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

bingo. there is only a 10%-ish improvement in CPU speed for a lot of dollars. the only case where it would make a difference is where the 2820 has additional virtualization capability and supports 1600MHz RAM. But if both of those are important, then you'd better buy an Envy instead because the DV7 itself (from what I can tell) won't run the data bus at 1600MHz, even if the RAM and CPU agree do so.

in short, beyond the config you already chose, you pay a lot for small improvements. the only case where that might not apply is where you are already committed to dual 7200 rpm hard drives, in which case changing one of them to an SSD is pretty attractive, if you are using the 30% coupon. my DV7t is 160GB SSD + 500 GB 7200 HDD

 

I'm still a little scared of SSD (failures). I see too many bad things about them whenever I check out the current offerings at newegg. I didn't even see the option for SSD when I was ordering anyway (too excited and missed it maybe).

I might just buy another identical HDD and run RAID; if that's even an option.

 

no RAID on the DVs, but the 160GB SSD + 500GB 7200 rpm HDD is there. and you're right about risks of SSDs -- moreover it is an expensive option unless you use the 30% off coupon AND you are alraedy committed to a dual 7200 rpm HDD configuration. in this case, the upgrade to the SSD combo is surprisingly affordable AND its guarenteed by HP for two years. so thats why I did it

 

No RAID? Bummer.

Might buy a SSD later on then, if I find the courage. What was the price difference for the SSD/HDD combo?

What's better in your opinion.....

1) OS + games on SSD
2) OS on SSD and games on HDD
3) OS on HDD and games on SSD

 

I'd say option 2, just because you can get away with a much smaller SSD, ergo, lower price. If money is no object, the what the heck, get a 512gb ssd and put the games on it. That would decrease load times, but games stored on an SSD really makes no difference as far as FPS goes. However, with the OS on the SSD, you will notice much faster boot times, as well almost everything being much more snappy.

EDIT: [sarcasm] yay. my 200th post. [/sarcasm]

 

once I was committed to dual 7200 rpm HDDs, the price difference for the SSD combo was less than $200, so I couldn't resist. Since games tend to be large, and if we assume that game boot time isn't that important, i'd say option 2. Other apps can install on the SSD with their respective data locations moved to the HDD. SSDs should not be filled up -- the more free space they have the longer they last.

 

Here is a DV7t bloat report. I've finished comparing the full install with the minimal (HP clean) recovery on my dv7. look over the below list; if you don't care about these things I highly recommend the minimal install, which you can obtain by using the HP recovery partition. To each h is own, but if you are seriously allergic to bloat, then this is a wonderful option for setup. to get to it, you have to go through the initial out-of-box setup, then reboot, hit escape and use the recovery system. select minimal.

here's what the minimal recovery gets rid of:

• adobe reader X multi-lingual UI. you'll end up with this anyway, over time, by downloading from Adobe
  
• Shockwave. same as above
  
• Bing Bar. I don't do toolbars anyway
  
• Blio. a free e-reader app you can download if you want anyway
  
• Energy Star digital logo. useless green bragging
  
• Evernote. cloud service where you share content. download it if you want, but I don't give my content to anyone, not facebook, picasa, or any cloud service that wants to harvest data about me
  
• HP documentation. Not certain what this is precisely but I can't imagine it is differnent from what one can download from the hp site. this appears to be the "user guides" section of HPSA which will be missing if you do the minimal install. but who cares --- the user guides are on the hp site
  
• HP Games. a bunch of lame teaser/trial games
  
• HP movie store. a digital content store based on Roxio player. you can download from HP if you want
  
• HP POwer manager. I haven't figured out what real benefit this is, beyond just another UI into things you can already manage in Windows
  
• HP Setup. I think this is the full setup software used during full recovery. so you don't need this ,imho
  
• Java update. trust me you'll end up downloading this directly anyway
  
• Magic Desktop. parental control app. probably a teaser/trial but I didn't try it. anyone know?
  
• Microsoft office: just a teaser to get you to buy it. I installed fresh bits anyway
  
• Microsoft Silverlight. this will appear automagically anyway. its Microsoft's rich media framework similar to flash
  
• SQL Server compact edition. you can get this from MS if you need it, for free
  
• Norton trial. I dont like trials, and I'm using MS security essentials now anyway.
  
• PLayReady runtime. digital rights managment which you can download yourself if you need it.
  
• roxioNow player. part of HP movie store, or a free player download anyway
  
• Windows live essentials. ugh I hate this package. I'm so happy it isn't living on my computer
  
• Windows live mesh ActiveX control for remote control. I don't want no stinkin remote control via ActiveX anyway

officially the app report saved 1.5GB on C: but according to "my computer" my SSD is now 7 GB bigger.

I'll have a process comparison and core temp/thread activity comparison later...

 

I am really in a quandary as to which screen to get. It would be used for general purpose, some of everything. The only problem is that the B156HW01 v.4 has some red ghosting issues. If I got it from screenintaipei, would they take it back if it had the issue? From the Ebay page, this is what it says:

"All items provide 120-day replacement warranty for DOA (Dead On Arrive) and all manufacturer defective such as line, Mura and distorted image."

 

Removed Post

 

open the box and find a long pamphlet that folded like a map. It's cover is printed in black ink, has the hp logo on it, and says "start here". inside there is a section called "locate your electronic guides".

you can also open up HP support assistant by following these motions

start
all programs
hp
hp support assistant

check out the "learn" section

 

turn beats on/off: fn+b
adjust brightness: f2 and f3 should do it. look at the symbols on the f keys.
to switch graphics cards, you have to be in fixed mode. As described here in the first part of the first post. Also, manuals are available here.

 

Removed Post

 

Update video driver. Do you have a dv6t or dv7t?

 

I am selling my hard drive kit for the DV7T-QE (HP P/N: 641306-001) for $30 shipped. There is nothing wrong with it. A long story, but I now have a HP ENVY 17 instead, so I no longer need the kit as it does not fit the ENVY.

PM me if interested.

 

Removed Post

 

go through the list I posted a few responses back. Consider that list as a candidate list from which you can choose what to remove. If you want to remove the whole list of apps there, then just do a minimal image recovery -- which is a clean windows install + hp specific drivers. I don't need anything on that list so I did the minimal recovery. results?

* the minimal recovery puts up 82 processes instead of 91 in my case
* the minimal recovery removes some 23 applications, the vast majority of which are useless trials and teasers, or stuff you will normally download/update off the web for free anyway. see my previous post for details, i.e. I'm not sure of magic desktop is a teaser/trial or if it is a real licensed app.
* with the minimal recovery, thread utilization is near zero at system idle, compared with a couple of percent when the fully installed system is idling
* with the minmal recovery, the cores on my system (at idle) ran about 2 degrees C cooler, i.e. 46 instead of 48

mind-you, these data were collected before downloading the usual things like Acrobat, Java, etc. and these do have processes that check for updates. so the above is best-case scenario. Also, note that the minimal recovery option eliminates Norton. But microsoft security essentials is keeping me happy for now. I think the amount of armor you wear depends on the battlefield you want to walk through, and since I practice safe computing anyway, the relatively lightweight but effective MSE is fine for me now.

 

The number of processes doesn't really mean anything. The resource utilization is what matters. Unless they're eating up a significant amount of CPU time or memory, who cares?

 

Removed Post

 

You don't need a Windows disk, you just need to run the HP recovery manager.

 

Could anyone who has the 1080p Dv6t with the LG LP156WF1 please comment on the quality of the screen? I'd like to order a screen today, but I don't know if it is worth having the exact AUO B156HW01 V.3 shipped from Taiwan and waiting a month for delivery. Specifically, how are the colors, viewing angles, and brightness?

 

you shouldn't just 'delete' processes. but you can uninstall applications. to decide what to uninstall, go through my list and decide what you want and what you don't want and uninstall those. to be honest we can't tell you what you want or don't want, so you'll need to do some analysis on your own. if you don't want any of the things I listed, then do the minimal recovery as hockeymass points out below:

as in:

start
all programs
hp
hp recovery manager
hp recovery manager
I need immediate help --> system recovery
you'll get a choice for minimal image restore. HP even describes it as a clean install. pick that and follow the onscreen directions


this will produce the same result as I posted earlier. the system is fully functional with HP drivers, but without the things I listed.

 

I have it. I'm not an expert on LCD panels, but I think the color representation is spot on. Brightness is great. I don't usually pay much attention to viewing angles, but I can try to take a picture later.

 

Do you happen to know what revision it is? I am wondering how close it is to this one. That is the LP156WF1 (TL)(F3).

 

The very same.

 

Removed Post

 

Anyone here done a complete install of retail Windows 7?

I have a copy of Win7 Ultimate x64 I bought from school ($15 student price) and would like to install it.

Any problem with getting rid of all stock partitions? I don't care about recovery.

Which HP software is absolutely essential (if any)?

 

All the Drivers you need are in the SWSetup folder in the C drive. Definitely copy that over. There may be some other trial software that's not in there, but I would just copy the SWsetup.

 

Thank you, I think I will be getting that one. It is cheaper, and it's supposed to be here faster.

 

I get this as well with Minecraft or any other games i have uninstalled HP drivers with driver sweep re installed etc.. same results everytime.

 

Removed Post

 

I tried with the stock HP drivers and 11.8 can anyone recommend something different to try?

 

Try switching graphics modes.

 

11.8 works fine for me.

 

Removed Post

 

for gpu use GPU-Z and for cpu SpeedFan

 

Removed Post

 

Man, I'm starting to think I should have purchased the DV6T with the same options I chose for the DV7T.

The 17" screen might be a little too much for me. Been on a 14.1" for >5 years so the 15.6" screen would probably have been perfect.

I don't carry my laptop around much though. Most of the time it's on my lap on the couch.

Wonder if it's too late to cancel and order the DV6T instead.

EDIT: Nevermind, the price difference is only $80 and I'm sure the 17" will have a higher resale value later on if I ever decide to get rid of it.

 

Is there any word or rumor about an upcoming refresh for the dv7 Quad Edition?

I know they did one a few months ago. I'm just curious to whether or not they'll ever change the wireless card that comes with it.

 

I purchased the DV7 and it is very nice. The screen size is very nice. I've been using a thinkpad x61t which is a 12.1 inch screen for years.

I haven't touched my thinkpad since i've gotten the dv7

 

Is there a problem with the cards they're shipping with now?

 

Absolutely not.

It just doesn't satisfy my own personal needs. I wanted a a/b/g/n card like the one they put in the Envy series. Or any dual band wireless card rather just the single band one it ships with....

 

Removed Post

 

Haha..... maybe now I can play something other than CS 1.6. After playing for 11 years I really think it's time to move on to something more ummm....... modern.

 

Removed Post

 

Guys, I have a question...
What should be the number of processes running in the task manager normally, while just surfing and other basic stuff.... If that doesn't matter, what should be the cpu and ram usage on an average under basic load?
Also, what are the normal temps for a dv7tqe?
thanks

 

Number of processes doesn't really matter, what matters is the CPU and RAM usage. While just viewing a webpage with nothing else open, I usually hover between 1 and 3 percent usage. The RAM, after a while of normal usage is usually at about 20-40%.

 

I have a question about the 6755G2 chipset (6750M + 6620G)...

Whenever I go to the AMD Drivers Download I can't find the drivers for both chipsets. Apparently 6xxxM is not the correct option when downloading the drivers? Anyone know how they got their's to work?

 

I believe that you, my friend, are in the wrong thread. This thread is the thread for the AMD Llano version of the laptop. While not specifically stated, this thread seems to be more targeted to intel people. At any rate, the people in that thread will probably have more info regarding your issue.

 

I'm stupid D:
Thanks for your help, anyway

 

You're very welcome. It probably should say Intel somewhere, considering there is a seperate thread for the AMD.