HP dv6z-SE User Review

I personally think that the 'z' is the best bang for the buck. You can can the dv6z SE with the AMD quad N930 and switchable 5470 for $820, which is $30 cheaper than the dv6t with 430M. The N930 is on the level of the i5-520/540M but significantly cheaper. Battery life is going to be about the same because the i5's and N930 both have the same TDP. And the 5470 will probably be enough for your needs.

 

u got my approval

im from asia so i must be careful to pull the trigger... almost no return capability )...

 

Happy to do it. I am curious myself and it won't cost me anything.

 

alright thanks. i have another question, but it is basically opinion.
i am really excited to get a laptop now, but i can wait until august to buy one. do you guys think that the prices will drop in the next month or so? cause if not i might just buy it now.

too bad the coupon for $100 off expired, other wise i would have gotten it.

 

Actually, the fact that the IGP is on the chip of the i5 means that it's included in that TDP, so the i5 and it's chipset have a much lower total TDP than the AMD CPU + chipset. This is the reason why the Arrendale-based computers generally have better battery life than the 25W Peryn-based machines.

 

True, I did forget about that. It isn't much lower, though. The 4250 doesn't draw much power as evidenced by the fact that the i5 versions of the dv6 are getting the same battery life as the AMD versions.

 

Good point. It makes me wonder if AMD has done the impossible and made mainstream mobile quad-core processing possible.

 

I don't think Intel HD's TDP is totally included in the TDP rating of the processor. Just because it was sticked beside the core to make it look like integrated does not mean its TDP is totally included in the TDP of Arrendale

That 35w could scorch to 50w or more when Intel HD is in used. Intel HD also increases its speed dynamically when needed. Do you actually think that Intel HD will only eat about 10w? In idle mode maybe YES but in load Id say NO.

 

That GPU is very low-powered, so it's not that much of a stretch. Even if you're right, I highly doubt it gets anywhere near 50W or else Intel would have been sued for false advertising by now. Maybe it would go up to 40W, but if the discrepancy were really as big as you're saying Intel might as well have excluded the GPU from the TDP to make it look better.

At any rate, the only way to know is through testing.

 

Take a look at these:

i3-540 Max TDP is 73w.










Sorry for the off-topic. Let's end it here.

 

Received my dv6 yesterday from Amazon with the Phenom II N930. The N930 and 5650 both idle at 52 degrees and when I tested it today with BC2, both were 75 degrees at load. Not sure how reliable that figure is since I had to alt tab to check.

Would anyone know of a program I can use to monitor cpu and gpu temps in game? Rivatuner doesn't seem to support it for the 5650.

 

HWMonitor works. Just open it and then check the max temps when you are done running whatever you want to run

 

Has anyone run the test with an i5 setup? I'd be interested in a comparison.

 

Yeah, that's what I've been using so far. I was hoping there was something like Rivatuner's OSD.

 

I don't think so but I haven't looked very hard, tbh. I use HWMonitor, CoreTemp, and GPU-Z and those are fine for me.

 

any news 'bout the N930 temp and battery life, especially in dv6 ???

have anyone tried the fusion utility from AMD website, i've heard of better power management

AMD Fusion Utility for Mobility

 

A user here told be that his idle temp was 45C and max temp was 64C and that he was getting around 3.5 hours of battery life.

 

I'll see if I can test battery life in the next few days. My idle temps went from 52 to 55 though with the 5650 selected.

 

Hello Prydeless,

I´d like to kwnon your impressions about 3050, I just order one from Amazon. Do you have some numbers?

Thanks in advance
Ivan

 

thanks for the details

 

FYI, I posted some pictures and look/feel impressions HERE.

 

I'm considering one of these. Can you please tell me, are the metal palm rests surface a smooth glide like surface(kinda like the metal on the old dell's xps m1530) or is it a non smooth like the apples metal palm rest surface?

 

There is a design etched into them so they aren't smooth. Tex's pictures show it pretty well.

 

Hello to the new owerns. I just recieved my dv6z se with the N620.

I am having a problem and would appreciate some help. My fan does not come on until CPU temp hits 55. Then it comes on very loud/fast for about 15seconds (until temp drops to about 50). About 45 seconds later the temp is back to 55 and the fan spins up again.

I've seen the quotes of 38-42 idle, so I'm wondering if the fan should be spinng at a slower speed when the laptop is at idle. Mine idels at 50-55.

Can someone check their fan at idle and let me know if it spins at all prior to 55?

Thanks,
Jay

 

When the computer starts press "Escape" to enter the BIOS and go over to the right. There is an option for "Fan Always On". It is supposed to come switched to "Enabled" but it sounds like yours isn't.

 

Gorgeous design with a decent build quality. There's slight flexing on the keyboard and along the edges of the touchpad if you put more than normal pressure on them. When I looked at the more detailed pictures on Newegg while waiting for mine to arrive, I noticed gaps along the edges of the lid where the aluminum and plastic are connected, but it looks okay and sealed in person. My only concern is the touchpad where there's enough space along the edges for dust to get in and it gets dusty fairly quickly where I live. Also, if I ever figure it out, I'd like to turn off the light for the hp logo on the lid - I find it a bit obnoxious.

As far as the components go:
- Keyboard feels a little weird with the quick launch buttons on the left side, but I'll get used to it.
- The onboard audio and speakers are pretty weak compared to the ones on my previous laptop. The 3050 uses IDT while my previous one used Realtek which had more options for sound.
- The USB ports are pretty tight. I have to push and pull hard to get the cords in and out.
- Not a fan of 1366x768 screen on a 15.6" laptop for daily use and it would be a problem if I didn't have an external monitor.
- N930 and 5650 runs BfBC2 well at 30-60 fps under DX9 with no AA or AF and most other settings on High.

Overall I'm very satisfied with the 3050. I paid $775 + $24 shipping and there's only so much you can expect from a laptop at that price. The GPU and CPU are also the main reasons why I got this, and the only other laptop that compares is the Acer 5740g-6979 for $750 which sold out when I was looking to purchase.

As far as numbers, what are you looking for? I can't do the 3DMark ones though.

 

Well, my laptop was set to "fan always on" "enabled" when I recieved the laptop. HP service had me change it to off.

The problem with that setting is the CPU spins so fast and loud when its set to always on that it is un-bearable.

It's almost like my fan is missing any type of "stepping". It's either on full blast or off.

thoughts?

 

Have you set the System Cooling Policy in Windows Power Options to Passive? That way it will slow down the processor as opposed to turning on the fan. You could also set the Max Processor State to a lower level when you don't plan on doing anything intensive and/or you are on battery power.

And if you have the Fan Always On enabled and the fan is not spinning then there might be something wrong with your laptop.

 

Just had another thought... can you verify your BIOS revision? Maybe I have an old BIOS. I actually ordered back on 6/9.

Thanks!

 

I was just about to ask what BIOS you were using. I am using F.07, the current one available for download on HP's support page.

 

Could someone please let me know the screen ID?
to find it open device manager -monitors - generic PnP monitor -go to the details tab and choose hardware ID.

Thanks

 

Mine says "MONITOR\SAM058F"

 

thanks so much. rep on the way

 

lol thanks. Lemme know if you find anything in the neighborhood of 1680x1050.

 

you wont fit a 16:10 panel in it. I am going to try and get a 1600x900 panel.
My m15x has one and it is gorgeous, If I can get the same panel and fit it in the dv6 I would be a happy man.

The m15x is overkill for my needs so hoping I can get a dv6t and get rid of both the m11x and m15x

 

Thanks a lot!!!
I can´t wait to receive mine and do some tests!!!I´m really satisfied with this purchase once I also paid U$774 (free super saving ) for such configuration. Thanks for your impressions it´s was really useful!!!

I saw some reviews on N930, it´s on par with i5 430M, in some cases as fast as i5 520M. For me it´s enough. Thanks anyway!!!

Ivan

 

Since you guys are hunting for replacements screens, I read a disclaimer on one site that sells lcd's that something can happen where the ribbon cable / connectors / etc can burn up if you swap up to a higher res screen? I'm not afraid to try it, but if it's going to start a fire inside the laptop no game lol.

 

Alright, I managed to test the battery life today for the dv6-3050us. From startup to shutdown it's 2.5 hours with the 4250, balanced power setting, 60% screen brightness, wireless on, listening to Pandora the entire time at 50% speaker volume, surfing the web, and typing some stuff. I monitored the CPU activity and asides from a few spikes to 1.5 GHz, all 4 cores idled around 800 MHz. With 8% charge left on the battery indicator, the laptop slept and shutdown in succession.

A couple things that might have added to a shorter battery life is that I had to manually switch to the 4250 5 minutes after Windows loaded instead of being prompted immediately to switch. Also, the bluetooth wouldn't stay shut.



I didn't have any expectations for the battery life, but before I bought it I was figuring 3 hours at best so 2.5 hours doesn't disappoint me. After all, my C90S before this averaged 45 minutes on battery!

 

quick question

the dv6 3050us with 5650 ATI and N930 quad core


how much noise does this baby make under heavy load / while idling

 

according to prydeless's details, the quickship model come with normal battery (55Wh) while hi-cap 6 cell of abaddon is 62Wh, also the temperature and power consumption of N930 is a bit higher than N620 so that it has less battery life

ps: ahh and prydeless's test seemed to be more intensive than abaddon's

 

Power consumption shouldn't be too different, though. Prydless, could you check how many P-States the N930 has using K10Stat?

Aspire Gemstone: K10STAT AMD Griffin Processor UnderVolting Guide

You should be able to undervolt to reduce heat and increase battery a little as well. Your idle processor power consumption, 10.2 watts, is a little high. Mine is 3.05 at 800MHz, 8.87 at 1.4GHz, and 11.55 at 1.8GHz

 

So just follow this guide for undervolting?

 

Yeah. Judging by your current voltages you might be able to get a pretty good improvement, especially when using the lower P-States which would help with battery life.

 

Your temps are definitely a little high, prydeless. I just posted mine on the first page. What is your ambient temp?

 

I'm really not liking the battery life with the N930. I was expecting to to be similar to N620, but it doesn't look like that's even remotely possible from Prydeless's results.

 

I'm testing mine right now but it seems like it is going to get slightly less. I have been on for 1 hour and the battery has drained down to 72% so about 3.45-4 seems to be the magic number. Not surprising, though, as the idle/lowest P-state power consumption of the N930 is 9.75 watts for some reason. The N620 is only 3.05 watts.

 

Ambient temp? I'm not seeing that on HWMonitor.

 

Ambient = surrounding

 

Ah, had to look for something to measure it - 36 degrees Celsius.

Btw, when I'm undervolting, do I keep the min/max processor states always at 60% in processor power management for each P-State or am i supposed to change them for each one?

 

36 Celsius or Fahrenheit?

And when you are undervolting you should change the max processor state after every time you test a p-state. 40% when you want to test p4, 60% for p3, 75% for p2, 90% for p1, and 100% for p0.