If you’re looking for a desktop replacement, HP has gone all out and refreshed its top of the line Dragon with bleeding edge laptop technology and a premium price tag to match.

The massive screen with a unique hinge-based design is the centrepiece of HP’s Dragon desktop replacement and allows for the screen to be tilted (once the lid has been fully opened) for best comfort. Unlike most laptops, there is no clasp that holds the screen to the base of the laptop.

The keys on the full-size keyboard are very responsive and include a numpad for the number crunchers as well. Using the keyboard in front of the 20.1-inch monitor for daily tasks takes getting used to as it feels as if your face is right in front of the screen. Situated above the keyboard are the touch-sensitive and fingerprint inducing media shortcut keys, along with the wireless LAN toggle, volume controls, fingerprint scanner and optical drive eject shortcut button. The trackpad is hidden in a slight dip in the palm rest area with indented circles indicating the trackpad area and vertical scroll.

On the left hand side of the keyboard sits an area specially made for the remote control. A locking mechanism keeps the remote secure in its place. The remote feels cheap though and may not stand the test of time. Navigating through the media you have stored or want to playback is fairly straight forward and easy to pickup thanks to the intuitive remote and Windows Media Centre capabilities.

The glossy 20.1-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1680×1050 is impressive with the speakers stylishly and discretely located below the screen. Because of the resolution of the screen, those that want Full-HD will have to use the HDMI port to output to their plasma or LCD TV. VGA out connectivity is also featured for those with old school monitors.

As you’d expect from a desktop replacement, the 512MB GeForce 8800GTS graphics showed performance similar to that of a gaming PC, scoring a very respectable 8107 3DMarks in 3DMark06. When you consider hardcore gaming machines score 11000+ 3DMarks using similar configurations, this is a solid result. Video quality on the Dragon while watching Blu-ray movies showed excellent contrast and black levels. Surprisingly, the Dolby audio from the speakers was nice and clear with the added option to output to external speakers if need be. You probably will if you want yor games and movies to sound absolutely pristine.

Packed with Intel’s X9000 Extreme Edition processor running at 2.8GHz along with the 4GB of DDR2 (of which only 3GB will be utilised by 32-bit versions of Windows Vista) and 640GB of hard disk space, the Dragon will be suitable for anything you can throw at it. Unlike its Extreme Edition desktop counterparts, HP have made sure that the X9000 processor cannot be overclocked, which makes most of the processor’s price premium pointless on the Dragon.

If the 640GB of storage is not enough for you, additional storage is available by using the eSATA port and the multi-card reader which accepts SD/MMC/MemoryStick/xD memory cards. Four USB ports and one Firewire port are also included for your external peripherals and any other gadgets you want to connect. There is also 802.11b/g/n, Gigabit LAN and Bluetooth to keep you connected.

Weighing in at over 7kg, the Dragon is definitely one for just carrying around the house. It could also serve as a LAN machine but at the asking price of $5,499 you’d want to leave it safely at home. Battery life isn’t spectacular at a shade over two hours at minimal usage, but we can’t see anyone using the Dragon in their travels for that length of time anyway.

HP’s Dragon is a very niche product for those that want the luxury of a bleeding edge laptop replacement with real desktop performance and a large screen, all in a single unit. As with most desktop replacements, the Dragon’s heavy weight and poor battery life are the main drawbacks. Its asking price of $5,499 is steep but that’s the price you pay for high end technology.

Credit- GadgetZone