HP Pavilion dv6 – 2113sa review

HP’s Pavilion DV6-2113sa is a chunky laptop with a 15.6in screen, 4GB of memory and a 2.5GHz AMD Turion II M620 processor. Although its screen isn’t particularly large, its weight and bulk make it feel more like a desktop replacement notebook than a typical general purpose laptop.

It has an unassuming but attractive black chassis with reflective silver ring designs both inside and outside the lid. It’s very solidly built and we were pleased to find that the keyboard surround didn’t become warm to the touch at any point during testing. The flat keyboard is traditionally laid out, making it easy to get used to if you’re accustomed to touch-typing on a standard desktop keyboard. A smaller than standard numeric keypad is squeezed in on the right-hand side.

The DV6-2113sa is better equipped for ports than many laptops at this price, with a mini-FireWire port and four USB ports, one of which doubles as an eSATA port. This is great if you want to attach plenty of storage or connect an older camcorder via FireWire. There’s also a docking station port, which can be used with a compatible HP docking station. An ExpressCard slot allows you to add extra components like a USB3 port or 5GHz 802.11n WiFi adaptor. Unusually, a Media Center remote control is included.

We were pleased to find a 500GB hard disk, which is a hefty amount of internal storage for the money. The graphics adaptor, a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530, is also respectable, producing a frame rate of 16.1fps in Call of Duty 4 at 1,366×768 and with 4x antialiasing. A few tweaks to resolution and anti-aliasing produced playable frame rates, while less demanding 3D titles should run smoothly anyway. The glossy display looks very slightly dull and pinkish at full brightness, which becomes more pronounced if you reduce the screen brightness. However, overall image quality is fine with bright colours and good viewing angles. Sound from the built-in Altec Lancing speakers isn’t particularly loud but is surprisingly good, with clearly defined treble mid-tones. Even bass notes aren’t too underpowered.

Unfortunately, despite the 64-bit version of Windows and 4GB of RAM, the dual-core Turion processor is the Pavilion’s Achilles heel. It’s underpowered compared with the Core i5s available at this price and managed an overall score of just 67 in our benchmark tests.

Apart from this, the Pavilion DV6-2113sa has a lot going for it: the display is comfortable to look at and the keyboard is pleasant to type on. The hard disk is large and there’s a variety of ports. However, none of this is enough to warrant choosing the DV6 over a faster laptop with similar specifications and price. Factor in the sub-three-hour battery life and extra bulk compared with other 15.6in laptops and the deal doesn’t look as sweet. Most people are better off choosing Acer’s Aspire 5741.