The HP Pavilion G6-1202TX is targeted at those looking for some light gaming action, whilst fulfilling other basic needs. The G6- 1202TX packs an Intel Core i3-2330M processor with 4gigs of RAM, 1gig of dedicated graphics card in the form of AMD Radeon HD 6470M, 500GB of HDD and a 15.6-inch screen. Read on to find out how it performed in our in-depth test.

Features
The HP Pavilion G6- 1202TX features the latest Sandy Bridge Intel Core i3 2330M 2.2GHz processor, 4GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 1GB of dedicated graphics - AMD Radeon HD 6470M with switchable graphics option, a 15.6-inch screen and 500 GB HDD; for a budget laptop the internal hardware definitely packs a punch.

As for the connectivity options the G6 is safely average - three USB ports, HDMI, VGA, ethernet, card reader, DVD writer, microphone and headphone jack. We were utterly disappointed at the omission of USB 3.0. The device further lacks an eSATA port and Display port. The laptop’s wireless connectivity is taken care of by Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth. Not a bad set of features for the HP Pavilion G6, to be honest.

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The G6 has a 15.6-inch glossy screen display with a native resolution of 1366 x 768. The brightness is pretty decent and the image reproduction is respectable. While the viewing angle is very poor; the glossy screen also suffers from reflection in bright light. The Altec Lansing speakers pump out good sound but you soon realise that it lacks at delivering the highs.

The G6 also sees the inclusion of a built-in webcam with a microphone, which can be used for video conferencing.

Design and Build
The laptop that we received for review was predominantly covered in red and black. Excluding the bottom and screen bezel, the entire device was made of glossy plastic, which much to our dislike was a magnet for smudges -- it’s the case with most laptops these days, so we won’t penalize the G6 overmuch. The screen lid isn’t the best built, but the two metal hinges it rests on are quite strong, though. Overall the laptop has a plasticky feel to it.

The G6 features a textured trackpad, which is extremely responsive; among budget laptops, the Pavilion G6’s trackpad is arguably among the best we have used so far. The trackpad also features multi-gesture support. The mouse buttons are discrete and easy to press. The full-size keyboard sports square flat-topped keys with wider bottoms, the HP G6 keys lack spacing between each other making typing a bit difficult. However, the keys offer good tactile feedback.

The matte finish bottom houses a 6-cell removable battery. Further, it will be an easy affair for those interested in upgrading the laptop’s RAM or HDD in the future as everything is under a single, easily accessible panel.

Click next to read more about the HP Pavilion G6-1202TX's performance, and our verdict...