HP Pavilion G6: At First Glance
The HP Pavilion G6 is a low-cost laptop with incredible power that defies expectations in terms of what can be accomplished on a tight budget. The laptop is designed for basic tasks such as web browsing, document editing, and online video streaming.
This laptop provides good performance at a moderate price. Speaking of price, the HP Pavilion G6 laptop has a starting price of $200 as of the time this article was published (July 2021).
Now that I’ve given you a taste of what to expect, let’s dive into the details of the HP Pavilion G6 laptop’s features and specifications.
HP Pavilion G6: Design, Dimension & Weight
The HP Pavilion G6 comes in a plain black and gray exterior, with glossy plastic covering nearly all of the laptop’s visible surfaces. However, glossy plastic can be easily smudged and less durable than matte plastic.
The Pavilion G6’s screen bezel is constructed of matte plastic, which is surprising. Despite its modest price, the Pavilion G6 is a well-built laptop; the chassis feels sturdy and does not wobble when handled.
Even the laptop’s lid appears and feels solid, however, it has a unique downside. Internal components move as the lid is opened or closed, producing a sound like tinfoil.
Aside from that, the design is fantastic. In addition, few laptops in its price range are both attractive and durable.
The HP Pavilion G6 doesn’t feature a Numpad on the right side of its keyboard, which is common among 15.6-inch laptops. However, this has its own advantages; without it, there’s enough area for a great conventional keyboard layout with a large backspace key.
The individual keys on the keyboard are spacious and offer significant key travel, resulting in a pleasant typing experience. The keyboard’s flex isn’t an issue because the laptop’s solid chassis provides ample support.
Even attempts to intentionally create flex by pressing extremely hard on keys failed to move the keyboard. Such sturdiness gives a sense of quality that is remarkable for a laptop with such a modest starting price.
Just below the keyboard, you will find a well-placed touchpad. the touchpad is wide and tall, and has individual right and left click buttons that are incredibly soft and comfortable to use.
The touchpad also features a dimpled texture that sets it out from the interior plastics. In addition, the touchpad responds smoothly and supports multi-touch gestures, including two-finger scrolling.
Moving on, the Pavilion G6’s display is bright, but it’s nothing special. The contrast isn’t great, and according to test images, the black level performance isn’t great either.
Furthermore, low black levels might provide a washed-out image and make watching movies with dark scenes difficult.
The “screen door effect” is another issue with the display. This means that when the Pavilion G6’s native resolution of 1366×768 is expanded across its 15.6-inch display, huge pixels are immediately noticeable by users.
Furthermore, images, especially those with light colors, can appear as if they are viewed via a screen door. This is a typical issue with most 15.6-inch displays, and while this laptop is less affected than some others at a similar price, it will bother users with sensitive eyes.
The HP Pavilion G6 features Altec Lansing stereo speakers which have poor audio quality due to a lack of volume. The music is well-balanced, with relatively minor distortion, and some bass is present.
However, the speakers aren’t powerful enough to overcome ambient noise. Due to the low volume of the speakers, external speakers or headphones may be required while using this laptop for entertainment.
In terms of ports, the HP Pavilion G6 has a good number of them for a low-cost laptop. On the left side of the laptop, you will find a single USB 2.0 port, DVD reader/burner drawer, and security slot.
On the right side, there are two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet, VGA display, microphone, speaker, and SD/MMC card port. Unfortunately, there is no Thunderbolt port on this laptop.
Right above the HP Pavilion G6’s display bezel, you will find a VGA webcam. Although the webcam produces blurry images, however, it performs better in low light and has a broad viewing angle.
The Pavilion G6 isn’t the most portable laptop, measuring up to 374 x 245 x 3.1 mm and weighing 2500 g. It’s too big for most messenger bags, but it will fit in most backpacks with a laptop compartment.
In comparison, the Dell Inspiron 15 is less heavy than the Pavilion G6. The Dell Inspiron 15 weighs 2050g and has a dimension of 363.9 x 249 x 18 mm.
Finally, in my opinion, the Pavilion G6 has a solid build quality. Therefore, I am rating the laptop an eight in this aspect.
HP Pavilion G6: Processor (CPU) Performance
The HP Pavilion G6 comes with a 4-core Intel Core i7-3632QM processor. With a cache of 6 MB, this processor has a base frequency of 2.20 GHz and a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz.
Thanks to Hyperthreading technology, the 4-core can handle up to eight threads in parallel, resulting in greater CPU utilization. As a result, the HP Pavilion G6 can process more data in less time and carry out more background operations without slowing down.
The Intel Core i7-3632QM is the successor to the Intel Core i7-3612QM, and it is a powerful quad-core processor for laptops based on Ivy Bridge architecture. Ivy Bridge is the architecture used in the “third-generation” of Intel Core processors (Core i7, i5, and i3).
Ivy Bridge processors are quite fast and capable of gaming, they are also great at multitasking. So, if you need a laptop for multitasking, then this HP Pavilion G6 is definitely for you.
In addition, Ivy Bridge is also a more powerful version of Sandy Bridge, with improved GPU and CPU performance. Sandy Bridge is the microarchitecture utilized in the “second generation” of Intel Core CPUs (Core i7, i5, and i3).
Therefore, Ivy Bridge processors are significantly quicker, better, and more powerful than Sandy Bridge processors.
Due to the architectural enhancements, the Intel Core i7-3632QM performs somewhat better than a comparably clocked Sandy Bridge processor. For instance, the overall performance of the Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7-3632QM processor is better than the Sandy Bridge Core i7-2820QM processor.
To further determine the Intel Core i7-3632QM performance, I conducted a Cinebench R15 benchmark test. On the test, the HP Pavilion G6’s Intel Core i7-3632QM processor scored 521 points.
In comparison, the HP Pavilion G6 outperforms the Dell Inspiron 15. On the same benchmark test, the Dell Inspiron 15’s Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor scored 407 points.
Finally, the HP Pavilion G6 excels in terms of processor performance. Therefore, I am going to rate the laptop a nine out of ten for its excellent processor.
HP Pavilion G6: Memory (RAM) Performance
The HP Pavilion G6 laptop comes with two RAM slots which have a maximum capacity of 8 GB. The laptop I reviewed came with 8 GB RAM – 4 GB on each slot.
Furthermore, the laptop I reviewed was an exceptional multitasker with its 8 GB RAM. As a result, I was able to open over 15 Chrome browser tabs and easily switch between them without experiencing any lag.
To further determine the memory performance of the laptop, I conducted a PCMark 7 benchmark test. Based on the test results, the laptop scored 1,332 points.
However, this result is well below the category average of 2,238 points. Unfortunately, it was also outperformed by most of its competitors.
For instance, in the same test, the Gateway NV55C54u scored 1,429 points.
In conclusion, the HP Pavilion G6 is great at multitasking. However, in comparison to the majority of its competitors, it underperformed.
Therefore, I will rate the memory performance of the HP Pavilion G6 a seven out of ten.
HP Pavilion G6: Storage Option & Performance
The HP Pavilion G6 has similar storage options as its fellow Pavilion model (HP Pavilion x360)
The HP Pavilion G6 comes with up to 1 TB 5400 RPM SATA HDD. The laptop also features a multi-format SD media card reader for additional storage options.
We all know SSDs are faster and better than HDDs. However, for a budget laptop, I think an HDD drive that offers up to 1 TB is a fair deal.
Moving on, the laptop I reviewed came with a 500 GB HDD. To determine the HDD’s performance, I conducted a file transfer test.
On the file transfer test, the laptop copied 4.97GB of mixed-media data in 3 minutes and 47 seconds, at a rate of 22.4 MBps. Unfortunately, that’s below the category average of 30 MBps.
Comparatively, the HP EliteBook 8440P has a better transfer rate than the Pavilion G6. The EliteBook 8440P was able to copy 4.97GB of mixed-media files in 2 minutes and 49 seconds at a rate of 29.6 MBps.
In conclusion, the Pavilion G6 has a decent amount of storage options for a budget laptop. However, its transfer rate is quite slow compared to most of its competitors.
Therefore, I’m only able to rate the Pavilion G6 a seven in this storage review.
HP Pavilion G6: Graphics Card Performance
The HP Pavilion G6 offers multiple graphics options. You can either get the laptop with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 or AMD Radeon HD 7670M for the graphics card options.
Unfortunately, the Intel HD Graphics 4000 doesn’t feature a dedicated VRAM. However, the AMD Radeon HD 7670M comes with a 2 GB DDR3 dedicated VRAM.
The Intel HD Graphics 4000 has a base GPU frequency of 650 MHz and a maximum GPU frequency of 1150 MHz. On the other hand, the AMD Radeon HD 7670M graphics card only has a base GPU frequency of 600 MHz.
The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 isn’t powerful enough to run graphic-intensive apps and games. However, the AMD Radeon HD 7670M is capable of running most games and running graphic-intensive apps thanks to its dedicated VRAM.
Therefore, if you are a gamer or uses graphics-intensive apps, it is best you get the Pavilion G6 with an AMD Radeon HD 7670M graphics card.
The laptop I reviewed came standard with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 for the graphics card. As mentioned earlier, this graphics card isn’t suitable for gaming or running graphic-intensive applications.
To determine the performance of this graphics card, I conducted a 3DMark06 test. In the test, the Intel HD Graphics 4000 scored 1,602 points.
However, this score is way below most of its competitors. In the same test, the Gateway NV55 scored 1751 points while the Dell Inspiron 15 scored 1725 points.
That is not all, I also conducted a real-life gaming test, to further determine the graphics card performance. Unfortunately, this graphics card performed woefully in the gaming test.
For instance, the laptop’s graphics card was only able to achieve 9 fps while playing World of Warcraft in an autographical setting.
In conclusion, this Intel HD Graphics 4000 is definitely not a powerful graphics card for playing games or running any graphic-intensive apps. However, as mentioned earlier, the laptop also offers an AMD Radeon HD 7670M which is better than the Intel HD graphics 4000.
Not surprisingly though, you will have to pay extra to get the laptop with an AMD Radeon HD 7670M graphics card.
Finally, I will rate the Pavilion G6 a seven in this graphics performance review.
HP Pavilion G6: Battery Life & Performance
Just like its graphics card, the HP Pavilion G6 offers multiple battery options. You can either get the laptop with a 6-cell, 2.22 Ah, 47 Wh or a 6-cell, 2.55 Ah, 55 Wh battery.
The laptop I reviewed came with a 6-cell, 2.22 Ah, 47 Wh battery. According to HP, this laptop’s battery should last about 5 hours.
To verify HP’s claim about the laptop’s battery life, I conducted a battery test. The battery test entails surfing the internet continuously over a WI-FI connection while the brightness is set to 40%.
In the battery test, the HP Pavilion G6 lasted about 4 hours and 39 minutes.
Comparatively, the Dell Inspiron 15 performed better than the HP Pavilion G6. In the same battery test, the Dell Inspiron 15 had a run time of 5 hours and 45 minutes.
In conclusion, I will rate the Pavilion G6 a seven for its decent battery life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dell PCs are widely regarded as one of the best in the market, and they also outperform HP. Though HP makes some excellent laptops, however, there are several in their lineup that cannot compete with other brands. Dell, on the other hand, has a far wider range of laptops that can compete with other brands.
The Envy has a faster processor, a longer battery life, and a superior graphics card. The Pavilion, on the other hand, is less expensive than the Envy. I have to go with HP Envy in terms of features and quality. However, both laptops are excellent in general.
These are three of the most effective Pavilion models in the market today: HP Pavilion x360 laptop, HP Pavilion 15 laptop, and HP Pavilion gaming laptop.
As at the time this article was published (July 2021), the HP Pavilion G6 had a starting price of $200.
Yes, the HP Pavilion is a budget-friendly laptop that has a solid build quality and an excellent processor.
Conclusion
HP’s Pavilion G6 is a robust laptop that can compete with laptops costing twice its price in terms of build quality. The keyboard deserves special praise, as it’s uncommon to find such a nice and durable set of keys on such a low-cost laptop.
The HP Pavilion G6 has few flaws, including the display and sound. The display is barely suitable for watching movies and playing games, and the speakers are not loud enough.
The word “Competent” is the best word to describe the HP Pavilion G6. Therefore, anyone on a tight budget should strongly consider the HP Pavilion G6.
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