HP Pavilion DV6 review

We had no trouble using the DV6 for our day-to-day tasks thanks to its fantastically comfortable keyboard. Each Chiclet-style key has plenty of bounce and is spaced far enough apart that our hands never felt cramped while typing. Its large touchpad is also very easy to use, particularly if you like working in the dark, thanks to its white LED bezel. Physical touchpad buttons are a welcome addition, especially because they have crisp actions and lots of tactile feedback.

We were also impressed with its 15.6in screen. It doesn’t have a particularly high resolution, with 1,366×768 being the standard for most 15in laptops, but it was surprisingly bright. This helped colours look a little more vivid than on competing laptops, even if contrast was only average. The viewing angles are reasonable and there’s a decent amount of screen tilt, so we were able to find a comfortable working position without having to worry about light reflections from the glossy display finish.

HP has cleverly paired a mid-range A6 processor with a competent dedicated graphics card to create a potent mid-range laptop. The DV6 scores higher in our benchmarks than the supposedly better A8-3500M found in the £100 more expensive Acer Aspire 5560G. It admittedly can’t compete with the raw power of an Intel Core processor, but it’s more than fast enough for everyday tasks and even modern 3D gaming. If you’re looking for a laptop on a budget that can handle most tasks, consider the DV6.