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Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

11.6" HP Pavilion dm1 is Verizon's 4G/LTE laptop, available July 28

By Gloria Sin | July 26, 2011, 11:29am PDT

Summary: Verizon’s first 4G LTE laptop is available without contract for $600 and with pay-as-you-go mobile data service. But is it a better option than Verizon’s 4G LTE USB modem?

Not only is Verizon launching the Samsung Galaxy Tab10.1 on July 28, it is also offering its first LTE laptop in the HP Pavilion dm1-3010nr online on the same day.

This dm1 is similar to the 3G laptop Verizon introduced last year, but with a 4G LTE radio inside. Under the hood, the HP laptop is powered by the dual-core 1.6 GHz AMD E-350 CPU with integrated graphics, has 2 GB RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, built-in Wi-Fi in addition to its cellular connectivity, and a multi-card reader slot. With an 11.6″ display, less than 1.2″ thick and weighing 3.5 lbs, the dm1 is highly portable and easy to slide into a bag for on-the-go productivity. It comes equipped with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, which means it is ready for multi-tasking and networking out-of-box.

Thanks to its 4G LTE connectivity, as long as the laptop is within range of Verizon’s speedy network, users can expect mobile download speeds between 5 to 12 Mbps and uploads between 2 to 5 Mbps. So the built-in VGA webcam and integrated mic will come in handy for video conferencing and VoIP chats.

Of course, to tap into the home broadband-like speeds will not come cheap. Although the laptop itself is available for $599.99 from Verizon (no contract!), you will need to pay Verizon for the 4G mobile broadband service each month as needed:

$50 for 5GB per month
$80 for 10GB per month

Unless you absolutely must have the fastest Internet connection at all times, Verizon’s 4G LTE laptop combined with the required data plan just gets very expensive very quickly. In my opinion, you could buy a more powerful laptop with a Verizon LTE USB modem for similar money that offers more flexibility, so your 4G connectivity isn’t tied to a particular laptop like with this dm1.

[Source: Verizon press release, Engadget]