Spec and Performance - The base model for the Pavilion dv6t has the following:

• CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 (2GHZ)
• Memory – 4GB (DDR3)
• Graphics – Intel 4500mhd
• Screen – 15.6 Inch
• Hard Drive – 320GB
• Other Stuff – Wireless-N, HDMI port, 4 x USB, E-Sata, Dolby speakers, RJ45

With a Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of DDR3 memory the Pavilion dv6t can handle some memory and cpu intensive programs without any problems. When it comes to multi tasking you can effortesly run several browser windows, a media player and other applications all at once without any downgrade in performance.

The 320GB should give most people plenty of room to store their media and applications on but if you want to use a removable drive there are plenty of USB ports (and an e-sata port) to plug them into to. The basic graphics processor is just that – basic. It will render graphics at an average speed and can handle some older games without too much trouble, but if you’re thinking of running the latest Call of Duty on here, forget it, unless of course you plan on buying the dv6t with a better graphics option (which you can do on the HP website). The rest of the spec is good enough to run some of the latest games providing you upgrade the graphics card.

Look and feel - The dv6t is a very sleek and shiny laptop with a smooth front panel. The keyboard is actually one of the best laptop keyboards I’ve ever used, the keys have the perfect sensitivity and the keyboard also has a number pad, a feature you won’t find on many laptops nowadays! HP has managed to fit this in without it being too intrusive which is impressive for a 15.6inch laptop.

The screen is nice and bright and even under a low brightness setting it is easy to use (making it great to save battery life). As for the ports – they are all well positioned and easily accessible.

Other features - In terms of networking the dv6t comes with a Wireless N network card offering you the maximum possible wireless speed currently available. There is also a built in RJ45 port that offers 1GB speeds on a wired network. The HDMI port is a nice little feature especially since this could be considered a budget laptop.

The dv6t weighs in at 6lb which is light considering its size; this makes its mobility good for a 15.6inch screen laptop. The battery has a life of up to 4 and a quarter hours. Chances are you will get less then that especially if you have wireless enabled and are putting the processor under load. However by lowering the screen brightness you can greatly improve the battery life.

One thing worth noting – the dv6t comes shipped with a whole bunch of software which will negatively impact the performance. Most people will find the software useless and so I recommend removing it when you first get it to get the most out of the laptops spec.

Summary - The dv6t is a great addition to the HP Pavilion range and starting off at $650 it is an absolute bargain for the spec you get. For those who want a general use laptop that won’t struggle with multi tasking then the dv6t is perfect. If you’re a hard core gamer on a budget then the dv6t is viable providing you get a graphics upgrade as an additional option.

Avast offer a free and paid for anti virus solution and both have an impressive set of features to keep your computer safe from viruses and malware. Let’s take a look.

Features – As with most anti virus programs Avast uses real time shields to protect your system. However, unlike many other programs Avast uses a separate shield for each type of protection it offers, they are as follows:

• File System Shield – Protects your system by monitoring file activity and scans all files being read and write for virus signatures.
• Mail Shield – Scans your emails for any potential viruses in the attachments and message bodies.
• Web Shield – Monitors your online activity and scans any web pages you visit to detect any possible exploits.
• P2P Shield – For those who use any p2p clients such as bit torrent, Avast will scan the programs you are downloading and check for viruses.
• IM Shield - Monitors your instant messaging programs and checks for any suspicious activity.
• Network Shield – Acts as a basic firewall to check for any security breaches.
• Behaviour Shield – This works as a heuristics engine to monitor your entire system for any suspicious behaviour.

The list is certainly impressive and Avast pretty much have all angles covered. All the shields are customisable and can be fine tuned to exclude certain file types or change the detection and notification settings.

Avast also uses an auto update to engine to ensure that your definitions are kept up to date at all times. Full system scans can be ran at any time and you can also schedule boot time scans which will scan your system upon start-up, this is a handy feature since a lot of viruses and malware will auto start-up when Windows first loads and a boot scan should intercept them before they can do this.

Effectiveness – The most important feature of any anti virus program is how effective it is against catching and removing viruses. Lot’s of wonderful features are useless unless the Anti Virus vendor can address the main critical issue, which is its detection rate.

Avast scores very high in this department and in the tests that I conducted it was able to detect some very stubborn and well hidden viruses that other anti virus vendors missed out on. The heuristics engine is also very effective especially if you turn the sensitivity up to full, by doing so you are using the maximum level of protection but there might be occasions where it detects false positives (programs that aren’t actually viruses but are detected as them). This is a small price to pay for the extra protection you get.

The other real time shields were also effective and the web shield was able to detect some JavaScript Web exploits that could have potentially infected my system if it had not have been running. Once a threat is found Avast will popup a notification in the bottom right of the screen, by default there will also be an audio notification which is quite distinct, so there is no chance you won’t notice it!

Free Version Vs Paid Version – The free version of Avast is very effective and for those on a budget it is usually quite adequate for general use. The paid version comes in at $39.95 and offers some nice extra features:

• Faster updates.
• Scripting Shield to protect against Windows based scripting viruses.
• Sandbox feature (Allows you to run a potentially infected file or website without causing any damage to your system).
• Better Web shield to protect against web exploits.

Are the extra features worth the price tag? Probably yes, if you do a lot of web surfing and download quite a lot then the improved web shield and scripting shield can make a big difference to prevent infection. The faster updates are also a very good feature to stay ahead of ’0-day’ viruses which have only recently been discovered.

To get maximum Anti Virus protection click here to download and buy the Pro Version of Avast

To download the Avast Free version click here.

This is where HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) comes in. HTTPS works and operates in the same way as HTTP except all data sent between the client and server is encrypted. When a client establishes a web connection using HTTPS it will firstly check the certificate that the site is using to ensure that it is legitimate and not a ‘man in the middle’ attack. It will then negotiate what kind of encryption to use, the type of encryption and the strength of the key which will depend on what the server is offering.

The client and server will then exchange unique encryption keys which will be used to encrypt the data. With only the client and server having these keys, anybody intercepting the information will not be able to decrypt it. All information is then sent securely. It is important to understand that HTTPS will do nothing to address the flow of data, i.e. using a packet sniffer on a local network an attacker could still intercept data, however the data would be useless to the attacker. Decrypting a typical key used in HTTPS is not practical and could realistically take hundreds of years even with a very powerful computer.

The other differences between HTTP and HTTPS are the source TCP port that the server uses. By default http will use port 80 and https will use 443. This is done to separate all http and https communications and allows a web server to run secure and non secure sections of the website at the same time.

HTTPS is typically used for online banking and other financial websites which require a high level of security. You will be able to tell whether the site you are visiting is using HTTPS or not, if it is then the address will be prefixed by https:// you will also usually see the padlock icon either in the address bar or at the bottom. Clicking on this should give you information about the site and details of the key strength it uses.

It is worth noting that HTTPS is inherently slower than normal HTTP. This is due to the extra overhead that is created in:

• Verifying the identity of the website.
• Exchanging unique keys from client and server.
• Encrypting data before sending.
• Decryption data one it is received.

This extra overhead is a small price to pay for the very strong security that HTTPS offers.