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

Uh...Home for the Holidays, maybe? Remember? Christmas and the other various Winter Solstice celebrations?

 

No plastic on the screen when mine came. There was plastic on the top to protect the lid but not on the screen.

I guess many are out celebrating the annual end of year gift giving extravaganza.

 

Yeah I've been posting from my phone. But tomorrow I'll be posting on my DV8

A lot of people received without the plastic on the screen when they got theirs.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!! May your dv7 bring joy and happiness!!!

 

How on earth can HP not include the standard plastic screen protector???

My laptop arrived a few days ago, and I haven't even opened it yet due to the fear induced from this very forum. From screen flexing, popping, dead pixels, overheating, and now the very real prospect of giant fingerprints on a new screen......I may be over my head in thinking it was wise to go with a company along the lines of HP. Oh well. I suppose if it's going back for one reason or another, I'd better open up the box and find out why.

 

Alright, so I bit the bullet and opened the box. Here's my biggest gripe.

The screen SUCKS. This is washed out garbage. The black levels remind me of lcd's from five years back. And this is what qualifies for a high end model??? Or is the fact this isn't an "envy" mean that this series is now casual / consumer?

The screen is extremely washed out and the viewing angles are sickening. Is the dv8t the same? This is deplorable!

Just as bad is the audio. I installed foobar2000 immediately and something seems to be wrong with my speakers. The volume on the right speaker is FAR louder for ANY song I play. It's not a balance issue, and I poked around for half an hour trying to fix it through a setting with no luck. The green bar that jumps up and down when playing a track never reaches the top of the bar despite the fact everything is maxed out, and the only way I can tolerate the sound is if I set the left speaker to 100% and the right to about 70%. I would *really* like to know if anyone else has noticed this and is having the same problem. This system has altec speakers and I see the "SRS premium" sound icon, and this thing doesn't sound any better than my friends old inspiron (no sub, standard speakers, integrated sound).

So this is the "HP experience", eh? Good grief.

 

My speakers sound awesome IMO. Loud, and good quality for everything I've used them for so far. I may have lower standards but it sounds like the QC on these things might be a bit lacking .... I couldn't imagine comparing these speakers to my old inspiron - the sub makes a world of difference to me. Maybe you've got dud speakers?

 

I have to second that, I also had an inspiron and this audio is way better .My friend at work has a $1200 Viao and all he does is complain about his sound, he loves mine.( the audio seems to have a optimin listinging angle that seems to match the viewing angle) I was initially mad about the viewing angle but mine is a desktop replacement and the angle is more than wide enough for me to use comfortably.Ive seen better but once I calibrated the screen it looked alot better, movies ( especialy blue ray) look quite good.So I have to be a realist, this is alot of computer for a sub $1000 laptop thats pretty loaded. Did I really expect an 8 bit lcd panel here . I configured similar systems at dell and toshiba (as did most people here).As long as this computer dosnt break on me, I got a heck of a good deal here.

 

I wonder if HP is using a couple different manufacturers panels? Don't some say their screen is good? Like I've said before, I can tolerate many shortcomings in a notebook design, but not a bad quality screen.

The audio, in my opinion is relative. I've had (or have) notebooks with the most awesome sound (HP HDX "Dragon") and extremely lame audio (most small Dell notebooks). Heck, one of the Dell Studio series you couldn't even hear the speakers, even at maximum volume!

Now, during Black Friday/Cyber Monday I bought a couple dv8t's and a dv7t. I arranged to cancel the dv7t order and return, but of course, HP cannot manage a cancellation, so it shipped and I have it, but have not opened it yet. I sold both dv8t's (didn't want to sell both, but after reading the not-so-great reviews of it once people started getting them, I figured they're better off sold in a new, sealed condition). So, I'm left with this dv7t, still sealed in it's box. I suppose I should open it and check it out, but my Dell XPS 1640 is a really great notebook with a beautiful screen, nicely loaded/configured, and I'm not sure the dv7t (after hearing the problems here) is going to make me happy.

Still searching for the perfect Core i7 system...

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

 

I have the infinity screen, and there's a black advertisement that i'm staring at on the left side, and it is BLACK. It's the darkest black I've ever seen on a laptop screen. And the white font is jumping out at me. Absolutely no issues with the monitor, or viewing angles.

 

Just opened mine (Merry Christmas to me), and it has the fabric screen protector, not plastic, between the screen and the keyboard.

Did everyone get the fabric one?

 

The infinity screen is like the dell truelife screen option..
on the one hand it is pretty reflective but on the other hand contrast, sharpness and color is improved. I had truelife with my last dell so I was used to the reflective screen which is why I didnt hesitate with the infinity option .The viewing angle is not so hot...but movies look great .

 

Try playing a HD movie at night and see how terrible the contrast is on this screen. You can notice it big time on the lower part of my screen.

 

ok huge problem... well at least i think so...

just tried to play an xmas blu ray and hooked the comp to the tv via hdmi pressed fn f4 and nothing happened tv says no signal....

any ideas what i can do to get this working ?? appreciated

turbo

 

I agree. Colors are ok, but when there is a black screen, not only is the screen not black, but it is like looking through a portal--the center is dark but as you get further away from center towards the edges, it gets brighter.

That's assuming, of course, you keep your head perfectly still because the screen has such lousy viewing angles that if you move at all, the contrast/brightness changes.

I checked my panel in device manager, under Generic PnP monitor/detail tab/Hardware Ids dropdown and I have a LGD0227. I assume that is an LG panel? Anyone have something different?

 

I figured out the problem with why my max volume was so low, even turned all the way up. "equalization" was enabled by default. I still have the issue with one speaker being much louder than the other and having to correct it with an offset in balance.

Viewing angles and audio aside, I was most afraid of dead pixels, and I've apparently lucked out in that department. When I first turned it on I freaked out because it looked like I had three (dead and black, not stuck), but I used the small grey microfiber cloth HP provided and gently dabbed at them hoping they disappeared, and they did. They were just remnants from the thin piece of cloth between the keyboard and the screen, which acts in place of the standard plastic screen protector (which I would have prefered).

The only games I've installed are plants vs zombies and peggle. I'm about to install sometihng more graphically intensive and put this system through the motions. I'll report on my perspective when I have the chance. It may be a while though, Christmas and all.

 

Can you check your panel in device manager, under Generic PnP monitor/detail tab/Hardware Ids dropdown?
Someone complaining about his screen mentioned he has a LGD0227. Is HP might be using different panels? Lot of people habe complained about the panel how the colors look washed out and bad viewing angle.
I'd like to see what is your since you don't seem to have these issues? By the way do you have the infinite glossy screen?

 

My sincere thanks to krips2003 for their input on the display calibration tool. I'm completely new to windows 7, and the difference after tweaking is quite apparent. Thanks! I might just keep this thing after all.

 

Yes, mine is different. Mine is LGD0226 but i have no problem wit hthe colors or viewing from a different angle. Probably because i don't watch movies far away and most of the times i am in front of it. Also maybe because this is my second laptop so i don't know how better quality LCD look.

 

My monitor is also the LGD0226.

Vertical viewing angle is my greatest problem with this machine, and I haven't determined whether I will keep it. There is no possible view position in which the screen is uniform. If I look at the center of the screen, the top and bottom are lighter. Reducing monitor intensity helps but does not cure the problem.

 

I got the same. Is that screen protector intended for regular use or just as protection during shipping? I can see where this might be useful with an infinity display as the keys are very close to the display surface. But with a regular display, there's more of a gap and I'm not sure how the keys could contact the display.

 

Well I am fairly happy with my screen...It is not the infinity screen as I have the black raised bezel all around. I find it clear and very easy on my eyes. Also as a desktop replacement it will spend most of it's life under my desk with and external monitor. My hardware ids under device manager lists it as a "MONITOR\AUO109E". Now to be clear, I bailed on the BF computer after the delay...(sent it back to them on Thursday since they "couldn't" cancel it in time) and bought a prebuilt with more ram and hard drive from Amazon. Have had it for 2 weeks now.

 

Where can this tool be found??

 

Interesting. The biggest problem I see with my LCD is when the display is black. it's almost like the backlighting (which is supposed to be LED?) is too bright and bleeds from the top and bottom. Not to mention the viewing angles suck.

When in Windows with normal colors/desktops, it looks decent (not awesome, just decent).

Maybe others could chime in on which LCD they have and if they are happy with it?

 

Brightness is not the issue man, the screen is quite bright, but when you put brightness to 100%, the overall quality is reduced and there is like an additional layer of white light making it look washed out.

Calibrating the screen and the Nvidia parameter helped a lot but didn't solve the problem.

Ah, the volume on this laptop is not that great, or maybe requires some tweaking.

 

I use it daily to clean the keyboard and blueprints around the touchpad, and also if there is dust or dirt on your keyboard, the screen protector prevents it from making it to the screen. Everytime I close my laptop I put the screen protector first.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=431930&page=31

Propers to krips2003 for the monitor calibration tool info

It made mine look alot better ( now if we can only find the "increased viewing angle tool")

 

Yes my friend, the screen is washed out, and the viewing angle as you said is the worst it can get. Put the brightness to maximum, play with nvidia parameters and calibrate your screen gamma. It helps a lot.

I have exactly the same issue with sound, my right speaker sounds much louder than the left one. The problem seem to be solved by putting the balance settings you talk about, but the overall volume is decreased. I wonder if this is a defect?

 

Doesn't work for me. Did a reinstall of Windows 7 x64 and got everything working except this, and bluetooth.

As you stated, I downloaded and reinstalled the Quicklaunch Buttons and the Medasmart Smartmenu, but still, the touch buttons do not display the OSD icons for volume, mute or screen brightness.

Ideas?

Also, regarding BT, I have Bluetooth (supposedly, as I ordered it), but it is not in device manager, and I downloaded the BT support software and it doesn't seem to do anything when I run it. Is my BT disabled somehow? Do I need that HP wireless assistant stuff to turn it on?

 

Go to msconfig (Run > msconfig) then go to the startup tab and make sure the following are checked:

HP Mediasmart Menu
HP Quicklaunch buttons
MUI Startmenu application

Restart and see if it works.

The Bluetooth driver seem to be integrated with the HP Wireless Assistant, so I think you need it to run BT.

 

I've got the first two, but not the last one (MUI). What is it and how does it get installed?

Thanks for the info on the BT...I'll find the HP Wireless Assistant and try installing it.

 

Forget about MUI, I just disabled it and it does not affect the OSD. I included it because I previously had the same problem and enabling those 3 seemed to solve it.

 

There's an OSD for screen brightness? How do you invoke it? I know about fn+f7 and fn+f8 to adjust screen brightness up and down but I don't see an OSD.

 

I reinstalled the two HP programs a couple days ago and my OSD's aren't working. There must be another step or something I missed.

 

Ok, so now I've got an odd issue. With my OCZ Vertex installed, I cannot install Adobe Master Collection without blue-screening (0x0000007A). Tried it 4 times, twice eSata and twice USB from an external hard drive. After the blue-screen, the system resets, but cannot find a boot drive unless I power down and back on. Even going into the BIOS after a blue-screen, it does not see my primary drive (Vertex SSD).

I plugged the original HP hard drive back in, and Adobe CS4 installs fine. It appears the Vertex SSD just locks up during installation of Adobe CS4, then the system becomes unresponsive and blue-screens.

I do not have the Intel Matrix Storage Manager software installed, since I read that it blocks the TRIM functionality of the Vertex. I have updated the BIOS (no issues, no fan problems, no overheating errors), but the problem remains.

Any ideas?

 

Well, it looks like it's all pointing to your SSD. Why not install Intel Matrix Storage Manager and attempt to install Adobe CS4. If it installs correctly, it may just be that. However, if it still has problems, you may have a defective SSD try RMAing it.
Although I do have a question: What does the TRIM function actually do? Is it that important?

 

I'm having a problem with a USB flash drive, specifically a 2 GB Corsair Flash Voyager. When booting the computer, if I insert the USB drive a few seconds after logging on, I get a BSOD (I think with various stop codes--I have not explored that fully yet). If I wait a minute or two, then I can insert the USB flash drive and it works properly.

Has anyone seen problems like this?

 

What temperatures are you seeing the 720QM cores running at? I see average temperatures in the low 40's when idling and up to 71 under load. And I haven't stressed it very much yet.

At what temp does throttling or shutdown occur?

 

Well, unless it just went flakey, I don't think it's the SSD because I pulled it from my HDX Dragon (and cloned it first, to a temp drive as a backup) to put in here. It works fine in my HP HDX Dragon, and even installed Adobe CS4 there just fine. I've installed other programs on it (Office 2007, Zune, and a few more) while in the dv7t, without issue.

IMSM filters out TRIM commands from the OS. TRIM is what keeps your SSD running like new. It's a bit complex, but with SSD's, previously written blocks do not rewrite as fast as they did when they were "virgin" blocks. The SSD controller has to re-zero out the block and then write data to it. That, to some extent, slows down your SSD. TRIM, built into Windows 7 OS, zero's out blocks that contained deleted files (during idle time), so that when you write new files to those blocks, they are "virgin" again, and write quickly. So, yes, I want to keep trim, and even if IMSM worked for some reason, I would not want to keep the system that way. I should not need IMSM for a SSD to work.

In any case, I retried installing CS4 a couple of more times, unsuccessfully. This time, odd errors during install, and another bluescreen, this time with 0x000000F4. I also noticed that my system, after doing all these installs and such, was running quite hot. The rear-left side, where the vents are, were burning hot. I think, given some of the shortcominings of this system (LCD quality, heat, inability to use a Vertex SSD, and a non-1080p display) that I will return it. I love the Core i7 capabilities...recoding 28 simultaneous MP3's on a mobile platform with less than 50% CPU is awesome. But, I think these (dv Quad series, and even Dell XPS 1645 Quad), need more polish and shine.

I'll wait.

 

My hardware ID says MONITOR\AUO119E. I have the infinity display and the display is not washed out at all.

Maybe it requires all of the mediasmart software to be installed?
If that's too much of a pain I would recommend using an alternative OSD, as I mentioned you can install the free ms intellitype keyboard sw and get the volume OSD.

 

AUO119E here too. I was in the group that think the screen is fine also, so it seems this must be the root of the problem... Why would they use different screens in the same models?! Doesn't make any sense at all IMO. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

Well i just confirmed. If want MediaSmart touch buttons to work you have to install 3 things. QuickLaunchButtons, MediaSmartMediaMenu and any additional MediaSmart Software. In my case i installed the Webcam software. If you prefer the MediaSmartDVD software then install it or any other MediaSmart Software. But ya, i really hate the fact that i have to install 3 separate programs just to get something working. I might consider chipgoon's suggestion.

Edit: Wow, i just installed ms intellitype keyboard and i love it. It also works with the MediaSmart touch buttons without the 3 MediaSmart software installed. I just wonder how can i configure it to custom fn key configurations like volume and screen brightness. I don't like the default fn keys HP has.

Next thing is to configure the Remote Control keys to my needs. For example, i don't like the Media Center, DVD or MediaSmart buttons so i want them to do something else.

 

I currently have the hdx16 with 6gb memory and love the machine. The only problem is that when I try to edit my avchd files, I get stuttering and very slow playback. Does this machine, with the i7 and the m230 graphics card? If not, any other suggestions on appropriate notebooks.

Thanks

Jim

 

You shouldn't have any issue. Do you have i7 turboboost working?

 

When you find a way; PLEASE create a topic in the HP/Compaq topic since it applies to a broad range of HP users and not only this model! Thanks

 

How do you check if the turboboost is working?

Thanks

 

You can use the Intel turbo sidebar gadget in the link below to monitor the Turbo function.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18353

 

Hello all.

I have been following this thread since I placed my $500 off order on the DV7T Quad on December 16th. It was stated to ship on 12/30, but arrived first thing this morning...I am not complaining.

I am currently burning the 4 recovery DVDs.

Here are my specs for future ref

• 720QM CPU
• 8GB Memory
• 2 x 500 GB (7200RPM) HDs
• Inifinity Screen

Background on why I purchased this laptop:
I am a VMware engineer and need to have a laptop that will allow me to run multiple VMware ESX instances and Openfiler iSCSI in VMWare Workstation for testing. I currently do this on my HP Q6600 CPU/8GB desktop. The HP envy with 16GB memory would have been the perfect candidate for this task, but it was also double the cost of the DV7T. I am also going to attempt to run ESXi directly on the laptop from a USB key.

First impressions:
The screen is noticeably dim. Which to me is not too big a deal as watching movies on the laptop would only be a bonus.
The keyboard flex "issue" is noticeable on the laptop. Essentially you can see the whole left side of the laptop move with key presses from the letter "f" over. While it is noticeable while looking at the keyboard while typing, it is not very noticeable while typing. I don't feel is though that section of the keyboard is depressed (like a pothole) or unstable, just laterally loose.

I will keep this thread up to date as I continue my testing.

-MM13

 

Hi All,

Just wanting some help before I send my laptop back for service.

I tried to connect it to my HDTV via hdmi pressed fn f4 and projector only and the TV is saying no signal.

any ideas ?? what are the odds that its the TV not the laptop ?
samsung lcd 32 series 4 with updated firmware.

any thoughts appreciated.

cheers

turbo

 

Turbo, I recall a few posts back that you were trying a bluray disc and having trouble with the TV. Do you get the desktop to come up on the TV when you aren't playing anything? I just plugged mine in to the HDMI for the first time and the desktop came right up. No FN F4 or anything. Plus I can play a DVD. I work at a place where we often have to set up a demo of a computer attached via HDMI to a tv. We have had trouble in the past getting blueray to play on the TV. There is copyguard type stuff on the blue ray. They will only play on one display at a time and the resolution has to be set just right. We have often done this with HP DV7xxx type laptops, but they have sometimes been a bear to get set right for the bluray. We have always been successful if we were able to get the desktop to show up first. Sorry, I do not have a bluray disc at home to test with, but I can play a DVD and get the desktop to show up.

Jon