Pros

  • Very good video playback quality
  • Excellent keyboard with a great feel

Cons

  • DVD drive's eject button is tiny
  • Speakers distort at high volume

At A Glance

HP's dv6 is a classy-looking (though slightly bulky) laptop with a good mix of features for its price.

Manufacturer’s Description

The Pavilion dv6-6150us Entertainment 15.6-inch Notebook Computer from Hewlett-Packard is a 15.6-inch notebook computer that weighs a bit under six pounds. The computer's 16:9 widescreen display features LED backlight technology for superior image quality and enhanced energy efficiency.

The Specs

Pricing
Part Number LW217UA
Processor
Processor type Intel Core i5
Processor speed 2300.0 MHz
Cache size 3.0 KB
Processor count 2
Memory
Memory size 6000.0 MB
Memory type DDR3
Memory speed 1333.0 MHz
Memory max 16.0 GB
Display
Display size 15.6 inches
Display type Glossy LCD with LED Backlight
Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels
Storage
Drives included 1.0
Drive size 640.0 GB
Hard Drive Speed 5400 RPM
Other storage
  • SD/MMC Card
  • SDHC Card
Drive type Hard Disk Drive
Battery
Vendor Rated Battery life 5.5 hours
Ports and Connections
SD/MMC Card 1
Ethernet Type 10/100/1000 Mbps
MultiMedia Card (MMC) or MultiMediaCard (MMC) Yes
SDHC Card or Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) 1
Wireless connection 802.11 n/b/g
Video Interfaces
  • HDMI
  • VGA
Slots
  • SD/MMC Card
  • SDHC Card
Green
Energy Star compliant 1.0
Dimensions
Width 14.9 inches
Depth 9.8 inches
Height 1.5 inches
Weight with Accessories 6.8 pounds
Weight 5.7 pounds
Sound
Speakers Stereo
Included Software
Included Software CyberLink: DVD Suite, YouCam; RoxioNow
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Other Features
Docking Station Port No
Devices
  • Built-In Microphone
  • Built-In Webcam
  • Fingerprint Reader
Input devices
  • Keyboard
  • Touchpad

Performance

Overall Performance
WorldBench 6 Score 117
Battery
Battery Life 4:41  (hh:mm)
Office Productivity
Web Browsing 225  seconds (lower is better)
Office Suite Use 353  seconds (lower is better)
File Compression 184  seconds (lower is better)
Power Usage
Idle power usage 17.9  Watts
Sleep power usage 0.8  Watt hours
Off power usage 0.4  Watt hours
Content Creation
Image Editing 321  seconds (lower is better)
GPU Graphics Rendering 310  seconds (lower is better)
CPU Graphics Rendering 397  seconds (lower is better)
Video Encoding 201  seconds (lower is better)
DVD Burning 323  seconds (lower is better)
Video Editing 187  seconds (lower is better)
Multitasking
World Bench 6 Multitasking 277
Gaming
Unreal Tournament 3, Medium, 800 by 600 106.33  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Medium, 1024 by 768 79.96  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Highest, 800 by 600 77.64  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Highest, 1024 by 768 58.36  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, High Quality, 800x600 26.1  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, High Quality, 1024x768 20.6  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 800x600 52.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 1024x768 42.1  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, High Quality, 800x600 30.7  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, High Quality, 1024x768 24.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, Low Quality, 800x600 70  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, Low Quality, 1024x768 53.7  Frames per second (higher is better)