HP G60-533cl

HP G60-533cl

By Eric Grevstad

We're the first to admit we've been spoiled. Not all that long ago, any well-equipped laptop for $649.99 was sure to earn a thumbs-up. Back in July, we said that Costco's HP G60-443CL gave you a lot for your money. The equivalent of that system today is the G60-533cl, featuring Windows 7 and Costco's two-year warranty at the same price. But that price point sure doesn't make our hearts beat like it used to.

Design
That's not to say that the latest G60 is not a likeable system; quite the opposite. It's the value-minded sibling of HP's 15.6-inch Pavilion dv6 notebooks, with a plain black lid and silver palm rest instead of the fancy inlaid patterns and chrome accents of the dv6. To adjust audio volume, you hold a Fn key and press the numeric keypad plus or minus, rather than slide your finger along a backlit, touch-sensitive strip above the keyboard.

The keyboard has a first-rate typing feel and a separate but smallish numeric keypad (the keypad is only 80 percent as wide as a 17-inch or larger laptop's pad). Certainly the convenience of having the keypad outweighs the minor adjustment of more precise or careful typing required by its narrowness, but a CPA or tax preparer would probably prefer a full-sized pad.

The G60's screen is sharp and bright, with the usual glossy coating that forces you to stare at your own reflection if the lighting isn't right. Its 1,366-by-768 resolution is nothing to brag about, but it follows the trend of 16:9 aspect ratios and is sufficient to show 720p videos.

Features
The eSATA port and ExpressCard slot found on the dv6 are absent from the G60, though you do get HDMI, VGA, and three USB ports, along with Ethernet and modem ports, and front-mounted headphone and microphone jacks. There's a LightScribe-enabled DVD burner, a webcam, and a 5-in-1 flash-card reader too. Intel's 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi adapter provides up-to-date wireless connectivity.

The G60 runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, with the usual too-short trial of Norton Internet Security and unasked-for trials of apps and services ranging from Microsoft Office and QuickBooks to NetZero and Juno. Unfortunately, the attractive MediaSmart suite of multimedia applications seen on HP's Pavilion and TouchSmart PCs is not found on the G60 however; owners will have to stick with Windows Media Player and Media Center.


Performance
Under the hood is Intel's Pentium T4300, a 2.1-GHz dual-core CPU with 1MB of L2 cache, along with 4GB of DDR2 memory. The hard drive is a 320GB Toshiba unit that spins at 5,400 rpm. These components add up to passable performance—slightly better than that of the G60-443cl of a few months back—with a Cinebench scene-rendering score of 4,394 and Windows Media Encoder time of 1:16 (although the 533cl finished several seconds off its predecessor's pace in our Photoshop CS4 image-editing test). The G60's Intel GMA 4500M integrated graphics ensure that anything more than casual gaming isn't even a discussion.

The G60-533cl finished PCMark Vantage, which stymied the 443cl, though its Pentium-powered score of 3,336 predictably trailed that of Core 2 Duo-based notebooks like the Dell's Studio 1555 (USE006CS). Happily, the HP lasted an hour longer in our MobileMark 2007 battery marathon than the 443cl, with a quite respectable time of 3:45.

So the HP G60-533cl is a solid all-around performer for $650—not the best briefcase companion, at 6.2 pounds, but perfectly portable enough for occasional shuttles between home and office or dorm and classroom. Why am I not more enthusiastic? Because over the past few months we've seen a growing number of not-so-bad laptops for $400 and $500. The $500 Acer Aspire AS5534-1146, for instance, offers similar battery life in a gorgeous, light chassis. Or for $150 more, the Editors' Choice Studio 1555 (USE006CS) from Dell boasts impressive performance scores and a great feature set. In general, I'd be happier if the 533cl's price tag today was a little lower, or included something like a 500GB of storage space instead of a 320GB hard drive or a Core 2 Duo processor instead of Pentium dual-core CPU. But that doesn't mean it's a bad deal; simply that it's not the best one. As I said, we're spoiled.