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

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&docname=c00034576


Popping Sound When Computer Is Turned On
» HP technical support



A popping or brief static sound occurs when the computer turns on, turns off, enters standby mode, or leaves standby mode.
NOTE: The popping sound does not harm the speakers or the computer.
The sound only occurs when the sound hardware in the computer receives or loses power. Some of this power enters into the speaker channels and is heard as noise on the speakers. The amount of power that gets sent to the speakers depends on the type of motherboard, type of sound hardware, and what power management settings are used. HP recommends that amplified speakers simply be turned down or turned off when the computer is not being used.
As an alternative, the type of power management features that are used for the computer can be changed. This usually reduces or eliminates the popping sounds and is the only other alternative for this issue, aside from replacing hardware.
NOTE: The following steps take the HP computer out of its intended configuration, reduces the computers effectiveness at saving power, and may cause other problems. If Windows becomes unstable, repeat the steps and re-enable the S3 setting.
If you still want to continue, use the following steps to reduce the power management setting:
Turn on the computer and press the F11 key repeatedly when the HP logo screen appears.
The Setup Utility screen appears.
Press the Right Arrow key until POWER is highlighted.
Press the Down Arrow key until S3 is highlighted.
Press the Enter Key and select Disabled . Press the Enter key again.
Press the F10 key and then press the Enter key to save the settings and exit.
Listen for the popping sound. The sound should be much quieter. If not, repeat these steps and replace the S3 power setting.

 

I dont have this problem and Im not endorsing this "fix" , as such I havent tried it.I just stumbled across this info surfing the Hp site and I know a lot of guys here have the problem..
....You know Im really starting to dislike the way HP does buisness.

 

You have GOT to be KIDDING! I have never heard such a lame excuse for fixing something that shouldn't be a problem in the first place.

Maybe HP would like something similar when it comes to PAYING for the notebook in the first place:

1. First, attempt to charge the Credit Card.
2. When attempt to charge CC fails, attempt to contact customer.
3. After 3rd attempt, customer will finally answer and approves $100.
4. After getting first $100 of total payment, any attempts to get more will fail.
5. Make 3 more attempts to contact customer via telephone. Then try email. On the 5th attempt, customer will answer and approve another $100.
6. When customer is satisfied that the product (computer) is working properly and as it should, the remainder of funds will be approved.

Maybe they would like to have to work to get what is owed to them! The darn this should just work the first time around instead of having to jump through hoops!

 

@josephlreyes
Thanks for trying but it seems that those were for another computer. F11 in our laptop is Windows Recover Manager which i no longer have because i consider it as an bloatware from HP.

@lancorp
lol. That made my day.

P.S.> It seems that this dvxt laptop series were not the only ones with speaker problems. Seriously, i wonder how HP got famous selling laptops.

 

YEAAAAAAAA! Got mine today. 8GB of Ram. What a beast!!

 

I would like to take a moment to make mention of something that no one seems to want to admit. Especially those with more than 4 gigs of ram who opt for 8, 12, or 16 gig setups. There's no point to having more than 4 gigs, as no one has yet to allow any apps or games to utilize more than that. I've played games at 1920x1080 on systems with an overclocked i7 and dual 2gtx-295's. One had 16 gigs of ram, and the other had 4. The one with less ram actually performed slightly *better*, believe it or not. These were both freshly built systems as well, specifically built for such tests.

I'm a gamer and aspiring musician. I built my last PC as a high end DAW (digital audio workstation) with specs that allow crysis to run maxed out without a hitch. I have 4 gigs of DD3, and that suffices just fine for the time being. When the time comes that *developers* impliment benefits for greater ram usage, I'll gladly make the jump. In the meantime, no one here who opted for 8 gigs or beyond as opposed to the standard four has any advantage. Any perceived boost is all in your head, and the speed increase you're seeing isn't due to more ram, but simply due to using a new system in itself. It will be great when developers break the four gig barrier, but it's still a ways off. When x64 operating systems begin to hit their stride, we'll see more applications that truly make use of more than four gigs at a time.

 

I disagree. There is a huge benefit to having more than 4gb of ram. First of all, photoshop and similar programs can easily use that much ram based on filesize and the number of layers. The same is true of editing high-resolution video. I know that windows 7 and even vista would prefetch more and cache it to ram based entirely on how much ram is available, giving faster program load times. Large databases can see hugh increases in performance based on the amount of ram. Much of this is professional, but most gamers are enthusiasts for computers as well, who at the least will dabble in all of these areas (and will see significant performance improvements based on prefetch). Boot up time similarly improves. Personally, I couldn't possibly buy a computer with less than 8gb, given that I frequently run 6+ virtual machines simultaneously. I think that for the general consumer right now 6gb is the sweet spot and for the enthusiast/professional 8gb is the minimum.

 

Too bad it's not possible to deduct rep points, because this post of yours is certainly deserving of subtracting from whatever you did to get the one you have!

No one "admits it" because it's not a true in the first place! Adding more RAM , in and of itself, over 4GB does not speed up any system, unless whatever the user is doing has surpassed 4GB of memory usage in the first place! Otherwise, the extra RAM just sits there in an available pool of memory waiting to be assigned to some task. Believe it or not, some people actually run many, many application simultaneously and go beyone that 4GB barrier of yours!

Where did you get the notion that apps cannot use more than 4GB of memory? Heard of 64-bit applications? They most certainly can and do address and use memory over the 4GB boundary. Photoshop CS4 x64 comes to mind as an application that can use more than 4GB. Any true 64-bit app can use memory over 4GB.

Those (unlike yourself) that actually run more than one 64-bit app at a time certainly gain benefits of more than 4GB. HD video encoding, audio encoding, HD photo editing, all can consume large amounts of RAM, and would be very easy to reach 4GB when run simultaneously.

So please, Dr. Nincow, keep your dime-store analyses to yourself. Unless you know what you are talking about, spreading misinformation in these public forums does no one any good.

You might want to do some actual research yourself, in particular the performance differences between using virtual memory (hard drive) and physical memory, or the performance advantages of doing away with Windows Pagefile when you have sufficient RAM ( >4GB), or the myriad of other reasons large amounts of RAM can (not necessarily do) increase system performance.

 

Could somebody please post an unboxing of one of these on youtube? Surprisingly, there isn't one. I'd just like to see it at first boot. They've got a few unboxings of the regular dv7t, but even most of those are pretty old.

 

Suddenly there is no CAD, 3D Modeling and Rendering, Video editing, 3D Composition, Image editing etc, etc...

 

Suddenly there is no CAD, 3D Modeling and Rendering, Video editing, 3D Composition, Image editing etc, etc..."

I'm referring to *laptops*. Laptops are pseudo desktop replacements, but if you're truly a professional when it comes to CAD and the like, you don't use a "desktop replacement". You opt for a desktop.

 

I was about to say that too. I also run virtual machines but too bad i don't have over 4GB ram.

Well, there thing is that some of us need a computer capable of doing our work anywhere and anytime. Meaning, we don't want only to be able to do work on the office or home but also on the subway, park, etc.

Yes, stuff like Blu-ray editing, Photoshop, 3D Design and virtual machines can go over 4GB of ram. In my case virtual machine and virtual hard drive would take the most. Virtual Hard Drive is specially handy when doing a lot of read and write since you are using your ram as a hard drive so you get near ram speed in writing large files like for example a 6GB blu-ray video (if you have the spare ram) and so on.

 

You might mention that to the "professionals" that purchase laptops from Dell's "professional workstation" line of laptops...the Precision. I guess those people only use them for word processing and some quick games of WoW on-the-go!

 

I can buy the virtual machine arguement. I'll give you that one.

But as far as "we don't want only to be able to do work on the office or home but also on the subway, park, etc"


...I highly doubt many people would use such programs in any of those settings. And oddly enough, the few people I have seen with a high-end or "professional" laptop outside of their home in aforementioned settings *have* been playing WoW, or something to that effect.

Anyone who buys a Precision laptop isn't going to be doing CAD, 3D modeling, or photo editing in a park, subway, or anything of the like. Portable desktop replacements with desktop (like/ish) performance tend to use them as an easier means of transport, rather than actually using it on the go. In short, it's easier to take your laptop from point A to point B, rather than your desktop.

Back to the dv7t, though. Are most here keeping them? Have any new problems cropped up? The 21 day return deadline is drawing ever closer.

 

I am a professional and i use a laptop. My 3D models are not complex and i don't make complex renderings, it is mostly integrating one model over real video or doing camera mapping where the detail is in projected image so i don't need 8Gb for now, but if i would start adding more 3D objects it would be easy to break the 4Gb and go to 8, 12Gb. Alienware, Boxx, Dell and many other supply Laptops for Graphics and Cad industry.

 

Good news for people who have problem finding the controls in the control panel. Follow the instruction mentioned in the link below and you won't have any problem finding anything to tweak your system.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/windows_7_“god_mode”_has_all_controls

 

Gee...I wonder how you get any work done, since you obviously spend all your time either surveying the entire population of "professionals" in the world so that you know exactly what all of them do with their laptops, or you are hanging out in subways and parks and peering over the shoulders of said professionals watching them play Wow (or something to that effect!).

You should really publish your results, because either Dell and HP should stop selling their line of "professional portable workstations" (since all anyone really needs is a BestBuy underpowered, consumer-targeted piece of junk) or bosses world-over need to know that their design engineers aren't really working from home designing anything...they're playing WoW.

And, yes, I'm sending my dv7t back (unless I can sell it between now and then just to save me the hassle of dealing with HP).

 

Anyone had any success cooling? Any recommendations on coolers for it, or should I just build one?

 

@lancorp - sarcastic much?

Since I first discovered this forum, I've spent less than an hour in total reading posts between 1 and 77 and occasionally posting from time to time. It's hardly a lifestyle.

"bosses world-over need to know that their design engineers aren't really working from home designing anything...they're playing WoW"


I never said no one is ever productive from home. My example cited parks, subways, and other such places. Working from home *is* where a dedicated professional should be working, regardless as to whether or not they happen to be using a dedicated desktop or a portable desktop replacement.

At any rate, this is all getting off topic. There are always exceptions to the rule. I'm speaking on behalf of the general population who isn't into 3D modeling and other system resource hogging applications. In those instances, depending on the program, additional ram can be beneficial, but ONLY if the program was written to utilize it, and many are not. Users of the same program will still get a new system and claim it "feels" faster now that they have 8 gigs or more, despite using software that isn't utilizing it. It's the equivalent to a placebo effect.

I suppose I'm just tired of the my is bigger than yours game. For example, people go on about certain video cards not being able to get 300 fps on some random first person shooter, and they compare two comperable cards such as the gtx275 and the gtx295, and if the latter gets a few extra frames then it's suddenly a no brainer to go with that card, despite that a). it's twice the price, and b). NO ONE can tell the difference between 280 fps in Quake 3 as opposed to 300. So when people bring up the notion that their laptop "boots up faster" with windows7 because they have more than 4 gigs of ram, or other such examples, it pisses me off.

I'm giving HP a call later to see if I can get some additional millage from them regarding my dv7t. If not, it's going back. I'm not very impressed with it.

 

@nincow - I'm curious what you dislike about this computer as I've just (minutes ago, actually), pulled the trigger on one. I think I've read through your posts, but I must have been distracted by the noise about 4+Gig usefulness.

I'm a design engineer (plastic injection molds), so this laptop will be used with several CAD, CAE and CAM packages which will thoroughly enjoy >4Gigs of RAM. That said, I can see your point, for general use, 4Gigs is plenty. However, I see a shift in thinking on a larger scale -- these laptops are becoming not just desktop replacements, but workstation replacements -- and increasingly, workstation laptop replacements as well.

In my case, I don't really expect to be doing work poolside, sipping Mojitos. A laptop simply unchains me from the the desk, meaning that time spent in airports, on planes is now productive time -- and in today's environment, time is certainly money. Additionally, if I can sit in a client's conference room, and implement design changes, run test scenarios, etc, nearly as effectively as I could do with the big desk-bound workstation, I am the star of the day.

Perhaps my situation is unique, but I don't think so. The "consumer" level RAM, processor and GPU capabilities of these ~$1k laptops are making many think hard about spending 2-3x for pro-level gear.

If I can also fit in a few hours of gaming, well, all the better

 

I have a zalman nc2000. Its rated as one of the best.I also use a free program called hwmonitor to monitor temperature,Id say a majority of laptop problems are from overheating ( poor ventilation or improper heat sink application at the factory.}

 

I use a really old trick. I put a small book under the laptop to lift it up so that the fan is able to suck air up and it worked amazingly during gaming for me. Well, the only thing is that i can't do gaming while having the laptop on my lap because my lap will feel the consequences.

 

How much does it lower temps on the your dv7t?

 

I just bought this http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?product_code=CB783A#ABA wireless printer for $54 after applying the $50 delay coupon that HP sent out. Not bad, I guess...

 

@NNNS999 -

To summarize, my main complaints are as follows -


1. Sub-par screen for the price (dull colors, poor contrast)
2. Horrible viewing angles
3. Speaker issues (right is louder than left, fan interferes with left speaker)
4. Dell and other vendors offer a three year warranty for comperable
systems, as compared to one.


As far as the ram argument is concerned, based on the information you have provided this model should suite your needs. Especially if you opted for more than four gigs of ram. Personally I didn't count on the issues mentioned above for this purchase, along with the fact that there are a slew of others who were able to get a dv8t for the same price or less, which cheapens the entire experience for me. I don't upgrade often and I want the absolute most for my dollar.

I've still only used my dv7t for more than a single brief session. Barely two hours, and that was mostly spent playing peggle and plants vs zombies, which run fine on my nine year old desktop. I'm just not excited about it anymore. If I pay a grand for a dv7t and numerous others get a dv8t for the same price at the same time, my interest disappears altogether.

 

I paid $1,700.
I opted for the faster quad, bigger drive, Elements 8, TV Tuner, don't forget the Mass taxes.
Skipped the Blue-tooth and BlueRay.

I use it for Video editing with Cyberlink PowerDirector (beta team)
and so far...IT ROCKS!
No crashes, no freezes.
I really don't understand the complaints, to be honest.
Life is so much more than frames per second.

 

True. But by no more than 10%-15%.

 

I agree - great laptop!

 

Its so cold in my apartment right now it makes no difference.( Chicago winters...) For what its worth user reviews convinced me to get a nc1500 for my dell e1505.It was good for *8 ~*10 c drop .It was my satisfaction with that unit that made me get the nc2000.( I expect the same)

theses a performance review here or just read the customer reviews at Newegg or Amazon.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zalman/ZM-NC2000/3.html

 

i returned man, mine had a bad ram stick and dealing with customer service and tech support was enought o make me want to throw the computer. For the poor HP support alone i will never be purchasing another HP.

 

I am running VMware ESX inside of VMware Workstation. I have 8GB, but it is not enough. I was tempted to get an Envy so that I could upgrade it to 16GB when the DDR3 prices came down.

Definitely not a typical use case, but a use case none the less.

Because Windows 7 64-bit is a solid option and now being sold on PCs that consumers are buying at local resellers, you are going to see more app support for larger memory footprints.

 

1st post here - found it from a Google search. Mine was delivered on 12/28 so I've had a couple of weeks to mess around with it. The one thing I agreed with prior to reading all 79 pages was the display quality (or lack thereof) compared to my Dell Inspirion 9300 which I replaced. I was thinking maybe I just need some time to get used to it. I'm now itching to calibrate it and see if that improves it somewhat. Still won't return it because the benefits outweight that 1 issue. Haven't noticed any keyboard wobble but I'll pay some closer attention to that when I get home tonight.

My specs:
Black/i7 720/8GB/320GB/Blue Ray/Modem/Win 7 PRO

I'm seriously considering doing a fresh install after reading everyone's success with that.

I'll be hangin around here from now on looking for more tips and adding what I can.

Jeff

 

^ did your unit come with an LED screen?

most of the complaints about the display - particularly the older complaints - have to do with non-LED screens...

 

Attention EVERYONE!!!!

1. Go to control panel

2. Hardware and sound

3. Manage audio devices

4. Speakers and dual headphones

5. Enhancements

6. Bass management (settings)



I see the following:


Full Range speakers - All

Subwoofer - Not present


The option to invert subwoofer polarity is transparent and nothing changes between switching between "home theater" and "office".


I'm TRYING to justify keeping it but the more time I spend with it, the more frustrating it becomes.

Does anyone here have a screen that says that the subwoofer is "present" or something other than "not present" ???

 

@timesquaredesi - How do I know / check to see if I have an LED screen?

All I can find is "generic pnp Monitor".


The word "generic" with a supposedly high end model doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.

 

^ LOL - where did you get the model from? if you still have the box or invoice, it should give you a detailed list of what your machine came with - all the specs: cpu, ram, hard disk, the type of screen, etc.

if yours does have the LED, the description should read something like "17.3" diagonal HD+ High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1600 x 900) "

if u ordered it from hp and u ordered it recently, i am almost certain it's an LED screen. did you customize your model to buy it or did you go throught hp's 'quick ship' options?

 

Mine says the "generic PnP Monitor" if I look at it in Device Manager... maybe that's where nincow found that info?

I believe I've got that LED Brightview etc, non-infinity though. I have zero complaints about the color -- in fact I find it to be crisp and vibrant with a terrific horizontal viewing angle and a very satisfactory vertical viewing angle.

You guys with viewing angle problems aren't wearing polarized glasses, are you??

 

^ LOL - i agree, the LED ones are stunning and i dont think he has an LED screen based on his 1st post. that's why im asking

i dont know if it would say LED on anywhere on the unit itself. another option is to log back into HP.com and see your invoice - assuming you got the unit from there. again, it would detail every component if your system and will state whether or not it's an LED display.

i have a non LED display - i got my dv7t back in august of 08 - and i agree with the complaints although they dont pain me one bit. im always in front of my unit so viewing angles dont really matter to me... the LED picture is much sharper and way more vibrant and crisp but even the non LED isn't so terrible bad.

 

Just to confirm based on the HP invoice/order summary sheet, my screen is officially listed as:

17.3" Diagonal HD+ High Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1600x900)

 

^ very nice

 

Where can I find -

17.3" Diagonal HD+ High Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1600x900)


within the system itself????? All I can find is "Generic PnP", and certainly nothing about an LED screen.


On top of this I just loaded up both peggle and plants vs zombies, and now suddenly they both look like . I don't ing get it. When I first used this machine for a little while I installed both, calibrated the display, and both looked good (after calibrating). Now the graphics are pixilated to hell and back and washed out. I don't know.....maybe my standards are too high. Perhaps I'm expecting more from a $1000 laptop. But what I do expect at the very LEAST is better visuals than a nine year old dell with an nvidia 7600gt. Both games (and only POPCAP games, mind you) look GREAT when run from my dell. On this thing they look like garbage.

 

re: LED screen... I just got mine on 12/28 and ordered it customized from HP website. So LED screen, yes.

 

Nincow, check your resolutions and make sure you have the latest nvidia drivers installed and all is ok.

I can play Dragon Age: Origins and Left 4 Dead on this laptop with good looking screens and reasonable performance. Sometimes I back it down from 1600x900 or just tweak a bit off of the highest shaders.

You must have something set wrong....

R

 

Well, I have been trying to register here in the forums for a couple of weeks, and was not getting the automated email to authorize my posting.

Finally I decided to register with a new ID since I was not getting a reply from the moderators.

So here I am!

Hello All!

I bought my system around Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend.... $880 with the coupon deals - quite a steal.

Dv7t Quad with 4 GB of RAM, 500 GB 7200 HS, Infinity screen / webcam, No TV Tuner, No fingerprint thingy, Wireless / Bluetooth.

I use the system for work and play, and I am very happy with it. I also bought the Quickdock from eBay and a spare AC adapter.

No audio popping and the keyboard flex on the left side is noticable, but if people are returning it for this, then I have more patience than I thought!

I look forward to interacting with you guys!

Regards,
R

 

I have had Dell, Compaq and IBM / Lenovo laptops over the past 10 years. This dv7t Quad is the most powerful laptop that I have ever had, and it is astoundingly cool.

Are you having issues?

Download hwmonitor and let us know what the GPU / CPU temps are.

Regards,
R

 

I don't see where you're getting this from... I get to #5, but my screen only has a few "enhancements" (none of which are enabled by default).
No "bass management" settings?

I just turned on "Bass Boost" to see how that affects things.

Just an FYI, I have an enhancement on this list called "room correction" which uses the microphone to change the volume of the speakers or something. I let it auto calibrate, and it wanted to make the L channel run at 58% while the R channel was full 100%. I don't know if this may be related to some people having the problem with balance bias, but figured I'd throw it out there just in case...

 

There is a tab that says "settings" below the box with the four enhancements. Highlight bass management, and select settings. That is where you will see "full range speakers - all" and "subwoofer" settings, which states "not present" on my end.

 

Hi All.
Thanks for the great forum.

Anybody else out there have their DV7T Quad plugged into an XB4 docking station?

When I connect my mine to the docking station I get high-pitched noises coming through the docking station speakers. It sounds like morse code and is very distracting. It changes when I open windows, move the mouse, etc., and disappears for a second when I turn WiFi on or off. If I plug a headset into the docking station the noise comes through (only) on the headset. If I plug the headset directly into the laptop the noise continues to come through the dock speakers but not the headset. The only way to make it go away is to press mute. My gut tells me the noise is being injected by the laptop but I am not sure.

I have ordered another XB4 to see if it is an issue with the current one I have but I am over a week away from receiving that, and Jan 15 is fast approaching....

Anybody else have this problem? THANKS!!!

__________________________________________
DV7T Quad Edition i7-820QM, 8G, 1T, BD, TV, White, Infinity Display, Windows 7 Pro, Bluetooth, Fingerprint, XB4 dock.

 

I do not have a bass management checkbox. I have Bass Boost, Virtual Surround, Room Correction and Loudness Equalization. The IDT CODEC is dated 10/20/2009, 6.10.6249.0.

 

Same here...