HP DV3T Initial Impression

I just got an HP DV3T to replace a Dell Studio 1555 laptop. I liked the Studio 1555 but I wanted a smaller size laptop and the HD 1080p screen, while beautiful, made text a real chore to read.

I received the DV3T a couple days ago and wanted to share my initial impressions for anyone else considering this laptop as there don't seem to be many on this forum who have it. I use my laptops for word processing, light photo editing, watching Hulu etc and general websurfing.

Things I like about the HP DV3T:

Size: It's perfect. Not too small yet small enough to be portable and lighter than a 15 inch laptop.
Build quality: It's very sturdy and does not feel fragile at all. I would describe the build quality as excellent. It does have a shiny finish however which is a real fingerprint magnet. I like the design (I have the black model) although the silver circles on it make it look like it was designed by Target.
Screen: The screen quality, brightness and color are great. I have always preferred HP screens over standard Dell screens.
Function I have 64 bit Vista with Bluetooth and Wireless N. So far everything has worked flawlessly. I have the T6500 processor which is speedy although I wished I would have choosen the P version overall to get extended battery life and a little more processing speed.
Battery I have the 9 cell but haven't checked that out yet. It's supposed to have about 7 hours run time but I'm sure it depends on how you use your laptop. I like that the bigger battery holds the laptop at a nice typing angle. It was something that I thought I wouldn't care for but it's great.
Backlit keyboard Every laptop should have this--I highly recommend this upgrade.

What I don't like:

Fan noise The fan runs continually and is audible. It is not as loud as my old Gateway laptop from 2002 which sounded like a Hoover vacuum, but it's definitely louder than the Dell Studio 1555 I had. The fan on that laptop also ran constantly but it was fairly quiet. The fan on the DV3T is higher pitched (a smaller size perhaps to fit a smaller laptop?) and that makes it annoying. I really dislike it but I like the other factors of the laptop enough that it won't be a deal breaker. Also, I have read that the Dell 14z and other brands of smaller laptops all have this same issue. I suppose it goes with the territory as it's harder to cool a small laptop with a small internal area and smaller sized fan.
Slippery Keyboard I like the keyboard and the size is good but the keys are made of a slippery plastic. I find my fingers sliding when I type. It's not a big deal but I wish they had a little rougher surface.
Touch Button for Wireless Its on the upper right and when I reach to adjust the screen angle I always end up bumping it and turning off the wireless/bluetooth. Annoying..
Clicky harddrive My DV3T has one of those harddrives that clicks all the time. It's some kind of protective feature and I had the same thing on the Dell Studio 1535 I had a year ago. It's annoying to hear that click all the time but I think it's probably a good thing to protect the hard drive. Also, if you really hate it, you can just replace it with one that doesn't have that feature.
Laptop sound: good but not great. The laptop has smaller speakers due to its size so they aren't as full sounding at the 15 inch laptops I've owned. That having been said it's rare to have any laptop with really good sound unless you have a high end model.

Hope this helps anyone out there considering a purchase. I will be testing out the laptop more thoroughly this weekend. I've mostly been a Dell owner so it's interesting to test out the competition. Overall I really like the laptop but wish there were a few improvements here and there.

 

Nice! I just ordered mine! There is a major lack of dv3t discussion on this board! We need to bump it up some more!

How do you like the 9 cell battery? It was one of my priorities that I got as well. I hate typing on flat laptops and obviously it has more function than simply raising the computer

 

Thanks for the review. I am seriously considering this model with the P7350 processor. I like the current special for the free upgrade to 4GB of memory.

Is there something in the bios that can adjust the fan speed? Maybe there is a smart fan option that is currently disabled so the fan is always on at 100 percent.

 

I was going to get this laptop with a backlit keyboard but then again it was announced that there's one coming out with a multitouch screen with Win7.

 

fan noise?
go to bios and change settings

 

Mine just started shipping today. Apparently it's still in Shanghai, China, which sucks because it's going to take forever... but nothing I can do about that.

As far as having a touchscreen I can tell you I've used windows 7 with a touch screen several times already (I work for a high end video and asset management company) and apart for customized applications where the GUI is tailored to the fingers I would still rather use a keyboard and mouse. Granted, I type 70wpm and know a ton of shortcut keys so I get around better than most in windows Let me know if anyone has any questions regarding performance or anything and I'll post a reply soon as I get it up and running with windows 7.

Here's a quick spec sheet. I ordered the newer processor so hopefully it doesn't get as hot and the fan isn't annoying like others have said. also went for the upgraded hard disk as well to hopefully avoid that "click" that everyone hates.

Espresso Black
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
• Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P7350 (2.0GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
• 8GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M
• 13.3" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
• LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
• Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
• FREE Upgrade to Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
• No Included Mobile Broadband
• Backlit Keyboard

 

Hey Kanehi, where did you hear this announcement from? Links?

 

I changed the "Fan always on" setting in the BIOS last night and it did improve the fan situation.

What happens now is that the fan goes off for brief periods and when it does ramp up it doesn't seem quite as revved up as before although it's still audible. I think if HP would have just placed the fan vent out the bottom or at the back rather than on the right hand side it would have lowered the fan noise in general. It strikes me that it's audible because it's too near the front, particularly with a fan that might be a tad more noisy than most or because of the acoustics of the smaller laptop interior.

I have a T series Intel processor. If I would have gotten one of the P series it might have been quieter but maybe that wouldn't have made any difference. If anyone out there gets a P series processor let us know how that affects the fan.

I am trying out the 9 cell battery today. I have it charged 100% and will be using it with the "HP recommende" setting on wireless with Bluetooth running. I'm sure many of you out there with way more knowledge than I will have suggestions on how to increase battery life overall. I appreciate everyone who gives feedback here--I really learn alot...

 

I went ahead and ordered one today. I got the P7350 with 4GB of RAM, 320GB HD, onboard video, integrated blue tooth.

I got the regular battery though since I am trying to keep it as light as possible. I will post my experience here so that we can collect the user reviews in one place.

 

Hey you and me are in the same boat! I just got the email this morning saying that my Dv3t was shipped out this morning as well. I actually think that it might arrive faster than you would expect. I ordered a Dv4t a few weeks ago, before I decided I want the dv3t instead, and here check out how fast it got here:

Oct 10, 2009 3:46 AM In transit SHANGHAI CN (this was saturday)
Oct 10, 2009 5:45 AM Picked up SHANGHAI CN
Oct 10, 2009 11:38 PM In transit PARIS FR
Oct 11, 2009 4:23 PM Int'l shipment release MEMPHIS, TN
Oct 11, 2009 6:29 PM Departed FedEx location MEMPHIS, TN
Oct 12, 2009 4:59 AM At dest sort facility LOS ANGELES, CA
Oct 12, 2009 7:02 AM At local FedEx facility MARINA DEL REY, CA
Oct 12, 2009 7:30 AM On FedEx vehicle for delivery MARINA DEL REY, CA
(arrived monday with standard 5-7 day shipping)

 

As far as I'm aware, HP made no such announcement. However, there was a leak of HP's Winter lineup consumer catalog which is where the information came from. It is likely that HP will add the option of a touchscreen display on the dv3t come October 22 (or as soon as 18), especially with the recent removal of the Infinity display option.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/28/touchscreen-hp-pavilion-dv3-leaks-out-brings-dm1-ultraportable/

 

I think i bought the dv3t at the right time, no need for a touchsmart. but that looks like a pretty cool addition.

 

I agree. I'm expect the base price and the prices of all the configuration options to shoot back up at the same time since I expect they'll be switching to a revised motherboard that uses DDR3 instead.

 

I've got a couple questions for you guys. I am looking at the dv3t, but I was wondering how warm the left and right palm rests get while typing for an extended period of time. I plan on using it to take notes, and I used to have a dv4t and it sucked because the Nvidia G 105 got hot. I am wondering after extended if the Intel 4500 causes the palm rests to get hot. What kind of battery life are you guys getting on the six-cell?

 

Something interesting I've notice about the fan. I have been using my DV3T this afternoon on battery only and it's been much quieter with a occasional ramp up as needed. Very weird--it's not nearly as loud as it is when on AC power.

Is this something that HP might fix with a BIOS update?

Other thing I've noticed is that the 9 cell is discharging quickly. I don't know if this is going to be an issue or because it's a new battery and it's not seasoned yet.

 

The heat you were experiencing on the left palm rest area on the dv4t was probably from the hard drive spinning directly underneath. I used to have a dv2000 that got unbearably hot on the left palm rest because of it. The bottom near the vent would also get unbearably hot since that's where the Nvidia GPU (now DEAD) was.

For the dv3t, the right palm rest area only gets slightly warm after extended use (even after a few hours of use), definitely no where close to unbearable. The left palm rest area remains cool to the touch.

I've been able to get over 4 hours with the 6-cell in Power Saver mode that I've adjusted to my liking, but it depends on how you tweak your power saving settings and your usage patterns.

 

I believe this has more to do with the power management in Windows. In the advanced settings, there is an Active and a Passive mode for CPU cooling. When plugged in, it's in Active mode, where it tells the fan to increase speed for more cooling before throttling back CPU speed, hence more fan noise. When on battery, it's in Passive mode, where it tells the CPU to scale back speed and performance before engaging the fan, hence less fan noise.

The point of this is to give you more performance when battery life isn't an issue and to give you more battery life when it's needed.

 

Would Windows 7 handle the fan differently? or should I expect the same thing? (ordered the Windows 7 update today).

 

By default, it is how I just described it in Balanced mode, but you can change it to your liking. I'm running Windows 7 RC at the moment.

 

I have another question, I am finding that Hulu plays a little jerky. Is this due to the integrated video card or do I need to tweak something?
YouTube seems OK but occasionally that stutters too...looking for answers.

 

Hm seems odd having hulu problems. Your system shouldn't kill itself doing that. I'm assuming its not the buffering that's slow right?

 

How do I check the buffering?

Hulu (played in regular mode) is OK, but you can see some stuttering from time to time. It's not completely smooth. I have the integrated video card.

 

Well there's two things that would cause the video to stutter. Like you said the computer is just struggling to process the video fast enough. Or the other option that would be the one you want to have is simply if your internet cannot download the video faster than its being played. If you watch youtube hd vids and notice where the red buffering bar is below the video it should be ahead of the video slider. If it is and you're still stuttering then yes something with your comp is slowing it down.

 

Open your task manager and the browser you are using to play the video. Click on the Processes tab and sort by name. Look for your browser there.
explorer is usuallly iexplorer.exe, firefox is firefox.exe etc,

Play the video and check the CPU utilization. If it hits close to 90 - 100% it may stutter. I am hoping that's not the case because the onboard video should really be good enough for youtube and hulu. 720p and 1080p is most likely out of the question.

 

Thanks, I will check it out..

 

I would check to make sure you are not in Power Saver mode. That might potentially downclock your computer and make it stutter. Hulu and Youtube HD are entirely processor based. It would only stutter if internet connection was slow or the cpu was downclocked. I have a cpu with the same processor and it runs those websites just fine.

AmericanGal, does your computer get hot? From 1-10 (10 too hot to touch, 5 being manageable, 1 being as if it is turned off) how hot do does the palm rests next to your mouse pad on your computer get? Can you keep it on your lap for long periods of time without a problem?

 

What kind of CPU do you have in the DV3? If it is a pentium d or whatever the low end is now with an integrated graphics form intel you may very well not have enough cpu power to handle it. Not all is lost though if you can hold out till Flash 10 comes out (within a month or so I believe) it should be able to take advantage of that GPU you have idleing for now and hopefully be stutter free. Anyway just some thoughts.

Edit: Oooops... just saw his sig lol Anyway you still have integrated graphics so just hold out till flash ten it should help you out.

 

currently, there's no hardware acceleration of any kind for flash based video, so it all depends on your CPU power at this point. Having a faster video card will make no difference in this case.

The occasional stuttering is probably caused by some latency issue from a driver conflict of some sort. You can try it out from these guys:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml

AmericanGal, are you currently using the factory Windows installation? If you haven't done so already and are up for the challenge, I'd recommend doing a clean installation of Windows, however, you'd need access to an installation disc which HP doesn't provide in the consumer line. I would use at least a Vista SP1 disc as I've found the original to be too buggy. A Vista SP2 disc would be ideal, but it's not provided to consumers directly. However, since Windows 7's arrival is imminent, I would just stick it out and do a clean installtion of Windows 7 once you get the upgrade discs.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I have reinstalled Windows Vista before and as someone suggested, will install Windows 7. That arrives soon so I will check it again with the new OS.

I will also check all power settings today.

Yesterday I got about 4-5 hours out of the battery. It was 91% when I started. I was using wireless, Bluetooth and the light up keyboard at the time. I played a few of the games trials that are included with the computer and did general web surfing and watched Survivor on Hulu.

Heat issue: I haven't noticed anything but a mild warmth where my hands are on the palm areas of the computer (this when being used over time). It's a little more warmer on the keyboard. The side with the heat vent gets warmer warmer but I would only rate it a 5or 6 under heavy use so far. It was not nearly as hot as the DV5Z model I was able to use for some time about a year ago. That laptop got very hot to the touch by the vents.

Haven't tried the laptop physically on my lap so I don't know about the temps on the underside.

Isn't there a free program I can download to monitor internal temps?

 

You can try coretemp to show only cpu temp http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Or SpeedFan which will show cpu temp, HD temp, and fan speed. http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

 

Has anyone under volted a dv3t? If so what kind of results did you get on temps?

 

Thats a really nice laptop for the size,but what is a Geforce G 105M?

 

Its a relatively low-mid range 512 card. It is supposed to be a slightly over clocked like 9800gt? I'm probably wrong about that off the top of my head. But its dedicated and over twice the speed of the 4500mhd.

 

I read somewhere that the Intel 4500MHD is supped to be equivalent only to a ATI 2600HD or Nvidia 8400M,but anything dedicated out performs a intel integrated chip. I wish i could replace the awful GMA950 in my notebook with something else lol.

 

Ha ya well I don't plan on doing any gaming. At least nothing crazy. I got the dv3t because I really wanted a small laptop with a bluray because I have a huge hdtv and no blueray yet! But I didn't trust the 4500 skipping all my movies on the big screen so I made sure I got the nvidia. From what I have read the 4500 seems to be handling but games pretty well. I got 400 bucks off my laptop so I was able to pretty much max out every option!

 

Hi, i have a question for those who have this notebook
is there a place for an option broadband? meaning is the a place
for the sim card, and where is it located?

 

My dv3t has been in Shanghai for 3 days!

 

That program is awesome thanks for the link dynamius, definetly have alot of uses for it. Again I'd say it's probably a safe bet that if a re-install of Vista doesn't solve the issue then Flash 10 probably has a good chance of helping you. Article and the download link here:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/15710

Let me know how that goes.

As far as the Nvidia G105m it is a discrete graphics option that is much much better than intel's option and allows for things like Call of Duty 4 playback as well as smoother HD Video (remember the quality of the playback is gonna be limited by your cpu to a certain point so you'd still want a higher-end cpu).

 

my laptop says is just left anchorage what what. I never thought I would be the one sitting here watching my shipping status like I see a lot of people doing on the boards but considering its been a month! since I have gone without a laptop I am about on my breaking point

I originially ordered a dv4t and then cancelled the order 1 day too late and it already got shipped to me, so I had to wait for that to go back to HP before I could get my refund in order to get the dv3t instead. (ya follow?)

I wonder if it will get here tomorrow!?! anyways, hows everyone else liking theirs???

 

I've been using my DV3T for about a week now and I really like it. I think it's just the right size for what I need. It's working flawlessly. It's pretty fast--I wish I could have afforded the faster processors and video card but overall, I really don't think I would have needed them.

I hope I get the Windows 7 upgrade CD as promised soon...

 

i just got my laptop in today and i love it too. been cramming for a calc exam so wont have time to play on it too much until later tonight but it is sweet. I really like the 9 cell battery. Hopefully if i am in a good mood after my exam I can try to put up a good first day review. but this thing is sick, HPs website always says that this is a 16:10 ratio screen and 1200x800 pixels which is a complete lie, i love how the wide screen is. back to studying!

 

Nice! I used a coupon like that as well. It brought the price down by $400 as long as it was configured to be $1199+. That's why I have those extras like the fingerprint reader, backlit keyboard, Infinity display, and Blu-ray drive, since I was adding in all the options just for the sake of trying to get the price high enough to use the coupon.

I really wanted to avoid having another Nvidia chip inside my laptop this time around so I did a lot of research trying to find information and reviews on the 4500MHD before I decided on settling with it. Now that I've been using it for a while, it definitely delivers on its claims. I also use my dv3t as a Blu-ray player for the 46" 1080p LCD in the living room and playback is actually flawless at 1080p. The 4500MHD has got to be the first Intel integrated graphics chip that's able to handle everything except the more 3D-intensive games.

There's a library of all mobile graphics options available today giving detailed specs and their estimated performance levels over at notebookcheck.net
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

 

Why were you trying to avoid an Nvidia chip dynamius?

 

overheating mainly phaze. Reliability and overheating have been problems with many nvidia chips... check out the past 8400M problems and the G105M in the DV3 (other thread).

 

Nvidia's chipsets suck in notebooks. Actually there has been talk about them not making any more chipsets in the future.

But here

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080702/aqw114.html?.v=46


http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2182

Basicly nvidia had to take a 200m charge to fix problems with their chipsets. The chipsets affected launched in 2007. So basicly you had 2007 , 2008 and some of 2009 products affected. Some of hte fixes were to have the fan run more than it normaly would. Apparently anything based on the g84 of g86 are affected and some g92s all of them will have the problem at some point. Its due to cycling thermals. So if your someone who loads up the laptop to play a game for af ew hours and then shut it off when your some where not very warm , you could have the problem happen to you.
That was july 2008


Personaly , Ati right now offers the better value esp if your looking at hd 4x00 hardware. Its dx 10.1 and while many games don't have dx 10.1 support its very simple to add it to dx 11 games. So in the future you will get speed increases because of it.

Also intel wont let nvidia use its liscences for its cpus so no chipsets there apparently ( the i5, i7 boards and apparently the new atoms ) and amd is finaly getting into its grove now that ati is parto f them. So nvidia may not be around much longer in the chipset busniess , which means you'd only see add in chps for desktops from them. An important thing is that many amd laptops let you switch between the faster gpu and slower gpu depending on what you are doing and thus saving power.

 

If you check my sig, my poor dv2000t died only after 2.5 years. The culprit? The Nvidia GPU... DEAD. The same thing happened to my friend's Dell XPS m1330 just a couple of months after mine died. My dv3t was really a forced upgrade because of that. It's going to be either Intel or preferably ATI graphics for me from now on.

 

I will admit that I am quite unsatisfied with the Nvidias gpu benchmarks. I thought it would be a lot more competitive to the xps 1340 than it is. On the other hand, I think my laptop runs extremely quieter and cooler than what I have read from others on here.

 

Damn.. I ordered mine with the Nvidia GPU instead of the onboard graphics. I didn't realize they had such an issue. I don't really play games or anything, I just wanted to make sure that anything I played on it (like HD files) would play back smooth.

 

I wouldnt have bought this laptop if it didnt have the 512 nvidia. Honest truth. I love everything. My laptop is ridiculously quiet, fast, and runs extremely cool.

 

I was just on the HP website and you can only order the DV3T with the Nvidia card now..there isn't any integrated option.

Is there a reason for that? Have their been problems with the integrated chip? I am wondering if I should exchange my laptop for one with the Nvidia (or if it really doesn't matter that much..)