The Pavilion G6's grey plastic chassis is hardly inspiring,
but underneath are some surprisingly powerful components, Including a quad-core
processor and dedicated graphics.
Taking center stage Is a quad-core AMD Llano A8-3520 CPU. It
runs at 1.6GHz, but AMD's Turbo Core function can boost this to 2.5GHz for
extra performance in single threaded applications. That, along with its 6GB of
RAM, meant it completed our multimedia benchmarks with an overall score of 40,
which is fast enough for most common applications. If you use multithreaded
applications such as Adobe Photoshop, you should notice a significant boost
over a dual-core processor.
HP Pavilion G6
The processor has integrated graphics, but HP has added a
dedicated Radeon 7450M card. This has 1GB of video memory and can work in
CrossFire mode with the CPU’s onboard graphics to create a surprisingly
powerful combination. In our Dirt 3 test, the G6 managed a very smooth 38.1
fps, so you'll be able to play modern games at reasonable levels of detail.
We expected battery life to suffer because of its processor
and graphics card, but the G6 managed nearly six hours away from the mains.
You’ll need to stick to light tasks but, unlike other quad-core laptops we've
seen, there’s potential for working on the move.
Image quality is surprisingly good for a budget laptop, with
plenty of brightness and reasonably vivid colors, although viewing angles are
fairly basic. It has a limited amount of screen tilt and a glossy finish, so
light reflections are more noticeable than on other laptops.
The keyboard is quite basic, but it is functional. The flat
keys are grouped tightly together, but they’re full size so we didn't feel too
cramped when typing. In typical HP fashion, the function keys have been repurposed
as multimedia shortcuts, although you can disable this if you prefer.
The keyboard is
quite basic, but it is functional. The flat keys are grouped tightly together
We had no trouble using the touchpad, although it’s smaller
than we would have liked. It's sensitive enough to navigate the desktop
quickly, and its raised surface makes it easy to find using your sense of touch
alone If you’re working in the dark. Handily, a double-tap to the small
recessed corner disables the touchpad should you prefer to use a mouse. The
buttons directly below it push in rather far before they register a click, but
at least they make a noise so you can tell when you've pressed them in far
enough.
Unsurprisingly, there are no USB3 ports, but otherwise
connectivity is good. Three standard USB ports, a multiformat card reader and a
DVD optical drive are the highlights, but there's also audio input and output
jacks and an Ethernet port, as well as HDMI and VGA video outputs.
Compared with the far more stylish Pavilion DV6, the G6 is
something of an ugly duckling, albeit one with significantly more powerful
components Inside. However, when it comes to real-world tests, very little
separates the two. If you have multithreaded applications that can make the
most of its quad-core processor then the G6 may perform better, but otherwise
the cheaper DV6 is a better buy.
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Info
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Price
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$553
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Details
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www.hp.com
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Summary
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Verdict
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The G6 has powerful components, but it isn't significantly
faster than the better-looking and slightly cheaper DV6
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General-purpose laptop
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AMD A8-3520M, 6GB RAM, 750GB disk, AMD Radeon 7450M
graphics, DVD+/-RW +/-DL, 15.6in widescreen LCD, 2.6kg
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