*HP dv6t & dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) Owners Lounge*

You think YOU are frustrated?? My first DV6 was ordered april 19 and came May 13th. It was defective. I got an RMA and reordered with the HD screen. Got it a few days ago. ALSO defective--switchable graphics refused to switch to the Radeon under ANY circumstances. Techs and I spent more than 13 hours between the two laptops. I returned both for refund two days ago. here it is June 4th and I have no fast laptop to run the s/w I've purchased, that won't run on my older PCs/laptops. And there is no end in sight for the problems with HP's graphics. I've researched other brands but not too fond of their specs/design/prices. I'm stuck!!

 

Arturius:

As to the price of your laptop, if you call them up and tell them that you just missed the cutoff and all that, they may be able to work out a deal for you with the same level of coupon, that's what they managed to do for me, but I'm sure it will be dependent on who you talk to and how helpful they are willing to be.

The graphics will be the new way, it appears that's how all the new laptops are set up.

With the screen, running an LCD in something other than its native resolution can cause it to look worse, however running it in its native resolution but selecting to increase the DPI will not, since that setting is part of the OS it actually increases the DPI of the objects and text so it doesnt reduce the quality to do it.

 

You can stay with HP and wait till they resolve it. And pray that they won't suddenly drop software support as soon a new generation of this series comes out which they do often in the consumer line.

I know furmark doesn't work with Nvidia's Opt. directly in our base version, but adding it to our high performances work. But they added furmark recently in our app profile updates.

 

Man, that really blows. Did you order a third one or are you going to wait for something else to come along. What is S/W? Also, was the return process a hassle or did they take care of the return with out many problems? When you reordered the second time, did you pay more for the HD screen, or did they let you reorder for the price you paid at?

 

S/W is short for software.

 

Which number did you call? The customer service or the returns and exchanges?

 

Glad it worked out for you man

 

I feel like an idiot, I though he was referring to a specific program that had a shorthand of s/w

 

The returns one. I explained the situation nicely, made them aware I wanted to stay with HP and exchange for a new one but that I wanted the higher res screen and all that. The person I talked with handled both the RMA and the re-order.

 

Thanks man, Ill try it right now. I'm going to try to remain really calm, we'll see how this goes over.

 

return process is very simple. call up HP and they send u an email. open the email, click the link to the fedex label and print it. slap it on the box, and ship it off to HP. u will get credit on CC in 3-5 business days (supposedly). Mine just went back, so no refund has shown up for me yet.

I got a larger HDD, more GPU memory, HD screen, and a free blu ray drive--all for about $85 more than the first laptop!! I had used coupon codes I found on line for both orders, but the second order had a better coupon so that the price difference was small. Out the door with tax, plus Adobe PS Elements9, I paid $1325. the first one was $1239.

 

Hello !

Can anyone please tell me what the current version of the DV7-tqe CTO is ? Is it the 6000 series or the 6100 series ? I'm curious if there's a refresh coming soon, and does it pay to wait ?

I keep hoping HP will add the Backlit Keyboard (at least as an option) on the CTO model. It seems if I want a 17.3" Screen with a Backlit Keyboard, I have to move up to an ENVY, which is substantially more $$$.

Any insight is much appreciated. Thanks !

 

I expect a refresh, somewhere in the area of Oct-Dec this year.
They usually refresh every 6 months and a minor refresh if they come late.

The ones coming out of the production line now, are 6100. Basically, a 6000 with a slight modification in hardware.

 

If you don't mind I like to pick your brain a little more lol. Do I have to download new versions of BIOS and drivers to get the max performance out of it. I googled it and most people are saying if isn't broke don't fix it. The previous Dv7t QE I had before I retuned it for this one seemed to load up faster when I turned it on. I had the same hard drive on both, 640 gb @ 7200 rpm. This one seems to be taking a little more time to get to my desktop when I turn it on.

 

I guess that means Backlit Keyboards are unlikely for now. I appreciate the input.

 

Its usually a good idea to upgrade the BIOS, and there is less risk in it now than there used to be. Not gonna lie though, there is still slight risk in it. However, new bios files tend to offer more capability, better cooling, etc. From what I understand of the newest one for us, it adds the capability to turn on Virtualization Technology (which is a functionality of our processors). If you do any sort of VM (Microsoft Virtual PC, VMWare, even Windows XP Mode) it can assist with that functionality. But if it doesnt seem to be functionality you care about, you can choose to skip this update for now, maybe a later one will have something you care to update for.

 

I would have to agree with this statement. The LGA2011 socket (Successor to the LGA1366 socket) for the desktop is coming out in Q4. I would imagine there will be a new mobile processor based off that line.

 

Another question regarding the video issues: Has anyone found a way to disable the HD 3000 entirely? I may be mobile but I am always near an outlet, so battery is a non-issue for me. I just want my computer to work well with the software I use (which was the entire point of getting it).

Additionally, has anyone with the new switchable graphics tried out Adobe CS4 or CS5? Premier, Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flash? This is the most important thing to me, so input is appreciated. Thank you!

 

goto device manager -> display adaptor-> disable mobile intel hd graphics
that will probably do.

EDIT: Sorry. I just tried. It doesn't work. Some how it doesn't show right resolution when used only with Radeon GPU.

 

Supervisor Peter Garcia called me from HP today, regarding the incorrect color (steel gray) laptops being sent to me rather than the umber (as was to everyone else).

Long story short I ended up keeping one of the steel grays and sent the other back for an exchange for the proper umber color that should have been sent to begin with.

He gave me 15% off ($157) each laptop for the inconvenience (note that this is in addition to the 30% off ($450) coupons I used on each).

As soon as my steel gray is scanned by FedEx Monday, Peter said that he has a note in the system to "priority build" my umber dv7t quad and is shipping it 2nd day air.

I thought about keeping both steel grays and asking for a deeper discount, but damn I liked that umber color.

As we can see by HP's website they now give you an OPTION when customizing the dv7t quad on whether you want umber or steel gray, so this was obviously a system screw up on their part.

SO, for everyone else - I would call up and get a supervisor and ask for money because the color you got was not what SHOULD have been sent (even if you like the steel gray color). Any bit of $$$ helps!

 

An extra 15%, making me wish I woulda just got the dv7, better screen and super cheap. That is a huge discount.

 

I know your original post was a few days ago. But I just bought the Netgear Push2TV adapter this afternoon and have been playing with it. $99 at Best Buy, I'm assuming you may find it cheaper online. I really like it so far. Gotta mess around with the resolution settings though because the 1920 x 1080 doesn't quite work well with my TV. I'm assuming because it's a 6 year old 1080i TV. The text is small and difficult to read. But I can leave it at 1920 x 1080 if I want to watch movies or YouTube. Since that's really all I'm going to do with it, I don't intend on changing the resolution every time I use it. I get roughly a one second lag with it, but that's okay because I'm not using it for gaming. The sound lags equally so it matches up with the picture perfectly. Now it's time to go watch a Blu Ray!

 

Thanks for the effort Coastal. If I get silver, likely I will keep it, although I am partial to the umber as well. I did notice on my previous one how much the umber was a fingerprint magnet. +rep

 

Nice one! I probably won't be all that bothered with the grey, but I will try to gun for a discount as well. From your last few posts in this thread, it certainly sounds like you've earned it! You also made it clear to the rest of us that this was definitely a mistake from HP, and they had no idea what was going on.

 

Well you can disregard my last post. WiDi officially sucks. Apparently you can't use the wireless display to watch a BluRay movie. Looks like I'll be returning the Push2TV adapter tomorrow as it's now worthless.

EDIT: Correction. Apparently you CAN do it, however it requires updated drivers for Intel WiDi SW version 2.1 or higher and Intel® HD Graphics driver version 15.22 or later. I was able to download and install the 2.1 software from Intel but the 15.22 driver apparently hasn't been pushed out by HP yet. The download directly from Intel will not install. So I guess it's a matter of just waiting for HP to release the driver.

 

Hi I am new to the website and was hoping I am in the right section. I have a dv7tqe series with:
Color dark umber edit
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1 edit
Processor 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz edit
Graphics card 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA] edit
Memory FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive FREE Upgrade to 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Office software No Additional Office Software edit
Security software No additional security software edit
Primary battery 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++ edit
Display 17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900) edit
Primary optical drive FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner edit
Personalization HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader edit
Networking Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support edit
Keyboard Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad

Not sure if those help or not in determining if this is the right section or not. My question is in regards to a cooling pad. What have you used for a laptop like this? It is coming in next week and I would like to get one ordered so I can start using it for some gaming ASAP. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

OMG. that bites. the ole DRM nonsense, huh? I tried using a VGA connector for a BD movie and sure enough it wouldn't work, so I hooked up the HDMI cable and got it working. funny thing is the 23" monitor I had the DV6 hooked up to is inferior for BD watching, to the HD screen of the DV6. that sucker is nice! I wasn't sure I'd like the matte screen, but my concerns melted away after using it for a short while (and I don't warm up to new things too easily. LOL!)

 

I have a couple of the Antecs (got one from Amazon and one from Circuit City). Both failed, but I'm pretty handy doing repairs, so I took each one apart and fixed the broken wiring. Other than that (and they have worked well for way more than a year since the repairs) they are reasonably quiet on LOW and keep a laptop cool when set to HIGH.

 

Yeah apparently CyberLink DVD won't let it play when I'm using the wireless adapter. It doesn't matter if I have the screen on the laptop off, if I have it set up for dual screen, or if I'm set on projector only. I'm going to email the Cyberlink folks and ask them.

Oh, and I thought...well maybe I'll watch something on Hulu then. Ha now I realize that their selection is limited unless you pay to join. Geesh.

 

The reason it won't play cause your drivers and your WiDi are out of date. You need at least driver version 15.22 and 2.1 in order to play HDCP content. Which are not available yet or work correctly on your model.
The FHD streaming require a 2nd generation receiver such ash the PTV2000.

It's not CL or Intel or Netgear fault. It's HP's fault.

I use WiDi often and I'm able to play bluray 1080p directly just fine.

Also, VGA doesn't carry the HDCP encryption that's why that also doesn't work. Only DVI-Digital and HDMI marked with HDCP support.

 

Yeah, I just found out about that on Intel's website. Turns out the dv6t still comes running 2.0.30.0. I'm downloading the new drivers now. Would it be too hard for HP to update the drivers for us when they build the laptop? Or heck, even if HP setup assistant downloaded it all for me on initial startup. (Edit: Well I see what you mean about 15.22 not being available right now. Way to go HP.)

Here's the link to the Intel page that says what you need to WiDi blu ray in case anyone else needs it.

How to WiDi Blu Ray

 

I wonder if mine comes in silver instead of umber, if I'll be able to convince them to let me use the discounts on an ENVY 17 instead.

 

I'm using a Targus chill mat. It fits a dv6t pretty well. They make a bigger one that should fit the dv7t. I'd recommend going to someplace like Best Buy and checking out the selection in person so you can get a feel for size and build quality of some of the different cooling pads out there.

 

I have a Notepal U2. Just fits the width of the feet for the dv7tqe. Would also fit the dv6t.

I like it because of how it can store in the pocket with the laptop itself. Comes with an elastic band to hold it to the laptop.

Amazon.com: Cooler Master Notepal U2 Notebook Cooler with Two Fans R9-NBC-8PBK-GP: Electronics

Fans are positional so you can put them where the hotspots are in the laptop directly under vents.

The 3 fan version is extremely large and the 1 fan version is too small. I've owned 2 of the Notepal U2 now (one for my previous laptop and one for this one), they work well.

 

Now this is something I might be able to help you with. I tried to get something out of receiving the silver instead of the umber. To be honest with you I like the silver better but why not try. I called the HP customer services and like always they were not helpful at all. In fact at one time a rep name Alison hung up on me. Now this is what really pissed me off. No matter what a customer service rep should never do this! I hate the fact that all of hp customer service is outsourced. I decide I would try to email someone locally (In the US). I found this webpage, email the CEO of HP. The link is below. I filled it out and sent it away. To my surprise I received a call within a hour from HP and a person from the US. It was alot better talking to someone that could understand what I'm saying and agree that there is no excuse for marketing a product incorrectly. She gave a 2 year accidentally damage protection, which is not included in our original 2 year warranty for the mistake HP made. I was very pleased with this and said that will be fine! If anything happens to my laptop now, falls on the ground, spill something on it, screen cracks, etc I'm covered! If you don't get anywhere with the horrible customer services dept. contact them.....you might get what you want!





HP Executive Team: CEO email

 

I have the 3-fan version because I had an Alienware M17x for a couple weeks and this was the best sub-$50 cooler for laptops that large.

Yes, it's big. But it provides some good cooling and the dv6 fits rather nicely on it.

 

Hello Guys,
I had a few question regarding my dv7t qe laptop purchase...
1) I have ordered for the HP dv7t qe laptop with the Full HD screen, 1gb 6770m gddr5 gpu, 9 cell battery,etc.... I was really tempted to go for the dv7 instead of the dv6 because of the extended 2-year warranty on the dv7( I didnt really trust HPs reliability), the subwoofers and apparently better screen, considering the fact that I don't really need mobility and portability.
So, my question is whether the 6770m on it is good enough to run newer games on that FHD screen.. I believe NO... So do I have to lower the resolution while gaming? And will lowering the resolution worsen the gaming experience? I mean will the lower resolution occupy lesser screen space and if yes, will that look bad?

2) Is it worth to go for the bigger variant(dv7) just because of the 2 year warranty and subwoofers? I mean, will the extended warranty be helpful in the longer run? And will the subwoofers make a significant difference in the audio quality produced by the laptop( bass, volume)? Or should I have gone for the dv6 instead???

3) Does anyone know if there is a backlit keyboard available for the dv6t/dv7t? It doesn't atleast show up on the configurations personalizing page on the HP website... So is it gonna come up soon? I read in a few other forums that there was a choice for a $25 upgrade to the backlit keyboard back in March.. So how true is that??

4) How are the temperatures going on the new HP dv series? And will the dv7t possibly run cooler than the dv6t owing to its larger size and lesser compactness?

5) What version of bluetooth is offered on the new dv series laptops... the standard 2.1+EDR or the newer 3.0?

6) Also, will the oversized 9 cell battery help in good ventalation on the bottom of the laptop resulting in better cooling solutions?

I would really appreciate it if someone could give precise explanatory answers to my questions... Its my first independent computer purchase !!!

Thanks,
Ayman

One more question... Can I install an additional ssd alongside the default hdd in my dv7t qe? I plan to buy an ssd for about a 100 bucks ( may be 32gb or even 64gb) and then do a clean install of Windows 7 on the ssd, probably making things faster... Is that possible? Does the laptop come with an extra hdd bay? I have ordered it with the single 640gb ssd... Thanks

 

Ayman, you just asked this same set of questions in the other thread. Were the answers given there not to your liking? The same people are looking in both threads....

Gimme a few and I'll see if I can more completely answer them for you.

 

Until the ENVY goes through a refresh I think the dv6/dv7 is a better machine - minus the graphics card bump if you are a serious gamer, and backlit keyboard of course.

 

Hi i'm new to this forum and will soon be an owner of
HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
• 2GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Should be shipped on June 9.

I'm new to the GPU world.

Can you guys teach me what to download for testing my new lappy?
Thanks in advance

 

In terms of graphics capability. On my dv7tqe with the 1600x900 screen that I exchanged for the FHD screen (that I havent received yet) I was able to run World of Warcraft at very playable framerates on 'high' settings. I am aware that WoW is not particularly 'new' in terms of games, however it can still be one of the most taxing games available in certain situations simply because of the vast amount of stuff going on (spell effects, shadows and lighting, the sheer volume of people, etc). I will see if there is any difference running at FHD when I receive my new laptop on Thursday.

One thing to keep in mind about mobile cards is they are ALWAYS weaker than their desktop counterparts. Take a look at this website to give yourself a basis for comparison:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6770M.43955.0.html

On the right hand side are all of the mobile cards listed and ranked in terms of performance. The 6770m single card is considered a Class 1 and is one of the highest ranked before going into the SLI mobile cards which are extremely rare and extremely expensive.

I'm always partial to a good warranty on a laptop because of how little in a laptop is user maintainable. The Dell that I had before this had a 3 year warranty that I used 3 separate times (once to replace the keyboard, once to replace the power supply, and once to replace the hard drive). None of the replacements were accidental damage type things but each of them could have been somewhat expensive without the warranty. Not saying you'll need it, but its always nice 'just in case'.

In terms of the subwoofer, just as with separate systems, a subwoofer is supposed to give a broader range and fuller sound simply because of the capability to produce lower frequency sounds. In my experience I barely noticed much in the way of any bass, however I didnt have a chance to mess around with the Beats audio options before I sent my laptop back. That said, however, the mids and highs out of the regular speakers were reasonably good, if a little bit 'tinny' which can be expected because they are still little tiny laptop speakers. It was definitely the best sounding laptop speakers I've ever heard, and by far the loudest.

As was mentioned in the other thread, it has been available in the past, and is not now. My guess is it wont be available for awhile again simply because the series just had a hardware refresh which included the new FHD screen. I wouldnt expect the next hardware refresh to happen till AT LEAST October at the soonest since Q4 is when Intel is releasing its next set of high end processors, which will likely include a mobile variant.

They will run pretty similarly in terms of heat, if you look at the laptop teardown someone did in the modding thread, there was a reasonable amount of deadspace in the machine that wouldnt produce any heat at all, and the hotspots will be identical (processor and graphics). That said, I always recommend some form of fan pad simply because these are performance end notebooks. If you plan on doing any sort of gaming on them they would definitely benefit from additional cooling. Also, and unrelated, the angle that the cooler gives the keyboard is better on your wrists/hands anyways.

The service manual mentions compatibility with the standard 2.1+EDR Bluetooth modules from specific manufacturers, so I assume that is what it would come with, but the site does not mention what it ships with if that option is selected.

Yes the 9 cell battery would angle the back of the laptop upwards a bit. Just keep in mind if you plan on purchasing a fan pad that this will increase the angle that much more drastically.

The dv6t does NOT have a second bay, the dv7t does have a second bay. I know you asked specifically about the dv7t, but I just wanted to be sure this was clear since you mentioned both in your previous questions. As to the SSD, you can put one in there but like was mentioned in the other thread, it comes with the caddy, but no SATA cable. The laptop supports SATA III so you will benefit from newer higher speed drives, however I would suggest getting something larger than a simple 'boot drive' if you ever plan on running more than just Windows on the drive.

As I've talked about earlier in this thread, on my desktop I have 2x 60 gig Vertex SSDs and all I have installed on them is Windows and World of Warcraft and that takes up about 65 gig (this does not include user profiles since I moved those onto my storage array), the WoW install itself is 30 gig. I would recommend considering at least a 120 gig drive so you can give yourself leeway to put more on it should you choose to. Not to mention, its generally a good idea to leave about 10% open on a SSD to allow for garbage collection and wear leveling to extend the life and performance of the drive.

 

You're probably right, I keep going back and forth with myself on whether I want to bother trying if mine comes in silver. Maybe it'll come in umber and that option will not even be available for me to consider, but the only reason I'd get it is because of the backlit keyboard and the Radeon 6850.

 

Grats on your purchase. There are a number of options for testing the laptop. The most respected and widely used is 3DMark and PCMark by the company Futuremark

Futuremark

There are free and pay versions of both. If you are just interested in seeing the specs of your machine, CPU-Z and GPU-Z are good for doing that.

There are other options out there but these will get you started.

 

I answered your questions here in the other thread. Try not to make the same post in multiple threads. As said, the same people are reading both.

 

ohh okayyy....

 

heyy thanks man... your detailed reply was really helpful...! And I asked the same questions on multiple forums in expectation of multiple answers..
Thanks again...!

 

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

 

Anyone having "problems" with beats audio? Every once in awhile it gets crackly. Also, it tends to crackle out to zero sound whenever I mess with settings in the beats audio control panel. I haven't had the time to even make restore disks yet as we're still trying to unpack here from the move...I plan on updating drivers installing the minimal restore, etc this next weekend. Are there any known issues with Beats Audio on the dv6?

 

I haven't had any...yet. Sound is good whether during gaming, movies, or music. I haven't messed around with the Beats control panel, though.

 

Really? no crackling? Hmm. I think it only crackles when I mess with the Beats panel. I can't figure out how to even change things. What's space or focus or def.?

I've been playing music off of grooveshark for awhile now and I haven't heard any audio problems. I had to enable windows audio enhancements before I was able to really hear good sound. I haven't loaded any of my own music or played any CDs yet... I'd have to say that I'm not quite impressed with the dv6's audio. Its terribly ordinary. The beats gives you the bass and lower mid-range that most speakers should provide without having a special name...with beats audio off it sounds like I've cut out my entire bass and mid-range.