HP dv6700t & dv9700t

Hi folks,

I have few questions on the above 2 HP Laptops.

Q1: On HP Laptops (for example dv6700t) does anyone knwo What is the BRAND name of the DVD Burner Reader that they use?

I plan to use this laptop Primarily for Video work (e.g. Conversions to XviD, or from WMV to XviD, or using DVD Rebuilder program, ...) basically intensive Video & Audio work ... so SPEED is important to me. So, now to the Question ...
Q2: Will a 7200 RPM Hard Drive give me a more significant performance over the 5400 RPM? And if you have to guesstimate by what percentage?

Q3: This question comes to personal preference ... from the folks that possibly have had both a 15.4" and 17" laptop ... is the Extra WEIGHT of the 17" worth it to get additional PORTS and more Port options?
Note: I will be taking this laptop back and forth from Home to Work on a "Daily Basis"!!!

Q4: Agian an opinion question ... I am not much of a gamer ... matter of fact have not played one for ages ... If I go with 15.4" dv6700t ... should I stay with the Intel Video card so I will not loose one USB port ... so my total USB would be 4 vs 3 with nVidia Graphic card?

Thanks for your help ...

G!~

 

1. its hl-dt-ata device not sure if thaat helps
2. for you i think capacity will be important also as well as size, if you get a large 5400rpm drive like 320gb it will be similar or better in perfomance to a small 7200 rpm drive.
3. the weight diff is huge and there isnt that many ports the the 9700t has that the 6700t doesnt.
4. it might be better to have that intel card for your video things and it would be better to have 3 usb and one hdmi than 4usb . beucase you never need more than 3 and usb hubs are cheap

 

1. While I own a dv6500t, I couldn't tell you if the laptop that replaced it, the dv6700t, changed to a different model DVD burner.

2. This is a tricky question, but can easily be answered based on your expected storage needs. Simply put, a 5,400RPM hard drive excels in performance when you purchase one that has several hundred gigabytes of storage potential.

There is quite a bit of technical explanation behind this, (things such as platters and aerial density), but to keep things simple, a 5,400RPM hard drive with plenty of storage capacity can, in most cases, perform as equally well, or better, than a 7,200RPM hard drive.

From an enthusiast standpoint, I prefer 5,400RPM hard drives for several reasons; lower power comsumption (longer battery life), lower heat signature, similar performance of a 7,200RPM HDD, and the relatively low cost of 5,400RPM hard drives. All these factors make a good choice when choosing your storage solution

3. In nearly all cases, the ports on a 17" laptop will be the same as the ones you get on a 15.4" model. The only difference is that a 17" notebook may offer more USB ports, and that's about it. Everything else, port wise, will be exactly the same. Personally, I avoid 17" notebooks for several reasons. They are heavy, they are bulky, and they are awkward to carry.

One important consideration with 17" notebooks is their screen resolution. I don't mind viewing my 15.4" laptop at 1280x800 resolution, but for some people, they may want a higher resolution, and that can only be done by going with a 17" laptop. Keep in mind that you can expect a 15.4" laptop resolution to top out at 1440x900 on some models, and it's important to note that on a dv6700t, its max resolution is set at1280x800.

Anyway, in my opinion, a 17" just does not justify the extra cost over a 15.4" notebook. Besides, if you are using this on a daily basis, you may want a 15.4" laptop as they are lighter and easier to carry around.

4. As far as videocard options go with the dv6700t, the X3100 Intel graphics are able to handle Aero Glass in Vista pretty well, but as you said, if you aren't much of a gamer, then there is no reason to go with discrete graphics. However, that is not to say that you wouldn't ever play a game, so if it were me, I'd spring the extra $50 and go with the 8400M GS 256MB videocard option.

Granted, by going with a discrete graphics solution, you can expect to see a small loss in battery life. However, once you configure your laptop properly, that small loss in battery life is pretty negligible.

 

why not take a look at the 8510-p ? i use mine all the time for video editing . 4 usb ports , vga, hdmi and fireware pus the port for dock station that give multiple monitor support

 

Hi Kasim, Garet, Jerry,

I really appreciate your answers ...

1) OK ... I am staying with the 5400RPM HD ... my only question now to Kasim & Garet is will the 250GB HD (5400RPM) give me the same performance as the 320GB one. HP gives me a Free upgrade on 250GB ... so I am being cheap!

2) OK, I am sold on the 15.4" laptop ... due to weioght and portability. I have to just make sure it comes with the HDMI that you guys recommended.

3) I will go with Garet's suggestion and get the 8400M GS 256MB videocard and I will go with T9300 processor to future proof myself ... since I will probably not consider buying a laptop replacement for a Long While.

4) Jerry, actually someone else on this Forum suggested going to 8510-p ... I have to look it up. I guess that is HP-Compaq model ... right!?!? I have to see how much will that cost me. I was staying with HP becuase of the "Cost" and waiting for a $500 coupon that someone said they had used.

5) Does anyone know where in the world I can find these $500 coupons?

6) Any suggestions where to get my HP or 8510 to get the "Best Cost Savings"?

Thanks a bunch as usual!

G!

 

I have a new dv9700t. I ordered a dv6700tse beforehand and kept it for just under 3 weeks and then returned it. The 15.4" worked fine and I had no complaints at all. The $500 coupon became available and I decided I wanted a bigger screen so I switched. I ended up paying less for the 17".

Overall I much prefer the dv9700t for these reasons.

The 17" screen affords 31% more screen area than the 15.4" screen (I measured both and calculated the display areas). The increase may not seem like a lot but if you spend significant time on the computer it make a big difference in eye strain and viewing ease. Watching movies is much more enjoyable on a bigger screen. It also has a full keyboard which is much easier to use.

I got the higher resolution screen and think it is great. At first, with my 50 year old eyes I didn't like everything smaller. But after I got use to it, I found the big increase in effective use area a higher resolution screen affords more than offsets the smaller text and icons. Viewing and working with mutiple windows is much easier. And when surfing the net you can easily increase the size of the text to make viewing easier. I would warn you to go out and play with a higher resolution screen before you buy. Once you have it you can't lower the native display resolution on a laptop without suffering a significant loss of sharpness and quality.

The 17" is a little bulkier and heavier by about 1.5 lbs. I take my laptop to work and back daily. I haven't found the increased weight to be a problem at all. If you were a student with a backpack the extra 1.5 lbs would probably make a difference, but if you are just carrying it to and from the car it isn't appreciable.

Personally, I also thought the display on the 17" to be sharper and clearer than on the 15.4". That is not to say the 15.4" was bad, it wasn't. I just though the 17"s to be a little better.

The 17" offers a better graphics card (512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS) which I think would be valuable for viewing and editing videos and pictures.

I also got the 7200 RPM HDs. It did seem to me that the computer performed better and faster with them. I did notice a big difference when copying videos to the hard drives especially from a flash drive. It was much faster. I use my laptop frequently on my lap and didn't notice any increase in heat. It has never gotten hot.

The only significant downside that I have found was the battery life. Compared to the bigger 12 cell battery with the 6700tse, the 17"s (high capacity 8 cell) was probably about half. This isn't a big deal for me as I am always near an outlet. If battery capacity is important and you opt for the 17" you could simply buy another battery.

 

Hey, no problem! I know what it was like to buy my first notebook. The world of portable computing is extremely competitive and at times confusing, with companies voraciously vying for customer attention. Suffice to say, you've found the best place for answers to your questions. =)

You will probably not see a huge performance increase in a 320GB HDD versus a 250GB. Regardless, if you are looking for more storage capacity past 250GB, what I reccomend you do is go with the 250GB HDD that HP gives you as a free upgrade, then purchase a Western Digital Scorpio 320GB HDD from Newegg.

This is the route that I took when I purchased my dv6500t Special Edition this past November. I would strongly urge you to NOT go with HP's 320GB HDD as it is over priced, and will most likely be made by Fujitsu (as mine was), which is a company that I feel makes questionable hard drive solutions.

The dv6700t comes with a HDMI port as long as you get the discrete graphics card, ie the 8400M GS. If you go this route, the HDMI port is located on the left side of the notebook, beside the Ethernet ports. Here's a shot of it on my dv6500t Special Edition (which is essentially the same as a dv6700t).

The T9300 is a good processor choice. As far as the decision to purchase a discrete graphics card goes, keep in mind that an HDMI port is only offered if you upgrade your graphics card to an 8400M GS (which is what I would do).

It depends on how HP is structuring their sales each month. If they need to increase sales, they will release coupons and discounts. If they don't, you will not see them. Keep an eye out for coupons by visiting these forums frequently, or by checking out the Notebook and Tech Bargains forum area.

If you want to get a good feel on what you are purchasing, check out the review that I wrote on my HP Pavilion dv6500t Special Edition by clicking this LINK.

 

Hi folks,

@ Canyon - THANKS for your extensive feedback and your comparison of dv6700t vs dv9700t. 1st hand feedback.

@ Garet - THANKS again dude! just got thru reading your Special Review on HardwareLogic.com ... great review ... FYI & Use ... it is funny when I google dv6700 reviews I don't get any hits on that website ...

Garet ... I will stay with the 250GB HD as you suggested and I will go with the nVidia 8400M card ... on Tom's Hardware I did see that WD Scorpio 320GB HD (in specific) has a great performance rating ... Tom's Hardware does not include 250GB HD's only 160GB's.

Garet, I am not sure if I will tackle upgrading to WD Scorpio 320GB ... since I just read before lunch time how difficult is to change a HD in a laptop ... you have to take off the Keyboard and be careful not to screw up wires, ribbons, static discharge, and on & on ... I am not usre 70GB increased HD space would be worth my time. Plus I plan to only house my "Software" on my laptop hard drive ... videos and video work and paintbrush and and audio stuff will go on my External 2.5" HDs. What are your thoughts on this last paragraph of mine ... does it sound like A-OK plan or you can shed some more insight.

THANKS A Bunch folks,

G!

 

HardwareLogic has not had a chance to review the HP dv6700t as of yet. Thanks very much for taking the time to read the review and comment on it here. =)

Removing and replacing a hard drive in a laptop is not difficult at all. For that matter, there is no need to remove the keyboard to gain access to the hard drive in any modern notebook. On the back of a dv6700t (specifically), you will find a panel that is removable by using a small jewelers screwdriver. Remove two screws and the panel pops off allowing complete and total access to the HDD bay. From start to finish, replacing a HDD in a modern notebook will take less than 10 minutes, if that.

The dv6500t and dv6700t notebooks are essentially the same, so the following picture of where the HDD bay is located in a dv6500t should be exactly the same for the dv6700t. The HDD bay is underneath the panel that is in the bottom right-hand corner of the following picture:

Well, technically, when you purchase any hard drive on the market today, be it a desktop 5.25" or laptop 2.5" HDD, you can expect to see some portion of that HDDs capacity to not exactly store what the manufacturer says it will. For example, my 320GB Western Digital Scorpio 2.5" HDD has a total storage capacity of 298GB... not 320GB. Same thing with a 250GB HDD. The manufacturer says it will store 250GB, but in reality, it's more like 230GB or so.

Without getting into a lot of technical jargon, understand that bits and bytes are separate animals, and this is why there is such a difference between what a manufacturer says a HDD will store, versus what your HDD can actually hold. Why am I telling you this? Well, a 250GB HDD sounds like a lot of storage. But once you realize that the total storage capacity of a 250GB is more like 230GB, you may want to rethink your storage needs, if you need a lot of storage capacity in your laptop.

Please see the " When a Byte is not a Byte" article, linked HERE for a more thorough explanation.

My thoughts on your last paragraph are that I feel that a 250GB HDD will be more than enough storage for what you plan to do with your laptop. This is provided that you understand and realize that your 250GB HDD will not actually hold 250GB of information. If you are okay with that, and do not require more storage, then the 250GB HDD that you can upgrade for free at HP's site when configuring a dv6700t is a good, solid choice in my opinion.