HP Pavilion dv6 15.6-inch Laptop

HP's dv6 laptop is marketed as a balance between mobility, size, and performance. What you're going to get is a highly upgradeable laptop with good performance at a good price. Those wanting performance out of a 15.6-inch laptop but not wanting to shell out more than necessary should consider the dv6. It will handle all basic computing tasks and more including playing 720p HD video, Hulu, Netflix, and even the latest graphic intensive video games when configured with a high performance graphics chip.

The HP dv6 is actually divided into three models, the dv6z, dv6t, and dv6t Quad. The difference between them are the processors you can choose from. The dv6z offers AMD's Athlon and Turion processors, the dv6t offers Intel's Core i3 and Core i5 dual core processors, and the dv6t Quad offers Intel's Core i7 quad core processors. This ends up breaking the models into different performance and price ranges with the dv6t Quad on the top. If you want the fastest, go with the dv6t Quad. If you want the cheapest, go with the dv6z.

All dv6 models come with Windows 7 and a 15.6-inch LED backlit display featuring a resolution of 1366x768 (720p) which can be powered by an optional 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 320M graphics chip. You can add up to 8GB of RAM and a 640GB hard drive. A CD/DVD recorder (no blu-ray option), webcam, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, 10/100/1000 ethernet, 4 USB 2.0 (4th shared with eSATA port) ports, 1 expansion port 3, VGA, HDMI, FireWire, and 5-in-1 media card reader are included. The dv6t weighs in at 6.34 pounds and consumes between 90-120W depending on what you're doing. Battery life is an optimistic 4 hours but will depend largely on what applications you're running.

Here's a student review of the dv6t for some more hands on impressions.

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