Now, if you noticed, it has been a while since we last updated the reviews column. Well, that’s because we didn’t get any new test device to lay our hands on. We’ll talk more on our disappointments later on, but what we have to show you here is a new, or rather my own 'HP Pavilion g6-1241 se'.
Firstly I must tell you that the entire set is not flashy and new. Its three months old now, and was kept as a backup article if we didn’t get anything to test. Nevertheless, it is still a review-worthy machine as I shall explain in this review.
Firstly I must tell you that the entire set is not flashy and new. Its three months old now, and was kept as a backup article if we didn’t get anything to test. Nevertheless, it is still a review-worthy machine as I shall explain in this review.
Pros:
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Exterior-wise the g6 is no big looker. The model we purchased came in red or ‘Glossy Sonoma Red’ as HP calls it. We did keep in mind that there were ‘dv6’ models that came with impressive specs, but this was “the one” that fit our budget and at the same time put out powerful graphics, for some good gaming.
Noticeably though, with 37.4 x 24.5 x 3.63 cm dimensions and 2.55 kg weight this isn’t a light-weight boy. But a light-weight toy was not what I had in mind anyways. Nevertheless, the curved edges with the glossy plastic do provide an excellent feel, and the weight goes un-noticed during casual office-trips.
Noticeably though, with 37.4 x 24.5 x 3.63 cm dimensions and 2.55 kg weight this isn’t a light-weight boy. But a light-weight toy was not what I had in mind anyways. Nevertheless, the curved edges with the glossy plastic do provide an excellent feel, and the weight goes un-noticed during casual office-trips.
Now off to the tech specs. The g6 contains on it a glossy 15.6 inch ‘High-Definition LED BrightView Display’ which displays a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768. The screen does not extend upto the edges, and is protected by a centimetre or so, of plastic. There is also an HP Webcam with microphone up front.
Down below you get your standard keyboard (keys have flat tops and wider bottoms), with no numeric keypad (No, thank you!!!), and a ‘TouchPad’ supporting Multi-Touch gestures with On/Off button. Oh and did I mention those pesky non-aligned stickers?
On to the left you do get your external display (VGA) port, ETHERNET port, HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, an SD.MMC slot, and your traditional headphone and microphone jack.
The right remains bare however, with just the DVD-RW drive (‘SuperMulti’ DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support), power port and an additional USB 2.0 port. Two ‘Altec Lansing’ speakers are present below the track pad. More on that later.
Down below you get your standard keyboard (keys have flat tops and wider bottoms), with no numeric keypad (No, thank you!!!), and a ‘TouchPad’ supporting Multi-Touch gestures with On/Off button. Oh and did I mention those pesky non-aligned stickers?
On to the left you do get your external display (VGA) port, ETHERNET port, HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, an SD.MMC slot, and your traditional headphone and microphone jack.
The right remains bare however, with just the DVD-RW drive (‘SuperMulti’ DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support), power port and an additional USB 2.0 port. Two ‘Altec Lansing’ speakers are present below the track pad. More on that later.
Lets go to the screen first. The LED unit on the g6 is certainly not bad when it comes to viewing good quality images. We also found the viewing angles to be fine, and above average. Yes, the glossy screen is a nice touch but if you’re planning to get one, do not, as reflections can hamper visibility.
Our g6 also come with an impressive Intel Core i5 processor; 2.4 GHz Core i5 2430M to be precise. We also get 4 GB (DDR3) of internal RAM, which can be upgraded later to 6 GB, on will. However, those specs mean that you will be stranded with 5.5 hours of battery life. Also note that we only got 4 hours of juice in ‘HP recommended mode’.
So far the specs look good. But we certainly were impressed by our dedicated graphics card. We get 1GB from the AMD Radeon HD 6470M unit. Do note that this not a high end graphics processor. Nevertheless, we do have the courtesy of 2.65 GB of available ‘Video Memory’, which is quite impressive. We also get DirectX 11 compatibility, so almost all games that are in the market now and later on should work fine on our g6.
We did install games like ‘Batman-Arkham City’, ‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2012’, ‘Hitman-Blood Money’, ‘Godfather 2’, ‘Call of Duty-Modern Warfare’, ‘Ashes Cricket 2009’, ‘Splinter Cell-Double Agent (and) Chaos Theory’ and ‘NFS-Shift 2 Unleashed’. All work exceptionally well.
Bluetooth system with Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) is also standard and offers impressive connections at good speeds (Varies according to router and strength).
So far the specs look good. But we certainly were impressed by our dedicated graphics card. We get 1GB from the AMD Radeon HD 6470M unit. Do note that this not a high end graphics processor. Nevertheless, we do have the courtesy of 2.65 GB of available ‘Video Memory’, which is quite impressive. We also get DirectX 11 compatibility, so almost all games that are in the market now and later on should work fine on our g6.
We did install games like ‘Batman-Arkham City’, ‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2012’, ‘Hitman-Blood Money’, ‘Godfather 2’, ‘Call of Duty-Modern Warfare’, ‘Ashes Cricket 2009’, ‘Splinter Cell-Double Agent (and) Chaos Theory’ and ‘NFS-Shift 2 Unleashed’. All work exceptionally well.
Bluetooth system with Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) is also standard and offers impressive connections at good speeds (Varies according to router and strength).
Storage-wise the g6 pavilion fails to impress me. Yes, it’s all I deserve for what I paid. HP pushes in a 320GB SATA unit (rather hesitatingly) for your data, but a small budget push and you will get a 720GB version with an additional 2GB of RAM. But again 320 GB is what we have to play with.
Our Webcam is next on the review list. We weren’t particularly happy with its pictures, and it was just not worth posting. The g6 is no video-conferencing laptop. Yes, it is good for the occasional Skype, and you may get some good ‘Facebook’ pictures out of it. Just in case you wondered, the camera does have some neat tricks to perp up your photos, and it also sports auto-focus and face detection. Still, not the best in the market.
We are not putting up any shots using the camera. Forgive us on that.
Our Webcam is next on the review list. We weren’t particularly happy with its pictures, and it was just not worth posting. The g6 is no video-conferencing laptop. Yes, it is good for the occasional Skype, and you may get some good ‘Facebook’ pictures out of it. Just in case you wondered, the camera does have some neat tricks to perp up your photos, and it also sports auto-focus and face detection. Still, not the best in the market.
We are not putting up any shots using the camera. Forgive us on that.
Going further into the g6, we did get ‘Windows 7 Home Basic’ pre-installed. We liked and so we kept it. Moreover, as I mentioned, it was free. But unlike a mobile phone you always have the option to switch to your desired Operating System. Also on the ‘standard list’ was a copy of ‘Norton Anti-Virus 2012 w/ AntiSpyware’. And truth be told, we hate it. It keeps interfering our ‘Mozilla Firefox’ browser for 20 minutes after startup, and also rewards us with the occasional crashes.
Now, if you remember HP’s of the olden days. And by old I mean 2004-2005’s not 1990’s. They used to boast off some impressive sound systems. And as usual we get an ‘Altec Lansing’ system with the g6. The speaker in question is great (not awesome) but is good enough to fill a standard sized room without much problems. Audio quality is decent too, but don’t expect it to match up with the ‘Beats’ audio that come with newer HP’s.
Now, if you remember HP’s of the olden days. And by old I mean 2004-2005’s not 1990’s. They used to boast off some impressive sound systems. And as usual we get an ‘Altec Lansing’ system with the g6. The speaker in question is great (not awesome) but is good enough to fill a standard sized room without much problems. Audio quality is decent too, but don’t expect it to match up with the ‘Beats’ audio that come with newer HP’s.
Next is the ‘Track Pad’. Now, firstly what you must keep in mind is that textured unit’s like ours are not exactly the best. Yes, it looks great, but are usually not sensitive and responsive. We didn’t find much of a problem with our unit but the multi-touch gestures are better forgotten than used.
Now, we would have gone into the benchmarking test next. But I think there’s something you really need to know. Over the course of months the g6 has given me over three ‘Blue Screen of Deaths’. That’s not necessarily an asset one can showcase, but just keep in mind that, at times that ‘Call of Duty’ copy may push the 4GB RAM off its limits. But be careful, and you’ll be fine.
Overall, the G6 is a good buy if you were planning to get a decent and, budget laptop. This one should easily tick your boxes, for its 15.6 inch LED screen, excellent browsing skills, processing capabilities and well-laid out specs. But don’t expect super-high-end gaming and editing. It still is a fighter and apparently, a bargain at Omani Riyals 245 or US$650.
Now, we would have gone into the benchmarking test next. But I think there’s something you really need to know. Over the course of months the g6 has given me over three ‘Blue Screen of Deaths’. That’s not necessarily an asset one can showcase, but just keep in mind that, at times that ‘Call of Duty’ copy may push the 4GB RAM off its limits. But be careful, and you’ll be fine.
Overall, the G6 is a good buy if you were planning to get a decent and, budget laptop. This one should easily tick your boxes, for its 15.6 inch LED screen, excellent browsing skills, processing capabilities and well-laid out specs. But don’t expect super-high-end gaming and editing. It still is a fighter and apparently, a bargain at Omani Riyals 245 or US$650.
| NAME OF PRODUCT | g6-1241se |
| Microprocessor | 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-2430M |
| Memory | 4 GB DDR3 |
| Memory Max | Upgradeable to 6 GB DDR3 |
| Video Graphics | AMD Radeon HD 6470M (1 GB DDR3 dedicated |
| Video Memory | up to 2.65 GB total) |
| Display | 39,6 cm (15,6") High-Definition LED BrightView Display (1366 x 768) |
| Hard Drive | 320 GB SATA (5400 rpm) |
| Multimedia Drive | SuperMulti DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support |
| Network Card | Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN |
| Wireless Connectivity | Bluetooth |
| Sound | Altec Lansing speakers |
| Keyboard | Full size island-style keyboard with home roll keys |
| Pointing Device | TouchPad supporting Multi-Touch gestures with On/Off button |
| PC Card Slots | Multi-Format Digital Media Card Reader for Secure Digital cards, Multimedia cards |
| External Ports | · 1 VGA · 1 headphone-out · 1 microphone-in · 3 USB 2.0 · 1 RJ45 |
| Dimensions | 37.4 x 24.5 x 3.63 cm |
| Weight | Starting at 2.55 kg |
| Power | 90W AC Power Adapter |
| Operating System: | Genuine Windows 7 Home Basic 64 |
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