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    Considering upgrade to DV7 Quad Core, please advise

    Discussion in 'HP' started by bradleywalters, May 16, 2011.

  1. bradleywalters

    bradleywalters Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi guys,

    I currently have a Toshiba Satellite A665-s6067, which has been an ok laptop so far. HD and Motherboard crapped out within 6 weeks of ownership and it took 6 weeks for Toshiba to repair my unit, which still has some quirks. It works, but there are some functions that are just screwy: certain touch buttons at the top of the keyboard for wireless and to turn the backlit keyboard on and off don't work, and about half of the function keys are jacked up. This comes after a fresh reinstall of Windows using the Toshiba restore software, performed last week.

    I'm just getting a little sick of this BS, and I am worried about the reliability of this rig. I'm in graduate school, and in 14 months will have to have my 30 page Master's Thesis completed, and I am unsure if this system will make it...I'd hate to have it crash on me and leave me high and dry.

    That said, I'm considering the switch to HP. My mom has a Dv4 special edition from 2006 and my brother has a dv6 from 2009, and both are still up and running at 100%. They've had exactly zero problems. This is the unit I'm considering purchasing:

    HP DV7 Quad Edition:
    Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM
    1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics
    6GB DDR3 System Memory
    640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
    9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 9.5 hours of battery life +++
    17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)
    Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner

    Would this be a good unit for: creating and viewing MS Office documents (Excel, Word, and Powerpoint), storing, organizing and listening to my music (only like 50GB), accessing my school's remote server for schoolwork, surfing the net for research (and fun of course), watching Netflix/DVDs, and the occasional game (nothing too crazy, right now mostly SC II, WoW, and Dragon Age, and Call of Duty: Black Ops)?
    Would I notice a big improvement over my Toshiba? (720qm, 15.6" 133 x 788, 500GB 5400 RPM, 6GB RAM)?

    Thanks guys! *bows to computer geniuses on this forum*
     
    bradleywalters, May 16, 2011
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  2. MyFishWagon

    MyFishWagon Notebook Consultant

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    You would notice a significant difference in power, of course. The battery on the dv7 (for a 17inch) is actually really good, specially if you go with the oversized battery. This is actually the thing I miss the most of my dv7t QE that I returned last week.

    With the specs this dv7t QE has, you have plenty of power to do all the things you listed, and then some.

    Enjoy
     
    MyFishWagon, May 17, 2011
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