Hp dv5t or HDX16t?

sorry for repost, but there is hardly anywho looking at the other forums.

I currently have a HP dv5t but i'm planning on returning it. I might get another dv5t or the newly released HDX16t. I don't know too much about the HDX16t so I'm wondering if the swapping is practical. I already bought some accessories that i use for my 15.4" hp dv5t, but i'm sure it will fit a 16" HDX16 (an ogio messenger bag that fits up to 17" and a zalman nc2000 cooler). Also it runs on DDR2 RAM so same ram i'm assuming.

Anyway, i'm using the laptop for college next year, but I just really want a laptop right now since my desktop sucks. Is it impractical to haul around this 7~lb HDX vs the 5~lb hp dv5t? Also, how about the battery life? I'm not too sure how college will be likely, but from family, they say I can be near a plug most of the time. I like that the HDX provides a bigger screen and the higher resolution.

It's odd really, the HDX's upgrades cost less than the dv5t, so if you max it out, it cost a couple hundred dollars less than the dv5t... why?

As stated in the dv7t thread, the T9600 processor only cost 225$ in the HDX while dv5t cost 450$. Upgrading to a higher resolution is only 25$, 75$ on the dv5t. HDD upgrade from 250 to 320 is only 25$ on the HDX, 100$ on the dv5t. And bluray is 100$ on HDX, 200$ on the dv5t.

WHYYYYYYYY?!?

Opinions for the swap? How much crappier is the battery life and how's the heat issue?

 

Why is it you want to return your dv5t?

 

I'm glad you brought this up. I've been researching a new laptop for college/portable gaming as well. I don't understand why the HDX16t is comparably cheaper than the dv5t. I've also been looking at Dell M1530 maxed out at 2.6ghz and 256mb 8600M, but when comparing specs and price to the HDX16t at 2.8ghz and a 512mb 9600M GT it seems HP is the better choice. I've never had an HP, how do they stack up to Dells?

 

I can tell you the dv5t that i have is much better than my old xps m1530 besides the video card. The dell imo was cheap and not put together well at all. I had a grey screen instead of black because of backlight bleed. It was also loud, kinda like a straight piped truck. I loved the look and all but those problems drove me crazy.

 

Some physical defect and partially considering swapping to the hdx16t... might wait for a good coupon too.

 

Eh, I had the opposite experience. My HP Pavilion Dv2700 got so as;ldkjfa;sldkfj;lk hot. I hated it. After 5 minutes of use it'd be burning hot. Just got my Dell Studio 15 w/ backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, webcam, and I love it. I had all the other accessories on my HP too, but I sold it. Not too much problems, except the Nvidia GPU wouldn't downclock because it got so hot. I couldn't really use it on the lap either because of that. Dell stays nice and cool. Build quality seems the same, except the HP got so frickin hot. Maybe it was the Nvidia Gpu. May other people complain that HP laptops get hot though. I agree with that, but for some people, it doesn't really matter. As for myself, I like using notebooks as "laptops" so I prefer cooler temps.

 

As I said in your other thread:

Lol you gota make up your mind on the comps man, hp prob not too happy that you keep returning comps due to changing your mind instead of actual computer issues. I looked up my comp for good 2 months before pulling the trigger, you may wana really look into it instead of pulling trigger due to uncertainty, cause you're wasting your own time

Anyways the weight is somewhat impractical depending upon how much you plan on carrying it. IE if its like every day then yes, but if its like once a week or 2, then you should be fine. The battery life will be less since its a bigger comp, and you can only get regular 6 cell, not the extended one.
I tried the price comparison, including tax, only way you get like 200+ cheaper is if you get max processor/hd/blue, in comparison to max on dv5t, either way even with 500 off it will run you like ~1400 with taxes. If you do similar upgrades to that in my sig, its about 50-100 off. The upgrades appear cheaper since it starts at higher price, but it is also cheaper due to being a new project, and HP wanting to attract customers to it. Also putting stuff in it is also probably cheaper due to bigger case, dv7t is also slightly cheaper atm then dv5t.

Also you might wana make sure you like infinity display since that is the only option, I personally didn't like it so didn't get it. And the glare might be an issue for you if you plan on taking laptop to classes.

So in end make sure you wana get it, because you may be saving your self 100-300 bucks depending upon configuration, but you are also wasting alot of your own time, and you know what they say, time is money.

 

Yeah i kno what u mean. My dv5t gets really hot. But i cant return due to school.

 

The laptops have had issues with them, i'm not simply returning because I don't like. Actually... i'm lying, I got this one because i wanted a higher resolution lol, but this one has a physical defect. It's not well built or something, considering the defects seem to be near one another. The optical drive occasionally opens by itself when pressure is applied at certain points, I never am able to replicate it though, i'm never sure where exactly i touched it that caused it to open, but certainly not where it's supposed to be pushed. Bottom from the touchpad, i have a click when you push against it. Tech support said it wasn't screwed in tight enough or something so yeah... Anyway, I was planning on sticking with the dv5t but all these incidents have me returning each one. Now, the HDX16t is barely released and I like it's looks, it's only slightly bigger, and it can be cheaper with higher specs.

 

Well I am just going on what you put in your other posts, basically you returned the first one because you felt you would be fine with slightly lower stuff, and then second one you got, you realized that there was a clear difference in t9400 and p8600.
Not to be rude, but you have 300+ posts, and you post all your issues etc, and this is the first time you have posted that there is a physical defect with the new comp after being called out, aka not that it matters, but I am highly skeptical.
I don't wana sound like an ***, but it annoys me that people do little research, and then keep buying/returning because they have ridiculous expectations etc.
FYI, cpus always get cheaper in a month's time after you order, especially laptops, so unless you plan on keep buying/returning every 21 days, you'll realize that comp you bought today, will be cheaper or have a superior comp for same price within 2 months.

 

Well, I can see where you get it from, but in the big dv5t thread, I do state some physical defects. But the bigger questions were, since I had the option to recustomize, what specs to put on it. Thus, i made plenty of posts about the specs. I did spend plenty of time before I bought. I was looking since July, registered in the forums in august, and I followed people's advice. At the time, the 400$ coupon was available, I was looking for something to fill the 100$ spot, so I put in T9400 CPU because of most people's suggestions. Unfortunately, the resolution I did not like, but many people stated that the lower resolution was fine. So, I sent that one back, and swapped the resolution and high capacity battery to replace the 100$ that i needed to reach and dropped the processor back to P8600. Now this one the overall laptop wasn't built well, causing my optical drive to malfunction, my keyboard crappier than my 1st one, and i have a click noise on the touchpad. I'm pretty sure those are valid reasons to return. As for the swap, why not? I was only planning on going back to T9400 because of the 500$ coupon, I needed another 100$ to fill the spot. Then, the HDX16t pops up, and i'm considering getting that instead, as the cover looks nicer, and I can get the specs I want at the same price or better specs at a lower price.

Anyway, I know the prices keep dropping month, but currently, the HDX16t/dv7t/dv5t are all in the same timeline and the HDX16t at full specs cost 200$ less!

Anyway, strayed off the topic... anybody know an estimate on how much the HDX16t will drop battery life, considering it's got about 2ft of area more to cover on the display.

 

I'm not sure where you are figuring it has 2ft of area more to cover on the display... because 2ft is a measure of length, not area. Moreso, the display is not even 2ft^2 area. That would be huge.

The HDX16t has a dual back lit display, I believe, which will draw more power from the battery. The dual back lights provide a more uniform illumination for movies and things. This draws more power. According to customer service, the dv5t should get around 2.5 - 3 hrs battery life, and the HDX16t should be getting around 2.0 - 2.5 hrs.

Consider the situation you will be using it in, though. How often do you expect to be so far away from a usable outlet that you can't run the laptop plugged in? Typically, anywhere in your own dorm or house that you are going to sit down for 2 hours is going to have an outlet nearby. Similarly, anywhere in school where you are going to be seated for a long time is likely going to have a power supply nearby. You should have plenty of laptop to get you through 2 classes without plugging in, at the very least.

The two are priced comparatively, but one nice thing about the HDX16t is that it has a full size keypad. If you do a lot of data entering for experiments or business or something, this is a nice feature. It also has 4.1 speakers for a fuller sound. From what i've read, there is a 6-cell high capacity battery that will be offered for it in the future.

If battery life is really the only thing holding you back, just buy a new 6-cell battery as a backup. You double your time for less than $100 with the minor inconvenience of swapping a battery (which can be done without rebooting if you use the AC adapter). It can also be purchased at any time you wish.

You are not likely to get the $500 coupon again for a while, as I'm sure it is run out by now. So consider that if you are planning a return.

With that said, I opted to get the HDX16t (vs. the dv5t) because it comes with a nicer screen, higher resolution, number pad, 4.1 speakers, and "cheaper upgrades" (starting at a higher price, though) with the only drawback really being that the higher capacity battery isn't offered at this time. Who cares. Another con is that the max memory supported for the HDX16t is 4GB whereas the dv5t supports up to 8GB. I don't plan on ever exceeding 4GB. For my uses, that will be unnecessary.

Reading reviews of the dv5t made me think that heat really seemed to be an issue. It could very well be the same way with the HDX16t, but i don't expect that it will be much worse.

With all of that in mind, I made my choice.

Hope that helps,

Kevin

 

Thanks for the reply. very helpful.

For the display, I just estimated. Currently, the display is around 13 inches length, 8.25 height. That gets that diagonal at 15.4. Since the hdx16t is 16 inches, i just used that .6 inches, and estimated a number (.5 inches each) for length and height, multiplied it, then subtracted it from the 13in*8.25in. Thus the are for the dv5t = ~237 inches ^2, while the hdx16t = 260~ inches^2. Subtract those, you get 23 inches, around 2ft!

Where did you get the dual back lit display?

I didn't know that about the ram, how come it only supports 4GB? If I can't get a good deal that's too bad. I rather save money and get a good laptop, if there is no coupon, then that's HP's loss, not mine. I can always use my desktop meanwhile.

 

Well hp's loss either way, but I am sure they prefer you not doing business with them with your unrealistic expectations

 

From their website product description of the HDX16t

"A stunning, 1080p dual-back-light display (optional)"

However, right below that it also says that you can add a 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM hard drive, which is not available right now


And for the math--- when you subtract 2 quantities that are units^2, you end up with something in units^2.

So, you get 260-237=23 in^2. Which is an area.. then if you want to convert that into feet you need to use an area conversion which is 1 ft^2 = 144 in^2. 23/144 = 0.16 ft^2


And as far as the RAM situation goes, if you have a desktop you are really not likely to need 4GB of ram in a computer anytime soon. Upgrading the components in your desktop is going to be a better bet if you are looking for some serious power. I'm not saying you can't find that kind of power in a laptop, it just isn't as practical usually. I wouldn't base your decision on the fact that you can "only" get 4GB of RAM.

 

Oh my bad math lol. Anyway for the RAM, i was just wondering why it isn't able to support higher ram, i'm not really concerned. 4GB is already good and more than enough for my needs. I meant to space out the RAM question and the fact that if i can't get a computer for a good deal.

 

Your math is such a disaster, you should worry more about that and your grades in school than returning laptops that are not "good enough" for you. You're not only of questionable character, but intellect too.

 

Thanks for trolling. I know i messed up on my math, and I don't see you trying any numbers. Not like it matters anyway since that was before the hdx16t's specs were announced. I happen to have a 5.0 in school thanks, and coming from my background, it's fine.