HP 255 G6 Notebook review

HP 255 G6: the $289 rung where the office comfort survives, the flags do not

The HP 255 G6 is the 2019 step of the AMD budget line: an E2 9000e with Radeon R2 graphics at $289. It inherits the G5's paradox — a high-band office reading on floor-tier silicon — but its measured game sheet turns the family's flag story explicitly negative.

Where it holds up

No axis clears the low band decisively enough to be claimed as a strength, but the office index reads 65.66, high band — the family's comfort streak held a rung above its floor-tier neighbors. Portability steps up to 44.2, mid-band, and at $289 the ticket stays inside the budget rows. The composite of 12 against a general-class median of 53 is budget-segment, as the family's floor rungs all are.

Where it falls short

The flagged weakness is performance: 3.75 against a general-class median of 43.05, 91 percent below the class middle — the lowest compute reading among the family's priced rungs in this batch. The flag sheet is measured and negative: Grand Theft Auto V, Far Cry 5 and Battlefield 5 all fail their minimum bars, so no gaming claim survives the data. Graphics reads 3.23 against a median of 27.24, and the task axes hold the family floor (gaming 12, modeling 13, engineering CAD 20, photo work 14).

The office comfort is real; everything beyond it is a measured refusal.

Price and depreciation

The asking price sits at $289 with a modeled decline of 9.7 percent a year. No launch anchor is recorded, so the resale math stays at the rate level — a moderate glide for a budget ticket.

Alternatives to consider

The 255 G7 at $339 — fifty dollars up — brings the family's first confirmed flags and lifts performance to 37.64 mid-band; it is the rational next step. The G5 at $245 keeps a slightly higher office reading with the same zero task axes if the budget is hard-capped.

Bottom line

Fairly priced for the class, the HP 255 G6 is the office-comfort seat of the floor rungs: a high-band office index at $289 against all-fail game flags and the family's lowest priced-rung performance — one job, honestly done.