What should I expect? New dv6500t

Hey guys,

here are my specs: they're not that impressive but I got this computer for $830.

-Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
-Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.20 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
-2GB DDR2 Ram
-Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
-HP Imprint (Radiance) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone
-Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
-80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
-LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support

In terms of weight and battery life, how good/bad are these specs? I got the standard 6-cell.

The only game I really want to play is Halo 2. Will the Intel GMA X3100 handle that, on perhaps, medium settings?

Thanks, and after I get it, will there be a large amount of bloatware on the system?

 

Weight - ~6.8 pounds
Battery Life - (assuming 6 cell) 2-3 hours.

Halo 2 - maybe low
Bloatware - yes, search the forums or read the stickies.

 

thanks Lithius.

the laptop will arrive tomorrow. Currently, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 5100 that has these specs

Intel Pentium 4 2.8 ghz
512 mb ram
32 mb ATI Mobility Radeon 7500C
30 gb hard drive
Dell Wireless Card
CDRW/DVDR combo drive

^This notebook weighs a TON (well not literally, but it is VERY heavy). I'm not sure about the exact weight, but I hope this will be a significant difference.

As for the price of the new notebook, what do you think of the configuration? Meaning, did I get a good deal? I know I could have added the 383 Nvidia graphics card for $79 more, but I heard somewhere (don't know if this is true or not) that dedicated graphics cards reduce your battery life, and since I've never experienced a laptop with over 1.5 hours of battery life, I thought maxing battery life would be a plus (I like to work outside, away from like outlets and stuff). The harddrive..well even after I've owned my dell for like...4+ years, I still have 13 gb of space on it, I don't download stuff much, so I figured that 80 gb would be more than enough.

Oh yeah, my dell will go to my little sister.

 

I have a Dv6000t with a 12 cell battery and i get 3 :30 battery life max!

 

I don't know if that's quite a bit or very little...lol I haven't looked at laptop specs for the last 4 years. I didn't care, because this laptop was what I needed for high school. But not it's giving me problems: fully charged battery gives me 7 minutes of life and some other physical problems.

 

That's a very subjective question and falls into the "top 10 most annoying questions". No one can tell you if it's a good deal unless you got totally ripped off.

 

No need to be so abrasive; it's a feeling we all experience at one time or another. I'm sure our instincts propel us to burst out, like he did, not calmly scour innumerable topics for an easy answer.

And, 3:30?! I get like 5:20~ish hours from my dv6500t.

 

These battery times are making me depressed. My 6000z + 6 cell + windows aero gets like 1:15. LOL.

 

5:20 minutes?! That's insane! What settings do you use?

Heh sorry. It's just that my dad was all about me getting a new laptop for under a thousand. Only catch, it had to be either HP or Dell, and had to have an Intel processor (as he worked for Intel)...soooo I just don't know if I should have ordered it now or waited until Christmas or the end of this school year..but I think the configuration is good enough for my needs. I'm a high school senior, and decided not to wait until college (I know a person who upgraded from a really nice desktop to a laptop last year [he's in my grade]).

 

Why didn't you choose the nVidia option? I ordered mine under $1000 with Tax and the detail is in my signature.

PS: I did used the coupon code which I got from the "Laptop Deal" section of this forum with many many thanks.

 

for the bloatware it is recommended you do a clean install

 

hey I just wanted to say thanks for all the help, and I'm loving the new comp.

 

Oh, I should mention that I have a 12 cell battery and Core 2, so that's probably why most people were freaked out. I lose roughly 17~20% battery life per hour, so that's pretty good. Wireless enabled, and I just surf the web and listen to music.

Turions, I think, will always dissipate more energy than C2D's. In honesty, they're marginally better at energy conservation at idle, but when the load goes up, they spend a lot of energy and get really hot. That's just what I've experienced - I have a friend who has the same model with a different processor. I could fry an egg on his heat grill.

And damn, Wield Al, if you ever read this, what settings do you use?! 3:30 is like a new 6 cell. oO

 

I would have opted for the 8400M card as it would give better performance playing games as opposed to the x3100.

 

Agreed. I can actually feel the bottom of my laptop heat up instantaneously when the CPU goes to 100%.

 

Oooh. I noticed in your signature that you have your Geforce oc'ed. Are the performance gains worth it? I've been sitting on the fence of quite some time now.

 

I've only done minimal tweaking. I don't really play games, I did for better vista aero performance. But if you have question on oc'ing geforce mobile gpus refer to this thread :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=92633

He says it's stable at 550 MHz w/ 256 MB VRAM: 64 MB ded., 192 MB shar.

 

So I just received my DV6500T today and I must say that the bloatware has been no big deal at all. When I first turned it on, the CPU usage was around 10% while idling. Memory usage was up to about 800MB. I used the removal utility to get rid of Norton and then went to add/remove programs and uninstalled Vongo. Vongo came off without a hitch- it did not try to prevent me from uninstalling in any way. I even checked the Vongo program files and they were totally gone. So I wonder, did HP have a change of heart or is Vongo still lurking somewhere on there? Now the CPU idols between 0%-2% and the memory is about 720MB. Does this sound pretty close to a clean install?

 

You still have orphaned files somewhere in the Windows directory. When you use ccleaner, the program only removes or clean the registry, not orphan files left behind by installed programs.

 

wow, you got all that for $800??? thats a great DEAL in my book. i payed over $1200 for my T7300, 2GB, and 8400M GS, 160GB, webcam + mic

 

Ok, well perhaps there are orphaned files on there but my hope is that I've gotten rid of the useless processes and services that bog down system performance. It seems to run really well. I do think that 720MB of RAM is a lot for the system to use just idling. Is this normal for Vista Home Premium? I know XP didn't require near that much.

 

BTW, anyone know if the Online Services bloatware can just be deleted from the Program Files directory? I can't tell if they have actually been installed on the system or whether they are just stand-alone apps.

Thanks.

 

Those are execution programs not yet installed. You simply delete them.