*HP dv4t (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

IMHO yes should look elsewhere. I've had mine for a few months and the hard drive has already died. It was getting hot. I removed the tv remote control cover to let it cool better, but the hard drive still died. I had a Hp 2133, it also overheated and died. And i always used both raised on rubber feet on a hard surface, not on a pillow or my lap.

Go to any laptop retailer and feel the heat of the laptops on display: HP laptops without exception feel the hottest. Look at the brain-dead cooling vent positioning on the HP models: main vent is at the back, so when you open the screen back, the vent gets covered. By yourself a Toshiba: fo the same money the specs may be lower than HP, but for 90% of what most use a laptop for it won't matter and what you get is quality design thats built to last. I should have listened. I now hate HP, NEVER again.

 

Stefcef, that's too bad you had many problems with your HP notebooks. So far, I love my HP DV4T. I really like the styling. When I open my notebook all the way back, it does not cover the vent; it just redirect more of the air up the LCD screen. But then most of the time, I don't use my notebook with the LCD all the way back, but at an angle on a desk.

It does get hot, but not as hot as my bro's Fujitsu; which I think can fry an egg. I now use a notebook cooler and don't have heat problems anymore. The cooler is very small and use very little battery power; and also makes it very comfortable to put on the lap. So far all the games I have run well on it, but most of them are not graphic intensive. Wow plays fine at high frame rates too with good details. Just another opinion.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

So I did some searches but have not come up with any hits . . .

Does anyone have any feedback/advice regarding the Brightview Infinity display versus the LED Brightview display? I know the Brightview Infinity display has the clear, plastic cover that runs edge to edge and ads a glossy, modern look. I can't seem to find much on the LED display though. Aesthetics? Functionality?

I personally am a fan of the Inifinity displays, but I've been using an onld DV1000T for a while now without it. If the LED screen added battery life and decreased weight, I might be tempted to forgo the pretty Infinity display.

 

Allgoodpeople,

I was able to handle both for a few days. I initially ordered the HP DV4T special edition with the infinity display. I have to say it is very beautiful and make the laptop looks very upper class. The colors are vibrant and the display is very bright. Then I started to read about people's problem with dusts getting inside and the only way to remove them is to send it back to HP. Also, the CCFL lighting use a little bit more energy than LED. Had I not read about the dust problems, I would probably keep it. The infinity covering is very easy to clean, at least on the outside.

The LED lighting is just as bright, but to save battery life, I dim it just as much as the CCFL lighting, so I don't see a difference. On normal usage, you won't be able to tell what is lighting your laptop. I'm starting to see a lot of dust around the area where the LCD meets the casing; I get dust there on my other laptops too.

Both are very reflective though. For the infinity one, you get a double reflection at some angles; and for the LED one, you get a strong reflection at some angles too. For usability, both are fine. Now if they have an Infinity display with LED backlight...

My brother has a Fuji ultra portable notebook he bought several years ago for more than 2x the price of the HP and it has a display similar to HP's infinity display. It has a matted panel over the LCD. In all his 5 years of usage, not a single dust has gotten inside. The matted panel reduce a lot of the reflection, but also tones down the colors so they are not as vibrant. I'm guessing the majority of infinity display owners won't have dust problems.

I'm not sure how much the LED display would increase battery life. I'm guessing maybe 5%? I'm getting terrible battery life with both the infinity display and the LED one. I have the 12 cell battery and get around 4.5 hours for both. A little bit less for the infinity display one, but that one also has a processor that use 35watts instead of the 25watts for the one I chose with the LED display. CCFL is already energy efficient, and LED is a little bit more so. Also, the bigger the display, the more LEDs are required, where-as the CCFL tube is just extended. That's why large LED television use more energy; not because the LEDs use more energy, but there has to be more of them to light the same area.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

So 2.5 hours with LED/P-series CPU?

How in heck did the tools that reviewed the DV4T here get like 3.5 hours on it?

 

With the 12-Cell, I'm getting between 3.5 hours and 4.5 hours of active usage with the LED/P8400/GeForce/2 fans cooler combination/wifi off. This includes full time streaming from the DVD drive with a movie. The cooler takes at most 20-30 mins off the remaining battery time, but it helps with cooling the laptop.

I have no idea how the review got 3.5 hours... is that off the 12-cell battery too? I only know what I got from my unit.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

Na, that was with the 6-cell.

Well, guess we could call it 2 hours then had you used a 6-cell. Throw in the GeForce+cooler+DVD.... I guess 3.5 might be attainable after all.

 

hi guys, couldn't read through all of the 86 pages but does anyone have pics of their dv4t systems? does anyone have pics of the system in white?

also, ive read the overheating problems. how bad is it? i have a toshiba satellite right now that when it overheats, shuts right off. does that happen to the dv4t?

reason i asked is i just ordered one and I wanted a laptop that wasn't noisy and didn't overheat like my toshiba. sounds like i got the same deal

 

MrEazyE,

If you read through the many forums here, it seems like every laptop has heat problems. My brother's Fuji and my old Dell certainly do. My DV4T is my current laptop now and I use it on my lap to watch movies, play games and surf the internet. The part that heats up the most for me is the hard drive, so I went and replace it with a 60GB SSD that runs much cooler and faster.

If you plan to use it on your lap a lot, then get a pillow notebook cooler, if on a desk, then get one of those cheap cooler. It'll drain around 6-10% of your battery life, but keeps your notebook cool. I have the ASUS Eee1000H and that thing never heats up even with extended use... but then it is not very fast.

Have fun with yours. I like mine a lot... gives me plenty of power.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

Can somebody post pics of the new dv4t model (the espresso black or moonlight white versions)

 

My dv4t doesn't get very hot at all. The rest above the hard drive can get a little hot when you really push the laptop with intensive gaming or something, but otherwise it's fine. Right now it's just warmish.

I do have one of the power efficient 'P' series CPUs though.




Is it just me or has the F.30 BIOS disappeared from HP's website? I downloaded and installed it about a week ago and everything is running fine. However I just had a look on the driver downloads page and it isn't there anymore???

 

Hi, I'm considering buying a dv4t in espresso black, but I want some pros and cons listed out about it. Can anyone please offer some input? Is this laptop going to be good for a college student?

 

Yes it disappeared. Haven't a clue why but I have the F.30 installed and without issue. If you Goggle (DV4t F.30 BIOS) you'll find that it's still available on the asian HP sites. Did you notice also that the F.30 BIOS is from a different vendor than the F.24? At-any-rate....very strange.... but it works so I think I'll leave it installed.

 

I'm unable to get the eSATA port to recognize my external drive on my dv4t. Has anyone been able to get the eSATA port to work. I'm running Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

 

I noticed that some people were just asking for some pictures of the moonlight white and expresso black dv4t. I don't have any, but I just ordered a DV4T Moonlight White. I might considering calling HP and switching it if I could just find some high res pictures of the two so I could see what they actually look like. lol

Pics would be appreciated...

 

Until someone uploads the pictures, try looking at the pictures posted on the HP site. They are very high quality, especially when you can zoom in and see the patterns on the laptop and case.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ory&v1=Ultra-Portable&series_name=dv4t_series

Click on the midnight or white color, then each of the pictures. Don't forget to zoom in and inspect.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

Anyone know of a laptop cooler that works well with the dv4t?

Thanks

 

I just got my dv4 back from HP after the hard drive drive died (after 6 weeks of use). The laptop feels cooler and they updated it to the f3.0 BIOS, which was set to the fan always on. here's hoping it lasts..

 

So you're saying that it's running cooler now because the fan is always running?

I looked at the pictures on the HP website of the Moonlight White and Espresso Black but they are not very high quality (even when zooming in...). It's hard to figure out exactly what the design looks like on both of them. I was hoping you guys with those two colors could post quality pics of the two, especially Moonlight White....

Thanks guys,

Brandon

 

For laptop cooler, I have good experiences with the Pyramat Laptop Cooler Lapdesk. I got it on Amazon for $25. See link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Pyramat-Lapto...UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1239895244&sr=8-11

It is very comfortable to place on your lap as the bottom portion feels like a soft beanbag. The DV4T sits nicely on top of it. I've been using mine for a few weeks now. The top is a ventilated plastic grill that has two fan which you can power via the USB port. There is no on/off button though. I just use mine without the fan.

The heat does eventually transfer to your lap though, but it is just a little bit of warmth, I don't mind at all. The fans are rather loud, the main reason I don't use them. Note that it will raise your laptop around around 2 inches above your lap.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

I believe that is true. In the past, there were GPU overheating problems that was solve by turning on the fan full time. I guessed this has not changed. In a quiet room, I can hear the fan fine but most places I go with the notebook, it does not bother me much. The fan on my cooler is 4-5 times louder though.

My DV4T is not hot at all except for the area around the hard drive. I use a 60GB SSD and it still get pretty hot; not as hot as the original hard drive that comes with the system though.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

Hey, I've thought about getting a dv4t, but I can't decide if I should order with the LED display or the Brightview Infinity display. What do you guys think?

 

The Brightview Infinity display is very beautiful. Makes the computer look very high tech as well. There are problems with some people having it; mainly dust can get in between the LCD and the infinity glass. My brother has a similar display to the infinity display for his Fujitsu laptop and after 6 years, not a single spec of dust got inside, so I don't think the dust inside the display is a widespread problem; or else HP would not be selling it. Another problem may be double reflections at some angles as both the LCD and the infinity glass is glossy. This is not very noticeable for me when I had the laptop with the infinity display.

The LED screen is easier on the battery and makes the lid a few millimeters smaller; and that ends up with a laptop a few hairs lighter. If you have another laptop with an LCD that is not covered by glass; think of it as the LED LCD display. If you can go to a store that has HPs in display; I do recommend you go and see it for yourself.

I myself prefer the looks of the Infinity Display and the battery savings of the LED display. In the end, I want my laptop to last a few more minutes so I got the LED one.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

gnimble,

What processor/video card/screen do you have your laptop?

How much battery life do you get with wifi on and with wifi off?

Thanks

 

Quadron,

This is the spec of my laptop:

- HP Pavilion dv4t Entertainment PC, Onyx
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26 GHz)
- 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 60GB OCZ Core Solid SSD (Solid state hard drive)
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS
- 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
- Wireless-G Card
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

I got the 12 Cell because I wanted the longest run time. It seems like the battery is drained 16-20% every hour I use it to surf the net with wifi on. I get around 5+ hours with wifi usage. Without it, I think I can get roughly half an hour to an hour more. When I watch movies or play games where the CPU is taxed, it goes down much faster; so I get around 3-4 hours with the large battery.

Keep in mind that I also have an SSD which sips power instead of drinking it like mechanical hard drives; and that my brightness of the LCD is set to the lowest letting. I guessed if I try, I can get up to 7+ hours on that battery.

I have mixed feelings regarding the 12 cell battery. It bulges out roughly 1/2 an inch from the bottom of the laptop. That would be OK with me... except for the fact that it does not extend all the way across the laptop. When it is on my lap, I have to put my knees together for it not to tilt the laptop. If you ever need to go to the restroom badly... you'll be sitting down with your knees together trying to hold it in... that's the same position you have to sit.

I wished they would engineer the battery casing so that it allows for airflow in the area of the fan (even if that part of the battery is hollow), so you can comfortable put it on your lap without having to squish your knees together.


Bottom view (just ignore all the dots "." because posting with too many space have them removed, imagine them as spaces ;-))
+-----+------------------+
|.fan.|..12cell battery..|
|.....+------------------+
|........................|
|........................|
|........................|
+------------------------+

Viewed from the back... (the tilt part is the LCD: just use your imagination, I'm at work right now or else I would take a picture)
.....,--------------------.
..../..................../
.../..................../
../..................../
./................hp../
+----+---------------+
|____________________|
.....\_______________' <--- battery raising the bottom.


Cheers,
Gnimble

 

just got my dv4t yesterday and well i like it, but i have a few complaints.

hard drive area gets hot, i have a fujitsu drive , guess ill replace with a 7200rpm wd, and the fan is a little loud compared to my toshiba lappy, even with the option for the fan to not run in BIOS off. also the designs on the laptop seem a little over the top, i would have been happy with just black or silver.

other than that i like everything else! and the price was great! i got mine for $680 after live cashback.

also: pics below for those wondering what the expresso black theme looks like.

specs:

- HP Pavilion dv4t Entertainment PC
- Espresso Black
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P7450 (2.13GHz)
- FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!
- FREE Upgrade to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
- 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
- [For LED Display] Webcam Only
- Wireless-G Card
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

Congratulation Vert! Most of us have the same issue with the loud fan and the temperature in the area where the hard drive is located. I believe it might be insufficient cooling in that area because I replaced it with an SSD and it still get uncomfortably warm; not as hot as my brother's Fujitsu though.

Somehow, I really like most of the HP DV designs.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

thanks,

going to try and install windows 7 on this, heard 7 does wonders with laptops and ssd's.

ill tell you guys how it goes.

 

can some link me to the dv4t f.30 bios can't seem to find it. If anyone would like to maybe give a review of it that would be nice as well.

 

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Cheers,
Gnimble

 

Vert,

How did you manage to only pay $680 for that config? I checked cashback and they only give 5% discount on HP...

What sort of temps are you getting? Can you post an HWmonitor screenie? Thanks!

 

id also like to know where to get this BIOS, or any BIOS at all, cant seem to find them on HP's website :|

win7 installed and running great! most drivers were already auto detected and updated via windows update (g45 mobile chipset and graphics drivers were recognized, wifi, and some other stuff), from there i just installed everything else from the dv4t drivers page on hp.com.

nothing needed to be run in compatibility mode to install, and all functions work (touchpad software,SD card reader, the media panel, wifi button, and volume button).

i didnt mention it but i had a coupon that i got from slickdeals.net, it went like this:

i configured a system to 1099 (for the coupon to work) - 150 instant rebate - 250 (coupon from SD that was stackable) - ~35 from cashback = came to around ~680 + your own shipping of course

these hp coupons come out a lot so check out slickdeals.net and go into the forums, then "hot deals", and then scroll to the bottom and click the System icon (should have a little monitor on it), from there look for recent posts on HP systems.

as for temps, i ran speedfan, core temp, real temp and hwmonitor and they have different tjmax's so i cant tell which one is accurate, but i think hwmonitor is the most inaccurate as its TJmax is at 100c.

temps: http://i44.tinypic.com/2ibghvb.jpg

 

Thanks!

Wow. Those temps are all over the place...lol. No HD temps? Weird... hmm. Maybe the new DV4 doesn't support it? I dunno... Likewise for the GPU...

 

yea i know, but i think core temp might be the correct one, with a 85c tjmax, so id go with that one, hwmonitor for sure is wrong.

the hard drive sensor was detected but not shown, and so was the SMART data but not temps, i wonder why? i think everest shows the hd temp though, i forgot because i was using it yesterday.

im dont have a dedicated gpu, so go by the THRM temps for the g45 mobile chipset.

also, the 105m nvidia gpu is just an overclocked 9300 so im sure nvidias control panel should show temps for it.

 

Overall, would you say it runs cool/warm/hot?

Is the left-palm rest hot? Could you run HDTune to get the HD temps?

I really really want to know... lol.

Almost everyone it seems has dedicated graphics and my theory is that the Nvidia GPU is what causes everyone's hard drive in the DV4 to heat up. From what I gather, the average HD temp seems to be around 46-50C. So... I really would like to know what it would be in a system with integrated graphics. If you could..... it would be great!

 

About the F.30 BIOS. I haven't noticed too much different with it. I've had no issues however they must have pulled it for a reason, so use at your own risk.

Here's the changelog:

Here's a link to it: http://rapidshare.com/files/223073222/sp42636_BIOS_F.30_.zip

 

seems warm, not overly hot, but if you stress the system it will get hot to the touch but it wont hurt, like right now im just web browsing and the warmth seems kinda nice

also i tried hdtune and that couldnt get the temp all that was in the field was a -, also tried everest and nothing.

BUT, in speedfan there is a sensor called temp1 that is most likely the hard drive because on startup it detects the fujitsu sensor, so im guessing that is it, the temp right now is 36c which is ideal temps (theres are the THRM temp but thats the chipset and is no way relevant to the temp1 sensor), and keeps the hard drive lubricated (google did a study on hd's and found that hot temps were actually good).

most people have the 9200 gs gpu which was on the older dv4, now is the g 105 which is OC'd and probably hotter.

 

where did you find the f.30 bios. i cant find it anywhere on hp's site

 

vert, would you recommend the dv4t you got for a college student? I want a solid laptop that won't cost much since my college tuition is close to $28000

 

well the dv4t is definitely solid, seems sturdy enough to carry around, but it seems very scratch prone because of its glossiness.

its also pretty light with the 6 cell, and should be with the 12 cell if you need the extra battery life.

so yes, id say this laptop would be good for a student who needs a light, small but powerful laptop.

also, there's lots of coupons floating around for HP, id look for a stackable coupon rather than a 30% one.

EDIT: for the people wondering about the f.30 BIOS, i just noticed that my laptop shipped with the f.31 BIOS, maybe f.30 did have a flaw and was fixed in 31?, doesn't hp usually upgrade BIOS's with big numbers? (ex. f.10->f.20->etc)

 

Jennifer..... check my earlier response at post #864. If you've ruled out a Netbook and can live with the weight of the Dv4t, I think you would be very happy with this model. My suggested minimum configuration for you would be:

- Intel P7450 processor (runs cooller and extends battery life)
- Integrated Intel graphics (runs cooler, extends battery life)
- 3GB RAM
- 12 Cell Battery (provides 3.5x the power the standard 6 cell battery and should last you through at least 5 1 hour classes, provides better cooling by raising the rear of the unit, and has better ergonomics. con.... added weight)
- Then get anything that is a free upgrade.

Also.... I wouldn't suggest getting it now. HP usually has much better sales when the "Back to School" sales start. For carrying around campus all day...every day.... I would also suggest ADP if you can.

Best of luck.....

 

Thanks for the heads-up Vert. Currently running F.30 with no issues noticed (cool, quiet, everything functions) but will watch for F.31.

 

I agree with everything Dave said.... but ah, 3.5x the power?

If the 12 cell is getting, let's say 6 hours, that puts the 6 cell at under 2 hours, around 1:45...which isn't right. NBR got 3.5 hours on the 6-cell..... most reviews seem to peg it around 2:45-3hours.

The 6-cell extended life battery has 56Whr while the 9-cell has 96Whr... which is... 1.7x as much power in reality... and if we look at the times...... if you're getting 3 hours on the 6-cell... you'll get 5 on the 12-cell... which seems about right... obviously there will be some variation here and there..... but ya.

 

Hmmmm..... I can't speak for the usable time(s) being posted for different configurations and variables but your anology would seem correct. However, consider that this is what is posted in the Service Guide:

DV4t.
6-cell (Standard)- 2.20-Ah
6-cell (Extended Life)- 2.55-Ah
12-cell- 8.80-Ah

I didn't know a Dv4t had a 9 Cell (?) option.

 

Must be a typo- there is no way.

If that were true, then either the 6-cell batteries should only be pulling 1.5 hours on a charge, or the 12 cell should be pulling about 12 hours on a charge... neither is true.

You're looking at a bit less than 2x the time with the 12-cell..... I promise.

 

Seems about right..... but I can only post what HP has specified in the User Guide.

Our Dv4t does 5.5 to 6 hours easily on a 4 month old 12 cell battery depending on what you're doing. I can also say that I've seen a number of posts where folks were moaning about getting less than 2 hours on a standard 6 cell. Just to many configs and user variables to say. Gaming or playing a DVD will suck the battery dry in a heart beat.

At-any-rate..... it's an interesting subject.... but for Jen I would say for all day Campus use a 12 cell is almost a requirement unless she also wants to carry the brick around.

 

What is and how to apply for cashback? Thanks

 

cashback is a promotion done by live.com/microsoft, the way it works is, you sign up for a live/msn account or login if you already have one, authorize it for cashback, and when your ready to go, you go to live.com and on the top right of the page is "cashback", click it and itll show featured stores, on the right will be "see more", go there and itll show all the online stores eligible for cashback.

find the hp store, which is 5% cashback, meaning you will get 5% of your purchase credited to you, keep in mind cashback isnt instant most of the time and can take up to 60 days for you to get it into your account.

once its in your account you can cash out in a few ways, such as paypal, check, or to your bank account.

good luck

sorry for being off topic, just trying to save you guys some money!

 

Cool, thanks alot!!
P.s. Does the 5% apply to the initial subtotal before the instant rebates and coupons or after?