Questions before purchasing a DV6T QE or SE

So I'm looking to purchase a dv6t and I thought I'd post a few of the questions I have before taking the plunge. I'm going with the dv6t because I'm looking for a good combination of power, portability, price and battery life. I do a fair amount of gaming but I'm not going to fool myself into thinking this will replace my desktop. I just want something capable that I can take on the road with me.

I've spent literally the last 6 months trying to decide between numerous brands and models (Sony EB and CB series, HP Envy 14, Dell XPS 15z and of course the dv6t). Now that I think I've made my decision I need help with some of the components.

First, would there be a noticeable gain in battery life if I were to go with an i5 processor versus an i7? I like the idea of a quad-core but not at the expense of a significant amount of battery life. Also, the discount on the Quad Edition is extremely enticing.

My second question is along the same lines but would a 5400 RPM HDD offer a noticeable increase in battery life versus a 7200 RPM drive? I've also read that the 7200 RPM drives can be a source of heat problems in some laptops. Is this the case with the dv6t?

Lastly, is the 1080 screen worth the upgrade? I'm coming from an older Sony 1368x768 that was okay at best so I'm assuming anything will be an upgrade, but I also know games will run at a lower frame rate with the increased resolution.

Aside from the fact that it's an HP (/sigh) this laptop seems to have a lot going for it. It has a great group of components in an attractive and (relatively) thin package. Any advice, recommendations, or even constructive criticism anyone can offer will be greatly apprecaited. Thanks!

 

The biggest increase for run time on battery would be to get the 9-cell battery. I recently purchased two dv6tqe with both the 6 & 9-cell batteries because it was only $60 more to get both over just the 6-cell, mind this was before a 33% off coupon, sot that made it a measly $40. They claim up to 5.5 & 9.75 hours on the 6 & 9-cell batteries respectively. Having both on hand gives one up to 15.25 hours of run time.

With that info I would not be concerned about the difference between a 5400rpm & 7200rpm drive, or for that matter the quad core i7... Just don't sweat it and get both batteries.

Get the 1920x1080 LED display; it is the primary output for the user experience. It won't make much impact on power, but it is well worth it.

 

I wouldn't trust the battery life claim. Just take 66% of what claimed to calculate the average for the year.

That claim is only effective during the first month under normal usage but afterward only possible by turning off a few components like wireless, etc.

The 5400 vs 7200, that only adds another half hour to battery life and significantly quieter than the 7200 but slower random access time.

The 2nd generation i7 quads consume as a bit less power than the older i5 and yet performs at least or better.

At the moment now, the dv6/dv7 does not fully support WiDi, you can get the main parts working but not very well.

HP going to drop their most of their support dv6/dv7 as usual with their other HP consumer models in 9-12 months after their initial release or a refresh whichever comes first.

So be wary that you are buying it for great hardware at a low price but limited software support.

Summer is the cheapest point for the dv6, HP usually put out 33-38% coupons. But 30% coupons, for the rest of the year.

 

Definitely get this upgrade. Believe it or not, the screen upgrade actually makes the most difference out of any of the upgrades, because you notice it a lot more than a processor upgrade or RAM upgrade. You stare at the screen all the time, but when doing basic tasks you could almost forget how much RAM you have, how big your hard drive is, what type of graphics card you have, etc. The screen is the most important upgrade.

Plus, in the HP DV6t, the 1366x768 display is bad quality. It's gotten terrible reviews, whereas almost everyone who got the 1920x1080 display loves it.

For gaming, the resolution makes no difference, because you can always run at a lower-than-native resolution. There will be a minimal amount of blur when doing so, but due to the quality differences, games will still look better running in 1366x768 mode on the 1920x1080 display, than running in native-res on the 1366x768 display. Plus, the productivity value you gain from a higher resolution (side-by-side windows, much less scrolling, etc.) far outweighs any slight graphical downsides you may encounter while gaming.

If this is the quad edition, coupon code: NBU29176

Also note: don't get the 2GB graphics card. Get the 1GB version of the 6770M, because no game will ever be able to take advantage of more than 1GB on a midrange card. Complete waste of money, and a scam on HP's part.

The Quad Edition and Select Edition are actually the same price when the respective coupon codes are applied. And there will be little difference in battery life.

 

Overall, seems like a great laptop for most people.

However.....

Wireless Display is not completely there but seems to work.

Wifi card is weaker than some out there and don't know if it is easy to replace.

Switchable graphics in the 6100 version is currently crippling OpenGL use. See the numerous threads. It does matter if you want to graphics/video edit since a lot of those programs involve OpenGL even it is a dying tech overall.

 

For the last time, OpenGL is not dying. It is the core of 3D and desktop compositing on Mac and Linux.

 

No. Sandy Bridge quad-cores are very well power gated and you will not see a difference in power consumption when the CPU is idle. Of course, if you load up the quad-core while on battery then yes, you it will use more power -- but it'll also get things done faster.

I have not heard anyone complaining about it so probably not. The hard drive is the single biggest bottleneck in everyday usage so I would recommend the 7200RPM one.

Yes. This laptop is not worth it without the upgraded screen. First, the 1920x1080 screen is better in terms of contrast and other display qualities -- it's not just the resolution. Second, with a 1368x766 display, the 6770M GPU makes no sense: you are paying for a card with 57.6GB/s memory bandwidth which will never be fully used without an external monitor.

As people have said, switchable graphics doesn't like OpenGL. This is not too bad since the integrated card is capable of handling it for most purposes, but beware if you intend to use professional applications or Minecraft (or anything graphically intensive in Linux). I personally believe the problem can be fixed since it appears to be a matter of drivers rather than hardware, but it may take some time and I could be wrong. Don't buy it if you absolutely need OpenGL.

 

It seems a lot of the complaints about the dv6tqe don't even apply to me and won't bother me, so I'm assuming the display screen is one of them. I've always used low-end pc's so anything is a step up. I couldn't care less about viewing angles, since I won't (don't plan on) showing movies/powerpoints from it to a bunch of people.

 

I highly recommend the screen upgrade. I have had both, and the new screen is fantastic! The 1366x768 screen has much less contrast, and looks washed out compared to the 1080p... Plus, you can fit a lot more on the 1080p.

 

I'm going to stick with the 6-cell since I'm already working with limited space in my school bag and the over-sized 9-cell would only make the situation worse. I'm just hoping to squeeze as much time out the standard battery as possible.

The access time of the 5400 drive in my old laptop didn't bother me too much and if it's quieter as well so much the better. With the free upgrade to the 750GB 5400 drive on top of that this decision is easy for me now.

All along I've assumed that the full HD screen would be the most obvious upgrade to get but it's always nice to have it reaffirmed by others! And it didn't take much research to learn that the 2GB version of the GPU was little more than a marketing joke and I agree with you completely on HP's decision to make it an option. Dell is doing the same thing with their XPS 15z (as are other companies I'm sure).

And of course, thanks for the reminder about the coupon! Nothing like having almost $400 knocked off the total price.

Thanks a ton for clarifying this for me. I'm not really worried about battery life under load because I plan on being plugged in whenever I'm gaming or watching movies. But if I'm away form a power source for an extended period during school it'll be nice to know that carrying a quad-core around won't necessarily make things more difficult even if I'm just using Word or browsing the 'net.

I've been following the other thread about the problem with switchable graphics but since it does seem to be a software issue I'm also hoping it'll be resolved with updated drivers. And besides, I don't think a lack of OpenGL will be an issue for me.

A big thanks to everyone for all the advice and information! I feel a lot better about what I'm getting now. It's still an HP machine so problems are to be expected but I'm going to hope for the best. Thanks again!

 

Anyone know if it's possible to switch out the monitor later on and replace it with the 1080 one? I could only afford the 766, and though I'm sure it will suit me fine, I guess it would be nice to have the option to upgrade later on.

 

You would have to buy the dual-channel LVDS display cable, which I don't know is available for order as a spare part yet.