The rest of the interior is very simple--not overwhelmed with lights or buttons, thank goodness. Above the keyboard is a power button, as well as an Internet button (pressing this button opens a new Internet Explorer window). A fingerprint reader resides in the lower-right part of the deck.

As for ports, the dv7 is all decked out, with two USB 3.0 ports (curiously, these ports are black--not the usual blue--perhaps to blend in with the rest of the design), two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-in, VGA-out, gigabit ethernet, two headphone jacks, and a microphone jack. For handling media, you get the aforementioned Blu-ray Disc drive, as well as a multiformat card reader on the front of the machine. And those users who prefer to lock down their laptop will appreciate the Kensington lock slot.

So far, the dv7 shapes up to be an excellent machine. When it comes to performance, however, the dv7 is just average, as it reached a WorldBench 6 benchmark score of 134. That isn't a bad score (we've seen some hit below 100), but it isn't terribly impressive either, especially for a laptop with an SSD.

Its performance on graphics tests was better, but still below the average scores of the past five desktop replacements we've reviewed. In our Dirt 2 graphics tests (high quality, 1024 by 768 resolution), the dv7 managed a frame rate of 52 frames per second. The average frame rate of recently reviewed desktop replacements we've tested is 80 fps--a significant difference. However, in our low-quality Dirt 2 tests (at the same screen resolution), the dv7 produced a rate of 128 fps, while the other recently reviewed desktop replacements scored only a little higher, at 130 fps.

Basic multimedia on the dv7 is good, and video playback looks decent on the dv7's 17.3-inch glossy screen. The display is nicely bright, though colors can look washed out. (I wouldn't mind a little more contrast, too.) The glossiness means that you have to contend with a lot of reflections, and off-axis viewing angles are less than ideal. Nevertheless, video playback--both streaming HD and Blu-ray Disc media--runs smoothly.