HP dv6t-7000, recommended?

Hello everyone,
I was looking to buy a new laptop over the summer to prepare for when I return to campus. I currently own a dv5 but wanted to spend more on my laptop this time to double as an entertainment device while in school.

I thought it would be best to post such a topic here, where there are more people who actually own the HP dv6t-7000 which is the laptop I was looking to buy soon. With the discounts out currently, now seems like the perfect time to decide whether to pick it up so I just wanted some first hand experiences from the users here.

Some key things I'd like to point out or ask:
1) Going for the 650M GPU but when I play games I prefer performance over visuals. So I don't mind playing on low as long as it runs smooth. That being said, I plan on having it last me for 3-4 years, does this seem possible?

2) Most likely not going to get the 1920x1080 resolution. I feel the extra $150 isn't worth it for me. I know the added pixels will deplete the battery quicker and I don't care for playing games at the highest resolution possible. I will also have an HDTV in my room. With this in mind, have I made the logical decision when straying from the higher resolution?

3) How is the heat handled on this laptop? Most of the time when I play a game it will be on a desk or some type of platform; At times though I might have it sitting on my lap while I play. Should I be concerned about anything overheating thus having to pay for repairs or a new laptop? When I do set it on my lap though, I make absolutely sure the vent isn't obstructed or anything.

4) Perhaps the most concerning since I'm wanting a 3-4 year lifespan, I know this laptop just came out around May so has anyone encountered any problems? I know I could look at the owner's thread to look but I was hoping someone off the top of their head could recall an incident without me having to search through such a huge discussion. If not I can always check the thread regardless.

That's about all the topics I can think of right now, the critical ones anyway. I appreciate any replies and if I have any other concerns I'll post them here.

 

Imgdho the heat is too much. You should look into an ultrabook. If you don't care about image quality any Intel integrated graphics will play any games if the settings are low enough. The new hp sleekbooks are pretty nice.

 

Thanks for the recommendation but the Ultrabooks are way too much for my budget. The dv6t-7000 looks like it gives a lot of bang for my buck. Is the heat a lot even for ordinary use such as browsing?

 

Yeah the i7 gets hot on the processor spot enough to not want it in your lap.

 

Here we go. Just my .02, this has been my experience so far.

 

Going with the GT 650M is the better choice. On that note, make sure that you get the 1GB version of the GT 650M, not the more expensive 2GB version. The extra memory will not become necessary on a GPU of this level.

You shouldn't buy an HP DV6t Quad Edition in any configuration that includes the stock 1366x768 display, unless you require its larger text for eyesight-related reasons.

The upgrade 1920x1080 display that is offered with the DV6 is a particularly good display in terms of its contrast, viewing angles, and how much you can fit onscreen. But the issue is more than missing out on a good display, it's about how terrible the alternative is. 15.6" 1366x768 displays, such as the stock display that comes with the DV6, make things onscreen large and tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast. It is recommended to avoid buying laptops that come with this type of display to those who have a budget that allows them to get a laptop that has a better display and at the same time suits their needs.

Do yourself a favor and do not get the 1366x768 display.

Commonly cited reasons against getting the higher resolution displays are most often myths or misconceptions.
- Power drain: At identical brightness settings (identical light output), there should be a negligible difference in power drain between the 1366x768 and 1920x1080 display options. And any theoretical noticeable power consumtion difference will not be enough to warrant the loss in multitasking ability and image quality.
- Game performance at native resolution: You can always lower to a non-native resolution to improve game performance, but you cannot increase your multitasking and productivity workspace size outside of gaming. In addition, games tend to look better running in a non-native resolution on a 15.6" 1920x1080 display than they would look running in native resolution on a 15.6" 1366x768 display, due to the significant difference in contrast and overall image quality that typically exists between these two classes of displays.
- Would rather upgrade processor: This stems from the misconception that the processor is one of the biggest bottlenecks in your system, but in reality most users do not need more than the stock processor offered with a laptop. Gaming is bottlenecked primarily by the GPU (graphics) and less by the CPU (processor). Basic usage (Email, Office, etc.) is not limited by modern processors; slowdown experienced during basic usage is more often a disk speed bottleneck. Tasks such as video editing that do benefit from a faster processor also require a good display just as well. Even in cases where the processor will affect you, an upgrade to the processor will only affect specific parts of your usage whereas the difference between typically-available displays will affect every part of your usage.
- External monitor: Unless you will rarely or never use the internal display of your laptop, having an external monitor is not a reason to buy a laptop that comes with a poor display. An external monitor is not portable like a laptop is, and cannot be brought to class with you or travel with you. In addition, both a laptop's internal display and external monitor can be used at the same time in an extended desktop setup.

 

Agreed, you should get the 1080p display. The 768p one looks like garbage. Terrible contrast and it's glossy.

If you want the notebook to last 3-4 years, I would look into getting a sager np6165 (15", ivy bridge with nv 650m). Better build quality (or at least more consistant) build quality than HP, and you can easily access the heatsinks to repaste and clean them out when they start getting clogged with dust a couple years down the line.

The downsides are that it's slightly more expensive and doesn't have a backlit keyboard.

 

1) Going for the 650M GPU but when I play games I prefer performance over visuals. So I don't mind playing on low as long as it runs smooth. That being said, I plan on having it last me for 3-4 years, does this seem possible?
- I can foresee playing games at 1366x768 for a few years, but with lower visuals as the years go by.

2) Most likely not going to get the 1920x1080 resolution. I feel the extra $150 isn't worth it for me. I know the added pixels will deplete the battery quicker and I don't care for playing games at the highest resolution possible. I will also have an HDTV in my room. With this in mind, have I made the logical decision when straying from the higher resolution?
- Unlike most people, I stuck with the 1366x768 resolution. Yes, it's glossy and is of worse quality than the 1080p screens, but I decided I didn't want 1920x1080 on a 15.6 inch screen. I don't use my laptop outdoors, and the screen has not been a noticeable problem for me, but that's a matter of personal opinion. I know there's others who would not be able to stand the sight of this screen.

3) How is the heat handled on this laptop? Most of the time when I play a game it will be on a desk or some type of platform; At times though I might have it sitting on my lap while I play. Should I be concerned about anything overheating thus having to pay for repairs or a new laptop? When I do set it on my lap though, I make absolutely sure the vent isn't obstructed or anything.
- I previously explained how the heating went for me on this laptop to someone, so I'll copy and paste it here.
"Originally, I had max temps of 105C while playing BF3, which really is unacceptable. So I bought the U2 Coolermaster notebook cooler, and the max temp became 95C. I disabled turboboost by setting maximum CPU usage to 99%, and my max temp while playing BF3 became 85C, but it usually just fluctuated around 80C. However, what I've noticed is that the laptop's fans are not going full speed when it's at 80C when I have the cooler's fans turned on. However, when I unplug the cooler's fans, the temperature stays the same as it was before (~80C), but the laptop's fan start going much faster. I guess the default protocols that are controlling the fans consider 80C to be within normal operating parameters.

Also, on a side note, having the laptop cooler really helped with my idle temps. Since the cooler is slanted up, it allows for better airflow, as otherwise the laptop would be sitting directly on the desk (I have the 6 cell battery). I had CPU idling temps of almost 60C without it, but it stays around 45C with it."

4) Perhaps the most concerning since I'm wanting a 3-4 year lifespan, I know this laptop just came out around May so has anyone encountered any problems? I know I could look at the owner's thread to look but I was hoping someone off the top of their head could recall an incident without me having to search through such a huge discussion. If not I can always check the thread regardless.
- Some people had some problems with the beats audio, as it was sort of messing with their sound. I had the problem at first, but I solved it by going on he beats audio menu, switching the sound output from he music category to movies, then messed with the settings which cleared up the audio for me.

 

I don't see this mentioned much here, but have you ever considered a Squaretrade warranty? It's a 3 year warranty for about $120 and even cheaper if you apply coupons. All laptops are pretty fragile and prone to damage due to heating, moving around with it, and accidental damage so if you get an extended warranty then it'll put your reliability concerns to rest.

 

Thanks everyone for the extremely detailed feedback; you all have really given me some invaluable feedback that will definitely go into consideration during my purchase.

That was the typical thing I read as well (About the left palmrest issue). Sadly, I wish I hadn't read about it because I might not have noticed it when it ends up in my possession but now more than likely I will take extreme awareness of the temperature on that area.

I know I can easily search this up, but from your experience are there any cooling pads you recommend? Affordable, quiet, durable, and most obviously, able to efficiently cool the laptop?

I appreciate the time you took to aggregate and breakdown all the misconceptions about the higher resolution. It's a tough choice for me deciding, especially when I think I'm certain of one option I go back to the other. At $150, I'm really on the fence. I know I want to use this laptop for 3-4 years so it should make it look as damn good as possible. Then again, even while others say there is a noticeable difference that can't be ignored might not affect me to the degree of those others. Again, money is the big issue because with the $150 I can spend it on things like books.

Thanks for the recommendation, but if I'm already hesitant to spill out an extra $150 for a resolution upgrade, I don't think there's anyway I'd be willing to put more funds into another laptop especially when people are encouraging the higher reoion. Plus, I like the look of the dv6 considering my major is in business. It's not that the Sager exterior looks unprofessional, I just think the HP looks classier. Obviously this is a matter of opinion.

As expected, and I'm totally fine with that. Thank you for the speculation.

I was in the same mindset as you are and I'm glad there was at least someone on these forums who didn't felt the need of the higher resolution was mandatory. The multitude of comments suggesting that it was requirement was making me doubt myself and believe that I was EXTREMELY limiting my purchase. As a double edged sword though, this does make my decision even more difficult. Thanks for the insight.

I asked someone above and I know I can easily search this but based on your experience are there any laptop coolers you recommend? Affordable, durable, quiet, and obviously, has the ability to effectively keep it cool? A cooler that wasn't too large would also be a plus but wouldn't matter to much since I will only be using the cooler in my room and not carrying it around.

Thanks for posting information that no one else had really mentioned. The $120 does sound worth it for my needs, especially considering if I don't drop $150 for the resolution upgrade. You said "accidental damage" so I guess it covers such things like if I were to drop it? Honestly, I'm extremely careful with all my belongings. I always take the extra step to ensure nothing will break such as if a drink is by my laptop I will IMMEDIATELY move one or the other. I haven't dropped my 2 year old iPhone once and I'm surprised almost everyone who has a cell phone has dropped it at least 5 times.

I'm more concerned about damages relating to long term usage or internal system problems over time so will those can you tell me if those will be covered? If not I can look it up.

 

Depending on which coupon codes are available, the 1920x1080 display upgrade may end up only being an equivalent to a $100 upgrade when you compare the before and after prices.

Either way, it generally isn't a good idea to buy a laptop upwards of $800 that comes with a 15.6" 1366x768-resolution display unless you require the larger text for eyesight-related reasons. There are many sacrifices you can make that will affect you less than the sacrifice from 1920x1080 to 1366x768 will.

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Before considering buying the DV6t Quad Edition in any configuration that includes the stock 1366x768 display, consider the AMD-equipped DV6z Quad Edition with the Radeon 7730M and the 1920x1080 display.

The cheapest configuration including both of these upgrades will be $699 after coupon code NBW7441.

The AMD Radeon 7730M is a bit behind the NVIDIA GT 650M, but the difference between the two GPUs probably will not affect you as much as the difference between the 1366x768 and 1920x1080 displays. You can lower in-game graphical settings if need-be, but you cannot as easily make up for the lost image quality and multitasking workspace.

Both of the offered CPU upgrades are better-priced for their associated performance gains than Intel processors tend to be, so you may be interested in the offered upgrades. The fastest CPU option (A10-4600M) is behind the Core i7-3610QM, but game performance will not be bottlenecked very much by the CPU when paired with a GPU of this class. Unless you have a specific need for a particularly fast processor, prioritize other things first.

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But if you do need to get the Quad Edition, then the mimimum configuration of the HP DV6-7000 that I would recommend in the majority of cases would be the base model + the 1GB GT 650M GPU upgrade + the 1920x1080 display upgrade. Such a configuration will be $949 after coupon code NBQ5952

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EDIT: You can get the GT 650M and a Core i3 for $829 after coupon code NBW7441 here: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ation.do?destination=review&config_id=7273850. Add the Core i5 if necessary, and it's ~ $899.
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Whoa I didn't even see the option to choose the other processors last week I checked, do those other ones still have the ivy bridge? The one I saw only had i7 available as an option, so I must've been either looking the select or quad edition.

It's late and I'm super tired but just skimming through it the two differences I spot from the one I saw and the other is the wider options of processors and that I can only choose the 2GB version if I upgrade to the 650M. Not too sure how quad, select, and regular really differ other than that unless someone can clarify.

So this brings me to a couple questions:
1) Should I still stick with the one I was looking at? Specifically the i7 core. This is keeping in mind that I want to do gaming and want the laptop to last at least 3-4 years.

2) Not sure the differences in specific models of i7's and i5's, will the cheapest one of each tier suffice?

That's all the questions I can think of now under fatigue, if I think of more I'll post here. (Also, don't want to go for the dv6z. I like the intel cores. Again, I want to save money but don't want to be cheap, you do get what you pay for after all).

 

Get the i7 if you want your computer to last 3-4 years. The lowest tier will do, there's only a ~10% difference as you move up tiers.

 

I haven't tried it yet since I just ordered it and it has to be shipped here, but the Cooler Master Notepal U2 seems to be a good idea because of its modular fans setup (make sure you'll be getting the one with the fans, though) and it can also double as sort of a rollcage for the laptop when it goes into my backpack sleeve.

 

It isn't going to matter very much whether you have Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge. If the only performance intensive requirement of yours is gaming, then the GT 650M GPU is almost always going to be the bottleneck before the CPU, regardless of how many years from now a certain game is released, assuming games increase linearly in GPU-intensivity and CPU-intensivity. Focus on getting a decent GPU and a decent display, because those are what will affect you the most.

Some games take more advantage of the CPU than others, (e.g. GTA4, RTS games). If you believe you will also benefit from a processor upgrade, then you can pay more to get a faster processor, but make it additional to the GT 650M and 1920x1080 display and not instead. It is worse to have a 15.6" 1366x768 display than it is to have a Core i3 or i5 SB.

When people claim that their laptop is "old and slow" it often has little to do with their CPU performance. It more often has to do with disk speed, disk fragmentation, and (in some cases) background processes. For example, I ran an old Core 2 Duo P8600 in my Dell M4400, and the CPU was not a bottleneck for daily tasks. Disk speed was though. I upgraded to a QX9200 for multithreaded software development purposes, and did not notice a performance difference for daily tasks.

 

Awesome, thanks for the advice.

Sounds good, thanks for the recommendation; I'll be checking it out soon. Also, would you mind letting me know how you like the laptop/what your experience is? I can message you if that's okay with you of course. If not, thank you for responding to this thread regardless.

Thanks, I'll keep this in consideration. I mean I also enjoy a faster processor for doing multiple tasks which are quite common in my accounting classes or other projects. Likely I won't be giving up the i7 but I will try my best to keep my decision to get the higher resolution if the money allows it. Again, I still haven't bought my books for the next semester so I must carefully think this out.

 

I could, no problem. You could send me a message on what you want to know about my thoughts with the laptop. I can't really sit down as of now, but I'll get back and reply as soon as I see your message. Just let me know.

 

If you are looking for multitasking, it's still better to hold the display to priority over the processor. The higher resolution display makes more of a difference for multitasking than the processor does, because it affects how many applications and windows you will be able to fit onscreen at a time.

It is not likely that a SB Core i3 or Core i5 will pose issues for multitasking with basic applications. My Core 2 Duo P8600 had no issues running numerous applications at a time because the performance bottleneck was disk speed. A Core i3-2350M is already considerably faster than any mobile Core 2 Duo.

Another way to think about it is: Essentially any CPU and dedicated GPU you select in a new laptop will be a quantum leap over what you had in your previous system. But if you aren't careful to make sure that you get a decent display, you will have a similar or worse display than you had previously.

If you have the money for both, and can benefit from the processor upgrade too, then go for both. But if you need to sacrifice one of them, then you should sacrifice the processor before sacrificing the display.

When given the choice between two systems that are identical in every regard with the exception that one has a Core i5 and the other has a Core i7, in that case it is essentially a no-brainer to choose the Core i7 model. But there are significantly more issues at stake in this case involving component differences (15.6" 1366x768 display / 15.6" 1920x1080 display) that are going to affect you more than the differences between available processors.

 

The cooler I have is a Coolermaster U2. For more information on coolers for your dv6, you should read this thread. http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...king-best-notebook-cooler-their-dv6-dv7s.html

 

Main concern involves two related subjects: The processor/core and heat.

1) As I said before, when I was previously browsing through the options for the dv6t-7000 I didn't see an option to switch from the quad core. Now, I believe the most demanding task I will be doing is gaming. Keep in mind though, I do want this laptop to last for the next 3-4 years. I don't mind gaming on low quality as long as the performance is smooth.

I do want to know if the trade-off for a quad core is heat. I don't want simple tasks like browsing the internet and such to end up extremely heating the laptop thus decreasing the life expectancy. If heat isn't a trade off, I would HAPPILY go for both the quad core and the higher resolution. Based on the things I described (Being able to game, life expectancy of laptop regarding performance from processor, heat being a possible trade off, etc), can/should I still go for the quad core? If not, which processor/model/core should I go for?

2) Despite of there being a trade off or not, I am still buying a quad core. In my opinion, I do not think I game for long periods of time. With school, I will only be able to play on Fridays and Saturdays. I do expect to play for a maximum of 4 hours though. Obviously over the years when summer rolls around the frequency will increase a bit but not the duration (Likely will play more on the weekdays and Saturday, but no more than 4 hours in one sitting). From the situation I described, does this sound like it could pose a heat problem or one on my laptop's life expectancy?

 

Heat/battery life isn't a problem if you're just browsing the internet because the cores are just idling anyway. If you look at this review, there was no pretty much no difference in power consumption between a Sandy Bridge dual vs quad. The quad will be hotter for gaming, but that's because of the extra performance you're getting.

Honestly though, even if the processor isn't a problem, HP build quality will probably be. All 3 of my friends and myself have all had some sort of hardware problem in a year of owning a DV6-6100. I suggest getting an extended warranty if you really want HP.