dv2500t/dv6500t/dv9500t Current/ Prospective Owners Lounge

Turn on autologin to test the real bootup time. True bootup time is from the point where you press the power button to the time windows is loaded with wireless (make sure SSID is not hidden and its top priority in your wireless list). I usually wait until the the cpu usage is below 5% for 10 seconds straight and hard drive light has settled down. Although with Vista this is difficult because even tho once your windows os is loaded, Vista starts precaching frequently used programs which can go one for several more minutes. Its difficult to say when the system is fully "usable". However I would have to agree that Vista takes longer to bootup then Windows XP.

 

It's all a matter of perspective really and has a lot to do with your typical use cases. My system is running pretty much 24x7 and could be plugged in and idle, closed and asleep sitting in the backpack, running on battery in a meeting or a plane, or just working normally in the office. It's only rebooted if there is a patch that requires it and I rarely even logoff; however I do have the system configured to lock the system if either the system goes to sleep or sits idle too long so most of my logins are from a powered on state with apps running in the background (Outlook sitting in the back pulling down mail the whole time). The same goes for most business customers on traditional desktops or desktop replacement laptops that don't travel and are just locked to a desk - they just login the next morning (most companies require you to actually logoff) but never actually "boot up" again. This is only one reason why HP (wisely) avoided Robson cache as it only helps during boot time (and some with program launch) but really doesn't compare to just having more RAM to begin with. [ That said, I'm still curious to find the fastest SD card on the market and slam another 4GB in to see if the system will ramp up to use the additional RAM].

I split out the two numbers so you could look at them either way, time to login or, adding in the login times to get the total login time. Having just upgraded from an old Napa era Centrino with XP, my boot times are WAY less with Vista but I can't comment as to XP on the same hardware - it could very well be that XP boots faster than Vista on the same dv9500.

When profiling the login experience there are usually far too many variables to take into account as there is no "typical" cross-section of applications for startup. When profiling business customers we have to do a few different broad categories (like a small/med/large) and swag things like policy application and login script application (when authenticating to a directory). Seeing how most of the people on this list are probably NOT using Vista in a domain configuration it becomes mostly a factor of how much bloatware you have loaded across your Startup, reg Run key, as well as any services configured to Auto start. All of those applications fighting for a spot in your SysTray take time to load and certainly SideBar is a pig when initializing its gadgets. The target for an enterprise customer is less than 30 seconds to login and actually begin work (even though things may still be initializing in the background) and that litmus test is whether or not the system is responsive.

So times will vary widely, but at least in my case the biggest impact by far was re-attaching to my wireless network with a hidden SSID. Maybe that's a veiled attempt by my network to upgrade to an 802.11n device!

 

bradturner32: excellent observation. I agree its very subjective. I really do wish Vista had a console log that showed you what is attempting to load/initialize currently so you can really see whats going on in the background. I agree by optimizing the Startup group, Run reg key, and startup services, you're probably 90% there.

 

Hey guys my dad bought a dv6000t and I bought a dv8000z last year, because my last laptop a hp zd7000 broke. Do you guys think I can get 20% off the laptop if call hp? since the zd7000 broke a week after the warranty expired and I yelled at them. Im looking to get a dv9500t.

 

What discounts have you gotten from hp representatives?

 

Looking to purchase a 2500t pretty soon - all I want to know is if the HDD is loud and makes horrid noises like the Dell XPS M1330. :/ I don't want to be in a silent lecture hall, and then having the 2500t whirr up a storm or something.

Also, is the keyboard comfortable enough? Does getting the larger-cell battery affect the position very much? Does it create an 'ergonomic' curve that makes it comfortable? <_<;

How do games run on the 2500t? Guild Wars and Civ IV near-max setting is a must for me. Can it handle this? Thanks, wonderful thread - read through most of it.

 

The hard drive is not loud at all

I get ~50fps on max settings for guild wars

 

does the tv tuner pick up qam over cable line?

 

Are you kidding? Civ IV doesn't install on these laptops? o.o Perhaps it's Vista-related, in that case..

And apparently, the keyboard is un-even on the 6500 or something?

Also, what's the main difference between a 6500 and a 2500? I'm trying to decide which one to get. Thanks.

 

Copy and pasting from a thread I made, as it got no responses:

Today I was just looking at my dv2500t and noticed that the screen doesn't fit right on the top or left side (the two pieces are separated by a millimeter or two, and there's some dust and particles accumulating in the area).

I noticed that in another topic someone else had the same problem ("The screen does not sit flush to the unit (the left side does not lay flat)" in an older thread), so I was just curious if it was a normal problem. The right side of the screen (or top part of the laptop, if it's closed -- the lid -- I should say) fits fine, but the left side and top are a little off. I wasn't sure if this would be a minor issue or not, so figured I'd ask. Not a big deal.

It may be because I rarely use it at the moment (using my desktop until I go back to college) that it just somehow happened to uneven itself a little bit... no clue.

 

Ayepecks: my dv6500t looks fine.

 

Just bought a dv6568se..
Core 2 Duo T5450 Processor
2 GB DDR2 RAM
200 GB HD at 4200rpm
128MB nVidia GeForce 8400m GS

Very impressed with the laptop so far. The screen is very bright and clear. The system is extremely quiet; I can barely hear the fan when I put my head over the key board. Keys are only slightly warm after having it run for 3+ hours. The cover is very nice to look at, the fingerprint reader works great (one run through 90% of the time). The webcam captures images very fast and the video quality is excellent. The touchpad is a bit slow when you glide your finger over it though. Overall, I think that the design of laptop is superb! Nifty touch pads for controlling multimedia too .

EDIT: The left side of my new laptop (when closed) has about a 2 millimeter gap between the bottom left corner and the rubbery cushion on the lid of the laptop. It's not really a big issue for me though.. maybe the cushions on the right are bigger than the ones on the left?

 

I heard that, comparing the 6500 and the 2500, the 2500 pales. As in, the screen on 2500s are 'worse'. After reading all of the comments on the discussion ( http://www.notebookreview.com/price...768&productFamilyID=785&display=opinionDetail) page, it makes me have second thoughts about buying the 2500t. I mean, some of the problems sound horrible. :/ Component jacks in the wrong spots? Screens cracked, keys rattling, color leakage, harddrives loose...It sounds rather situational, though, and perhaps only applies in one or two cases out of five or ten? I hope so, anyway..

Could owners give more input on some of the problems described in that discussion link? :/ Or maybe in general about the 2500..Thanks.

 

Silentcrisis:

I don't have any problems with my dv2500t. I haven't used component jacks, my screen is beautiful, keys are soft and smooth, hard drive can get really warm though. Furthermore, the discussion is for a different batch of dv2000 computers which have different components. So not all problems may apply.

 

why does my 6500t special edition suck?

it has:
2.0 GHz T7300
2 GB RAM
160 GB HD
Geforce 8400GS
Vista Ultimate 64-bit

album scrolling on itunes takes forever and bf2 runs on low settings.

it certainly seems slower than my 4 year old desktop and the overall performance just seems choppy.

 

All the hp bloatware probably slows your computer down. You should until all the stuff you don't need

 

If only the dv6500t came with a 8400 gt... think it could happen?

 

Oh, I guess I didn't notice the dv2000 bit. Woops.


Well, good to know that those problems aren't associated with the dv2500t, then, right? <_< Whew. Going to be making the purchase soon, had to choose real hard between this or a CCFL Dell XPS M1330. What do you guys think?

 

I love my 2500, Silentcrisis. No major problems.

 

Anyone else getting the following updates that dont seem to updating properly?

HP Help and Support
HP Quickcheck

 

I got my dv9500t today and i'm going to receive it from the FrontDesk and see first whether the FP reader & WebCam are working. Then, going to install Civ 4 (i dont know whether it will install now). These are the 3 major issues i faced in my dv6500t. The only diff with my new dv9500t is the NV card i changed to 8600 GS instead of my 8400 GS. Lets see. Ill update in a day / two the feedback.

 

I'm getting the same problem. They just never seem to update... they are always on the list of things needed to be d/led and installed. Forget em... they don't seem to be that big of a priority.

 

I suppose all that's included on the recovery DVD, yeah? As to say that I couldn't just reformat with Vista?

Either way, what kind of performance have people had from the 8600GS? The upgrade from 84's the main reason for my interest in the dv9500t.

 

anyone know if it's safe to use the "Recovery Manager" and remove the recovery partition if you've already made a recovery disk?

 

The recovery DVD doesn't have those programs in a way that you can install them one by one. You have to do a full recovery if you want to get to them. They are stored on your C: drive in C:\swsetup.

It is safe to remove the recovery partition after you make the dvds. Keep in mind though, that burned DVDs can go bad, even in a few years. Personally I made ISO images in case there's a problem with them.

 

my dv6500t idles at about 1GB RAM

 

hey you guys, found this video of a dell with the same setup as a good 2500t with a 8400gs, running fear on all high settings, pretty impresive i think. check it out http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3626033894057329785

 

jinishans, thanks. Waiting on your update. <_<

 

Three things immediately jump to mind when reading your post:

1) I mentioned my new motto in an earlier post: "When in doubt, blame Vista". Microsoft spent $6 billion on this? There is so much overhead running in the background, you simply must start tweaking the factory settings and ridding yourself of the crapware. When your done: Warmed-over Windows XP.

2) It's been documented, and Cnet ran a feature-story on it: Apple software, most notably iTunes, simply does not run nearly as well on Windows machines than on Macs. My next-door neighbor -- college computer-science professor and Apple evangelist -- totally agrees, but has no idea why Apple's software, especially the all-important iTunes, does not run as well on WinTel machines.

3) Desktops -- even older ones -- pretty much always run faster than notebooks. This is a general rule of thumb.

Like you, I have not been overwhelmed by any speed records on my new dv6500t. I'm still looking for more ways to tweak Vista and rid the notebook of more overhead, but I do love my HP and hope the Vista kinks eventually work themselves out.

Best of luck.

 

check out those updates microsoft released yesterday. they seem to make ram usagage go down by 10% or so. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3fb80bb9-d832-425b-b42c-d3eb2071bbec&DisplayLang=en
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ae2f819d-c33d-48db-a7e3-62eef7c1f7c2&DisplayLang=en

 

to gloveslap101:

My current DV6000t (Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz, 1.5 GB RAM) runs circles around my desktop (which is a P4, 1GB of ram, around 3.5 yrs old) and both are running windows vista ultimate 32bit. Have you removed all of the stuff HP stacks into the laptop? That helps a lot.

 

did they just take off the $100 Instant savings? the 6500t starts off at $999.99 now

edit: nvm it changed

 

Hello out there, I am thinking about buying a dv2500t. I really need the webcam to work though. Does the webcam still suck like any previous Pavillions? I need it for Skype and MSN... I previously owned a dv2000
and a dv6000. Both of which couldn't keep up a teleconference on either. Has it been any changes in the 2500 or 6500 models? thanks.

 

I've had no problems with my dv6500t/vista running skype with the webcam.

 

I have a dv9643cl with NVIDIA 8600 GS. Windows Update found a later driver and it installed very normal. I went on the HP web site and saw that they have one just a little later than the one on Windows Update. So I downloaded and installed. It took about an hour. It said it needed to uninstalled the current driver and after reboot it would install new one. It did all that and screen went black with the hd flashing away. I left that way for a while and then did cold reboot. Then it said another setup running, but it went on and finished. I have always had computers with ATI. I know with ATI they tell you to do a manual uninstall and then install new version. Is that what I should have done with NVIDIA?

 

I today bought a HP Pavilion dv6500t Special Edition laptop with below config.I tried the student discount + code NB2749 valid till 8/25 but it didn't work .Then i just entered NB2749 and got $295 off + tax as my state has tax +free shipping.
Also i bought a all in one printer same day but different order and got $50 off coupoun + $70 off on my all in one printer .I am attaching these 2 offer for you guys to use.But be sure to buy laptop/desktop and printer at same day ,seperate order.HP sales doesn't even know about them.Also ask the agent to give you one rebate at time of order as she did that for me when i was buying printer on phone as laptop i had to buy online to use coupoun code.With all these rebate my laptop costed me $1215.15 with tax +free shipping , HP officejet 5610 All-In-One for 36.99 incl tax and shipping and original price for printer is $99.99 + tax and free shipping .

http://h30014.www3.hp.com/offers/us/...1411&tab=5#tab
http://h30014.www3.hp.com/offers/us/detail.asp?id=1410 or check below link for all types rebate which suits you
http://h30014.www3.hp.com/offers/us/...egory.asp?id=2


Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7300 (2.00 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 75% OFF upgrade to 2GB DDR2 (2 Dimm)!!
- 383MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
- HP Imprint (Influx) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
- FREE Upgrade from 160GB 5400RPM to 200GB 4200RPM!!
- FREE Upgrade to LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
- HP Optical USB Mobile Mouse (White) and Mobile Stereo Headset (1 pair, White)

Enjoy it while it last

 

When down loading a large file like a movie, it appears that the download activity does not keep the computer from going to sleep. Do you have to change the power setting if you want to leave it down loading without any keyboard or mouse activity?

 

Yup! There is a checkbox in the advanced power settings in Vista that allows you to do this. Not sure that this is present in XP though.

 

The EXACT same thing happened to me last night with the same computer (I think you mean dv9543cl). It must be some glitch in the install.

 

Civ 4, Simcity 4 are installed and working fine. Almost all components are workign fine. The speed is excellent.

HP Pavilion dv9500t customizable Notebook PC
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7300 (2.00 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
17.0" WXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)
$50 off Upgrade from 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) to 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
511MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
HP Imprint (Radiance) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone
FREE Upgrade to Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
No TV Tuner w/remote control
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

Did you get yours at Costco on Monday? If so which Costco? I got mine at Plano-East, Texas

 

I have the exact same model(9543) and I had no problem with the driver. But for some odd reason my backspace key and spacebar are incredebly squeeky.

 

The help said the Quick Launch buttons at top of keyboard are programable?

Where do you program them?

 

Off-topic question: I just ordered the dv2500t with the integrated X3100 graphics, but am now second-guessing whether I should have gone w/ the dedicated graphics card.

I will not be gaming w/ the laptop.. just using it for internet, dvd-watching, and some basic photo-editing. My main concern is having the Vista Aero interface run smoothly.

Will the X3100 suffice?


---------------
HP DV2500t
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7300 (2.00 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
- 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!!
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
- HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Microphone
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
- 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

From everything I have read, the X3100 will run Aero just fine.

 

Yes, I got mine at Costco on Monday in Tucson, AZ. I am very happy with it so far. After getting through that driver installation, everything works great.

 

I got an HP 2535ea notebook yesterday and I am very impressed with it. However, I have one minor problem. Whenever I instet a DVD and quickplay automatically launches I cannot turn the volume up. When ever I try to turn it up it says it is at 100%. It will let me turn it down but not up. It automatically sets itself to a very low volume when quickplay launches so it is not really possible to watch anything via quickplay. If I close quickplay down and launch windows media centre the volume works perfectly.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Jus got my dv2500 only to have it say dv2000 in the top right. Whats the deal wih this? This is my first notebook so I am happy to have it. I am not enjoying Vista too much. Its a bit too redundent with the pop up questions about whether I really want to do this or that. I clicked the botton so yes I want to do it!! Internet exploer is not opening some pages and I'm not sure why. I tried to get Firefox and when I ran the setup was greeted with a pop up telling me that it is not a valid Win32 application. What does that mean?

Overall, I'm still waiting to really appreciate the purchase. Thinking of doing a clean install...

 

GUYS HELP.....today I just bought a new 9543cl at costco and after reading many post im very confused...I started to activate and stoped, I cant believe the BLOATWARE on this system....AOL please. Question is there a safe way to get rid of some of this without doing a system reinstall and should I just finish installing ...what about norton ,and windows security alert,and what in vongo
Thanks frank

 

dv2500 is still part of the dv2000 series, so the sticker is fine. For the Firefox issue, I would try downloading it again. It sounds like something went wrong with it.