How to Make Better PowerPoint Presentations

Whenever we need to make presentations, the software that immediately comes to mind is Microsoft PowerPoint. It’s widely known as the simplest and most effective way of creating the best possible presentations, and it’s one of that software’s in which you can simply jump in and start using it.

Ironically enough, its ease of use is why people tend to end up with similar looking presentations. Most people never bother to explore the various tools provided to aid the process of creating a presentation.

Also, I’ve seen many users who take ages to format pictures in the slide and handle text instead of using inbuilt tools to simplify the process. So I’ll give you a few tips and pointers to make your presentations more effective.

To make your presentation stand out, there is tons of stuff you can do.

- You have to be crystal clear when working with text. A chunk of text never looks good. It’s better to make a few of points that capture the essence of what you are trying to convey, instead of page long lines.

- Make the important words bold. Type the quotations and sayings in italic. Convey the information as simply as possible, but at the same time it’s important not to oversimplify. Find a middle ground.

- Just because its text, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Text slides can be made more interesting by putting in shapes and word art. I specially love the SmartArt feature which makes boring slides look visually appealing. Here’s a slide I made up in a couple of minutes to illustrate this.

- Use visual representations of data where ever possible, it keeps the audience engaged. Use charts, pictures and graphs in the Insert option that PowerPoint provides.

For example if you are to explain the annual growth of a company, use a graph instead of giving the facts in text form.

- If there’s a lengthy point you have to make, find a relevant video and include it in the slides. Or, you can record a narration in your own voice while the salient features are given in form of points.

Using different mediums enhances the professional feel of a presentation.

-  Use the inbuilt themes to add a bit of flair. But don’t use them with default settings, that just conveys the message that you couldn’t be bothered to spend time on the presentation.

Try playing with different colors, fonts and effects. If you want to go really unique, do a Google search for free PowerPoint themes.

- Animations and transitions on the slides look cool, but DONT overuse them. They can distract the audience. Personally, I use them sparingly on important slides.

- Use the layout option to accommodate text, video and images effectively in your slides, as per your slide needs.

- Always play your presentations full screen, when you’re done, to know exactly what it will look like when you present it. It’s important to get feedback too, show your work to family and friends and get impartial opinions on what looks good and what looks bad, then make relevant changes.

Don’t be intimidated by the various options provided in PowerPoint. They’re quite fun to explore and many times you’ll come across a short cut or find a better way to go about a particular task.

The newer versions of PowerPoint (2007 and above) are jam packed with additional features and provide more ease of use compared to earlier versions. So get a copy and start making those presentations!

Some Dangerous Risks to MS Security

Security has always been an important part of any IT infrastructure. As technology progresses, it’s a safe bet that there will always be people who will try to infiltrate your network to do their malicious deeds. As security technology improves, so do the skills of these notorious hackers. But what can we do to protect ourselves from these threats? Few tips to help improve your awareness of some of the more important risks threatening your Microsoft infrastructure.


1. Physical Attacks
Let’s start with the most basic attack. A physical attack on a computer can be a daunting thing. Suppose someone actually has physical access to a machine, and they wish to obtain data from it. With heightened awareness of password security, things are a little better. However a determined hacker can easily get to information that is stored on a machine whether it be a stand-alone client or a full-blown domain controller. Some obvious best practices include making sure that no one has physical access to any of your servers. Hopefully, most organizations running a back-end SAN will have whatever room the servers are located in under lock and key. Physical attacks can also include an attacker coming in with an external hardware device like a usb drive and infiltrating a system that way.
Thankfully, Microsoft has supplied us with group policy settings so we can set a policy in place that prohibits the use of any type of external storage device. With the advent of Microsoft Server 2008, Microsoft has also given us Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC), and this helps tremendously as far as networks are concerned. Because of the unilateral replication, if any of the structure is changed or manipulated, it ensures that the changes won’t be replicated out to the rest of the network, not to mention the choice of which account credentials will be cached. We were also given the new BitLocker feature to help protect sensitive data. BitLocker Drive Encryption is a full disk encryption feature included with Vista Ultimate and Enterprise as well as the new Windows 7 and Server 2008. It’s designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. It uses the AES encryption algorithm in CBC mode with a 128 bit key. However, as with anything else in terms of security, hackers found a work-around.

Back in February of 2008, a straightforward cold boot attack was discovered. This basically allows a Machine that is protected by BitLocker to be compromised by booting the machine off of a USB device into another OS and then dumping the contents of the pre-boot memory. The attack relies on the fact that DRAM retains information for up to several minutes after the power has been removed. If cooled, it can buy the attacker even more time. This takes away any protection because the keys are held in memory while Windows is running. BitLocker can also operate in a sort of “USB Key” only mode. Of course, anyone using this method better be sure that the key is never left with the computer. There is also the possibility that a malicious program, like a pre-boot or post-boot malware program, could read the startup key off of the USB key and store it. It’s always a good idea to remove the USB key from the USB port before Vista completely starts.



2. Password Policies
When talking about password policies, we often think of complexity requirements. This can include number of characters, type of characters (letters, upper-case, lower-case, numbers, and special characters), how often the password should be changed, and failure threshholds. Any password policies not using Kerberos are using NT Lanman, which uses 56-bit DES encryption, and that’s really weak. Unless you happen to be running any NT boxes in your network, you can rest easy knowing that Kerberos authentication, with it’s Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), is at work for you. However, one thing that can often be overlooked is that any password that is less than 15 characters long is automatically stored in backup with an NTLanman backup hashfile. Taking this into consideration, it’s easy to realize why you might want to have a password policy that requires a password of over 15 characters. So instead of a password, have your users come up with a passphrase instead. You might even consider having your users change the password every 90 days instead of every month because it cuts down on the chance that the user might write down their password. From a security standpoint, any passwords that are written down for someone else to possibly see are a potential hazard.


3. Privileged Accounts and Social Engineering
Let’s say that you’re the network admin at your organization. You have full domain rights and privileges. You go to install a new vulnerability scanner that your friend Bob recommended to you (so you know it’s from a safe source, right?). Unbeknownst to you, the program actually has a series of simple net commands that are running in the background that create a new domain account, change your password, and a few other things that make you cringe in retrospect. How could this have happened? After all, you’re certain that your anti-virus software is up to date. The problem with this scenario is that it has nothing to do with a virus. According to the system, it was you who created the new admin account and changed your own password.
Over the years, the game in security has changed from “Can I guess your password?” to “How can I get you to run something while you’re signed on with your privileges?” Because of the way that security works within
Microsoft, as soon as you login with an account that has administrative privileges, you possess a “token” that gives you access to those privileges. Whether it be establishing rapport and good credibility with Bob and then offering him a new vulnerability scanner to try at work or setting up a web site with dirty active x controls, attackers can get pretty creative in how they try to accomplish this.
Microsoft has been telling us for years not to login with an account with administrative privileges and go web surfing, and checking our e-mail. Hence the “run as” feature that was so kindly given to us. While working with an account with non-admin rights, if we need to install a program, we can right-click and choose “run as” and only that one process will use the administrative token. Windows Vista tried to alleviate much of this by giving us the User Account Control (UAC), but how often is it really used or turned off altogether?
A company called BeyondTrust released a report recently that indicates that according to their analysis of all the security bulletins Microsoft published last year, 92% of the critical vulnerabilities could have been mitigated by the principle of least privilege. Below are some key points from the report.
• 92% of Critical Microsoft vulnerabilities are mitigated by configuring users to operate without administrator
rights
• Of the total published Microsoft vulnerabilities 69% are mitigated by removing administrator rights
• By removing administrator rights, companies will be better protected against exploitation of 94% of Microsoft Office, 89% of Internet Explorer, and 53% of Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities
• 87% of vulnerabilities categorized as Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities are mitigated by removing administrator rights

4. E-mail Attacks
Imagine that you’ve just sat down to check your e-mail, and you receive an e-mail claiming to be from your bank or, better yet, from your HR department, claiming that a new policy is in place and it’s required that you change your password for security reasons. You click on the link provided in the e-mail only to be directed to a site that looks alarmingly identical to your bank site or your internal HR site. At the site, it asks you to put in your current credentials for authorization. Spam and phishing attacks are classics in the online criminal’s repertoire. But, as long as users keep falling for the tricks, the bad guys will just keep sending on the e-mails. These types of attacks can leave you wide open for some of more popular risks such as...

5. Worms
We’ve all heard of computer worms. Basically a self-replicating program, they use our networks to send copies of themselves to other machines, and they do so without any intervention on the user’s end. It doesn’t need to attach itself to an existing program like a virus. Although they don’t corrupt or devour files like a virus, worms can still pose a security threat nonetheless, usually in the form of bandwidth consumption.
The Conficker worm that caused so many problems to networks recently is still around. It was so serious that Microsoft thought it was worth putting a $250,000 bounty on the head(s) of those who created it. However, the worm is still out there and spreading. A new variant known as Conficker B++ has been released into the wild sporting new characteristics that could try to get around the IT industry’s attempts to bring it down.


6. Increasingly Malicious Malware
Malware is malicious software. We’ve all heard of malware infecting our systems. We usually only find out about it through scans because they’re designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the user’s consent. Although most of the malware is not malicious in nature and is usually referred to as spyware, the threat of malicious software infiltrating our machines is an ever-alarming one.
Hackers continue to refine the capabilities of malware, expanding on flux technologies in order to obscure their infrastructure, making it even harder to locate their servers. There are also recent variants that are able to detect when someone is investigating activity and then respond with a flooding attack against the investigator. As this kind of thing is becoming more main-stream, it’s growing more difficult to make investigations. Some examples also target and dodge anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-rootkit tools. So basically, malware is becoming stickier on target machines and more difficult to shut down. When you look at a list of malware threats you may begin to experience deja vu. You might ask yourself if you’ve seen the names of some of these processes before. The reason is that the writer of the malicious code is trying to pull a fast one and have disguised the code by giving it a name similar to another harmless, but essential, application. Below is a list of some examples taken from ProcessLibrary.com.


ISASS.EXE
Part of Optix.Pro virus, Isass.exe is registered as the Optix.Pro Trojan that carries in it’s payload the ability to
disable firewalls and local security protections, and which also contains a backdoor capability, allowing a hacker fairly unrestricted access to the infected PC. This Trojan was developed by someone going by the name of s13az3 who formed part of the (since discontinued) Evil Eye Software crew.

NVCPL.EXE
Part of W32.SpyBot.S Worm Nvcpl.exe is a process that is registered as the W32.SpyBot.S worm (it also seems to be associated with the Yanz.B worm, which may just be another name). It takes advantage of the Windows LSASS vulnerability, which creates a buffer overflow, forcing your computer to shut down. Although not necessarily a particularly destructive piece of malware, it is a nuisance because it will access your e-mail address book and send spam to your contacts.

CRSS.EXE
Part of W32.AGOBOT.GH Crss.exe is a process-forming part of the W32.AGOBOT.GH worm. This spyware worm is distributed via the Internet through e-mail and comes in the form of an e-mail message, in the hope that you open its hostile attachment. The worm has its own SMTP engine, which means it gathers E-mails from your local computer and re-distributes itself. In worst cases, this worm can allow attackers to access your computer, stealing passwords and personal data.

SCVHOST.EXE
Part of W32/Agobot-S virus, the scvhost.exe file is a component of the W32/Agobot-S virus. Another member of the Agobot (aka Gaobot) computer worm family, this Trojan spreads via networks and allows attackers to access your computer from remote locations, stealing passwords, and Internet banking and personal data.

SVHOST.EXE
Part of W32.Mydoom.I@mm Svhost.exe is a process that is associated with the W32.Mydoom.I@mm worm. This worm is distributed as an e-mail message and requires that you open a hostile attachment. Using its own SMTP engine, the Mydoom worm will gather e-mails from your local computer and redistribute itself. The original Mydoom worm was first spotted in January 2004 and went on to become the fastest spreading e-mail worm ever. In worst case scenerios, this worm can allow attackers to access your computer, stealing passwords and personal data; however, it is also interesting in that, in addition to the Trojan, the other payload it carried was a denial of service attack on the website of SCO Group. Later versions of the worm have included denial of service attacks on other sites, including Google and Lycos.


7. Unauthorized Network Access
Probably one of the biggest risks to keep an eye out for would be any type of device that has access to the network that should not. Just imagine a scenario where someone is able to walk into your organization and plug in a wireless router that starts automatically handing out IP addresses. Fortunately, we have tools at our disposal to prevent something like this. These tools include Network Access Control (NAC), which uses a set of protocols to define and implement a security policy that describes how to secure access to network nodes by devices when they initially attempt to access the network. Thus, when a computer connects to a computer network, it is not permitted to access anything unless it complies with a set of standards, including anti-virus protection level, system update level, and configuration. While the computer is being checked by a pre-installed software agent, it can only access resources that can remediate (resolve or update) any issues. Once the standard is met, the computer is able to access network resources and the Internet, within the policies defined within the NAC system.
We also have Network Access Protection (NAP), which is used for controlling network access of a computer host based on the system health of the host. With NAP, system administrators of an organization’s computer network can define policies for system health requirements. Examples of system health requirements are whether the computer has the most recent operating system updates installed, whether the computer has the latest version of the anti-virus software signature, or whether the computer has a host-based firewall installed and enabled.
Connecting or communicating computers have their health status evaluated. Computers that comply with system health requirements have full access to the network. Administrators can configure health policies that make it possible to ensure that computers not in compliance with system health requirements have restricted access to the network.
One of the biggest improvements for ensuring that you’re protected against unauthorized use of the network
has to be the use of certificate services. Certificate servers validate or certify not only devices on a network but also users and even processes through the use of keys. Of course, the use of managed switches and protocols, like ipsec to help protect data and ipv6, don’t hurt either.


8. Not Updating Patches
Of course most of these threats could be avoided altogether if everyone followed best practices and made sure that all of their patches are up to date. For the common end user, it’s just a matter of keeping auto update turned on inside of Windows. For a larger organization, things may not be so simple. Patches and updates have to be tested before being rolled out on an active network to ensure there won’t be any conflicts with other software that might be running. Sometimes, the software running may be detrimental to the functioning of the particular organization. Of course, this is where having a testing environment along with Windows Software Update Services can be key. With WSUS, administrators have more direct control over the type and time updates are applied to network systems. This not only controls precious bandwidth but also gives administrators control over yet another entry point into their networks. This might seem obvious, but neglect in this department can be catastrophic as it keeps the door wide open for all the exploits and vulnerabilities set forth by all the viruses, worms, and rootkits that malware and other types of attacks have lying in wait.


9. Third Party Applications
It’s fair to say that Microsoft has put tremendous effort into adding a lot of security in the Windows operating system as well as its Microsoft Office applications. It seems that as our operating systems become more secure, attackers are beginning to focus more on application exploits rather than OS exploits. Microsoft is generally great about routinely updating Internet Explorer to patch any security vulnerability. However, the vendors of many third-party applications are less security-minded or aware. Just think of how many independent developers there are out there offering freeware. Some of these programs present an opportunity we can expect hackers to take advantage of because most have not been written with security in mind and do not automatically check for and download security updates.

10. The Human Factor
A lot of the things mentioned here also rely on one of the biggest vulnerabilities in any IT infrastructure whether it be Microsoft or any other platform, the human factor. The weakest link in all security initiatives are the people. When thinking of this, it reminds me of a term we used to use when troubleshooting back in the day. “I know what the problem is. It’s PEBKAC” (problem exists between keyboard and chair). Without heightened awareness of things like social engineering, password security, e-mail scams, and best practices, like keeping all of your software updated, all of these things will continue to thwart the normal functioning and security of our systems. When deciding what the most dangerous risks to any network are, one must try to imagine where the attacks may be coming from and, more importantly, how they will try to get into the network. Becoming familiar with these “holes” and how they’re approached is key to protecting our data and ensuring that our systems won’t be infiltrated.
As of this writing, there are currently some very specific exploits concerning the server products and other applications such as “token kidnapping.” This allows an attacker to gain full control of a server if the attacker can first run malicious code on the server as a lesser privileged user.

Employers Have to Check New Employees' Social Networking Profiles?

Every employer tries to hire the best employee in terms of educational qualification and professional experience. Its the responsibility of HR department to seek and recruit the best employee for their job opening.

In Pakistan hiring an employee is an easy task. A reviewing of the candidates papers, an interview and consulting a few references and you are done. Following the philosophy of first impression is the last impression. Every employee tries to present their self  in the best possible manners. Regardless how that person is in its normal life. Everyone would hire a sober looking and a well dressed person speaking fluent English with a charismatic personality. But afterwards when the employee gets hired. He tends to show his true spirit. Behaving in a way which is unacceptable and wasn’t seen during the interview.

The thing is judging the behavior and true personality of a possible employee with just an interview and a few references is not enough. If we take an example, In US HR firms do a thorough check on the social networking profiles of the employee prior to the interview. They check the domestic life and background of their yet to be employees to see what are their habits and living style. If you have put a picture of yours with your friends during a game of beer pong and you happen to be in US then you will would never get the job no matter how many A’s you got in your academic life.

This practice enables employers to hire the best staff which positively impacts the future of their companies. So, companies and HR firms in Pakistan should also consider to check social networking profiles of job seekers to make sure they are recruiting the best people. With more than 900,000 people on Facebook from Pakistan and the ongoing awareness of blogging – every job seeker is likely to have an online social profile. With which his social lifestyle and habits can be monitored.

According to a study from US job website, CareerBuilder:

Forty-five percent of employers are using social networking sites to research job candidates prior to interviewing them. Of those who conduct online searches/background checks of job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace. One-in-ten (11 percent) search blogs while 7 percent follow candidates on Twitter. Thirty-five percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them not to hire the candidate. Fourteen percent of employers also disregarded a candidate because thy sent a message using an emoticon such as a smiley face while 16 percent dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an e-mail or job application. Eighteen percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate.

This shows that how beneficial  social media can be for both the employer and the employee. I think its time that employers should start this practice and pick the right people. At least IT and Telecom industries must screen their employees prior hiring them. This can also help job seekers to build up a strong social profile highlighting their academic and professional achievements and maintaining a good relationship with their peers. Social media networks like LinkedIn can actually get job seekers the best job they can think about. Social media is a powerful tool – What both employers and employees need to do is use it in the best way.

iPhone 5 Concept is it here?

Note:Following post/article is based on ideas and expectations.

Three plus four is five.

Here is what the bill are at least in the case of the iPhone 5, the next generation of smartphones from Cupertino.

As the story goes, Apple has the reviews of the current model taken seriously and working on the successor model to be in full swing.The reception problems are known and will certainly get to a skillful isolation of the antenna in control.

Many iPhone fans hope that the iPhone will connect five of the benefits of his two immediate predecessors: the excellent performance of the iPhone 3G and the unusual design of the iPhone 4. If you do not want to be on the rumors that are currently circulating in large numbers in the network, can be approached only with a little imagination even to the point: The Apple iPhone will be five noticeably flatter than its predecessor. 

The thin metal frame offers no room for physical controls.Their functions takes the touch-sensitive framework itself . This is the fifth most significant renovation of theiPhone

For example, the entire left side of a line will touch the volume control. To increase thevolume you move your finger from bottom to top, to reduce the volume from top to bottom. The sensitivity that is needed to control the route can be changed by software.

Even more technical details of the imaginary iPhone 5 will provide surprises.

Browsing Speed

Once again,The speed of mobile browsing is provided coverage, now reaching unknown values.

wi-fi

The iPhone 5 supports the wireless standard of the fourth generation.With the 4G you can reach up to 100 Mbit / s in download and mobile phone masts in the vicinity of even up to 1000 Mb / s.

Processing

In order for these data transfer rates can be implemented, Apple would have to strongly turn on the processor performance.

Resolution

Apple should also turn on the resolution of the new retinal Plus displays.This last criticism silenced, the backlight of the display should be adjustable.

Reading Text

This text can be read on electronic paper as the best and without signs of fatigue in both sunlight and in darkness. With this improvement of the display of the increased resolution of 10.2 megapixels camera is taken into account.The photographs and videos should be represented as in all beauty.

Battery

The iPhone 5 must therefore also follow the internal memory, which would fill up too fast. As before, it will probably be two models of the iPhone 5, maybe 32 GB or 64 GB of memory. The battery power is something to be demanded. If the operation times for 5iPhone will increase again, the phone also needs a battery of the new generation.

Putting Privacy Settings in the Context of Use

A few days ago, Gilad’s eyes opened wide and he called me over to look at his computer. He was on Facebook and he had just discovered a privacy loophole. He had maximized his newsfeed to get as many photo-related bits as possible. As a result, he was regularly informed when his Friends commented on other people’s photos, including photos of people with whom he was not Friends or in the same network as. This is all fine and well. Yet, he found that he could click on those photos and, from there, see the entire photo albums of Friends-of-Friends. Once one of his Friends was tagged in one of those albums, he could see the whole album, even if he couldn’t see the whole profile of the person who owned the album. This gave him a delirious amount of joy because he felt as though he could see photos not intended for him… and he liked it.

There are multiple explanations for what is happening. This may indeed be a bug on the part of Facebook’s. It’s more likely a result of people allowing photos tagged of them to be visible to Friends of Friends through the overly complex privacy settings that even Gilad didn’t know about. Either way, Gilad felt as though he was seeing photos not intended for him. Likewise, I’d bank money that his kid sister’s Friends did not think that tagging those photos with her name would make the whole album available to her brother.

Facebook’s privacy settings are the most flexible and the most confusing privacy settings in the industry. Over and over again, I interview teens (and adults) who think that they’ve set their privacy settings to do one thing and are shocked (and sometimes horrified) to learn that their privacy settings do something else. Furthermore, because of things like tagged photos, people are often unaware of the visibility of content that they did not directly contribute. People continue to get themselves into trouble because they lack the control that they think they have. And this ain’t just about teenagers. Teachers/professors – are you _sure_ that the photos that your friends post and tag with your name aren’t visible to your students? Parents – I know many of you joined to snoop on your kids… now that your high school mates are joining, are your kids snooping on you? Power dynamics are a bitch, whether your 16 or 40.

Why are privacy settings still an abstract process removed from the context of the content itself? Privacy settings shouldn’t just be about control; they should be about the combination of awareness, context, and control. You should understand the visibility of an act during the moment of the act itself and whenever you are accessing the tracings of the act.

Tech developers… I implore you… put privacy information into the context of the content itself. When I post a photo in my album, let me see a list of EVERYONE who can view that photo. When I look at a photo on someone’s profile, let me see everyone else who can view that photo before I go to write a comment. You don’t get people to understand the scale of visibility by tweetling a few privacy settings every few months and having no idea what “Friends of Friends” actually means. If you have that setting on and you go to post a photo and realize that it will be visible to 5,000 people included 10 ex-lovers, you’re going to think twice. Or you’re going to change your privacy settings.

In an ideal world where complex access control wouldn’t destroy a database, I would argue that you should be able to edit the list of people who can see a particular artifact at the time of upload. Thus, if I posted a photo and saw that it was visible to 100 people, I could manually go through and remove 10 of those people without having to create a specific group that is everyone but the unwanted people. I know that this is a database disaster so I can’t ask for it… yet. Y’all should make large-n combinatorial functions computationally feasible eventually, right? ::wink:: In the meantime, let me at least see the visibility level and have the ability to adjust my broad settings in the context of use.

Frankly… I don’t understand why tech companies aren’t doing this. Is it because you don’t want users to realize how visible their content is? Is it because your relational databases are directed and this is annoying to compute? Or is there some other reason that I can’t think of? But seriously, if you want to stop the social disasters that stem from people fucking up their privacy settings, why not put it into context? Why not let them grok how visible their acts are by providing a feedback loop that’ll let them see what’s going on? Please tell me why this is not a rational approach!

In the meantime.. for everyone else… have you looked at your privacy settings lately? Did you really want your profile coming up first when people search for your name in Google? Did you really want those photos tagged with your name to be visible to friends-of-friends? Or your status updates visible to everyone in all of your networks? Think about it. Look at your settings. Do your expectations match with what those setting say?

HP Pavilion

Manufacturers: Hewlett-Packard

Class: Pavilion

Model: dm3t

Specs Overview:

• Operating System: Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i3-380UM 1.33Ghz
• RAM: 3 GB DDR3
• Hard Drive: 320 GB @ 7200 RPM
• Graphics Card: Intel Integrated HD card
• Battery: 6 cell Lithium-Ion, 7.5 hours max
• Display: 13.3” LED Display
• DVD-ROM: None
• Webcam: HP TrueVision Webcam with MIC
• Wireless: Wireless Network Card 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth: None

Thin n Light:

The system offers a very compact design in terms of thickness. Compared to most laptops, this one comes in a sleek design. A width of just 1” is very impressive.

This feature along with a screen size of 13.3” contributes to the decrease in weight of the system. It weights nearly 3.98” lbs, which is pretty impressive particularly for an HP system since they are usually known to be bulky.

Audio Software Flaws:

The audio software of the this HP laptop is very irritating. Any program that requires full screen operation has to be minimized to change volume levels.

Although the volume controls are integrated on the top of the keyboard, but touching them minimizes the (full-screened) program and then the change takes place.

This is especially very irritating when a heavy program or a game is running and it gets minimized each time the volume controls are touched.

For some this is a problem, for others, this isn’t even a flaw.

Screen Movement:

The screen of the laptop can not be tilted beyond a certain angle. After movement of about 30 degrees or so, the screen can not tilt backwards any further. This is annoying some times if you have to sit on a level higher than the placing position of the system.

Although the LED screen would still let you see the screen properly but it will loose the brightness and definition to some extent.

Not the gamers’ choice:

Unfortunately HP does not offer any choice to upgrade the graphics card of this HP Pavilion laptop. No other card can be used in with the laptop except the one already mentioned in the specs.

This certainly comes as a disappointment because most companies would let the users customize the laptop if they agree to pay more but in this case even that option is not available.

So if you are a fan of gaming, this is certainly not your system.

Good battery Timing:

The battery time of this system is particularly impressive. With light browsing and using the machine in power saver mode, it is possible to get a battery time of about 5.5 hours.

With more usage the time will get reduced to about 2 hours. The time that the company claims can usually be achieved when you switch on the laptop and do nothing, and this is generally not the case.

Nice Design:

Compared to some of its other competitors, HP is still doing a good job as far as the design of a system is concerned. The laptop body is made of metal, not plastic and its interior gives a rich metallic look. The metal used this time is of better quality as it does not get finger prints over it self and is also more gripping than the ones used in previous pavilions.

For more detailed info go to www.hp.com