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

Congrats!

Mine seems pretty sturdy. I don't notice much flex at all.

 

Oh and give us impressions. What did you have prior to the dv7?

 

I had a 2 yr old Toshiba lol. The keyboard seems sturdy, I just noticed the left side seems to move more than the right. Could this be a defect?

 

I say you should see if it REALLY bugs you. If so, return it to HP and order another laptop on the same day (if you have enough credit on your credit card). HP has a really good return policy. Don't settle if you are not happy.

 

Oh I know, I just wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing this? The left side of the keyboard somewhat moves. The right side is completely sturdy though ?

 

I am returning it, went to best buy and picked up the DV7t there so I lost the bluray and infinity. Oh well not gonna wait another 2 weeks

 

Thanks! I've ordered the caddy, and I'll make the recovery disks.

One more question. For the fresh install I'm thinking I need a copy of windows and magical jellybean. Validation should not be a problem?

 

Well HP didn't want to take it back lol they wanted me to exchange it which would of been fine but I'm not waiting another 2 weeks. The best buy DV7t is awesome minus the bluray which I kinda wanted. Oh well. Wasn't going to settle for that keyboard that was definitely a defect. Freshly installed Windows 7 and I did notice after going to NVidia's site I couldn't download the full graphic driver just the audio. Could be the wrong driver. Some things I definitely want to get for this notebook are:

The Sound Blaster X-FI Expresscard for notebooks.
THE HP 2 Year Pick up Plan for those of us who bought from BB.
Targus 18" Deluxe Nylon Case


http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=17988
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/esp/Notebook/1/storefronts/UM970A
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ze&v1=18"&product_code=PH680A&catLevel=2

 

Found a big problem. Laptop will not recognize iphone or ipod touch in itunes.
apparently its a problem with either windows 7 or the i7 processor, theres a big thread over at apple, but no solution in sight. Google "iphone and windows 7 dont play nice." Called hp and they said talk to apple. called Apple they said talk to microsoft. if anyone hears anything that might be a solution, please let me know. its killing me that i cant synch my touch.

 

I have yet to plug in my iPod to the DV7t.

 

This problem is not exclusive to the dv7t quad edition. I'm sure an update will be released soon.

 

I checked the prices on the dv7t at best buy and found that they were a couple hundred dollars more than using HP coupons. Did you get a good deal? I hope my dv7t doesn't have any defects. Hope you enjoy your system. Mine ships on the 17th.

 

Mine was $1299 before tax. Originally through HP I had $1594 + 179.99 with the 2 year plan that I still am probably going to purchase. The Best Buy model is identical minus bluray and the infinity screen. The infinity screen and the standard screen are IDENTICAL in my opinion. Except the obvious edge to edge which was ok but your not getting a 'brighter' image or anything. But with the infinity display the screen touches the keyboard. I prefer the screen without infinity.

No Bluray I wanted and that bothers me but I got an awesome deal with best buy. $1594-$200 coupon originally puts me at $1394 so it balanced out. Ocean, yours will be fine, mine was defected but one thing YOU'LL want to do IS TO A CLEAN INSTALL OF WINDOWS 7. So much bloatware OMG.

I have quickplay buttons installed but can't seem them to show the little volume slider windows. Oh well.

 

Does anyone know how to get the quickplay buttons working. They work but I would like the little indicator window to pop up so I can see the volume level. HP Quick play is running but I don't see the window when I adjust the volume.

 

I had the same issue with lack of volume. I searched and found that microsoft provides a generic solution which I'm currently using.

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=MK

Do have any indicator for your screen brightness?

 

There is a way to get it work, I had this issue on the HDX 16t. It worked prior to me reloading windows. Driver says its installed and running yet it doesn't work.

 

Bummer. Well post back if you find a solution. I would definitely like to get a brightness indicator up and running.

 

my dv7t keyboard was the same way... i took it apart and it looks like a lack of support underneath that part of kb from the factory. there are little like tiny foam blocks glued to the underside of it and there aren't any in that area. I bent the keyboard tabs (the tabs on the bottom that hold the keyboard down) in that area and now mine is fine. i COULD NOT deal with it anymore, it was bugging the out of me. The damn shift key felt horrible. It's almost perfect now, definitely 100% better.

 

For those of you who have it:

a.) Do you play any games and do they run well?

b.) What kind of battery life can I expect from just web browsing or writing a Word document?

 

I play games very well. However, I don't play cutting edge titles and most of my settings are low-med @ native resolution.

DoD:S
L4D
CoD 2, 4 & WaW
TF2

As for battery life - I haven't paid much attention. My guess would be around 2 hours.

 

Thanks for that however, I already have it going back tomorrow. With my luck I'd open it up and snap it or something or crack it.

 

Can someone please post some benchmarks? This entire thread is near useless without them.

 

I agree somewhat. I'll try and do some benchies when i get mine in the mail, hopefully it'll be before friday which is their estimate. Anyone get the free shipping and find out it was way overestimated? Mine's about two states away already, I'm hoping they don't artificially delay it for the sake of justifying the two day option.

I'm getting this laptop almost entirely because my t400 is not good enough, to my chagrin, for acceptable gaming even on low settings. So benchies ought to be the first thing I do when I get it. I'm worried because I've read a LOT of people discussing how bad the 230M is, but i've found that a lot of "hardcore" pc gamers are very particular about their settings, if it doesn't run on high apparently it isn't worth playing to them :-/.

Thing they don't realize is when you can get this laptop for $733 (in my case), what sense does it make to instead get an Asus g51j or equivalent when the lowest i could expect to pay is $1300 to $1400 just for a 260m or higher?

 

OK!! What's a good program to do benchmarks in and I'll do it.

 

The 230M will play games fine and demanding games probably on Medium settings.

 

Yeah I was in a similar boat actually coming from the T500. The gaming was okay but the screen was horrible. Too bad because the rest of the machine was great.

What games do you play? I have found the 230m to be great for me.

 

I wanna get Crysis Warhead lol and try it out on the Dv7t

 

My t400 actually has strange graphics problems that are only noticeable every once in awhile in the strangest combinations of stuff. Apparently, and i didnt know this before getting the t400, the t500 has a lot more shaders and stuff basically making it not too shabby at games. I had originally chosen the t400 because i KNEW i didnt need too much game support, and i thought i had read the game performance was negligible between the two.

Basically the t400 actually is pretty OK with gaming, but i wanted more and i'm a sucker for the latest and greatest, e.g.: core i7 so i was doomed from the beginning. I will likely get a core i7 thinkpad as soon as they come out, lenovo seems to be shuffling its feet and i had a giftcard for hp so i went for a dv7. Plus, one of my concerns was battery life, but i found i'm always plugged in anyway and barely even need a battery to exist most days.

So anyways, my t400 doesnt play borderlands well enough for me to consider playing it on the laptop vs my quaddy desktop, and COD4 didnt play that great either so i figure my latest obsession: MW2 wouldnt be very hot to trot either. Finally, L4D played pretty nicely but again, i couldnt justify playing on the laptop vs my smooth as silk TOP settings 60 FPS experience on the quaddy desktop, so when i'm obsessed with L4D2 tomorrow night I'll be into that.

So really if it's even possible, it'd be nice to know how borderlands, MW2 and L4D or the L4D2 demo play, although i might even be finding out tomorrow myself. If those play at 30 fps on low settings or HOPEFULLY medium settings then I'll be more than satisfied with my purchase.

High settings I'm expecting are for things like the 260M or above, which is overkill for what I care about, and i've got a desktop for that. Plus I'd prefer 2 hours battery life over an hour or less i've seen quoted for those laptops with 260M or above.

 

BTW, I was actually wondering do you know what type of screen your thinkpad has? I was lucky enough to get the best one available for my t400, the LG LED backlit 300 nit or whatever. If you wanna know how to find out, you basically go to lenovo parts lookup, and type in the serial number and such from the bottom of the laptop, for example the first box is the Xs from XXXXCTR or such, and the second is the entire number from the S/n, without the dash: L3-AXXXX makes L3AXXXX for me, not sure if the L3-A is standard or not.

This takes you to a page with a whole lot of everything in your system, you look at the screen module from that then go to thinkwiki, on that page you find the FRU number from for example on mine, is FRU# 42T0498 under the title 14.1 INCH LCD DISPLAY FRU. searching 42T0498 on that thinkwiki page tells me its an lg made 300 nit led backlit screen, the best for the t400 apparently.

So anyway, after all that, the point is i'm wondering if yours is ccfl and low nit or even worse apparently the samsung ones are terrible too, which could explain why you think its so bad. In comparison, i've never seen a better screen than on my thinkpad, although i thought the dv7t at best buy looked rather nice so im hopeful!

 

To get the best comparison against a truckload of different systems, you should probably just run 3dmark 06 and 3dmark vantage if you can.

Not to condone it, but these are programs extremely easily found hacked on the internetz, it would be a boon too because i haven't seen any proper benchmarks really of any kind anywhere.

On the safe side, if you wish, you could probably make a l4d2 demo "demo", then upload the demo for us to compare with our own systems.

 

Ok I'm doing Benchmarks right now and should have them up within the next hour.

 

As the other person mentioned, 3Dmark 06 or Vantage would be fine for comparison purposes. I actually bought both (they're cheap -- about $20 each) and are great to determine if your system is running optimally.

 

I'm doing both but the free versions just to give everyone a general idea.

 

Mine is shipping Tuesday. Can you guys give some more info on the whole defective keyboard thing? Is it really noticeable? Hopefully it doesn't happen to me.

Thanks

 

someone said earlier that you could fix it yourself if you're adventurous, so thats sounds better than it could be.

 

that's good, i didn't realize they even had free versions.

 

No, I'm not adventurous with a new laptop that cost me over a grand. Its gotta come "all good". I would hate to snap it or something and then be SOL.

 

The left side of the keyboard seemed like it wasn't locked in all the way or secured. When I hit the A key, and shift the whole left side moved. I DOUBT yours will have that issue. DON'T SWEAT IT, worse case it does, you return then go to Best Buy and get the one I did which is identical to yours from HP. I'm sure you don't want to wait another 2 weeks for them to build and ship you a new one.

Honestly this notebook is AMAZING, build quality is awesome. Windows Experience Index of 5.9 which is good. The sound is the best I've heard from a laptop. The 1600x900 res is idealistic, not to big not too small. The standard Brightview screen IMO is identical to Infinity minus the edge to edge look. But yeah yours will be fine. I'll be postings pics soon

 

I could not get benchmarks in the Vantage program, something about minimum resolution not supported. I don't know I have never done benchmarks. You guys will probably need to get them from someone who purchased both programs for FULL results. Hopefully this can help

 

Here are some pics. I couldn't seem to find any actual ones of the DV7T quad so here ya guys go Its very shiny and I recommend a damp cloth with some rubbing alcohol for cleaning.

 

Awesome thanks for the benchies. Just read a 3dmark 06 and pcmark score for my t400 online was 2575 and 6589 so thats a great 3dmark improvement!

any chance you could run a pcmark05 benchy? There should also be a free version of that somewheres.

 

I know if you buy and expensive dock you can access the SPDIF audio output, but is there a way to access this output with some sort of adapter cable? I have an old HP zd7000 and hp sold a media cable that let you access all the outputs of the dock port. It was called a media cable. I have that cable, and it fits on the dv7t dock port, but the pin outs must be different because it does not work. Any ideas?

 

Make sure you have installed the 64bit version of iTunes and not 32bit version. I hope this might resolve your problem. I currently don't have any issues with recognizing my iPod with itunes.

 

Yeah I'll try and get that up today.

 

In 3Dmark Vantage, if you set the top dropdown to "Entry" system, go to the options and turn off the feature tests, it should run.

I'd be curious to see if it gets better than my new MacBook Pro's score of E7511 in Vantage. If what I'm reading is right, it should be very close (if not better). I ordered the DV8T (essentially the same machine with a slightly bigger screen) for $1000. If I get that kind of performance for half the price of a MacBook Pro I'd be happy.

 

Honestly the DV7t is a HUGE computer. The DV8t can't even be classified as a notebook. I was originally gonna go for it but then I said whats the point I need some portability.

 

$1000 for what'll likely be a decent desktop replacement? I don't really care.

 

Then why not get the DV7t? Same exact computer unless your one who has to have the 1080p which makes everything so small.

 

Not to my eyes. I do a lot of administration and the more screen real estate, the better.

Not to mention, BluRay look better on the 18" (I compared at a local store).

 

I see, BluRay would like fine on the 17.3" if it had 1080p.