyboard doesn’t bend under pressure and typing experience is very good, so thumbs up for the keyboard. Glare screen is good with nice contrast and decent color saturation.

HP 530 is good example of modestly equipped notebook. On this model you will not find: multimedia keys, webcam, bluetooth and card reader. It has basic components but at least they are all good because powerful CPU sometimes can be “choked” by rest of inadequately picked components. We where pleasantly surprised when we found out that our model was equipped with 2GB of RAM. On the other side graphics card is few generations old and you can forget about playing new games on this notebook.

If you rely on CPU power in every day work and don’t have budget for some of those “beasts” this is nice opportunity for you to make your work more efficient and easier. Maybe you think that notebook designed like HP 530 can’t have large target customer group but think again. It is close to perfect business notebook: fast CPU, enough memory, decent autonomy and low price. Did we mention that you get Windows Vista Business with it? This model can get job done as good as most of pricier models but without all those fancy accessories. HP 530 is a real budget saver.

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