*HP dv4t (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

well then, im the unlucky one here how's your dv4t going so far?

 

It's going good. I loaded Call of Duty 4 and it was playing smoothly. I think it will 100% handle all the latest games but maybe not the future games that would be released. I was carrying it around and it does seem a bit heavy especially with the power cord, but manageable.

The WD HD 250gigs does get very warm on the left palm and a bit annoying but eeh, what can I do?

Fingers scan works nice.

I have High Capacity 6 cell battery and it doesn't show the time on Vista but shows a percentage and it was 2 hours and 15min and plus 25% left, i use it for browsing and transfer data only.


The speakers are ok, although more bass would be better, so I don't expect much out of it. I like the DV4t, but I can only tell from future use of it.

Edit: I was just watching a movie from nvidia in 720p format and my video card went up to 70C....

 

My system has passed the test for Crysis game.

Check your system: http://www.systemrequirementslab.com

 

hey for those who have the high capacity 6 cell can you guys comment on the battery life of just regular word processing, internet usage, and chatting

 

Code9-
Good to hear it can handle COD4. What r your specs?

 

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26 GHz)
- 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS
- HP Imprint Finish (Mesh) + Microphone + Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
- Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100AGN
- No High speed 56K modem port
- 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

I pulled the trigger and ordered the DV4T

 

3 hours doing the above.

4 hours just word processing, with wifi and bluetooth off.

 

anybody going to write or know when a official review of the dv4t is going to be up. all i've seen are mostly just thoughts and a few pictures.

 

Well, today I was given the green light from HP to replace my 2500t which was overheating and constantly freezing up, with the dv4t. I heard of problems with the nvidia cards having over heating issues and feel that was at the min. a part of it. It was a hard fight let me tell you. Hp's own technical support failure to properly handle the situation worked to get me this replacement unit. I'm glad to hear for the most part that this unit is well received. I have no idea as to when I will get it, but I have to admit that I'm getting pumped up about it. I'm sure there will be a good performance improvement even though my last unit had a 2.2 mhz t7500 with 800 mhz fsb. The unit they are replacing it with will have the 2.26. with 2 gig ram like i had before. I like the new look. I hear allot about the 250 gig hard drive running fairly hot. I'm getting the 160 gig. Anyone hearing any issue with those? Regardless, I look forward to my upgrade...

 

you should be!~dv4t's definitely better than 2500t. as for the heating you cant really call that "overheat" since none of them ever go up above the danger zone. it just felt warm. it shouldnt be hard drive itself having problems. sometimes you could see it overload with a lot of processing, n the wireless card next to it generates more heat, that's probably why if you use a temperature monitor tool it tends to come up high.

 

i received one today as well. it does get a bit hot at the left wrist and bottom.

i decided to return it and they told me that they could send me a 50 credit and a chilling pad, so keep that in mind.

i'm considering returning this and getting a sony vaio SR which is about $100 for similar specs. would you guys do that?

 

I got mine today. I spent the better part of 10 hours getting the recovery disks made, and the bloatware off. I have not had a problem with heat in all that time other then it getting slightly warm under the left palm rest area as others have pointed out. I have not run any tests on it though, and do not plan on it. Why worry about it, it will break or not, I will worry about it then.

I replaced the 2GB ram that was in it with the 4GB that I purchased from Newegg. It was very simple, both sticks are stacked up under one of the screwed on flaps on the bottom.

How do I tell which Hard Drive brand I have? I hope its the Western Digital.

 

you can either take off the cover and do a visual inspection or you can go to device manager and see the brand

 

****, its a Hitachi

 

how is the alps touchpad on the dv4t. i know that the dv5t and dv7t has a synaptics touchpad and i heard that alps is not as good. anybody have problems with their touchpad? also how many megapixels is the camera in the led screen. and also has hp updated the fingerprint reader software to work with firefox 3?

 

Touchpad is real sensitive. A few times while typing, I think I brushed it and moved the cursor. Luckily it has the little off button, so I use that because I have a bluetooth Logitech mouse hooked up. I really recommend the Logitech v470 bluetooth laser mouse by the way. It works great, is very smooth, and it has a tilt scroll wheel that can be programed for forward and backward which is nice.

I do not think the fingerprint reader works for firefox 3 yet. I kept getting a pop up that I was not on a log on screen every time I tried to program it for a certain web page. I did not try it on IE yet. I will later and see if there is a difference.

 

so there is nothing wrong with the trackpad right? meaning does it jump around randomly or become nonresponsive at times

 

"so there is nothing wrong with the trackpad right? meaning does it jump around randomly or become nonresponsive at times"


So far after one day, no problems like those you stated.

 

This is correct. Fingerprint reader does NOT work for Firefox 3 yet. Although there is a plugin but its in beta mode and not fully functional. So just need to wait.

 

Has anyone tried switching the hard drive to a different mfg? Is the free fall sensor built into the drive or the laptop itself?

 

hey does anyone know what are all the steps the order status goes through. my status right now is "Order accepted (Estimated to ship on August 26, 2008)"

 

next should be order in production,then item shipped...

 

abouit how many days after the order should i be in "order in production" and will my laptop be most likely shipped ahead of schedule?

edit: my status just changed to "dropped to factory" that means that they are going to start to build it right?

 

Dont expect it to ship more than a day or two before the estimated date.

 

It should probably move to the "order in production" status real quick and then just sit in that status for what feels like forever. Both mine and 7miles were due to be done and shipped on aug 19. He got his on the 14th and I got mine on the 15th. We both got our shipping e-mails on the same day, but his got there a day earlier then mine. I don't know where he lives, maybe that has something to do with the speed of shipping.

So, if yours follows suit, figure it gets to your house on the 22nd or 23rd.

 

Question for those who have received the machine and reinstalled Vista-

Does the Vista CD that comes with the package allow you to reinstall without all of the bloatware or are you using a standalone Vista disc? Any hiccups or problems during the reinstall process?

 

"Does the Vista CD that comes with the package"

Unless you somehow ordered the Vista CD specifically, it does not come with the computer. In fact not a single CD or DVD is shipped with the notebook. Just an envelope with some flyers and notices and things.

 

Could some of the dv4t owners please comment about the noise issue? This is the single most important issue to me and so far the only comment on it has been from theenginedriver:

"...though it's noisy as heck. gotta figure out how to not have the fans running the whole time..".

Is it true that the fan runs continuously (even under light load)? Although most people aren't disturbed by a quiet fan, I would really prefer something that is as close to silent as possible. Also, is the HD audible?

TIA

 

yeah too bad today is a sunday though so it will probably be going into production tomorrow? how come my 2 year extended warranty still says being processed

 

The fan is enabled by default to be on in the bios. I think it is quiet, in my use I havent heard it speed up or slow down... its just on.

 

wait so in windows the fan doesn't speed up when doing intensive tasks?

 

just an update for u guys who missed nb6997 coupon code which is 400 dollar off.

i called the hp and argued for over hour to get a 250 dollar credit.

i then ended up getting a 3 years accidental damange plan with price of $352 dollars and i paid 102 dollars out of my own..

I guess that is not a bad thing afterall.

there is some post from dv5t thread helped me..
quoted in here and wish it helps

remember that My laptop is already at my desk for 1 week.
for people whose laptop is still in production or before ship, u can get full 400 dollar off if u speak to a manager nicely...

 

The only way to really know this is with a fan sensor in windows thats able to graph your fan speed over a period of time. Some fans are very quiet and you may not hear it spinning faster.

 

so even when the fan is spinning at full speed you can't hear it? I just want to know if the fan spins up when it needs to

 

fan do speed up when under stress tasks
in regular browsing and wording, internet, the fan runs quietly, u can still hear it though. the sound is un-noticeable.

 

Just a FYI for you guys when i get my laptop next week fingers crossed i will do a review with pics. Also thinking i will take it apart and get pics of its insides.

 

yeah i really want to see if i can add another antenna in there so i can upgrade to the wifi link 5300

 

Dang. Guess i was confused. The HP laptop i bought last came with a systems disc that had the XP installation on it. Thought it might be the same. So I take it you guys r just using your own Vista to reinstall and get rid of bloatware?

 

ColdZero0


some laptops come with Vista/xp on them in a hidden folder all you have to do is burn it to a dvd/cd. Thou i dont know if HP does this.

 

just saw Clayton's post about using PC Decrapifier. Ill give that a try

also...It looks lie for the most part everyone's laptops have been showing up early...which makes me pretty happy

 

Hey guys, I just ordered my DV4T! The specs are below. I need help. I ordered it with the backlit LED diplay. Good move? I can't find a review on it anywhere. Does anybody know anything about them???

HP Pavilion dv4t Entertainment Notebook
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz)
- 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- FREE Upgrade to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) from 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS
- FREE Upgrade to 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- [For LED Display] Webcam Only
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100AGN
- No Integrated WWAN
- No High speed 56K modem port
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

I mean, does anybody know anything about the backlit LED display? Aside from that I feel pretty good about this machine =)

 

i think that the LED display will give out more vibrant and saturated colors. it also uses less power so a bit longer battery life

 

Hey Kevin, That is kind of what i'm thinking, but I hate to get the thing and not like it. Would you know of any reviews that I could check out? I can't wait to get this thing....

 

yeah i just ordered mine too on saturday with the LED. sorry i don't know of any official reviews but there are people in here who have the LED display. maybe some of them will reply to you soon.

 

In ref to the LED screen... I have no first hand knowledge, but did see a post about it in either this or the dv5t thread. The poster said that the color was slightly more vivid, but not much. His only negative was that the screen was slightly more flimsy then the regular brightview screen. I guess it is thinner. His recommendation was that if you needed to spend more to use the 400. coupon, it was worth it, but to save your money otherwise. Like I said though, I am just repeating what I saw somewhere else.

If it were me, I would save the money and buy 4gb of ram from newegg, and get the fingerprint reader with it.

 

Well, so long as it is better than the other Brightview Screen I guess that i'm alright. I sure would love to read a review though. So far as the money goes, I figure that I saved enough to by the 4GB of ram from Newegg by skipping the Blueray, which I would never use anyway.

 

For those that missed the 400 dollar coupon and had their laptop delivered in the last 21 days, you can call them and ask for a credit.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/terms.do

Unfortunately HP's "price resolution" department is especially sleazy when it comes to issuing credit. It sounds like they outsource it to the Philippines or Indonesia and pay them according to how little the can manage to give back to you. I was blatantly lied to repeatedly.

I was told the coupon was expired. I was then told that even though it still works online, if I actually made an order it would be turned down. When we finally established that the coupon was valid, they told me that the coupon wasn't valid on the date I originally purchased the laptops, and that their price protection policy does not cover coupons. Their is no mention of this in HP's pricing terms.

After that, they started offering credit below the price difference. For me, the price difference was around $650 dollars on two laptops, so they offered $300, then $400, then finally $500. At this point I was hung up on and had to call back and repeat the whole process.

When I finally talked them back to $500 I just took it since I was tired of arguing.

 

It's not noise.. sometimes fans turn on just cool it down, but no.. its not noise. To point out there is sometimes also some noise coming from the Hard drive, like clicks.. i think thats how its made.