I got an HP Pavilion as a high school graduation present in 2007. It was my first laptop and only lasted one year until it broke. They have poor ventilation and get really hot within minutes. The battery life is atrocious. Last night I actually turned on the HP in order to compare it to my MBP (I had it repaired twice with new motherboards), and... it really sucks. The display is nowhere near as good. I don't like that there isn't a wide range of brightness to change, like on the MBP. I turned it on when it had 100% battery life and after ten minutes I checked again and it was at 51%. Then after about a minute it just shut off. Maybe it needs a new battery, but even in the beginning the battery lasted 1 1/2 hours max. I will concur, though, that the HP has one advantage over the MBP, and that is that it's sturdy. I have never dropped it, but you don't have to be so anal about carrying it around because it'll handle it. The MBP, unfortunately, is so delicate that you have to be EXTRA careful. That's the only thing I don't like about it...
Anyway, though, if you buy this, it would still be a serious downgrade. I would at least make sure that this HP doesn't have that failed nVidia chip in it. (It's the chip that makes the laptop die after a year; HP will put in a new chip if you are under warranty, but the same thing will keep happening because they replace it with another failed chip.) If you want a cheaper laptop, but still a good brand, I'd go with a Sony or a Lenovo.
