Notebook Hunter

The 15.6in HP Pavilion DV6-4023TX for $999 is by no means the most powerful high-end allrounder available, but it's still got some strong computing power and can be found for prices closer to that of a mid-range allrounder. Look for a discount, because otherwise there are some more recent allrounders that are more worthy of your consideration.

Its Intel 2nd Generation Core i7-2630QM (2GHz) processor, along with 4GB of RAM, will run run intensive programs and productivity applications with ease. The Core i7 is Intel's most powerful chip family and is designed to speed through most tasks, not just get through them comfortably.  The AMD Radeon HD 6570M graphics card is going to going to make gamers happy, because it’s powerful enough to run graphically impressive PC games like StarCraft 2 at high setting.

Here’s where the compromise comes in: the 4023TX has only 320GB hard disk drive for storage, which is small. Very small. A USB hard drive may be a useful accompaniment. The HP's 1,366x768 resolution is  typical for an allrounder, while the 2.51kg weight and 30.8mm thickness are unremarkable stats. In all, if you want a powerful notebook with a powerful graphics card, this is a good one if you can get it for around $1,000.