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

Hello everyone out there


I got mines a week earlier. Im loving it but i have this blue tint in the webcam display. Does anyone here have the same problem? White light would appear turquoise in color. Help me please!

 

I originally had a ship date of Dec 9th and it got delayed to Dec 18 as well. They also sent me a $50 coupon. I called customer service to find out what was going on and to try and get the shipping upgraded at no cost but after to transfers to the supervisor and then the manager, I still wasn't able to get the shipping upgraded (since they stated that once an order is created no one can change it, unless if I cancel the whole order and re-submit it) but she did give me an extra $50 off the laptop. So the final cost for me including 7% NJ sales tax is $966. Woohoo!!

I ordered the 2nd hard drive caddy on ebay for $31 or $32 including shipping. Not bad.

 

Hi Everyone,
Can somebody explain purpose of 2nd caddy HDD ?
I read the entire 40 pages on the forum and I do not understand the use behind the caddy hdd.
Can someone please provide detailed explanation.
I'm new to laptops

 

On the HP dv7 laptop and some other HP laptops there is space to install 2 hard drives. If you order your laptop with just one hard drive then you need a special kit that will allow to to install another hard drive in your laptop and that is what that caddy kit is for.

 

Hi I ordered a dv7t to be shipped on 18-Dec.
I have Blue Ray with the non infinity display. Since this does not have 1080 p like the dv8t, does this mean that Blue Ray movies will not look their optimum? Will the quality be only as good as a dvd or better?

 

Blu-Ray movies will not look their optimum because you only have so many pixels to display the extra details.
And the quality will only be as good as the movie/DVD you are playing.

 

that really sucks,
so what is the purpose of a blu-ray player if the movies look like a regular dvd since dv7t is not a 1080p

 

Well they will still look really nice, definately better than 720p but also if you connect your laptop to your TV using HDMI, it will still display at 1080p as long as you set it so that the display is only on your TV and your laptop display is off.

 

thanks for the infos

 

Cool Thanks. Thats what I wanted to hear

 

I got the BluRay ROM and non-infinity display as well. For the purpose of connecting to a TV and using it as a BluRay player.

 

I actually saw a friends laptop with the Infinity display and I loved it. When I ordered mine I got a free upgrade to the Blu-ray and got the Infinity display for an extra $25. Woohoo! No more dust and crap getting stuck by the bezel.

 

Enjoy the display

From what I was reading, the non-infinity (call it finite maybe? lol) is more what I was looking for.

They both look nice... I'm really itchin' to get this laptop already!!

 

I am just wondering, is there a specific way to turn the laptop display off when it is attached via HDMI to my TV so I can enjoy my movies at 1080p? Will it do this automatically? I am very excited to get my laptop already to see how it performs.

 

I am very excited about getting it as well. On most laptops, such as my old HP, my current Dell, and my work Lenovo, there is usually a Fn + F-something (F7 or F8 usually) that you can hit to make it cycle from laptop screen only, laptop and tv screen, and tv screen only. And since it is a nVidia video card, it can for sure be done from within the nVidia Control Panel.

 

Thanks, bro! I also decided to get a Swissgear backpack with the $50 coupon that they gave us for the delay. I just hope that it's all worth the wait.

 

Fedex info updated! In Shanghai now, delivery date Friday the 18th!

 

So HP sent me the order delay email, and I replied to "cancel" as the email says, then, 4 days later, I finally get a reply saying "We're sorry, blah, blah, blah...", and to please call their 800 number and ask for a Supervisor to attempt to cancel. OMG, more red tape to have to go through. I can only imagine the tactics they are going to use to keep me from cancelling (or, they will state they cannot cancel because it's already being built, or some other lame excuse, which will cause me to have to go through the whole thing again once it arrives!)...HP is so difficult.

 

No, they won't stop you from cancelling but they are going to try to give you some kind of a discount so that you don't cancel. But ultimately, if that's what you request, they can not deny that request. But honestly, just call, threaten to cancel, and just take the discounts they give you and wait for it. That's what I did. It is definately worth it even though it really is annoying.

 

I have not been having a good time with this notebook. I recently installed a couple operating systems and changed the active partition on the hard drive and now the computer won't boot-up. Not that I get an error when booting; that would've been what I expected. The computer will not work at all with the hard drive connected. I can't even access the bios, let alone boot to a recovery CD.

HP seems to think it is the result of faulty hardware, but it sounds more like a(nother) fault with the bios, because I found several posts elsewhere where people had the same problem, or they had to remove the DVD drive instead of the hard drive.

It will just add insult to injury if I have to ship this notebook back from Europe on my own dime.

I will make absolute certain to never buy another product with an Insyde bios ever again.

 

Looks like your machine is in the same container as mine!

 

@lancorp and @jsatya
Yes, they try weird tactics. When i called they put me a manager and tried to use my black friday $400 coupon as strategy to stop me from canceling the order. Now, after they say that they were to cancel it, i got an e-mail saying that the order is already in production so i might get a ship statement. I canceled on the 12th and it is supposed to be finished on the 18th so there should be more than enough time to stop it. If they are going to ship the laptop i am going to get so angry and yell at them.

@discocat
I am not sure if it is a bios fault cause usually it only happens when you try to upgrade the bios version. Also, for entering the bios is not always the same key for all computers. You might want to check what is the right key.

 

Ya, you're right, they do try some funny tactics sometimes, but if anything, once they ship it, you can always return it as a F--K you to them.

 

Hi There has anyone had any experience with overclocking the GPU yet ?

I have just purchased this laptop in the UK and now playing the waiting game and was curious to see if anyone has used rivertuner or any other programs like that yet and what there thoughts where and how they went ?

 

I think it's called RivaTuner. But, ya, it should be work. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Just keep an eye on the temps of the GPU, and definately use a very good laptop cooling pad.

 

Unfortunately, it is the correct key. It only will bring up the bios menu if the hard drive is disconnected. It will even change the text to "...bios settings" or "...boot options" if I press the key early enough, but it will freeze before it starts the boot-up procedure to any device as long as the hard drive is connected.

 

I hate to tell you this... but I really do think it is a hardware issue.

 

@discocat
From what it looks to me is that the harddrive is the cause. Try doing a complete format to the harddrive and reinstall everything otherwise there might be a possibility that the harddrive is dead.

 

Hi guys,
I can't do anything with the 50$ discount.
Can I buy something on hp.com using the discount number?
I tried but it get a message stating "The coupon you entered is invalid"

 

Are you in the Home & Home Office store? It don't think it will work for OEM Replacement Parts, Small Business, or Acedemic. I havn't tried the Acedemic store but that would be awesome since I work at a university.

 

I placed my order on November 27th and received a ship date for the 9th. My order hadn't changed to "shipped" by the 10th so I called and was ASSURED that my order was not delayed and had either already been shipped or was about to be. Fed up with no updates as of today, I called again and was told that sure enough, it was moved up to the 18th.

This is all absolute ing bull. The rep told me she would give me a $40 credit, to which I said "I already know that many others received a $50 credit, 10% off, or even further discounts as a result of HP's mismanagement". She states I could have a $40 credit and a $50 coupon good towards a future purchase. I told her I had no need for a $50 coupon as I had no intention of using it towards a future HP product, and would prefer a $90 credit instead. She said she couldn't do that, so I said " this, cancel the order", AFTER WHICH she told me to hold for two minutes and came back with "I spoke to a supervisor and she agreed to allow us a credit of $90" (which comes to my additional 10% my $900 order).

I was on the verge of canceling out of spite and principle alone, but I know I'm not going to find an i7 quad with the additional specs included for $810 for a while to come. Are these standard HP business practices? Delay after delay after delay and bribing peeved customers into waiting it out rather than canceling?

Here's the kicker - I went with this HP after ordering a Y550 from Lenovo at the start of November and having it be delayed week after week after week. So I canceled the damn thing and it was confirmed as canceled, and they SHIPPED THE $@&*@$ing unit ANYWAY a week after the fact, an issue which remains to be resolved as I out-right refused to accept the package from UPS when it arrived and I've had to call my CC numerous times to explain the situation. On top of that Lenovo is upset that I would "refuse my own order". Damn right I'm going to refuse an order I CANCELED which they felt inclined to ship anyway.

This is all beyond absurd. I went with the HP because Lenovo kept delaying the ship date for weeks on end, and now my date has been moved from the 9th to the 18th, and that just pertains to the BUILD DATE. Who ing knows when the damn thing will actually ship, let alone arrive. My enthusiasm surrounding this purchase has dissipated amidst enduring this entire ordeal. Great Christmas order........which at this point will get here by new years if I'm lucky. The entire point has been defeated.

I can see why so many people go with Macs or even Dell and sing their praises. Sure, you pay a premium (in macs case) or a bit more with Dell, but they ship your by the time they quote you and you aren't given a headache in addition to your order. Everyone I know with a Dell has had nothing but good things to say in regards to both companies, and their machines are solid. In the few instances something has gone wrong, the problem was corrected in a timely manor.

When my dv7t arrives I'm not keeping it unless I'm 110% satisfied. One dead pixel, keyboard sqeak, or anything else, and it's ing gone. All this I've heard pertaining to glare and screen reflection surrounding the infinity vs. non-infinity option hasn't filled me with confidence, either. What's the point of having a screen so full of glare I can see myself at all times no matter what I'm doing?

I'm already pissed off at the fact that there are numerous people who have gotten a dv8t for the same price as I paid (or less!) simply because their "coupon" was better than the $400 BF coupon I used, or they happened to be at the right site at the right time. They get a larger screen with full HD resolution for the same price. Oh yes, that's fair. I'm sick of dealing with HP and all of their bull when it comes to pricing. A hundred people can buy a dv7t with the same specs within a one week time frame and the prices will vary by hundreds of dollars. That is NOT the "nature" of this market, either. Prices always drop over time but HP's prices, "deals" and "offers" seem to fluctuate rather wildly.

If anyone else here actually gets their system anytime soon, I look forward to hearing the pro's, and especially the cons. I don't buy "big ticket" items on a regular basis. A grand (give or take) is a lot of money as far as I'm concerned. Some of you may upgrade every year (which I find downright silly even if you can afford it), but I plan on keeping this thing for many years to come. Considering all the stories I've read about the failure rate for HP's, I'm wondering why I'm bothering to go with this in the first place as opposed to a high end Mac. Oh yes, that's right......I don't have three to five grand. At the same time other HP owners have had systems for years with no problems, so I don't know what to think at this point.

I bought this to replace an NEC Versa FX. It's a 350 mhz pentium III with 64 megs of ram under windows 98. Hence my desire to finally upgrade, and attempt to do so properly this time around in the spirit of "future proofing". If HP drags this out much longer my relationship with windows 98 may last a while longer still.

 

Thanks for your story nincow. I wonder if your $810 price is without taxes. I just bought a dv7t on ebay for $979.95 after canceling mine from HP. And i get $78.40 using Bing cashback making it $901.55. There are a few left here is the link for those who canceled and still want the laptop.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=1&LH_IncludeSIF=1&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A2465&_nkw=dv7t+quad&_dmpt=Laptops_Nov05&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=15&_sc=1

P.S.> The one i got from ebay just got shipped today instead of the 18th.

 

To Banz -

The unit I ordered originally came to $1024 after taxes. $899 (after $400 coupon) + "recycling fee" plus tax brought it up to $1024. The $90 credit will bring it down to a bit beyond $900. I'm wondering if they'll still charge tax on the original price. At this point I'm too sick of the issue to care.

The model you found on ebay for $979 with no tax and free shipping does not include a bluray drive. Mine does, so the ebay offer isn't any better for me, even with bing. What angers me is I can get a dv8t for a bit under $1100, which would bring the price down to a grand or slightly less after bing. For the larger drive, bigger screen and higher resolution, that seems much more appealing.

Does this mean that despite all this hassle, should I just return the HP and buy the better model on ebay? It's an option, but the issue remains that there will always be a better deal for a better price. That *is* the nature of tech. Half a year from now I'm sure someone will be able to get something even better than the current loaded dv8t with a larger drive, more ram, and a better gpu for the same price.

When my unit arrives I may very well inquire about exchanging it for a dv8t outright, and explain why. Their response will dictate whether or not I go through with it.

 

OK, I went ahead and opened the unit up to try and repair the keyboard flexing issue so I could keep it. I have discovered that it is truly a design flaw. Take a look at the attached picture. You can plainly see the left side of the keyboard has only a single layer of metal structure while the other 2/3 has a dual layer design with multiple bends in it to give it rigidity. The left side is simply a flat piece of aluminum with holes stamped in it for what I assume is additional airflow. There is no way that this side of the keyboard can stay rigid and will flex right along the single to dual layer line when typed on. What I cannot figure out is there does appear to be room in the casing for a dual layer design of the keyboard in this area. If they were concered about airflow they could of easily punched holes through both layers while still adding to the rigidity of the keyboard.

I have decided to send this unit back for a full refund. I am not paying close to $1,000 for a laptop that has a keyboard that flexes.

It is too bad as the rest of the performance seems pretty good to me. Just not good enough to overcome it's flaws. Now to wipe it clean and box it up.

 

In my case, i don't think i will watch Blu-ray movies and never watched DVD movies on the laptop i am currently using. I am just fine with the DVD burner because i burn files and softwares. It is going to take at least a few years for me to have a need to use Blu-ray burners which don't come in any of the HP Pavilons.

The dv8t has indeed a bigger screen and harddrive but it also means that your laptop is going to be bigger (unless you don't care about size and portability). I would have gone for the dv6t which is smaller and has less resolution on ebay which is also around $978 but it comes with a 5400rpm harddrive which is slower than the 7600rpm harddrive. Also, the harddrive of the dv7t on ebay is 500GB compared to the 320GB i got from HP which sounds good to me in exchange to the Blu-ray ROM.

 

If anyone here decides to return their dv7t for a dv8t with comparable specs for the same (or similar) price, either from HP or ebay, please post your results here after finalizing the deal along with the price, so that we can use the confirmed example as leverage if arranging a similar upgrade deal with HP.

The more I think about the screen for the dv8t, the less enthused I am about receiving my dv7t. It's not the extra inch but the resolution difference that matters. There's a world of difference between 1600x900 and 1920x1080.

 

I know there is a difference in resolution but in my case i take my laptop everywhere and i mean everywhere with me. So, in my case portability is very important.

 

I fully understand your anger. Let me just say a few things real quick. I ordered a Dell Studio XPS 16 with Core i7 on October 19, then it got delayed until late Nov then early December. Dell is WAY WORSE with delays than HP. Dell and HP are pretty much the same. People LOVE THEM or HATE THEM.

The core i7's did just come out in September so I can understand some delays just not months.

With Mac's your paying only for the logo on the computer. People hate and bash Apple too. There is no IDEALISTIC computer company.

The coupon from Logic Buy well I agree with you. Black Friday lets put the dv6 quad and dv7 quads with a $400 coupon off, then come cyber Monday we'll put a $450 coupon off for the dv8. (when i ordered mine) but that really ISN'T FAIR!!!! But that's how it is.

The dv7t is a very nice computer and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it. Best of Luck to you

 

Oh I've had the DV7t and now Dv8t and their practically the same size. Give or take that 1.1" but I didn't notice hardly any of a difference. The DV8t and DV7t are very portable IMO.

 

Damn, if i have know that earlier. I already bought the dv7t and it is shipping. And i don't feel like returning and waiting for another shipping. >.<

Edit: Wait, 1.1" does actually makes a difference. It is about the same difference to the dv6t and dv7t. And if we actually even compare it between the dv6t and dv8t it makes it even more revelant to 2.2"

 

TRUE, however I noticed no real difference between the DV7t and DV8t, but thats just me.

 

Depending what your after..... If you need the real estate for movies and such then the 1080 18.4 inch would be better, however the dv7 17.3 would likely have better gaming performance due to the lower naitive res.

my 2 cents

turbo

 

This is ridiculous.
My company sent a cancellation request once they received delay mail.
Then same day they cancelled cancellation request. And received mail that order still in production and will be built.
But today they received mail "Your HP Order Has Been Cancelled -- xxx"
And order status on the hp shopping updated first time "Item cancelled".
HP order support is a piece of ***t.
I see a lot of ebay sellers offer this or even better configurations for the comparable price. Never again we will deal with shopping.hp.
Hope they will return money back soon and my company will authorize ebay purchase with fast delivery.

P.S. Can not wait to receive this nice laptop, but sooo angry of their online shopping service.

 

It doesn't seem like their service would be all that terrible if they had any sort of integration with their order/production/shipping system... how can it be so impossible to edit an order without cancelling it entirely??

Anyway... I'm hoping I don't find this keyboard weakness to be a problem... I'm a little concerned having seen it commented on a few times now, but how noticable is it really?? I'm not justifying the flaw since i agree completely that for 1k you shouldnt have a flexy keyboard... but how hard do you really have to be typing to notice? I will post what I notice about my keyboard when it gets here friday (hopefully).

 

^ yeah i've had the same thing happen - that you have to cancel an order instead of editing it... it makes me LOL.

but xorio, be wary of ebay sellers. they'll sell you refurbs/reconditioned crap but swear on their mothers graves that it's brand new in box from the factory.

i dont trust ebay sellers as far as i can throw them. and some of them are fat. so that shows you how much i trust them lol.

and i have not had this happen to me but know countless stories where ebayers got the bait and switch and the company didnt do jack about it. they're almost always on the sellers side since they're the ones producing ebay revenue.

 

I have a DV7-3020SA like the picture except mine don't have the openings between speakers mesh and the remaining cover(maybe i have an upgrade?) and i do not have any problem.

 

That's what happens when a company opts for the cheapest possible "customer service" reps from India and cheapest possible labor from China. I'm sure whatever money HP tried to save by using those sources, at least on my order, was wiped out by the $50 coupon and 10% off I'm going to call and demand later today.

 

I would try calling them to ask for a similar 10%, but since mine was only delayed 2 days.. and consider how annoying it is just dealing with them, i probably won't bother with the trouble... the 50$ coupon was acceptable I think for a 2 day wait... 9 days though? I'd be pissed too... Funny though that the 50$ mouse I ordered friday shows up yesterday and the laptop i ordered 3 weeks ago is still in alaska... hooray outsourcing.. LOL

 

So, I just got off the phone with HP (42 minutes). I tried to get an additional 10% off my order (Org. price $1299 - $400 in 2 black Friday coupons = $899 +tax) but they wouldn't go for that. She said the additional 10% was only being offered to people who didn't use as many prepurchase discounts as I did. I had to be escalated to the order resolution dept. to get that info. I don't know if that's true or not, but it sounded reasonable to me and I know I already got a good deal, so I didn't fight her over that. However, after that I explained to her that offering me a $50 coupon that I don't plan on using really doesn't make up in any way for the delay on this product and asked if she could give me a $50 discount instead. She was able to get that approved, so my final price should end up being $849 after it ships. Now I don't know about the rest of you (especially those who've said they order new laptops yearly) but I make quite a bit less than $50 every 42 minutes at my job, so that was 42 minutes well spent.

 

Just curious, I have mine ordered with an integrated hybrid HD TV Tuner - Does this come with a Remote control?

Thanks