*HP dv7t Quad Edition (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

To IXinchnail - I'm glad to hear you got a $50 credit as opposed to a coupon you don't want, but you were lied to. When I called I was offered a $40 credit in addition to the $50 coupon I never received. I made the same arguement about the coupon and I hung up with a $90 credit. Since my order was $899 (before tax) after the same coupon pair, that amounts to an additional 10 percent off. I complained that some people used a $500 off coupon, so between my $400 coupon and the $90 adjustment, that's close enough.

As for actually keeping it, that will depend on numerous factors upon its arrival. I'm a "one dead pixel and it's going back" kind of guy, so we shall see. I'm hoping for the best though.

 

I just received my order. There are two major issues for me. First the screen, second the loud popping sound when booting/shutting down. IMHO, the screen on this thing is crap.

PROBLEMS SO FAR:

1) Laptop makes terribly loud pop sound when starting and shutting down. Very annoying. Tried updating audio drivers but that didn't work. Any ideas? I found this page on HP that says you cannot do anything about it except replace your hardware cause it's crap quality.
2) Laptop makes small but noticeable annoying beep/wine occasionally during usage.
3) Crappy screen. Terrible viewing angles just as one guy said. My 4 year old Gateway is better. Looks ok when browsing bright colored sites like this one, but anything dark it looks like complete crap and very hard to watch a good HD video on.
4) I REALLY hate the small arrow keys.

Unless I can resolve the sound pop issue, I might jump ship to the Alienware M15x.

 

I emailed the CEO and some other corporate guys there and tried to get more than the $50 discount, and they replied back giving me only the original $50 (plus the $50 coupon which seems worthless).

Anyone find anything good to buy with the $50 coupon?

 

sooo.... Is this laptop great?
i mean im planning to buy this laptop..
what do they mean by the infinity display?
and whats the common problem with this laptop?
which one better? this laptop or dell xps studio 16?

 

That seems to be a recurring trend in laptops these days--crappy screens. Is it that LCD manufacturers aren't making any good ones (doubtful), or the manufacturers are choosing the bottom of the barrel panels?

To me, the LCD is the most important interface to a computer. Even the ultra-expensive Dell Adamo has, in my opinion, a junk LCD--the kind that if you move your head AT ALL, the screen goes dark and blacks have that "backlit black" look to them.

Fortunately, the guys getting the dv8t QUAD's (which is what I'm getting) say the LCD looks great. I did see a dv7t QUAD at Best Buy over the weekend, and I have to say it looked pretty good. Maybe HP is using multiple brands of panels in the dv7t Quad??

Anyways, if the LCD sucks, send it back!

 

As an update to whomever may be interested. I did order a preconfigured one from Amazon on the 11th which was delivered on the 12th. More harddrive and ram and only about $140 more. I guess the upside is that I already have the computer and I love it. I don't have a keyboard problem and am happy with the display, though it indeed does have a somewhat limited viewing angle. In my case I was going for a desktop replacement. Ultimately it will spend most of it's life closed under my desk with a external monitor. The i7 Quad is great, gives me a 'windows experience of 6.0 which is just fine for me. FYI, what I ordered from Amazon is model dv7-3080us.

On the down side, I called to cancel my BF order on Monday and after much runaround and 2 calls (61 minutes and 73 minutes) they claim they will attempt to cancel. I suspect they will ship it anyway hoping that once it is in my hands I will want to keep it. But after I explained that I had already bought and received my order from Amazon and that it was an HP they seemed more willing to try to cancel. We will see, my status is still listed as estimated to ship on the 9th, with my delay email saying the 18th.

 

I believe they all come with the remote whether you ordered the integrated tuner or not. Useful in navigating media center etc. Remote stores in the pcexpress slot. Nifty is what I have to say.

Jon

 

My Dec. 9th order delayed to the 18th now has a tracking number when I check the order status. It's still too early for any actual tracking info to be displayed, but at least it's put together and in a box somewhere! Hopefully the shipping gets upgraded to 2 day like it's supposed to. I may get my Merry Christmas present to me in time after all.

 

Thanks Jon.

 

I'm in the same position as IXinchnail. My status has changed to "shipped" but its too early to track it.

I have an inquiry for everyone here who complains about the viewing angles in a screen. For the life of me I don't understand your problem / arguement.

Say you put your laptop on a desk, and when you walk away from it to get a snack, you notice the picture isn't as clear and you get that "negative" effect if you walk a few feet to either side. Yet if you're sitting right in front of it, or it's smack in your lap, the screen should be fine.....so what exactly is the problem? What does it matter if the "side viewing angle" isn't perfect??? Do you plan on sitting several feet to the side when you use it, as opposed to right in front of you as you're supposed to?

People seem to have this issue with certain televisions as well. All is well when they're in front of it (however many feet away), but they complain about the viewing angles when they leave the room. What am I missing here? As long as the screen on this laptop looks fine for *me* while I'm sitting in front of it, either at a desk or on my lap, the screen should be fine. I would appreciate if anyone who has a problem with viewing angles, particularly with this particular laptop, would enlighten me.

 

Any info on the popping sound coming from this when booting/sleeping/shutting down?

I guess I'll have to send mine back cause this sound is really annoying.

 

I canceled my order on the 12th and today the 16th it gets shipped. Those damn HP people really making me angry and are going to make me wait at least another half an hour on the phone to tell them to return the stupid order. I really am so frustrated to the point that i was writing the f word a couple times here (because of the forum rules can't use it).

Those HP are going to get a lecture of their life. I am even going to even going to mention their mothers if necessary. Damn!

 

If money wasn't such a factor for the majority of everyone here, we could all just go to a local retailer and buy the snazziest laptop they have along with a three year warranty and not bat an eye. Unfortunately that's not the case and we're looking to get the best value for the specs as we can. That means instead of a Mac, "Alienware" XPS, it's a dell or HP. That means dealing with their customer service over the phone and numerous other headaches. At this point I'm *over* my enthusiasm towards a laptop and may just return it without opening the box. I've lived without a laptop this long, so all I'm really getting is an expensive toy I've managed to live without thus far.

 

Hey, can you check your tracking status because mine hasnt updated at all, matter of fact it comes up as "NOT FOUND"

Thanks

 

Hey, can you check your tracking status becasue mine hasnt updated at all, matter of fact it comes up as "NOT FOUND"

Thanks

 

My dv8t has the popping too. but it started only was after i did a clean win 7 install. It went away after i installed some of the hp drivers. just fyi

 

I'll try a clean install and see what happens. Thx

 

Hi all, I was wondering for all those who had a Dec 9 ship date and a subsequent delay ship date till Dec 18, did you call HP to upgrade to 2 day shipping for the delay?

 

It's the middle of the night in China right now. Check status tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll all have some real info then.

Supposedly all delayed orders are automatically upgraded. We'll see.

 

It is extremely frustrating but I was taught a long time ago to always be patient, and you will be rewarded. I ordered black Friday and got loaded for $924.00 plus tax. Always was to ship 12/9, well then 12/9 ande delayed. I called and on top of $50.00 gift certificate to be mailed, got $25.00 off charge (a credit and already submitted). The new date was the 16th. This am received email delayed again, would ship the 18th. I called again and this time received a $75.00 credit , which has again already been submitted. Now I am at $824.00 plus tax. Just now, I received another email and laptop has shipped with a Fed X #. I am not sure what HP is doing but I can't complain for what I end up paying, tax and all less than $900.00 and I will easily have before the Holiday. I was frusutrated but waited, called and was nice and they in turn were nice to me. I am glad I didn't cancel and wanted to let some know it can work out and patience sometimes gives something back.

 

I was told that when it *did* ship, if it was after any delays it would be 2-3 day "expedited" shipping, so if that's true I should receive my system no later than Friday. Here's to hoping I fall in love with it and all is well as opposed to discovering a poor screen, dead pixels, a flexing keyboard, and popping sounds.

 

haha... looks like reading these forums aren't making happy endings lol
I remember reading the dv6t-quad forums. They made me so depressed that I returned my dv6t to get the dv7t quad's BF deal... Now as I speak, I find that the dv7t quad's forum is better but still depressing. But aw wells.... I canceled my dv7t-quad order to get the dv8t =D Their forum is not depressing at all- in fact I am so anxious to get it. Christmas Day!!!

 

ME TOO

 

awesome!!! Did you actually switch from the dv6 to dv7 to the dv8 like me? Because I went on a mad wild goose chase =D As wells, I have a pwnage laptop now atleast

 

I am new here and just received my dv7t quad. There is a little flex on the left side of the keyboard and I was wondering if there were detailed instructions anywhere on how to remove it. I thought I may be able to fix it somehow.

 

Kinda, went from HDX 16, to a delayed Dell Studio XPS 16 to the DV7t Quad to the Best BUy DVD7t quad and now to the DV8t Quad.

When I received my DV7t quad it had the same problem. Someone on here claimed to have fix this by opening up the keyboard them self. I wouldn't recommend I simply would return it ASAP. This is not right, I originally thought that this was part of the design until I tried the DV7t quad from Best Buy and it was fine.

 

I'll probably be sending mine back cause I just pulled the trigger on my first Alienware i7 M15x.

Base model with 4GB RAM - Total w/shipping & tax = $1,276.34

 

Can't wait. Getting mine on the 18th!

 

Sweet confirmed delivery 19th of December !!!

Question how many DVD's do I need to re-allocate the recovery partition ??

and is everyone loving their laptop ??

 

I don't get it! One person says the keyboard can be fixed and another person says it is a design flaw. If its a design flaw, then sending it back for another one is not going to help. It seems someone also said that he got a dv7t quad at Best Buy and it didn't have the keyboard problem.

 

Just got it today! (1 day early according to fedex delivery date!)
For those curious about shipping: Mine arrived in Alaska less than two days before it got delivered in RI. Not bad IMO...

So a few little things, I *think* i heard the pops when I started the computer up.. honestly I don't see the big deal.. I'll listen closer next time I restart my computer but I really don't see this ruining the computer for me. Seriously, its just a pop... unless your lugging a 17.3" entertainment notebook on a spy mission.. it's not the end of the world...

Keyboard:
First thing I looked for was the keyboard flex... Yes, mine flexes a little unfortunately. Would I have noticed it if it wasn't pointed out to me? Probably not, and certainly not right away. I won't be returning it over the keyboard issue because I just dont see it interfering with my use of the machine in the least, and I think after using it for a few days i won't even think of it. I opened up notepad to type random sentences and my typing wasn't impacted AT ALL. I like the keyboard a lot, actually. I will likely still call HP to try and get some sort of compensation out of them for the problem though, because although I'm not going to go through the trouble of returning it, I still think its unacceptable considering the cost of the machine. 50$ would honestly be more than enough IMO to compensate. I'll buy a nice wireless keyboard with it, lol.



No dead pixels! Kind of a crapshoot there, though..

Screen:
Seriously, I think the screen is fine. I can read text from 170 degrees, and the screen looks good at worst from any reasonable angle you or a friend might be sitting in front of the computer at... If your really that irked by the viewing angles, spend 150 bucks on a nice big 1920x1080 monitor... for the black friday price this machine went for, I have no complaints. I have the non-infinity display btw.

Overall I'm pretty happy and I'm excited to play around with it more this weekend! Good luck to the rest of you with shipping and keyboards and such!

 

Regarding "pops' on bootup... My speakers are quiet during bootup except for system sounds. What is louder than I would expect is the optical drive clunks couple of times when searching for a disk which is quite noticeable. I don't feel that this is abnormal though.

 

Just thought I'd give some information on my experience thus far:

Ordered the laptop 12/7 with the $200 off coupon, with a "will be built by" date of 12/17.

Received FedEx shipping notification on 12/12, which didn't have any information until 12/14, when it bounced around 3 nameless locations in Shanghai, China.

Arrived in Alaska on 12/16, and left Alaska on 12/15 (I got the BluRay + Time Travel upgrade drive apparently! )

It's currently in the local "processing center" in NJ still on schedule to get here tomorrow by EOBD.

I find it bizarre that some of you that ordered before me were delayed PAST my delivery date. How the heck are they managing to screw up that badly??

All in all my experience thus far has been positive. Sure I'd have liked the machine to get built and delivered sooner, but all things considered 5 days from China isn't outrageous.

I'm anxious to see what the keyboard flex will be like, but like wfallon mentioned even if it does flex I'm not sure if it would have been noticeable without it being pointed out in this forum.

This will be replacing a ~7 year old Dell Latitude D505, so I'm not sure I have as impressive as machines to be comparing it to:
1.5mhz Pentium M
14.1" screen (I think..) Some of the viewing surface is obscured slightly by the massive amounts of duct tape holding it on since both hinges broke.

The most "recent" game I've been able to play was GTA:SA on bare bones settings. I'm looking forward to being able to play something current and actually have it look nice!

 

Mine has been shipped and in Alaska. It shipped yesterday arrived in AK today, and should arrive by the 22nd for me.

Im still pissed but they did honor their expedited shipping. Now i still have yet to receive my $50 credit after it was shipped, but i will call back about that. because i have a reference number.

 

Mine says shipped 12/16 with the tracking number. The tracking Number still says not found.

 

YEAH! Me two. they said they have an issue with FedEx and they are negotiating with them. check back within 24 hours

 

So is our stuff just sitting somewhere doing nothing, or are things just not getting updated?

 

My computer took a full 2 days for the tracking number to even be recognized by the FedEx website.... YMMV....

 

not getting updated. it definateley shipped

 

I dont know if HP is doing this on purpose. Just issue a Tracking Number a day before the estimated ship date, even though the product is not ready. So that no one can claim $50 off or expediated shipment for delayed shipment.

 

Hey guys, I ordered mine on Dec. 16th and it says it will ship Dec. 28th. With the problems everyone went through I think I am just going to set my hopes for about Feb.1st. But if does come on time will start the New Year off right! Also for everyone that receives their new laps today give me an update on the flexy keyboard because I’m nervous!

 

FYI... New BIOS firmware has been released for dv7t quad on HP website.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=4063&product=4011370

 

krips, thanks for the post!!

 

I just received my unit on Monday and was headed out of town Tuesday, so I just did some super-quick unloading of some of the bloatware and installation of Skype for my wife, but I did notice the popping/clicking on boot, too. I think I ran the HP update checker and loaded the available Win7 updates, but otherwise didn't have time yet to look further for new/updated drivers. I should be home Saturday PM to play with it further.

I'm curious if your clean install fixes it or if you find another solution.

 

I was just looking at some pics in this thread.... is the Fingerprint reader off to the right of the machine, NOT between the two mouse buttons??

If I'd known that I would have gotten it I figured it was between the buttons like on the laptops my Dad just got for his office -- made "middle mouse button" clicking (Mostly for FireFox tab opening/closing) impossible since I like to do it with my thumb on both (Yeah, fat fingers ) Every time I used one of those laptops I would hit the reader and bring up the password prompt!

Oh well, guess I'll have to be content living in the stone age and typing in my passwords

 

I haven't tried the clean install yet, but I have ordered an Alienware M15X for $1,275. So I'll be sending this back.

 

Okay well this is my first post from the new laptop... one question though:

How the heck do I make the left+right touchpad button = middle mouse click???

 

Laptop shipped today, arrival !!


Dec 18, 2009 2:27 PM
Departed FedEx location
ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 18, 2009 9:31 PM
Int'l shipment release
ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 18, 2009 11:39 AM
Arrived at FedEx location
ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 18, 2009 10:21 PM
In transit
SHANGHAI CN
Dec 18, 2009 8:43 PM
In transit
SHANGHAI CN
Dec 18, 2009 7:51 PM
Picked up
SHANGHAI CN
Package received after FedEx cutoff

Estimated delivery Dec 23, 2009 by 10:30 AM

 

For f$%s sake, After all the bull I've put up with so far, I was told that it would be shipped no later than the 18th and it would arrive within TWO - count them, T-W-O days, vis EXPEDITED SHIPPING.

So will someone please tell me why the &%#*$&@*&$@(@*% hell is my scheduled delivery date now the 23rd? Anyone? What kind of business is HP running??????

I was originally supposed to have this built and shipped by the 9th and arrive no later than the 14th through the 16th (standard 5-7 day shipping). I made plans for the 18th (today) that would involve ensuring I had the unit in hand beforehand. So I cancel my plans and re-schedule them for the 21st because my unit is going to be shipped by the 18th with *two* day shipping, and upon checking its going to arrive by the 23rd, or so I've been told. Once again its AFTER my already changed plans.

People need to plan their f#%@%% lives. I do NOT appreciate this. HP is screwing up all my holiday plans. When this pos arrives its going back immediately. I don't care about its pros or cons or anything else. I'm not even going to take it out of the damn box. I'm going to best buy and just buying something else. F%$^ HP.

 

Well I figured it out, and it was NOT as simple as just upgrading a driver. Seems like there are a ton of features that this touchpad can support that are for whatever reason not enabled by default?

Anyway I couldn't find a way to enable the "L+R" Button click to mimic a middle mouse click (which I use religiously in FF to open and close tabs) so after a bit of Google-ing I came across a fairly simple fix involving adding a single line to the Synaptics TouchPad registry entry:
(Using the 14.0.12.0 driver from here http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/15103-latest-synaptics-touchpad-drivers/)
.

All [sic]

Source:
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/25592-synaptics-touchpad-driver-14-0-10-0-released/