*HP dv5t (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

#1 I have the X4500IG and use CS3 daily, with 2GB RAM. Works flawlessly.
Never a problem with loading large image files.

#2 My temperatures are very low. My dv5t hardly even gets warm. You
can't put it on your lap, though, unless you use a cooler. You don't
wan't to block the fan vents.

Join the dv5t family - its a GREAT laptop.

Rob

 

I played with Vista to try to get my data partition more storage to no avail. Vista doesn't give you many options on partition size. I finally purchased Acronis Disk Director Suite 10. It worked great.

 

i found the win vista partition manager a breeze.. it was basically a copy of partition magic...

check this link for a step by step guide...

 

When I press some of touch sensitive buttons (backward, play/pause, forward, stop), I got to wait around 15 seconds until they work again, so I can press them again and it will actually DO change the track...

Has anybody noticed this on his laptop, or it is just problem of mine?

 

Man u got sum guts to open up ur lappy and void the warranty, anyways gud job, cna u post the pictures, i wanna see hw it luks from the inside

 

I just received my system, I have the p8400, 170 gb hard drive (7200), upgraded video card and the infinity screen.

When I turned on the system, the fan started right up. Maybe its the 7200 hard drive and the upgraded video card.

Right now I have had the system on for about a half hour. Left of the touchpad is hot. In fact, it is so hot that placing your left hand down as you type is uncomfortable. The fan has never stopped.

On the upper left hand corner of the screen, I have what appears to be a dead pixel or visible dust underneath the screen layer.

On the bright side, I do not have the speaker grill problem. And the system is sleek and solid.

 

Thinking of buying this system - Does anyone know if the graphics system is hybrid and switchable from dedicated to integral to save battery power?

Thanks,
David

 

How is the 9200 on heat compared to the 9600? Are the temps any lower? What about the Intel? I assume that does not run nearly as hot?

Thanks.

 

Can someone recommend a 250 GB hard disk (backup) for the DV5T.

I think a 5400 RPM drive will be fine for my apps. I want high reliability and low power.

i'm thinking of ordering this drive since it's only $60 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145159

Thanks
JohnG

 

Wait, so now there is a 30% coupon?!

***..right after I buy the laptop, there is $400 off, now 30% coupon.

I already got a $100 credit for fighting with HP about the $400 off, can I get anything for the 30% coupon??

I feel like the consumer is getting raped. I feel if there is any deal like that within 30 days of the purchase, you automatically get credited.

 

Has anyone been having problems with the digitalpersona software for the fingerprint reader spontaneously shut down randomly (like very often randomly)?

 

a friend of mine had the same problem on his dv5z. he reinstalled the drivers for the finger print reader and it worked fine

 

Hybrid Graphics or HybridPower is a feature of the 9600M GT. Unfortunately in order to take advantage of this technology your chipset needs to be nVidia as well. Since the DV5Ts come with Intel chipsets, you're out of luck there. It would be sick if they offered this in the future for the DV5T though.

 

Making my purchase today and am weighing my options.

2.4 or 2.53
If I get 2.4 I would consider getting the screen upgrade, not the infinity.

I have been asking this question alot as well, my gf just got a dv5 and got three years of antivirus, dont give me a speil about norton sucking but can't i just enter her activation code into my computer as one of her three computers protected? Will norton come preloaded even if i don't purchase it from hp? IM SURE IT WILL WITH ALL THAT OTHER CRAP.

By the way, somebody should make a guide for the people who don't know or want to clean install what they can remove from there computers.

THANKS GUYS. Can't wait to order.

 

So, other than being able to cook on your laptop keyboard and semi-defective screen, you're happy with the laptop? .

Sorry, couldn't resist. :laugh:. Good luck with the new lappy
JohnG

 

What are you going to be doing with your laptop?

I would save a lot of coin and just go with the 2.26. Wont be much of a diff between that and the 2.4. 2.53 will run hotter.

 

i have Norton AV on my older machine, and i just entered my old # from that to register it on my dv5t, no problems.

isn't anyone using a usb-powered external drive with their dv5? any problems with power? what model drive?

 

Btw i just read tht Dell is Coming out with new XPS 13 and 16 range which will offer Hybrid Sli LED screen, WiMax and all sorts of new upgrades, they official rls date is supposed to be sumtime November.

 

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz)
15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1680 x 1050)
2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Webcam Only
HP Color Matching Keyboard
Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100AGN and Bluetooth(TM)
No Modem
Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
No TV Tuner w/remote control
High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Microsoft(R) Office Home and Student 2007

Total Cost: $1,170.13 inc. tax

 

Does any one else find that the 250gb hitachi hd is kinda loud? Honestly, it sounds like im making popcorn here.

 

I have a DV-7 1090 myself and a Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 with
this problem. I did some debugging today on directions of an HP tech guy. I
found out that the problem is caused by the Quick Launch Buttons program,
QlbCtrl.exe. If you disable this program, the error is gone. Don't know by
the way what functionality I lost by disabling, but the annoying message is
gone though!

Here's what you should do:
Click on the Vista logo on the bottom left of your screen
In the search field, enter: msconfig
Press enter to start the program
Click continue if you get the popup of User Account Management
Choose the startup tab in the System Configuration Window
Browse to the "HP Quick Launch Buttons" and uncheck this item
Click the OK button and restart your system

The annoying message should be gone now!

Please post if this has solved your problem too!

 

I have the same problem. I updated my drivers to fix the wireless button that wouldn't work, and now the volume doesn't change color. The button works, but no orange. Must be a driver issue. Anyone else have this problem after the update? I'm sure we could contact HP and they could fix this in a new driver release.

 

Yes, you do need to sit back and laugh at this sometimes. I have had many laptops and sent some back for defects. I get a kick when people call their laptop "my baby" or something similar. unfortunately, out of thousands of laptops, some have defects. It's why you always purchase from the manufacturer with a return policy.

With that said, on this machine it is clear from my own experience and other posts that a lot of heat can be expected (especially with the 512 video card and the 7200 HD). you can mitigate this somewhat, but it still will be present.

 

Its not too bad, but Vista seems to access the drive a lot, even though I'm not doing anything in terms of my own programs (browser, dvd player etc)

 

How much RAM does the laptop have? Which version of Vista?

regards
JohnG

 

Everyone says the thrashing is supposed to stop after a while, but mine
is still being accessed constantly, even after three weeks of use.

Rob

 

2 GB RAM, Vista Home 32bit SP1

I'm pretty much just sitting looking at the wallpaper...I have not done a clean install yet, though I can confirm that 800 MB ram is being used...again, doing nothing


On a side node, I'm returning this one for a identical spec'd machine but with 1600x1050

 

The trashing may be due to Vista using the HD as a swap file location. This will happen if there isn't enough RAM.

Perhaps you should also consider upgrading to 3GB of RAM.

regards
JohnG

 

Hmm...well, if I'm using 800 MB, there should 1.2 GB free, so in theory, swapping(and thus thrashing) should be minimal...how would I move to 3GB? A 2GB and 1 GB stick?

I have 2 GB on my T60p, and I'm constantly running Lotus Notes and Eclipse IDE and still having enough free ram....this is on XP though

 

I have the 64 bit vista with 4 gb of ram and i am still getting allot of noise. Yeah it might be just vista going through some files and updating. Im downloading all the updates so after im down i hope it stops. Annoying as hell though, im gonna have to complain to hp about this.

Has anyone else ran hd tune performence check on this hd? i cant get a good reading because of the constant hd activity and im comming up with some not so hot numbers. I havnt clean installed my system but i did remove all the hp bloat.

 

Honestly, the fan noise overwhelms everything else...

 

Reading some posts in recent pages, the 160GB HD is more quiet than the 250 GB HD?

Even though both are the same price but I would prefer the silence than the extra 90 GB. I always have another backup HD.

 

i would be happy if the fan did cover up this popcorn sound.

i saw no complaints about the 160 Toshiba, but its my personal opinion that this 250 is kinda loud (louder then the fan) and yes for some reason it hasnt stopped going through files even when its just sitting there. honestly its 2008 i shouldn't heard this hd.

 

ive had the dv5t for a few weeks and its awesome.

i reinstalled vista and tweaked startup and services and undervolted it. the p8400 now idles at 30 and loads at 60ish. as apposed to 40 idle and almost 80 load. the 9600gt idles at 50 and loads at 80 with the back lifted up. that seems a bit warmer than i prefer but its better than the 100 that ive hit on a flat surface. im probably gonna get a cooler and 4 gigs of ram soon.

one thing i noticed is that the power brick makes a high pitched wine if i put my ear close to it. im assuming thats normal since most transformers make some kind of noise.

also does anyone know how much force it takes to engage the hard drives protectsmart thing? is there a way for it to show when it engages?

and i wish they put a latch on the lid. whats the deal with all the manufacturers and not putting them on laptops anymore?

also what kind of battery life are you guys getting? with the p8400 and 9600gt on the standard battery i get about 2.5 hours with all the aero stuff turned off with brightness to 35% and the maximum cpu load setting at 50%

is there a disassembly guide? i wanna put some arctic silver on the cpu and gpu to help drop the temps a few degrees.

 

I have a question , preparing for a return, since I started using it some, especially the browser, should I "reimage" off the recover drive before I return it to clear out any personal data?

 

Im an accounting major so no graphics. I don't really play any games but will mainly use this as an internet, music machine, and office stuff. I do like to multitask so i'm for sure getting 4 gigs of memory.

2.4 is probably good enough? the main reason is im tired of my dell and its 1 gig of memory and 1.8 processor. I want a more seamless every day computer that can handle a few tabs of firefox, itunes, and maybe a music tagging program. Pretty basic stuff but I want a nice rig. heres what I was looking at.

* – Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
* – Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz)
* – 15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
* – 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* – Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X4500
* – 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* – Webcam Only
* – HP Color Matching Keyboard
* – FREE Upgrade to Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100AGN from 802.11b/g WLAN
* – No Modem
* – SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
* – No TV Tuner w/remote control
* – High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* – $100 OFF Microsoft(R) Office Home and Student 2007!!
* – HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

comes out to be 1062$.

same stuff but just a 2.4 processor is 987$.

 

You can only use one output, since that's all the video card supports. If you want to use more than one external monitor, you'll have to invest in a Matrox DualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/

Your fan is always at high speed?

It will benefit from the notebook cooler no doubt; there are plenty of perforations where air can enter on the bottom of the dv5t.

They can't. It doesn't matter anyway . . . the Core 2 Duo is insensitive to memory speed/timings:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=472

It's smaller, but you can always increase the DPI.

What size and resolution screen are you using now?

IMO it's not worth the hassle. I didn't notice mine until someone pointed it out. It doesn't matter except for looks.

Yes, picture would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to see the internals of this system.

Well, there's no 'best' driver. I suggest 177.72 (177.73 for 64-bit) from www.laptopvideo2go.com. Use the Driver Update guide to get you through the install.

Hi David - it's not switchable unfortunately. There are rumors that HP will come out with a larger 12-cell battery.

What antivirus do you use? I noticed with a review system I have, that Norton causes a lot of that. McAfee will too.

 

Power Supply "plug" (round) that goes into the right side of the dv5t:

I am surprised that no one has mentioned how silly that round power supply plug is going into the laptop. It is "straight" and not a "right angle" plug, and it is HUGE! It is like 2 1/2" to 3" !!!

It is a waste of space and is unsightly. In my opinion, that plug has to be a right angle plug.

May I ask if anyone has found a right angle "adapter"? that would be the least costly solution.

One alternative would be a separate power "brick" transformer that is multi-plug compatible and those come with all right angle adapters, but they are around $50, way way too much for merely needing a right angle adapter, IF we can find one!

I hope someone here thinks along the same lines as I do on this one!

 

Got my dv5t yesterday and fully enjoying it. I did notice the speaker grill not being exactly aligned as others have noticed as well. Personally I have no problem with this and don't think it's worth the hassle of returning. I probably wouldn't have noticed it had I not read it on the boards.

I believe I'm not experienced enough to do a clean install but if there are any other threads you fellow dv5t owners could point me to, to help me get the best out of my dv5t I'd appreciate it.

Also, I'm having issues getting FingerFox to work with my fingerprint reader...is there a particular forum I should ask for help on this issue?

Thanks!

 

On my very conservative dv5t, the fan spools up for about 10 seconds
while booting, and then throttles down to a very low level. If you aren't
loading up your system, you shouldn't really hear the fan at all.

Rob

 

Hey everyone, i just got off the phone with hp saying that the grill wasent lined up. They kept telling me to send it in for repair. I was like no i wont do that, i want compensation lol. The guy was a total retard, and was telling me the reason why the notebook ran warm was cause the hdd is broken LOL.

Any ideas on how to get that 80+$? Lol

 

Man dont be a cheap-o. If it really bothers you send it in for repair as they are willing to fix it for you. If it doesnt bother you that much than keep it as is. But dont try to scam a company to get $80.

 

how about calling them and trying to get the school discount? worth a try I'm thinking.

 

How many channels does the dv5t's sound card support? can i transmit 5.1 channel audio through its HDMI port?

 

Sorry man but us poor college students can use 80$ lol.

 

jeez, I just spent 1062 but i got a nice rig.

2.53
4 gigs of memory
320 gig harddrive
and office

Tax is such a killer or I would have had it under a k.

 

I agree, this is happening to me as well and because of my minor OCD about these things, I've reformatted at least 10 times already trying to resolve this issue. I called HP support and they said it was a hardware issue, which I doubt because for a period of time after the reformats, they light works, switching between white and orange.

Also, there is one slight thing that is bothering me, the casing on the side of the laptop is coming off ever so slightly due to what i believe is the excssive heat that the upper left side of the laptop is generating.

 

so is the microphone an option still? because when i go to "help me decide"... it shows microphone on there.

it says:
The Digital Dual Array Microphones enable clear and crisp VOIP and video conferencing conversations.