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

I had problems with crackling distorted sound when I was watching HD movie trailers in Quicktime. At first I thought it was a blown speaker. I watched the same trailers (saved .mov file) in windows media player and the sound was perfect. Make sure it is not application(s) specific.

 

hmm... I put my ear up to both of the "beats" speakers at the front and I'm worried that I"m not hearing some of the lower frequency notes at all out of the right speaker... Also, the bass is awful... I was trying to play some kanye to test the bass... no bass to speak of

 

dunno about the dv7, but sound quality of the dv6 with beats is pretty marginal. I own a Toshiba with Harmon Kardon speakers and that sucker pumps out very good bass (comparatively) -- so much so that Toccata and Fugue in D Minor actually sounds great. LOL! I have never heard any HP laptop sound good.

 

am i missing something? notebookcheck lists the 6770m as ~3% better than the 6850m

AMD Radeon HD 6770M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

thats what I'm trying to figure out. Is the current sound I'm getting just par for the course? Without knowing the actual hardware (what type of drivers, tweeters, etc.) I'm not sure what to "expect". It seems like there are three mid-range drivers (one "center" on the middle bar..and the two at the front) then there are two tweeters on the outside of the sound bar. Without knowing the range of the mid-range (and if they are identical) drivers, I'm not sure if I'm getting bad sound. I REALLY don't want to have to send this computer back. I just would like something I purchase to actually work right the first time...sigh.

The front right speaker, for sure, is not putting out the same sound as the center and front left speaker...

 

did u notice core speeds between the two cards? 6770 is quite faster.

I'm very impressed with the 6770 or maybe it's the processor. I can run FSX with the sliders up and get frame rates generally in the 30's. They go up beyond 42 some places (I lock it to 42FPS).

 

It's an HP--you can't expect stellar sound. If the Toshibas today sound anything like the one I got about 5 years ago, it would knock your socks off. Dell's that I have heard from a couple years ago all had anemic sound quality also. Some brands "have it" and others don't.

 

i know but everyone seems to be assuming that the envy with the 6850m is a stronger card, when its not

 

+1



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The 6850m on notebookcheck has GDDR3. The performance of the 6850m would be significantly better if it had the faster memory (but it would probably only barely beat out the 6770m since the 6850m is based on older architecture). The 6770m is faster simply because of the faster memory in the bench. The newer chip that the 6770m is based off of does not even support GDDR3, only GDDR5.

EDIT:

If you read the blurb about the 5850m it will give you more information since it is the same chip. It explains the expected performance when paired with GDDR5. The simple fact of the matter is this though: We've nearly the performance of the 6850m with the faster memory while spending quite a lot less, plus we have additional benefits of things like UVD3. The 6850m only has UVD2.2 since it is the same chip as the 5850m.

 

the chip supports it, its just called a 66xx series when its paired with it.

 

Here's some more AutoHotkey fun.

Make sure you have the AutoHotkey program installed. AutoHotkey - Free Mouse and Keyboard Macro Program with Hotkeys and AutoText

Create a text file with this in it:

Code:

Click right
return

Save it as Right Click.ahk. Now right-click the Right Click.ahk file and select Compile Script. It will create a Right Click.exe file, put the executable wherever you want.

Now go to the Mouse control panel icon, select the Device Settings tab and click the Settings... button.

Check the Three Finger Press item and click the Gears icon to the right of it. Now click the Add button and add the Right Click.exe to the list.

You can now press(and hold) three fingers for a right mouse click. There is a slight delay and it doesn't work in some parts of the UI but I'm liking it so far. I always tap the trackpad for a left click so now it's quiet without having to use the noisy mouse buttons.

 

On my dv7t, on the front-right side, near the USB ports, there is a tiny gab between the black and the silver edge where a tiny big of light shines through. Is something like that even worth sending back, or is that pretty much a common issue? It bugs me, but I really don't know if it's worth exchanging it and being without it for a month or more, lol.

 

Mine does it too, it seems like it'd be common because it doesn't really look like a gap the light just goes through at the right angle.

 

OMG, you are sounding like the people on the Apple forums who complain about the most trivial of cosmetic non-issues. Stop looking at the side of your laptop--look at the screen.

 

It's a gap. You can press the side of the laptop and the light goes away. I like it because I can see HDD activity if it's not too bright in the room. You can see a light from the charger LED too. Very slight cosmetic issue, but some people can be very particular about things.

 

There is a definite gap, I can slightly press on it and it goes away.

And trust me, I'm not usually one to even so much as mention something so minor, I just wanted to make sure this wasn't anything I should worry about. This is my first laptop, so I don't know, lol. I'm glad it's not just mine, that's all.

Trust me, I couldn't be happier with this machine, I love it so much. I should have got on board with this years and years ago.

The only thing I've really been anal about is the screen. If I get so much as a spec of dust or smudge on it I try to clean it. I really need to get over that though. I just know I'm going to end up damaging it from trying to keep it so spotless.

 

so no one else has issues with the sound? I think I'll just take what dave said and chalk this up to mediocre speakers on an hp. the front right speaker doesn't quite have the bass notes that the middle and front left speakers have...however, I don't think its worth sending it back in to be repaired (I think they'll just muck it up)...and I don't want to return and re-order the same laptop (especially because I don't think I'll get the same price)...its really noticeable only when you stick your ear up to each speaker and compare...

bummer. oh well the rest of the computer is nice.

 

Thanks a lot. I will download it asap when I get my laptop

 

And no, the audio on mine is just beautiful, no cracking or anything like that.

 

hmm, no crackling for me now either. Do you have full bass? That is, it doesn't sound tinny at all? Also, both speakers (front ones) put out the same bass? I guess I don't have any reference point, so I'm unsure if I have a bad set of speakers or if this is just normal like dave said.

 

wow night and day audio through my skull candy ear buds compared to the tinny laptop speakers... gah! Now I have to decide if this is a return/repair worthy issue...

 

Just keep in mind that the vast majority of laptop speakers are absolutely awful. Its just lesser degrees of awful depending on the quality of the speakers.

 

I'll have to say my first 6000 series laptop had awful speakers. I returned that and got a 6100 series, the speakers are much better. But it may be a luck of the draw thing.

 

thanks man. I haven't owned a laptop...really, ever...so I'm coming from a desktop and using my wife's macbook. I think it equals her macbook, but its not terribly better.

Yeah, this is a 6100 series...I'm afraid that you're right and it is a luck of the draw...I don't want to have to wait around for a new laptop when it might not really improve, lol. Thanks for the help, though, guys.

 

yes, it is a VERY NICE laptop; especially with the HD screen. I can't tell you how eager I am for HP to resolve the graphics issue so that I can order another DV6 with confidence.

 

Is there anything in particular that you think helped you get 15% off? Even before you asked to speak with the supervisor, what/how did you speak to the CSR? What did you repeat to them to be so sympathetic? (I know the "He got it, so why can't I?" thing will not work.) Sorry and thank you for all the questions and responses, respectively.

 

I can't wait for HP to offer another 25%/30% off coupon with the previous free upgrades. What HP offers right now, is not even close to a good deal, unfortunately...

 

You might need to wait a year or 2, till AMD to improve the manual switch in a muxless environment to meet the same expectation as previous generation of the muxed version.

 

then I'm screwed, as I need something within a few weeks at most. What a travesty that HP can't make a laptop that doesn't have major issues when it is delivered to my doorstep. Their batting average with me is oh for two.

 

You could try to look for something that use newer hardware but traditionally designed if you want something quite more reliable yet new.

I don't remember HP releasing a new consumer model that doesn't have something wrong with it on any doorstep for many years.

dv6t-2000 -> fingerprint magnet, last of the decent nvidia and dual band offers
dv6t-3000 -> broken switchable graphics, no dual band, overheats
dv6t-3100 -> ......WiMax + Dual Band only retail models, still have the overheat
dv6t-4000 -> chipset recall
dv6t-6000 -> no backlit kb, broken SimplePass
dc6t-6100 -> broken switchable graphics, still no backlit kb

 

what broken switchable graphics issues? please elaborate, it seems I'm not up to date. dv7 6001

 

Guys, sorry for dumb question but what do i need to have WiDi? I need to purchase smth into laptop?

 

Does anyone with the FHD screen know if it's plastic or glass?

 

I'm not aware of any non-tablet laptops that have glass screens. Quite sure its plastic.

 

Quite a few use glass. Macbook Pro and the Envys all stick the screen behind glass.

 

Mine appeared to be plastic. Beautiful screen, btw! (I returned my unit due to issues with switchable graphics)

 

*behind glass. This I am aware of.

The screens arent glass with extremely rare exceptions.

 

What are the current hardware / software defects oh dv6t and dv7t quad core edition?

 

Seems that most of the complaints are coming from the new dynamic graphic switching in the 6100 revision of the dv6/7t laptops. The 6000 series did not have the auto switching graphics, but rather a much easier to use and less buggy manual switch option.

There are also some minor complaints with the garbage wildtanget games that HP included, but other than that, most people seem pretty happy with their laptops.

 

Can anyone please tell me whom do I call up to get those additional discounts you guys have been talking about in these forums... I just got the coupon discount (30% off)... Can i get an additional discount??? Please help...Thanks

 

So, let me get this straight. The switchable graphics issue is that you can't manually pick which one you'd like to use. For example, if I want long battery life I can put it to only HD 3000...or if I want to game without the laptop thinking that I want long battery life I can use only the Radeon. This is what I liked about AMD's system. I thought the auto switching was too hands-off...

You still have access to the Radeon right? Just not at will?

 

Do you know if this problem is a frequent problem for the dv6t?

 

I'm surprised you returned an excellent machine due to a driver/software issue that I am sure will be ironed out over the next several months.

From what I've seen most new video cards in recent memory have had some type of a driver issue that needed to be fixed after they were initially released.

 

Correct, there's no current manual way to default to either GPU. It's application specific only right now. You associate executable files with a specific gpu and it switches on the fly. So far, it has worked well for games, but I have seen some hiccups when an application/game uses more than one executable file. Futuremark and 3DMark Vantage are two examples. In those cases, you can manually search out the multiple executables and associate them with the performance profile, rather than relying on the list it gives you when the application is first run (ie. helps when not all .exe files show up in the list).

The autoswitching, aka BACON , also senses based on the load and will eventually switch over even without a profile associated with an executable. Not a big deal for games, but does throw off benchmarking results. Personally, I think it needs to be refined, but is a good technology. The switch itself is literally seamless on the screen. The only way I can tell that it's switching is when I hear the 6770m fan kick in!

 

For those with any bloatware issues, including Wildtangent, etc... I highly recommend the Minimal System Image restore. It works beautifully, and besides working out a few kinks with the new autoswitching graphics, I have not had a single glitch to report with my new DV7T! Battery life seems to be excellent! I watched a streaming Netflix movie using my 6 cell battery over the weekend, and still managed to eek out 3 and half hours of charge. With the 9 cell, I've been averaging 4 and half in mixed use.

Heat doesn't seem to be an issue at all either. Even with the 6770m running full blast when gaming for over an hour, I was only around 82C on the gpu and 73C on the CPU cores. The bottom of the laptop gets warm, but not hot, with the most noticeable heat coming out of the left side exhaust. If you're just web surfing and doing general tasks, you won't have any issues using it on your lap. For gaming, I'd leave it on a flat surface, and recommend the 9 cell battery to give it better circulation. Otherwise, I don't think you even need a separate cooler unit.

 

You need to have a processor that supports it, plus you have to have an adapter/receiver that connects to TV such as Netgear Push2TV PTV1000 or PTV2000 (the latter supports 1080P, I believe).

 

Yeah its surprisingly cool. Ridiculously cool, actually, for doing normal web browsing and basic office content creation. I haven't actually done any crazy games or whatnot so I cant speak to that.

So, just to clarify, no one really is that unhappy with the beats speakers? It seems they're a bit laptoppy and not very beast heavy...

 

I am not impressed in the least with the Beats. They sound EVER SO SLIGHTLY better than the two-speaker setup on my wife's HP laptop (14" from Costco--about $800) but they are an order of magnitude less impressive than the Harmon Kardon speakers of my Toshiba which have great fidelity for a laptop. (and it's just a 14" unit--not a 17" beast--and it's over 4 years old)

Running FSX on my first DV6--it got pretty warm, so I'd plug in the laptop cooler--that kept the deck cool (left of the touchpad).

 

I've never been happy with laptop speakers. xD