HP G6 Series 15.6-Inch Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) | Mark in the Mountains's Review Review
November 21st, 2009
HP G6 Series 15.6-Inch Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) Review from Mark in the Mountains. Prepare to spend a LOT of time setting up your new computer, I recently purchased this to replace an aging Toshiba laptop that I was satisfied with. The comparable Toshiba was not available, so I opted for this HP with similar features. These days, laptops are virtually disposable, so I view them as electronic yellow pads to be replaced every couple years, and not as something I will keep forever. Many of my complaints are probably not unique to HP, but come with buying and setting up a new PC.
The cons of this machine are: (1) in my experience with several machines, HP software (printers, maintenance programs) that runs in the background is bulky, buggy and dramatically reduces performance and often interfere with other software; (2) there’s no manual volume control on the machine, so you have to use the mouse and software to raise and lower the volume rather than a simple dial on the machine; (3) it’s wider than previous machines, which means it probably won’t fit in the briefcase you used for your previous machine; (4) no recovery disks come with the machine; and, (5) the whole Windows 7 experience and lack of compatability with earlier Windows software and drivers.
Windows 7. Compared with XP it’s slow and your favorite programs probably won’t work with it, so budget for buying a bunch of new software — keep your receipts, though, because what claims to be compatable may not be. For example, my HP 7410 All in One printer did not work with this machine until I downloaded the 300+ Mb of software drivers. It still installed the HP Director printer software that bogs down my machine. I also had Iolo’s System Mechanic installed on my old machine that claimed to be compatable with Windows 7 and that I loved as a simple way to remove clutter and registery errors in Windows XP. When installed in Windows 7, it disabled network connections in a manner that cannot be fixed except for a system roll back. Iolo’s response was “we’re working on it.”
There appear to be two versions of Windows 7 — 32 bit and 64 bit. This HP uses the 64 bit operating system, which has more compatability issues than the 32 bit version.
Even though Windows 7 is installed on the machine, expect to spend 2 days downloading the updates and security fixes for Windows 7. It’s kinda like buying a new car and then spending 2 days at the shop fixing it so that it will run properly. That ought to be something folks at HP would/could change.
If you buy a new machine, I’ve learned that you should also buy an external hard drive and/or a flash drive to handle transfers between the machines. I used Laplink’s FileMover in the past and it terminally screwed up my machine to the point where I had to re-install the operating system. My advise, based on hard-learned experience is to copy your data files and then install software on the new machine rather than use Laplink’s software. Working file and system setting/driver transfer/update software ought to be included with new machines.
You also have to de-crapify the machine by removing the trial software that comes loaded on the machine and that will pop up asking whether you want to install it. For example, it comes loaded with Norton’s antivirus software. My experience with many versions of Norton AV is that it’s the biggest CPU/memory hog around that WILL hose up your machine and make it impossible to send and receive e-mail, so it was the first piece of software I removed.
The wireless networking seems to work nicely. But, to set it up, the automatic set up will trash your existing router’s network and re-do it entirely, so anything else you have connected to your wireless router will have to be reset and redone. If you have another computer, printers, VoIP or video/audio streaming connected to your router, dig out all your set up documentation as you may have to reset everything. I don’t know whether this is a Windows 7 thing or an HP thing, but it should not happen with a new machine.
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Tags: Briefcase, Compatability, Drivers Windows, G6, Hp 7410 All In One, Hp Director, Hp Printers, Hp Software, Iolo, Maintenance Programs, Manual Volume Control, New Computer, Printer Software, Recovery Disks, S System, Similar Features, Software Drivers, System Mechanic, Toshiba Laptop, Windows Software
