Hp Dv9543 - Boon or Bust?

So anyone going for the Costco HP DV9543 laptop next week, when it's on sale?

http://www.costco.com/images/content/misc/PDF/11203300_dv9543cl.pdf

looks pretty good. Discrete graphics (NVidia 8600GS with HDMI), 2mb RAM, 320gb Disk, T7300 CPU, 2 yr warranty.

Screen could be better, and no bluetooth (which can be added easily.)

What are your thoughts - Boon or Bust and why?

 

Hmm, nope. Never heard of it before.

 

What is the price going to be, and have you configured an identical one on the CTO site to compare?

 

If you have the coupon, it's $1299.99 pre-tax.

 

See Meowsley's post for price.

Hundreds cheaper than configured on HP's site. Also Hundreds cheaper than thru my HP Emp Purchase Plan (cheezy 5% off).

Wondering if I'm missing something. Looks like a go!

 

Ahh, you were joking. Just noticed your sig.

 

I just built an identical system on the site and, by buying it through Costco, saved about $40. While that may not sound like a lot, throw in Costco's rather generous return policy of 90 days and it's a winner.

Plus, no waiting around for it to be shipped.

 

It ships faster through Costco? I thought they all originated from the same place......

 

with the 2 yr warranty, i get 1,617.99 on Costco's 'configure your own' site. slightly different video card. but close.

 

You have to go to a Costco to buy it. They're not even selling it on their website but I prefer getting it right away anyway.

I'll be the first to admit it; I'm on pins and needles waiting for Monday to roll around. My first notebook ... yay!

 

Oh, a preconfigured notebook. Yep, they ship immediately.

Congrats on your lappy, hope you enjoy.

 

I already bought a dv9500 from Costco and am returning it to get this one. The coupon says "Also available at Costco.com", so I am assuming when Monday comes, it will show up on their website.

 

It does say that at the bottom and it is on the website, listed under "Available Exclusively at Your Costco Warehouse" and on that same page it says "These computers are available from Costco warehouses exclusively, not available from costco.com."

They might sell it online but then again ... it says only at the warehouses. It would be nice, though, because then I wouldn't have to race there after work.

 

Thank you!

 

that would be nice.

I actually considered getting either that or a CTO from HP's site. Now, I think I may go with the preconfigured, even if I don't get to configure it

Where are my Costco coupons? Grrr ><"

EDIT: The only thing is that I'm bummed out that there's no TV Tuner. O well, I'll get one from eBay or something. 320 GB HDD and nothing to put on it? lol

 

I thought the same thing about the TV tuner but figured I'd live if I didn't get it.

And if you go to the membership desk at your local Costco, they should still have that Passport to Savings booklet. That's how I got mine a couple of weeks ago.

 

Usually I get mine in the mail...but it's not here yet

 

I read somewhere that they were sent out at the end of May/beginning of June.

 

O rly!?!?!

*runs off to Costco*

Wouldn't be surprised if my sister accidentally threw them out or something...

 

I just noticed the coupon also says "Costco.com may reflect higher pricing due to delivery charges." Maybe this means it will be available to purchase online. We'll just have to wait and see. I think I would rather buy mine at the store anyway, so I can have the laptop sooner.

 

I have a question on the warranty.

Does it come with Costco's 2 year warranty like a notebook would if it were configured through Costco's site and not HP's?

If not, what is that 2-year limited warranty?

Someone explain the warranty to me

 

Yes, it is the same warranty you would get if you configured one on the website.

 

So, that would mean a two-year Costco warranty?

 

It is a 2 year warranty. Costco extends the manufacturer's warranty to 2 years. AFAIK, the first year is covered by HP and the second is covered by Costco.

 

Ok, thanks

 

If you can get the 6 digit coupon code write it down on a piece of paper and hand it to the cashier at checkout. That's what the customer service center does when you return a notebook and get a replacement since the original coupon is no longer available for you to use.

 

As an update, this computer appeared on Costco's website this morning for the advertised price of $1299. You do not need a coupon to buy it online.

 

Picked this up at the local Costco this AM. Making recovery disks now, to re-install Vista cleanly. There is just too much junk on this thing. Takes a LONG time to create the disks.

Took 10 minutes to remove all the dumb stickers and their glue?!

No printed user guide. Guess I'll have to read about everything online.

Nice laptop. Vista seems like another leap into confusion (from XP).

HP leaflet inside box says 2 yr warranty is from HP. Costco includes a brochure saying they provide the 2 yrs. confusing.

 

Sooooo ... is it too early to ask how you like it so far?

 

I'm liking it!!! I made pretty labels for my lightscribe recovery DVD's. well, after the first one, Roxio Labeler gp'd. Gotta love that!

How's yours?

 

I can't go until after work which is why I'm feeding off your review.

 

well, hopefully, by tonight I'll have everything trimmed down and optimized. stay tuned. I love flex time at work.

 

I bought the laptop a couple of weeks ago. It's a decent performer. The specs are here: http://www.costco.com/images/content/misc/PDF/11203300_dv9543cl.pdf

Originally, I was planning to get a 1680x1050 screen from hpshopping.com because I really like the extra screen real estate, but I'm satisfied with the 1400x900 screen that comes with this Costco preconfigured laptop.

Yeah, no bluetooth. Oh well. Just about everything else seems to work fine.

The one thing that absolutely sucks in my opinion is the trackpad. It just blows. Maybe it's just mine, but when I draw circles to test the tracking, the mouse pointer will stop moving despite my finger being in motion. Oh well, I can live with that because I use a external USB mouse or trackball. Still... compared to the other 3 laptops I have, the trackpad leaves much to be desired. The one in the store didn't seem to have this problem, so I wonder if mine is just a lame duck or if I need to play around with the software drivers.

The first thing I did with my laptop is format the drives and install a copy of Vista Business (from the Microsoft MSDN subscription that I pay for). Finding drivers and installing them wasn't too much of a problem. I have one device driver (the modem) that isn't installed. Since I'm not going to use a modem, it's no big deal.

I'll post the Windows Experience scores (as if they really mean much...) in a second once I install the NVidia graphics drivers.

I haven't played any games yet or done any real graphics benchmarking. The machine is primarily a programming/development machine. My desktop is for gaming. I feel gaming on a notebook is really just a compromise...

 

i ordered an MS wireless mouse - so that takes care of bluetooth. got a rechargeable one.

installing drivers now... reformat went fine. took longer to burn the dvd's.

all the experience scores are 4.7 or higher. nice. fwiw

 

These are my Windows Experience Index scores. The first time I ran the test I had 5.1 for the gaming index, but now it's only 4.9?

 

Sweet!

I bought mine on August 5th, and I brought in my receipts and the coupon and they gave me the difference in cash!

I've got $180 in cash... that's like 9 lap dances! Who's in???

 

Sooooooooo, I went after work to the nearest Costco and am now the proud owner of the HP DV9543CL.

I didn't actually boot up until after 8 and I knew the recovery disks would take a while but .... aiyiyi!

Anyways, I didn't get much of a chance to play with it last night so ... tonight's the night.

It's so purty!

 

I got mine yesterday too. I returned one that I bought in June from Costco to get this one. This one seems to have a better build quality. My first 9500 had an LCD manufactured in 2005 (lame), this one was manufactured in 2007.

My only complaint is that it didn't come with the Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD, like my other 9500 did. It seems HP randomly includes those.

My Windows Exprience Score was 4.7 until I installed an updated 8600 driver through Windows Update. It then went down to 4.6 (huh?). I think I heard that happened to others too.

I hope eveyone is happy with their new laptop!

 

Hi all,
I bought this notebook to. Is your fan loud?

 

The fan does seem to run a bit loud and more frequently. I used to have a 9500t with the 8400GS graphics card - the fan in that one was just as loud, but did not run as frequently. I assumed it was the 8600GS card that was causing the fan to run more. It hasn't been quite enough to alarm me though.

 

the trackpad on my 9543 is very sensitive. i finally had to turn off 'tap to click' because i kept opening/running things i didn't want. i do have the Synaptics drivers installed.

got a ms 8000 wireless/bluetooth/rechargeable mouse (amazon). it's FANTASTIC. great way to add bluetooth to the lappy. came in 2 days!

also got peer sharing with my old xp desktop - which is connected to an external seagate drive (from costco). easy way to copy 15 mb of iTune songs. good place to backup to as well.

can't get the printer shared, but it's old. it does show up as shared, but i can't print to it from the laptop. might have to spring for a network ready one. hp 5180 for $149 at CC.

 

Pity, no Bluetooth in this model...

 

Hi,
Does this laptop come with a HDMI port?
Also, what do you guys think of the screen and the video card?

Good luck with the Right shift key

 

Yes, it does come with an HDMI port. The screen is 1440x900 and I think looks great. The video card is basically the best card you can get from HP, and I think very capable for anything you want to do with it.

 

I'm perfectly happy with the screen and video card. I finally got around to installing Sims 2 on it last night. I've never seen it load so fast or play so beautifully. Then again, I had been playing it on my desktop with a whopping 512MB of RAM and an integrated video card.

I think it's a very nice lappy for the price ... and it's aesthetically pleasing to boot.

 

I bought one; my only complaint is only 2 gigs of ram is supported so i cant upgrade to 4 gb.

 

Is there something wrong with my dv9543cl? Takes like 2 and a half minutes to boot, even with most startup programs disabled and bloatware removed.


Windows Experience Index:

 

No, Vista is just slow to boot. I have the same problem but I haven't worried about it as it works fine once it finally boots up. Seems snappier actually to me other than the initial boot time.

 

Thanks,
Wonder why they don't include the HDMI port in the specs, just TV out:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...2637&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Anyway, did u guys also get the cloth for wiping fingerprints?

 

Yes, cloth comes with every DV9500.