*HP dv4t (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

Aww, that makes me sad (just a tiny bit). I thought they looked pretty cool on there, but oh well. It's not a big issues if they phased it out and decided to leave them off of there. If it cause they're not working properly, that'd be a problem for me. I'm happy you're enjoying your new computer, I'm still waiting on mine.

 

indeed i am enjoying it. i only ran into one little issue and thats with the fingerprint Reader. It worked flawlessly prior to the installation of Service pack 2. i am running vista ultimate transitioned from a 32 bit system i knew that i would encounter issues and that most of the programs i used to use will no longer be supported on my Dv4. i contacted HP technicle support and they told me that they didnt recormend that i upgrade to Service pack 2 because they dont support it. they told me in order to solve my issue and get my fingerprint reader to function again i would have to uninstall SP2. I honestly think theres a work around for this.. i mean cant i just install or find drivers that would make my fingerprintreader work again?

upon start up at the main screen it first says swipe your finger to log in but after u swipe your finger once it says detecting reader and then states that the reader cannot be detected.. im sure this is a driver issue as it shows up on the Device manager and it worked flawlessly prior to to the SP2 update..

soo anyone can help me out with this? im going to try to download the drivers through the HP Advisor thing..although when i tried to last night it failed to download.

also in other news i got a letter with my DV4t that says that everyone who owns an HP or CompaQ PC that is eligible, will be eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade program..it seems liek this update kit will be free of charge oncewindows 7 officially releases and HP begins to offer theses kits

 

^I got that sheet too, but when I tried to go to the URL it said on the sheet it said that the destination was not found lol

 

yeah same.. it took me to some HP website and said the page was not found so what i did was i typed in Windows 7 upgrade program in the search on that page and it took me straight there

 

I can't seem to find it... think you can give me a link?

 

sure thing the link is - http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/mda/windows7/index.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

 

Nina,

They dropped them in the 1400 Series. Here is a usefull link where you can find specifics for any HP DV4:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&dest_page=product

For all of us that got a custom build recently, the correct model is the DV4t-1400 CTO. You can navigate to a software and drivers page - there is a recent BIOS update, but mine shipped with it. Enjoy your new Laptop, I am sure liking mine

 

TV tuner comment. I'm a little suprised that HP media smart identifies TV channels by call letters instead of numbers. I tend to think selection by channel numbers and they are transmitted in the digital signal, so they could be extracted.
TV question. Will Windows media player run the TV tuner?

 

I still haven't solved my tv tuner issue Be happy yours works at all.

 

new $450 off coupon for notebooks $1099 and up. NB4366

 

I'm the guy who returned his espresso black dv4t a few weeks ago hoping to get it again later in white when another $400 off coupon came around.
Today I found a $450 off coupon and got an even better deal. I already have laptop memory and a bigger hard drive I can use to upgrade the laptop to 4gb ram and 500gb hd.

Total for this build came to $807.49

HP Pavilion dv4t Entertainment PC
• Moonlight White
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
• Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz)
• FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!
• FREE Upgrade to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M
• 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800)
• LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
• [For LED Display] Webcam Only
• Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
• No TV Tuner w/remote control
• HP Color Matching Keyboard
• FREE Upgrade to High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• No Modem

 

Thanks for the information. That makes me feel better. I guess the lights won't be missed too much.

You stink for finding this better coupon! Just kidding. Kind of wish I would have waited now, but oh well. Would have only saved about $100, which I guess in the grand scheme of these, isn't that much. Though, $100 is a lot to a broke student such as myself.

 

same here.. i only got a $350 off a $1600 notebook which came out to $1300.. i still sorta wished i woulda gotten white too..it woulda not of attracted so much lint..although i dont regret getting black at all, its really not as bad as it seems (expresso black) both colors look very cool!!

 

I had the same issue with the reader. HP Tech support was not very helpful. I fixed mine by doing the following:

From the Device Manager - uninstall the driver (Validity Sensor);
Uninstall the Digital Persona Program;
Reboot
Use the Recovery Manager (look it up by typing in "recovery" in the Start Menu Search Field
Select "Advanced Options" button in the recovery Manager
Select the "Software Program" reinstallation button and then choose DigitalPerosna program to re-install
Then do the same for the Validity Sensor in the hardware drive re-installation
Reboot
Set up the fingerprint reader; then look in the lower right panel of it's start up screen, select "get the latest updates"
Install the update
Reboot
You should be good to go.

 

man ooh man you dont know the issues ive been experienceing with the finger print reader.. it wasnt SP2 i thought it was because at that time i installed an update for the vadility sensor from the HP advisor and then installed SP2 and when i started up it wouldnt detect.. i discovered that it wasnt SP2 but instead it was the UPdate that the HP advisor was downloading that was causing the issue..

last night i once again installed the Update from the HP advisor (after doing a system restore to get it back working a few nights ago) and it once again failed me. the finger print reader immedietly stopped being detected and after restarting it still wasnt detected..so i once again did a system restore and for now im staying away from HP advisor upgrades..if it gives me issues with the finger print reader, then god knows what other issues might pop up after another update..

i took a chance since i was convinced it wasnt SP2 that was causing the FPR to stop working and it worked..SP2 was installed successfully and the Reader still works..like i said im stay away from updates through the HP advisor..because all it has done was brought me trouble..if i woulda know how much trouble this FPR was gona give me i wouldnt have gotten it at all..

i know i say it in each post but here it is again.. I Love my HP DV4t

 

Hey NinaJ if you are still within your 21 day return period you could call hp and ask them to give you the price difference. I think I read about someone here who called and demanded credit back for the difference siting that he expected price protection for his purchase within the 21 day return period. Worst case you could just return it and order it again with the above coupon.

*or if you have the coin in the bank unlike me. you could just order another now and return your current one when you receive the new one.

You have 21 days from the day you received the laptop.

 

Hi guys, I'm too lazy to read through 117 pages, but I was wondering if there were still any real problems with the dv4t? (like heat, fan noise, that screen washed out problem, etc)

Also, can i throw in a sataii drive in a dv4t?

 

Hey guys I just bought a Dv4t today off ebay and the laptop has the infinity screen. I was wondering if any owners with the new dv4t and the infinity screen have the same problems as the older version such as dust in between the screen, keyboard scratching the screen).

 

Screen washed out, is due to the Inifinity layer. Sometimes hair and cloth and etc gets stuck behind it. There are comparison pics of non Infinity compared to Infinity. LED is brighter.

Heat, as far as i still know, heat tends to build up under the left palm, near the location of the trackpad. If you game alot, WASD is on that side, and it might be a discomfort. I don't mind the warmth personally. CPU GPU heat, well you can reduce heat by getting the P series processors, and skipping on the G105M. It's a small laptop, I would say it gets warm, and the processor fan is a bit oversensitive, but I expect it to run. Some people still have problems with the fingerprint reader, but the touch keys have been removed. The Expresso black version tends to be a fingerprint magnet due to the shiny black look (i prefer it).

We still aren't sure if the dust is actually foreign objects introduced from the outside, or if its the glue/sealant that is holding the Infinity display in place. It cannot be user removed and reseated and usually involves a replacement of the entire screen/laptop.

The design is completely flat. I seen macbooks with the keyboard scratching the screen. Everyone i know who has a macbook usually uses for school and so they end up getting gunk on the screen. From eating lunch or eating while preparing for seminars or debates. If you are really OCD about the screen, and if you don't really like the reflective nature, you can order a screen protector from Photodon.com they have crystal clear and anti-reflective. These screen protectors are designed to withstand stylus and fingers and will protect your screen from grimy keys or the keys touching the screen when the laptop is in a vertical position in your bag etc.

As for me, one more day until i get the laptop. Its actually down the street, but HP doesn't allow for Fedex on Hold, so I can't go pick it up personally until one attempt is made. Its scheduled to come tomorrow.

 

My experience is that you are better off ordering a new laptop, and then cancelling the old order. However, if you already used a coupon recently, they may deny it. I usually call the sales people and when you let them know you will send back the old one, they can usually allow you to use another coupon. High Capacity 6 cell is showing up as a free upgrade atm as well.

 

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking about calling and seeing if they could do the price difference. I definitely don't have the money in the bank to order another comp right now. I'm super broke (trying to get ready to move away for grad school).

 

Well as another user posted already. the left bottom palm rest does get warm during use but it isnt as Bad as it becoming unconftable. thsi is because the Hard Drive is located under this spot..but it doenst get unconftable at least for me it isnt.. i also was a long time reader of this thread and i read post where users were saying that the fan runs REALLY loud and was really annoying. i only had the notebook for a week and its gotten long usage already. the Fan is no where near as annnoying nor loud as people claimed it to be. theres 2 fan options in the bios (always on & run when needed) with the always on the fan will always run. This was the option that people claimed the fan wasnt as loud but still was loud and annoying, the other option is the one in which people claimed the fan wouldnt run untill its needed. but when it is it runs REALLy loud at its highest setting in an attempt to cool down the notebook.

my notebook is currently set to the fan always on setting. under this setting the fan is running at all times but is extremely quiet. you cannot hear the fan at all and the notebook does extenguish its heat. it gets warm but not HOT. the highest my fan has ran was at its medium speed which wasnt as loud but can be heard andd wasnt annoying ( this was when i was using it on my bed for 6 hours and the vents wernt as open). Upon start up however u truely get an idea of how loud the fan goes because for the first 3 secs after power on the fan runs at its highest speed and then slows down.

For other issues ive had issues with the finger print reader. i originally thought it to be the installation of Service Pack2 but instead it was the update that iwas downloading for the fingerprint reader from HP advisor.. i wont be using that anymore..

i currently have the expresso black color and i have no regrets..the black color is a really nice color along with white circular designs...its a really stylish design . other than this indeed the media touch controls have been removed..you still get touch controls such as mute, volume rocker, and wifi/bluetooth on/off. as for the other pause,play,skip,stop controls they have been removed..the touch controls that have remained seem to work much mroe accuratly than the older ones

 

thanks for the input guys hopefully my new laptop will be a good one.

 

Hi, I just ordered my first laptop yesterday, it's a dv4t Special Edition, I'm very excited, I hope it arrives quickly, the wait is killer... I live on the west coast so hopefully it arrives faster from China that way (if it is even made there for me..)

Does anyone know if the special edition comes with anything extra even? I saw on a lot unboxing videos on youtube that their dv4's came with some kind HP bag that the laptop could fit in.. Does that come for free in the special edition, or both? Or do you have to pay extra for that thing?

ALSO, what the heck is the "HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope" anyways? Is that just the what delivery package is? If so why is that listed in the features..

Here's what I got, it cost $673.99:

HP Pavilion dv4t Special Edition customizable Notebook PC

* • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
* • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T6400 (2.0GHz)
* • FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!
* • FREE Upgrade to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* • 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M
* • 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1280 x 800)
* • SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
* • Webcam Only with HP Imprint Finish (Intensity)
* • Wireless-G Card
* • No TV Tuner w/remote control
* • HP Color Matching Keyboard
* • FREE Upgrade to High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* • No Modem
* • Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

My estimated Build Date is June 23, 2009.. I hope it's faster than that..

I been using my Dell 4600, Pentium 4 from back in 2003 for so long.. it takes 20 minutes to just start up the computer and get into firefox.. I can't wait to switch computers finally..

 

well to start off as for the extras i too have seen several unboxing videos in which the Special edition has come with a bag of some sort.. i believe this is free and no it does not come in the regular editions..i have a regular DV4t Expresso black and u will love this little machine my dear friend..

Your ETA build day is june 23.. it usually takes 2 days for the order to be processed and then dropped to the factor, then within the next 3 days your order is produced,packaged and shipped. it usually takes HP 5 days to process and produce your DV4 S.e. they usually ship on the 6th day and the notebook usually arrives 1 day after the build date.. in my case i ordered june 1st and my order finished processing and was dropped to the factory on june 3rd. on june 6th my order shipped from kashan china and traveled to shanghi china..it then traveled to alaska and then to New york. all in a process of 3 days. this early ship and arrival has not only happened in my case but in several others who also ordered DV4s on this forum with mostly All of their orders arriving the day after the ETA build date.. your notebook will most liekly arrive much sooner than u think.. look forward to an ETA of June 24th when a DV4 S.E will be arriving at your door

 

Thanks for the reply

Sweet then, my status says Dropped to Factory already, and it's only been 1 day. I hope that means mine will come early too! I can't wait.. Also I hope ur right, I want that free bag lol

 

Bag might end up being pretty useless. You can get great deals on bags either from Targus (clearance) or ebay. I snagged a brand new Targus Velos for 12.99 off ebay.

 

Yeah, I really like how this looks, it matches the design of my HTC Touch Pro (Sprint CDMA) Same chrome accents and everything. And yes that was what made me choose expresso.

BTW guys, the LED backlighting is amazing. I have a 42 plasma next to my 22 inch samsung 226bw. In terms of brightness and intensity of white, its almost as good as the Plasma reproduction. At like 100000000 less BTUs of heat to boot

 

Just checked my delivery status. My computer is expected to be here on the 18th, which is a day after HP's expected build date. I can't wait.

 

liek i posted before idk why hp doesnt move their garranteed arrival date..they post that its Espected to be build 10 days after ordering when in all reality they are built 5 days later and arrive the day after build...im assuming they have this 10 day build poilcy incase orders ramp up and they are overbook such as the hoildays when they have many more orders than they normally see.

 

DV4T-1400 CTO users. Can someone confirm that these new laptops use a new LED LCD display? Everest reports

Monitor ID: SEC4F42
Manufacturer: 141AT06-G01
Manufacture Date: 2008
Serial Number: None

If you have an infinity display or CCFL I would be interested to see what you have as well.

Thanks guys

UPDATE:
Nvidia Control Panel list this monitor under : Display - Set up multiple displays : As a Seiko Laptop Display

UPDATE 2:
SEC stands for Samsung Seiko Epson Corp

 

yay some progress, 2nd day and it's already in production.. I hope this means I can get it as early as Monday.. FedEx doesn't deliver on any weekend days right?

 

They will deliver on Sat (Usually if the have the unit and someone in your area and no other deliveries in your area the next business day, they will go ahead and put it on the carrier). Also the estimated time of arrival is most likely the day you will get it.

If its no where near you say on a Saturday. For example Oakland, CA. I received the laptop on Monday. However it was reported it would be delivered on Tuesday before 4.30pm.

FedEX tracking until it gets to Mainland USA really sucks. It seems like you laptop is sitting in Shanghai or Khunsun, but its really on a plane on its way to Alaska. Took 6 days from shipping date from China to get mine. 2 of those days were weekend.

 

For any gamers out there, I can report that the following games can be run at these settings and FPS.

Geforce G105M / no overclock (are you crazy?)
NO AA
NO AF
Trilinear Filtering with Triple Buffering enabled
Windows 7 64bit RC 7100

Counter Strike 1.6 60 FPS 1280x800 V-Sync everything maxed (i don't bother with AA or AF)

Counter Strike Source 60 FPS 1280x800 V-sync enabled everything maxed

Team Fortress 30 FPS 1280x800 everything set to low (apparently this is a very shader heavy game)

Left 4 Dead 30-45 FPS 960x600 everything set to low (at the end of the Dead Air campaign the fps dropped to 15s however it still was playable (aka the horde didnt kill me)

Call of Duty 4 without tweaks it ran at about 60 fps but it stuttered like hell.
On my gaming pc this game stuttered like hell until i did the following

add +fullproc to the COD MP shortcut (this enables multiprocessor support on the quake 4 engine)

Enable DUAL VIDEO CARDS (yes i have no idea why did removes the stuttering)

open the console ingame with ~ and type in pb_sleep 500 (my stuttering might be due also to PB not really being vista or windows 7 or 64 bit compatible) this reduces the number of times punkbuster polls your hardware (doesn't stop cheaters anyways, look at any punkbuster game, i wish developers would stop doing this)

COD4 45-60 FPS 960x600 All special effects like shadows etc off. Texture resolutions set to normal, model quality set to normal (if you set it to low, the game still renders characters within 20 feet in normal, however the sudden calculations that the game must do inorder to add that geometry has a more detrimental effect to the game then allowing the game to run with just normal models)

Halo (this game runs terriblying IMO on Vista and Windows 7. on my home gaming pc I went from 300fps to 100 just switching OS) 60fps (alot of stuttering) 1280x800 everything maxxed

I am now installing Assassin's Creed and Race Driver GRID ill report back later.

 

Can I ask which specific model of dv4t you have, and roughly when it was purchased? I have a dv4t-1000 with nvidia graphics purchased in Nov 08, and I'm one of the people who is not happy with the fan noise. I've tried both BIOS settings, and either way it is the loudest laptop I have ever used. I wouldn't call it "extremely annoying", it's not something I would return/replace the machine over, but I do find it disappointing and annoying at times. Based on my experience, I would not recommend the dv4t for anyone who cares about noise. Except for the fan noise, I do think it's a well designed machine.

Has anyone been able to compare the older vs newer dv4t models to see if the noise levels are different?

 

Thats cool, I didn't know they deliver on saturdays. Doubt it will come that early for me, but still can hope.

That stuttering stuff on Halo is pretty lame.. I hope mine plays smooth, that's like the only game i play..

 

Well im gonna try HALOCE later today. I might just do a tinyxp install of WINXP just to play some Halo. Ill update you.

 

i have the HP Dv4t - 1400 CTO series... i ordered it on june 1st- 2009
i read the post on the fan noise and i couldnt help but wonder what was the fuss about..the fan runs Extremely quiet.. and it only runs loud at boot up for like 3 secs then lowers down..the setting is set to the fan always on option and its as slient as....idk.. but it really is dead slient..im in my room now with everything off and the window open..everyones asleep and i dont hear the fan at all.. nor anything else except my fingers typing on the keys..if u liek ill even make a video showing you how quiet the fan on my dv4t runs...when running games the fan does speed up but it still is rather low..not loud nor annoying at all...

also this model had the play,pause,stop and skip touch keys removed although the wifi,mute and volume rocker remained

 

^^that video would actually be awesome because this is a major issue to me. Also, how is the heat?

 

It's not that loud for me, but then again, only when im playing games. However, its only loud if I turn off my desktop, otherwise my desktop is louder (it has about 6 120cfm fans at 32db running).

It's not as loud as my xbox 360.

It's not as loud as my videocard running at 77% fan speed.

And usually whatever im playing i usually have the laptop at full volume and you wont hear the fan either.

Now if you are trying to sneak in some gaming during class and the fan might give you away, don't worry about it. some people with p4 in their laptop will sound like a jet engine compared to the dv4t.

 

Hi, I have one more question. I ordered my Laptop two days ago and was wondering if I'll be eligible for that free HP upgrade to windows 7 when it comes out? I heard somewhere that it's for people who buy a laptop from june 26, 2009 to jan 1, 2010? Is that really true?? That's such crap if true since it's just like a week away from June 26..

Can anyone who bought recently a laptop tell me if they got anything in their box saying if they're eligible for it?

 

Hmm I never heard of this free W7 free upgrade. I also ordered 2 days ago on June 14th...

 

Info for Windows 7 Upgrade Program. Begins 26 June.

http://www.neowin.net/news/software/09/06/12/windows-7-upgrade-coupon-program-details-revealed
http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/mda/windows7/index.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Also…. If it hasn’t already been mentioned…. There’s a new BIOS for the DV4t series.

BIOS F.42
Adds support for Microsoft Windows Vista Operating Systems with Service Pack 2(SP2).
Adds support for future Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.
(Windows 7 ; )
Updates the Intel Memory Reference Code to version 2.7.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=2093&product=3745839

Just loaded F.42 a couple of hours ago. So far...so good !

 

what is up with that crap?? Why would they announce this program and have it start at a later date and not immediately after announcing it.. That's really lame.. I really looked forward to getting free Windows 7.. dam

 

Call HP on this tomorrow!! I think for us who ordered 2 days ago should get rights to this free upgrade also.

 

I have to say that if I were in you guys shoes, I too would be a bit ticked. That said, I think (as the article says) Hp and others didn't want people to stop buying while waiting for 26 June. Crap.... but I see their point.

At-any-rate.... when you get your new notebook call and ask for the upgrade. If they refuse just send it back and try again. The only difficulty there would be if you got a great coupon deal and will loose it. Best of luck.... and be nice on the phone and I'd guess they'll fix you guys up.

Hope so anyway..... it's only fair.

 

Well... with June 23rd as the day it ships I won't get my notebook until after June 26th, that might help with our cause in saying we qualify for the free upgrade since we didn't get our notebooks in-hand until after the 26th. Hopefully that might work.

 

I dont have a scanner but HP included this with my notebook :

WINDOwS 7 UPGRADE OPTION PROGRAM

In conjunction with M$, HP is offering the "W7UOP" to help ensure that YOU have access to the latest in computing technology.

This upgrade program is available to HP and Compaq desktop and notebook PC customers who purchase eligible Windows Vista PCs. For eligibility and program details, see the HP Web site at http://www.hp.com/go/windows7upgrade.

The upgrade program may not be available in all countries or regions. Price, terms and conditions may vary. Shipping and handling costs and other fees may applynd may vary by country or region. This is a limited time offer. Proof of purchase is required. This information is subject to change without notice.



Take that as you will. But it sucks that they would inform you of the upgrade by including it with the materials they give you!

 

My computer just came today. A day earlier than was expected based off FedEx. Today was the build date that HP quoted me. I'm really pleased with the shipping. It took 8 business days to make and get to me, which isn't bad at all. I'll be opening it later. It's driving me nuts. I'm babysitting right now, and I'm not opening it in front of/near my niece. She'll see a new shiny toy and go crazy. She's jumped on this laptop that I'm using now (lucky for me it's my sister's ). Anyways, if anyone is interested, I can take pictures and post them later. It's moonlight white.

 

Ya should! I was gonna get moonlight white, but the sales rep (funny lady) was like your not a gayfish right? (well she said white is for girls get the black one). I'm glad I did tho, it looks real nice with my phone tethered (phone as modem) to it.

I'm going to try and see if the chrome panels can be removed and repainted. I'd like them to be red like my guitar and mouse and stuff. Okay maybe im a lil-bit gayfish lol.