Here's a few initial thoughts on the dv7 Ivy Bridge

A few thoughts about my dv7t now that I've had it a couple of days, and finally gotten all of my normal software and setups loaded on to it. And some comparisons to the dv7t-6000 series I had before.

Here's the configuration I purchased.
dv7t Quad Ed
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• No additional security software
• One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
• 17.3-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• Blu-ray writer & SuperMulti DVD burner
• 720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype + FingerPrint Reader
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Included 2 Year Warranty
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

I went with the cheapest disk drive since I planned to swap that out immediately for the SSD and hard drive from the old computer, the processor upgrades didn't seem worth the cost, the dual battery setup for intercontinental flights, and the Blu-ray writer and backlit keyboard because they weren't too expensive.

The computer feels very solid. The 6000 series was pretty good, but this one is better in almost every regard. I still like the way the Macbook is put together a little better, but it's getting close, and for almost half the price, it's pretty outstanding.

The only QC glitch I've come across was the grill over the speakers on the lid. It wasn't properly installed, and when I tried to take off the protective plastic piece over it, the whole grill came off. The fix was just a matter of carefully pressing it back into place; it's held on by an adhesive.

I haven't weighed it yet, but it's definitely a bit heavier than the 6000 series, and that's without the 1TB drive installed yet like I had on the 6000.

The 1920 x 1080 screen is very good to excellent for a non-IPS display. On the 6000, I had the 1600 x 900 glossy display, and while it was OK, it really wasn't in the same league. Anti-glare, resolution, brightness, contrast, and colors are all better, and make a big difference on the new laptop.

The new computer feels a bit faster than the old one, but the difference isn't dramatic. With an OCZ Vertex 3 240GB drive, it boots up in 15 or 16 seconds, and shuts down in 7 or 8 seconds.

I changed a couple of the BIOS defaults. 'Virtualization Technology' is disabled by default; since I will be using Virtualbox, I enabled it. Also, 'Fan Always On' was enabled. I didn't see much point to that, so I disabled it; so far no issues although I haven't run it hard yet.

In non-game usage, the computer stays very cool, cooler than the 6000 series, probably the coolest of any laptop I've ever used, and I've used dozens over the years. The fan has been completely unnoticeable; I'm not sure if it's coming on in normal usage or not. I don't do much gaming and haven't tried any on it yet, so someone else will have to chime in with their experience in that regard.

I was hoping to just take my Vertex 3 and 1 TB drives out of the old laptop and pop them into the new laptop, install some new drivers, and be in business. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case. First the drive caddies and cables are different, so I had to order a new hard drive kit. Then I couldn't boot up the new system with my Vertex 3 that had everything installed from my old system. It wouldn't even come up in safe mode, so I ended up doing a full install on the Vertex drive from the recovery disks I made with the original drive.

The bottom cover to get to the disk drives, memory, and wireless card works a bit differently from before. On the 6000, it was tool less, you just pushed the battery release lever over and pried the cover off. It made a bunch of scary, snapping noises in the process, but I never had a problem with it despite having it on and off a dozen times or so. The 7000 requires a small screw to be loosened, then push the battery release over, the cover slides back a little and comes off with zero effort, no snapping noises. I think I like the new cover a little bit better, but the tool less aspect of the older laptop was nice.

The "bloatware" that HP installs on their laptops doesn't seem to be as excessive as it used to be, and some of it, such as the HP Support Assistant is actually useful. I dumped the Norton Security, Bing, Microsoft Office, and a couple of other things, but nowhere near as much as I'm used to uninstalling on most laptops as delivered.

Pretty much everything is improved from the 6000 series except for a slight additional weight. And I kind of liked the dark umber coloring of the 6000 more than the black of the 7000 series; it was a bit more unique. The delivery process on the 7000 went much smoother than my 6000 last year. In both cases, I ordered within the first week that they could be ordered; my 6000 was delayed twice and finally arrive 2 1/2 weeks later than originally promised. My 7000 arrived one day early.

Here's the specs of the dv7tqe 6000 series I got last year.
dv7t Quad Ed
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2720QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz
• 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• No Additional Office Software
• FREE Upgrade to Norton Internet Security(TM) 2011 - 15 Month Subscription (activation required)
• High Capacity 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.5 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Standard Keyboard
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Maybe the CPU upgrade would have been worth it in your case using virtualization, as your newer processor does not have VT-d

Nice post.

 

Thanks.

The main reason I run the Virtualbox is for some old programs that won't run under Windows 7 and a basic Linux setup for a little testing and utility usage. Both take very little resources and for the minor, non-critical use that I'll be putting them to, the Vt-d wasn't necessary. I didn't think I'd see any real difference in performance with the upgraded CPU, and at $170 for a less than 10% increase in clock speed, it didn't seem like a very good value.

 

Unless he was going to run an ESXi VM on his laptop or has some deep need for the passthrough technology, it's pretty useless even for your typical geek.

What I would like to know is, does the notebook have Optimus and do you find it more reliable than AMD's solution?

 

I think Optimus is pretty much standard on all the new Nvidia GPUs for laptops. On the Nvidia control panel, you can select either the Nvidia GPU or HD4000 GPU or automatic mode. On auto, the 3DMark11 graphics score is 2071, and it's the same when I manually select the "Nvidia High Performance" GPU. When I manually select the "Integrated Graphics" GPU, it goes down to 607.

As to whether it's more reliable or not, I don't play enough games or use enough serious graphics software to really speak to that. Both the 6000 and this one seem to work fine for the little that I do.

 

And a couple of notes on the touchpad.

The regular mouse functions and two finger scrolling work very well, but the pinch and zoom is jerky in its response and too sensitive even when set all the way to slow. Hopefully, HP will come out with a driver update on this at some point, like they did for the 6000 series scrolling. At first the 6000 series two finger scrolling was unreliable and jerky, but after a couple of updates, it worked well.

 

Hey, have you attempted playing any games on it as of now? I'm having issues running anything off of the NVIDIA card, and was wondering if anyone else is having similar issues. Thanks!

BTW Nice review! And I agree, the build quality of this laptop vs the previous series is an awesome improvement. I do, however, miss the fabulous sparkly, and random internet key that was next to the power button.

 

That wasn't an internet key per se, well, technically it was. What it did is, if you have your laptop off, pressing the button brings up a quick booting custom Linux environment by HP that let's you browse the web really quickly without having to actually boot into Windows. Neat but wasn't all that great in practice when I tried it.

Ah, okay, found the name: HP Quickweb.

 

Could you do a battery test on the 7000? Like how long will the battery last when you are not plugged in and you are using the hd4000 gpu.

 

Oh wow! Thats what that thing was? Thats actually pretty nifty... I was never interested enough to look it up, and clicking it when the computer was off never crossed my mind. I was never sure what it was, so I just called it the 'disco button' (the world thing looked like a disco ball, and the button itself was sparkly) Thanks for the info!