HP Pavilion g6-1a69us

The 500GB 5,400rpm hard drive is in line with most other laptops in this category, as it's the same size and speed of the drives found in the Lenovo G560-0679AKU ($599 list, 3.5 stars) and HP dv6-6013cl. What's not as common on a laptop in this price range is the dual-layer DVD burner that includes LightScribe label printing. The g6-1a69us also comes with a basic assortment of ports and connectors: 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, HDMI output, headphone and microphone jacks, a built-in Web cam, and an integrated card reader that supports SD and MMC formats. Built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi should get you online without a problem, but there's a wired Ethernet jack on the side that you can use as well.

The g6-1a69us comes with several programs and utilities pre-installed. Some will be useful, like a trial version of Office 2010, and a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security. Others will fall somewhere between useless and irritating, like the Blio ebook reader application, a collection of sample games from WildTangent, and a few HP branded offerings, like the HP MovieStore, HP Music Store and HP PictureMover. You'll also see one or two desktop links to websites like eBay. While you may want to keep one or two of these programs, I'd personally set aside some time to clear them off of the new laptop.

Performance
HP Pavilion g6-1a69us The g6-1a69us is equipped with a 2.53 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3-380M processor, paired with 4GB of RAM. It's the same processor seen in the Acer Aspire AS5742-6475 ($599.99 list, 4 stars) and Lenovo G560-0679AKU. In our CineBench R11.5 and PCMark Vantage tests, the g6-1a69us ranked right alongside other top laptops, scoring 2.08 points and 5,212 points, respectively. By comparison, the Lenovo G560-0679AKU scored 2.07 points in CineBench and 5,148 in PCMark, while the Acer AS5742-6475 scored 2.10 in CineBench and 5,639 in PCMark. Even in laptops with similar parts performance can vary widely, but the g6-1a69us will tackle day-to-day tasks with no problem.

In multimedia tasks the HP Pavilion g6-1a69us proved to be a strong performer. In our HandBrake video encoding test, the Pavilion g6 completed the test in 3 minutes even, identical to the Acer Aspire AS5742-6475 and Lenovo G560-0679AKU. In our Photoshop CS5 test, the Pavilion g6 completed our preset series of filters and manipulations in 5 minutes 21 seconds, beating out the both the Acer Aspire AS5742-6475 (5:35) and Lenovo G560-0679AKU (5:27). For the user who occasionally needs to touch up a photo or trim a video, the HP Pavilion g6-1a69us will be up to the job.

For graphics processing, the HP Pavilion g6-1a69us relies on Intel's integrated graphics. It's the same graphics solution found in the Acer Aspire AS5742-6475, and the Pavilion g6-1a69us manages to produce slightly better scores in 3DMark06. The Pavilion g6-1a69us scored 1,985 at medium resolution and 1,759 at native. The Acer Aspire AS5742-6475 scored 1,888 at medium and 1,617 at native. These scores fell far behind the scores of the HP Pavilion dv6-6013cl, which utilized the improved integrated graphics of a second-generation Intel processor, and scored 4,116 at medium resolution and 1,748 at native resolution. Unlike the dv6-6013cl, however, the g6-1a69us was unable to run either Crysis or Lost Planet 2, our gaming tests.

In our MobileMark 2007 battery life test, the HP Pavilion g6-1a69us ran down from fully charged to completely dead in 5 hours 8 minutes with a 6-cell (47Wh) battery. This plants it squarely among the best laptops in the budget category, like the Acer AS5742-6475 (5:01), which has a similar 6-cell (48Wh) battery and HP dv6-6013cl (5:17) that has a larger 55Wh battery.

From its sleek design to its strong performance, the HP Pavilion g6-1a69us is certainly a leader in the current crop of budget laptops. If you're looking for a good general-use laptop, the g6-1a69us is worth considering, but don't discount the HP Pavilion g7-1033cl, which offers similar performance with a larger 17-inch display, or the Editors' Choice HP Pavilion dv6-6013cl, which takes top honors for its class-leading construction, second-gen Intel processor, and battery life.