New - DV5-1234se

I just got a DV5-1234se, so far I'm very happy with it. I can't seem to find any reviews online though..if anyone knows of any, I'd be interested in reading them. Or if anyone else has the same, feel free to post your opinions/experiences.

Anyways, I've only been a desktop user until now, so I'm unsure on a few things regarding general laptop use.

The battery-should I be using the AC whenever possible, or is it bad to leave it plugged in? Should I charge it until the battery is full and then unplug until it gets low again? I read somewhere that you can plug it in and remove the battery, is that recommended?

Heat- how much heat is normal? I've noticed sometimes it gets a little warm, mostly to the left of the touchpad. I try to elevate the back a bit so there's some more airflow beneath, but I'm not sure if it's necessary or not.

Lap? In the info that came with my HP, it says not to use it on your lap. I understand this is so you don't block the vents, right?

Any other relevant info is really appreciated, I'm a bit clueless when it comes to laptops/notebooks. Thanks.

 

first off congrats on the new laptop. I have a dv5t too (in sig) i think this is a good laptop for a budget minded person. I bought my laptop for around 800 bucks with coupons and stuff which i think was the best bang for the buck for my purposes. Im a pretty big gamer and this laptop performs great for my purposes (mainly tf2, wc3, and some random new games).

About your battery, I have always left it in and charging whenever im using it. I have heard that this would be bad for your batteries but in my opinion is too much of a hassle for like 15 extra minutes to your battery life. Also i woudlnt recommened not plugging in your battery, because if you accidentally take out your cable then u lose power to your laptop.

If you are worried about heat u can download some temperature monitoring programs such as Speedfan or HWmonitor. Temps range from the situations your laptop in but i think 50 and 70-80 C load is average for no laptop cooler. The area left of the touchpad gets notoriously warm, I think its close to the cpu or something hot. You have already taken a good step by elevating ur laptop and if you still find the heat a problem i recommend a laptop cooler, there is a great thread on NBR for laptop coolers, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=304671

i mean if you dont mind the heat you cuold use on your lap, its called a laptop for a reason. The only downside is it might heat up more and heat up faster than if it was elevated on a desk. Lastly try to use it on a hard surface, a cloth on the desk will smother the vents

sry for the long list and good luck with your new laptop

 

Thanks.

Something else, I've noticed the colors are slightly dull. I remember yesterday I stumbled onto something to change the settings but I didn't want to at the time. Now for the life of me I can't find it again? Is it in the control panel somewhere?

 

Constantly plugging in will kill the life of battery
i recommend charge when it is completely drained
one full cycle of charge a month is recommended by apple
and my personal recommendation is to get battery backup
and use it without battery in laptop and use battery once a month with drained and charged cycle

 

try pressing FN and F8 i think you turned your screen brightness down by accident

 

It isn't the brightness, it's the color saturation that bugs me.

I tried the FN and F8 but it didn't help.

hmmm

 

do you have Nvidia graphics?
if you do right click on desktop and go to nvidia controlpanel you should find settings tehre

 

It's Intel. Since I posted last I found the little panel for the color but I can't figure out how to get them right..blacks aren't black enough for me, but if I up the contrast everything just gets too white? I've played around with it and upped the contrast and lowered the brightness but it still seems sort of off..If anyone has any recommended settings I'd like to try them out!

I have Gamma at the default of 1
Brightness -43
Contrast 52

I'm not sure how to set the red/blue/green though.