*HP dv6t Select Edition (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I've done some long sessions on mine and the GPU get's hot, but cools fairly well. The hard drive area, underneath the left palm rest gets hot as well and cools off pretty quickly, but being under your left palm rest does get kind of annoying.

Not sure what kind of answer you are looking for, but the laptop doesn't blow up or anything after gaming for a few hours. lol

I came from 1650x1080? or something like that, on a 20" desktop screen. I'd say there are just a small number of times when the screen resolution was an issue. More screen "real estate" may be good for some, but for me, I'd rather not have to squint to see what's on my screen. IMO, for the 15" form factor, the resolution is a perfect match.

 

Haha it's finally here! And the package is surprisingly light.. now to try this baby out

 

Awesome. Mine's sitting about 20 minutes away from me, with no updates as of today. I was seriously hoping that it was going to get to the destination town today, so I can just go pick it up.

Starting to think it'll sit 1 town away, therefore unable to pick it up, for 2 days.

Edit: I spoke too soon! Just didn't a tracking update and it's now in my home town. I'm calling them in a few minutes and requesting the package be pulled and I'll go pick it up in a couple hours! Exciting!

 

Very nice. Mine will be at my house tomorrow =)

 

Make sure you all do reviews please

 

Wooot:
Jul 12, 2010 8:05 AM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery

Also, what kinds of things should I try out? I already downloaded pcmark vantage, catalyst 10.6 drivers, and the amd gpu clock tool. Also have bfbc2 and dragon age on my external ready to go. Oh, I should get fraps... and... what else?

 

I don't have a camera so I won't do a complete review, but I'll try and answer any questions.

Specs:
HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition customizable Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-450M Dual Core processor (2.40GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)with Turbo Boost up to 2.66 GHz
• FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics
• 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
• No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
• Full-size island-style backlit keyboard with HP TrueVision Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
• High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter 2010
• $1! SAVE NOW!! Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 Month Subscription (activation required)
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

First impressions:

Packaging
As I said, package is very light. Inside the box is the power cord, laptop and the assortment of papers that come with every laptop. Surprisingly, there is no bubble wrap or those "air bags" to protect the laptop, just two cardboard egg-carton style pieces to hold the laptop in place.

Build Quality
The finish is less aluminum-looking than I expected. I almost doubted it for a second since it looks very similar to the grey plastic on my Inspiron 9300. It is indeed brushed aluminum, but less metallic looking than the Macbooks, and feels perhaps thinner. It also doesn't feel as cold as the Macbooks (which do indeed feel like a chunk of aluminum).
The build quality is excellent. I think I'm more impressed by that than the external appearance. It feels at least as solid as my Thinkpad T500. The laptop is also quite light even with the battery in. The power brick seems lighter than most others also. All in all, it's extremely portable for a 15.6".

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard is very nice. I think I might actually prefer it to the Thinkpad keyboard. It's very solid to type on, and the key caps don't wobble at all (which they did a little on the Thinkpad). The backlight is noticeable in daylight but fairly dim. It should work fine at night, though. The extra buttons on the left side (the quick-launch ones) are not a nuisance at all. If you're just typing there's no way you would hit them by accident. The control key is no longer on the very left, but it's positioned the standard way relative to the rest of the keyboard and I haven't had any problems hitting it.

The touchpad is huge. When I first used it, it was a bit "sticky". Perhaps my fingers were sweaty but the matte finish makes it difficult to move smoothly. It works better sometimes, depending on how much pressure I apply, and works better with dry fingers. It's a really weird finish, and different from anything I've seen before. Clicking makes the whole pad move and is rather stiff. It's fine to rest your thumb on the button area though. Once in a while it causes a weird movement but most of the time it's fine. Two-finger scrolling is handy but doesn't work as well as I'd like. I have to spread my fingers a bit to get it to work - if I try it with two fingers next to each other, it won't scroll. I don't see a way to adjust this in the Control Panel but I could be wrong. I know I have claimed the touchscreen is a waste of money, but if you're not going to be using a mouse it is probably worth it. I think a mouse would probably be the best bet though, if you're going to be playing games at all.

Performance
Startup is very fast. Windows was up in a few seconds and with 6 gigs of ram, there's little lag. I plan on running some benchmarks later but for now I'll just say that for everyday tasks it is quite good enough. I opened up 20 Youtube videos and it didn't slow down the computer at all. The CPU went up to 76 degrees which is a little more worrying. Average temps are around 50. Also, bad news about the hard drive heating - the left palmrest does get quite warm. It's not unbearable, but it's annoying and a bit uncomfortable. HWMonitor doesn't seem to be showing a temperature for it, or the GPU, but it might just be lack of support. It also shows the 450m as a 520m, which had me excited for a moment
There is also noticeable heat in the middle and left of the area above the keyboard, which is probably where the CPU heatpipe runs. On the other hand, the laptop is actually quite cool on the bottom, because of the plastic, and it's the aluminum finish that makes it feel hot.

The SSD is indeed a G2 Intel. It seems that HP gets their own model number, with HP in it. This benchmark seems to indicate that the HP version is actually faster than the regular version. I wouldn't put too much faith in it though, as it's probably more due to sample size than actual performance differences.

If anyone wants more information, just ask and I'll edit it in.

 

Thanks for taking the time to review it! I can't wait til mines get here

 

It's interesting that the left pad area would heat up considering you have an SSD, but I think it has more to do with the laptop being aluminum and conducting heat.

 

Mine is STILL in clearance delay! Am I the only one?

 

No, mine too.

 

On my stupid laggy computer i always double post......

 

30% BCB on the Envy 14? Now I'm torn

 

Where? Link please?

 

Also 30% BCB on the dv6, though. Basically are you willing to pay $150 more for a weaker processor, smaller hard drive, and less RAM but a better screen?

 

Is the hard drive really there? From the service manual it looks like the hard drive is actually closer to the middle.

 

Oh, than how do you know yours will be at your house tomorrow?

 

Shipment Dates
Ship date Jul 7, 2010
Estimated delivery Jul 13, 2010 by 4:30 PM

From fedex themselves, they better be telling the truth.

 

So i'm getting conflicting reports from FedEx and HP.. last night HP said they've submitted all docs needed for the US customs folks.. while FedEx called me today saying that they are still waiting for documents from HP. I'm hoping there's just a delay in FedEx's systems to be updated with the right info, but i'm getting super annoyed at this waiting business...

 

Wait, what, how? I have a normal 5400 RPM HD and it's pretty much like that, it gets hot but not so hot that it's really annoying.

 

Just some quick questions...

What wireless card installed and under what option if brought directly from HP?

If yours had switchable graphics option , what is your usable ram and installed ram.

Example for mine

Intel Wifi Link 1000 bgn (Intel Wireless N)
3.8GB (4 GB installed)

 

Looks like I'm going to have my own little laptop shootout at home. One of these is getting sent back. Envy14 ordered today, DV6tSE is on the way now.

The two builds:

 

Hey guys, been reading this for a while, but I had a question so I registered

As of now, these are my tentative specs:
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
* FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* FREE Upgrade to 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 Graphics + HDMI and VGA ports - For Quad Core Processors
* 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
* No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)
* LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
* Intel Wireless-N Card
* Full-size island-style backlit keyboard with HP TrueVision Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
* High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
* Microsoft(R) Office Starter 2010
* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


My primary concern is the CPU and the resultant heat. My old computer was a dell from 2005 that ran top of the line parts from the time - 512 mb Nvi GeForce, 2 gigs of RAM, and a dual core (7200?), but it was crippled because of overheating. (Actually, the error I got was the really widespread one that a lot of people had as well - nvlddmkm.sys, which completely ed up my computer - it's running Windows 7 with a messed up screen (not the actual screen))
PC is my primary gaming console so I want my specs to be really good, but I don't want to have a repeat of the aforementioned event. I'm ultimately asking whether i7 720QM is too demanding (and will cause a lot of heat) and that I should opt for i5 (if an i5, which one?), or if i7 is okay. The highest stress it will be subject to is Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.

*Also, I'll be using an external fan from my old computer.


Thanks for any and all help/suggestions!

 

I don't think you'll need i7 for starcraft 2 but then again, you might want to get one just so you can have a nice experience. But maybe you should look to getting an SSD and going with an i5. You'll see better results than if you went with a hdd and i7.

 

I wouldn't buy it with a i7 720QM because even with my i5 450M it gets around 85-90 full load, sure it's with 30*C ambient temperature (Sweden is crazy at the moment) so say with 20*C ambient it would have 75-80 which is still pretty high.

 

The thing about getting an SSD is that not all SSD result in cooler temperatures, or so I've read. I think someone posted the model of the SSD offered, so I'll find that and look it up. Hopefully, it will be a cooler one :3

EDIT: Scratch that, it was in reference to another SSD. Oh well. Perhaps I'll call HP and find out which one it is...

 

HPs SSDs are the Intel G2 X-25m, 160gb. Hope that helps.

And as far as the above, I'd go with an i5. You lose switchable graphics going with an i7, and the extra battery life might be useful to you down the line. The i5 is a great processor and for sure will run SC2 without problems.

 

Thanks for the info and the input.

Another side question: how significant is the difference between the standard battery and the high capacity standard? (both 6 cell)

 

Probably just an extra 30minutes, i mean its 62WHR(high capacity) to 55WHR(standard capacity).

Oh and some say it sticks out a bit, not enough for it to like make the laptop higher but it doesn't fit in as snugly as the standard.

 

30C isn't even that hot. Though I am from LA.

As for the i7 - if you're just going to play Blizzard games, I don't think you need the extra power. From what I hear from SC2 betas it only utilizes dual cores which would make te i7 kind of.. pointless?

Plus the i5 gives you better battery life. I'd go with the 450 though I don't even know how intensive the final game will be.

 

Thanks for the input

Well, what PC games are more demanding than SC2? And would they require more than an i5 450?

 

The model number is INTEL SSDSA2M160G2HP.

 

Just to let you guys know. I'm having to send mine in for repairs already. (23 days old, JUST missed the 21 day cutoff for return unfortunately).

Mine was suffering from random restarts and a continuous on/off cycle that happened when it woke up from sleep or was turned on. Even with a hard reset or popping out the CMOS battery, I can't even get it to boot anymore without it entering this on/off looping. Mine also ran pretty hot after extended gaming (with an i5 and SSD), despite me holding it upright so nothing was obstructing the fan and the heat was able to rise right out of the top left vent. I think it might have to do with something getting damaged from overheating.

Just wanted to let prospective buyers know.

 

Some overclocking, bare in mind that it's about 30*C in my room so not the best place to do it.


43 avg fps

62*C

550/800 (default)

______________


48 avg fps

65*C

600/900

______________

50 avg fps

66*C

620/940

______________

53 avg fps

67*C

650/1000
__________

Anything over 650/1000 made the driver crash and hard reboot required.

Used FurMark for 100% GPU Usage and stability test, checked temps with both FurMark and GPU-Z. Overclocking was done with AMD GPU Clock Tool.

Be right back with FPS in BC2 and temps.

 

Bad Company 2 is pretty CPU heavy so it might use the extra 2 cores. Whether it uses effectively or not is another question.

According to this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...ould-envy-15-5830-play-bad-company-2-a-4.html

no.

 

Mine is stuck in Anchorage, AK too. It's been there since July 8. I called HP they gave me a 30 dollars credit. The guy who i spoke too was surprise that i knew that the reason for the delay was the missing documents. Still, This is the last time i order anything from HP.

Any update on yours?

 

Just arrived!! Booting them up side by side right now!

 

Please tell us about the heat on the left palm and all that jazz, would be good to get more input from SSD drives.

 

Okay, just done with some BC2 testing and I'm happy.

FPS during 120 secs benchmark every run, Min/Max/Avg fps at the bottom of every run;

Ran BC2 at default medium settings with bloom turned off and RenderAheadLimit=0

pastebin - Something - post number 1899240

Idle temps;



Two screenshots while running BC2;





I know the GPU shows 0% load but had GPU-z to log every seconds of the benchmarks so I will post the log too, max it went up to 61.5*C;

pastebin - Untitled - post number 1899248

 

Can already tell one difference. On the touchpad, on my original one, when you tap it, it's a sturdy well built thud sound. On the new one, it's a "banging" sound as if there is some seperation somewhere and plastics/metal are hitting each other. Sounds cheap.

 

Mine is still in AK as well. Might call HP again.

 

Yeah, touchpad is insanely fail, what's with those buttons, would have been better off just removing them or putting them "outside" the touchpad.

 

Well my original one is also a Dv6tSE. For some reason though it's certainly a little better built than the one I just received, as far as the touchpad goes. Trying to do a system image restore right now to make the 2 identical.

I don't hardly ever use the touchpad, as I have an external mouse, so it's not a huge deal, but it is kind of annoying.

 

Same here, could you post some benchmarks when you are done just so I can compare temps?

 

Is this due to faulty manufacturing? or is the SSD located in that area?

 

Man.. i talked to FedEx earlier in the morning and they told me that the agent working on the shipment hasn't received any new information/documents. I asked if there was a lag in the updating of information and she said the agent depending on their workload would update within the hour of receipt. It's funny the agent told me that the customs folks will pick out certain shipments to analyze and detain if they find anything wrong with paperwork.. guess ours was the lucky one.

So i just spent 30 minutes talking to the initial representative from HP, then the supervisor, then a specialist or whatever he was talking about. I asked him who was lying to me (1) HP already submitting the documents necessary for customs or (2) FedEx telling me that the agent working on the shipment hasn't received anything yet. He said he was escalating it to the managers and would call me back. I don't know if i would be happy with a $30 credit.. would mean i have to order something else, but they never offered me it!

Let's hope it get's updated soon because i think i have the same tentative receipt date for my laptop July 13 @ 4:35pm. I'm in Cali so hopefully it doesn't have to go to Memphis!

 

SSD is located I think to the left of the touchpad. I'm not sure exactly what the cause of it is. Like I said, for me it's not terribly bad, but it's just kind of annoying.

So far my system restore using Win7 backup utility has failed. It recognizes the system image, but won't restore from it. Not sure if that's because it's different hardware configs, or what?

 

I will call HP again tomorrow if there isn't any update on Fedex Tracking page. If you ordered 2 days business shipping, i hear HP will refund it. The HP guy did tell me that it takes 24hrs for customs to clear the shipment after the documents have been submitted though.
Im in CT so it shouldnt take that long to get to me from Alaska.

 

So I'm running a movie, installing bfbc2 and just cause 2, and youtubing some videos and my system is running at 84*C with a max of 88. Seems pretty hot, but I guess the limit is 105*C? It seems pretty hot, but I have no way to know for sure since my last laptop was an alienware m11x that ran at 50-60*C max.

The left touch pad thing doesn't really bother me, but it's kind of weird that the right side is cold to touch and the left is warm lol.

 

That temp worries me. 88*C is just too close to the fail temp for me. My DV2225nr has a fried video card due to it running at 70-85*C thanks to a horrible heatsink design by HP.

I was nervious to order an HP, but I loved the DV6T and was hoping with the metal body and new design it would have better cooling.

When I took apart my DV2225 to upgrade the processor, I was shocked by the cooling system they used. The Heatsink didnt even fully contact the video chip! Which lead to its failure.