Purchasing DV6T-7000

Hello everyone,
So I'm planning on picking up the DV6T-7000 pretty soon for when I head back to campus. This will be for both my academic and entertainment needs. I'm pretty sure about picking this up because of my previous experiences with HP and the discount I can get on this gives me the best bang for my buck. I know a lot of people would recommend something like the Lenovo Y580 but I'm pretty certain on my choice; there are a couple of things I would like to know before making my purchase though.

1) When I said entertainment needs, I meant I will use it to play games. Now, when I play games I prefer performance over visuals so I don't mind toning down the resolution for better frames. With this in mind, I'm going to go for the upgrade to get the better GPU (The Nvidia 650M), but I'm not sure if I need the quad edition of this laptop. I don't want to be cheap when buying this laptop because I plan on using it for a long time but saving money will be nice. I also don't want to have unnecessary power/upgrades for fear of diminishing the life expectancy by either heat or whatever.

So should I just go for another DV6-7000 that isn't the quad and just settle for another processor or what? I don't know how much the i7 will help "future proof" my laptop in terms of games in comparison to the i5. Again, I don't mind lowering the graphical quality. I also don't know how much more significant the heat is when using a quad or i7. Either way, I have the budget for both but I don't want to spend what I don't need or what will harm me in the end.

2) I'm concerned about heat if you couldn't tell. I'm not too sure about how well this laptop handles heat but I can tell you one thing: I will get a notebook cooler, no doubt.

I want to know how loud the fans are on this, with the fact I will be using it to game in mind. When I tested out the Envy 14 2160SE, I liked the HP Auto CoolSense program that adjusted the fans quite well in my opinion but I can't remember how loud they got. This is information I would like to know because I would prefer not to disturb my roommate with a whirring fan noise.

I would also like to know how hot it gets from just regular usage of daily tasks such as browsing the internet, doing work in office, etc. I'm not planning on changing the thermal paste or anything because it sounds too risky for me in the event that something may go wrong and I don't have the warranty.

Finally, on the topic of the notebook cooler, could someone give me some recommendations? I know different coolers work better on some laptops. If possible, I also don't want it to be too loud which might turn me away because I want to be courteous of my roommate.

3) I'm planning on having this laptop last about 4 years; does this sound possible based on my criteria (If you would like to know something else, let me know). Please keep in mind when I said I would game, it is not an excessive amount. If I could give you an estimation, it would be only Fridays and Saturdays and DEFINITELY no other days of the week as I just don't have the time. The longest duration I will spend playing the laptop in one sitting is 3 hours.

4) Any general knowledge or advice that I may not have touched would be appreciated.

I'd like to thank anyone who takes the time to read this and answer as I know it is a lot; this will greatly help me in the purchase of this laptop and I can't thank you enough.

 

I hate to skip the rest of your post, but this is the only thing I can comment on. I have the dv6z-7000 (amd processor)

Get the 1080p screen. It's awesome.

 

Any comment is appreciated, thank you! Don't worry, I do plan on making the 1080p upgrade. I gave it a lot of consideration and finally decided that if I'm going to be using something for 4 years as an entertainment device might as well shell out an extra $150 to enjoy it.

 

1) Would advise reading through http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...v7t-7xxx-series-ivy-bridge-owners-lounge.html if you get the chance. Great read and addresses many of your concerns.

2) while this this is only opinion in my case. The DV6 - 7000 is a powerfull machine that suffers primarily from heat related issues. If you don't mind a bigger machine, I would recommend the DV7T - 7000, provides more space for the components in the machine (but does not fix the heat issues all together ... you will still need a laptop cooler, and depending on gaming session length throttle the cpu down).

3) I would recommend the quad addition for future proofing your purchase. While very few games/applications will currently fully utilize the separate cores the way they should, in the future I see this changing (again personal opinion).

4) like previous posters have stated upgrade the screen for sure you will not regret the 1080P screen for gaming/etc.

5) upgrade the graphics card to the 650M for sure ... you will get noticiably better graphics out of it when compared to the standard 630M.

6) When you look at hard drive configuration may people will recommend different setups. The two that come to mind currently are :
- 1TB Drive with the mSSD (32GB)
- 7200 RPM Hybrid Drive and install your own SSD when you get it (very easy to do).

I would recommend the second one personally, but both will work for your needs.

6) I've been doing a large amount of research on these machines (HP DV series and Envy series) and I am getting the following:

Spoiler

• 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 7200 rpm Hybrid 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
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.75 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Backlit Keyboard with numeric keypad
• Included 2 Year Warranty
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

While I am no expert I hope this helps a little. If I can help any further ... message me.