dv6000t Current/ Prospective Owners Lounge

Hi,

Got my dv6000t today.
It has the SEC matte screen and it is great. I here lots of flak about it here but I did not look for the mfg until hous later. I see no problem with the screen. Sharp and crisp, no dead pixles or bleeding. I do digital photography processing with Photoshop CS2 and see no problem with the screen. Perhaps a better version or mislabeled? My home monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 206BW and it is an amazing monitor.

Toshiba hard drive.
If you guys want me to check anything else out just tell me what and how.

Oh, No whine, loud fan or DVD clicking. Fit and finish is really good.

 

Have you done anything about the bloatware? If yes, how did it go?

 

It's about the same. Start>Programs>Accessories>Run> Type "msconfig" and go to the startup tab.

gctsai8: I got rid of all of my bloatware, I also disabled some background programs. It brought my ram usage down more than 10% at idle.

 

A bluetooth mouse. If you wanted a wireless mouse with your notebook, you wouldn't want a little dongle sticking out that might get snapped off if you're not careful.

 

On the "Start" menu, type "config.sys" in the "Search" box. Click "System Configuration" at the top of the menu. After granting permission, you will find the "System Configuration" box, just like in XP. Click "Startup" and uncheck what you don't want to automatically load at startup.

Bill

EDIT: Oops! I didn't go to this page to see that an answer had been given for this question about startup.

 

I have a Compaq V6000T and I have a T2060 Processor and now I have a T7200 can someone help with this upgrade. I have read the HP manual and I have taken the whole system apart however I cant seem to get the top cover off as the touch pad seems to be glued to the mainboard or something. Has anyone been able to upgrade the CPU in theirs?


Thanks
Darkstar

 

Wow, shiny stuff tends to scratch easily. I found a few small scratches on my lid. Perhaps I should get a padded backpack for it. But at least it's not really visible unless you look for it...

 

Hey, I was looking at pics of the bottom of the dv6000t series, and I seem to have spotted the battery cover. Yeah, yeah, I know, "Whoop-t-frinking-do" comes to mind. But then I thought, if the battery cover only lines a portion the rear of the notebook, does the 12-cell leave the notebook feeling a little lop-sided left-to-right since it sticks out a bit?

 

On a hard surface it's great, and you can't tell the battery is off center. I like having the raised position to keep the laptop cooler. Some people will say having it raised makes no difference in temp, but I disagree. It even works great on carpet to keep the vents clear. The only time it leans a bit is on my bed.

 

When you remove the startup option and programs in your quest to get bloatwear off do you guys remove all that HP stuff they have there.
Also in my Vista why is it blocking a startup program when I specificly set it to "permit" in the start app window. I have to constantly manually start it up since windows keeps blocking it.

 

I got rid of all the HP stuff. Do you have UAC on? It may be what's blocking your program.

 

Has anyone taken there V6000T apart. I am so close to getting the top cover off however it seems like the touchpad is glued to the mainboard. I want to upgrade the cpu on this baby. I need some help! Please someone>

 

Hey guys! I'm new here, after finished reading 80+ pages, it's really no fun.

Anyway, I just received my dv6000t today (ordered on Feb 28), man, let me tell ya, the shipping is really really fast, only took less than 1 day from Shanghai to Anchorage, Alaska, couple hours later, bam, it's at my front door. Nice job HP Shanghai factory and FedEx.

Anyway, I checked for the LCD monitor manufacturer first like many of you did.

Hardware Ids: MONITOR\CMO 1526 (from device manager in windows vista)

So I believe it's from CMO, never even heard such name before, so I did google search, turned out it's Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), a Taiwanese LCD monitor manufacturer. So my question is: Is CMO LCD monitor any good? compare to Quantas (AUO) and LG Phillips (LPL).
I mean it seems pretty decent to me, bright and no dead pixels.

(Oh yeah by the way, the high pitch whining and buzzing sound from the duo 2 core processor still exists, doesn't really bother me that much)

* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
* Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T5600(1.83GHz/2MB L2Cache)
* 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
* 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7400
* HP Imprint Finish + Microphone + Webcam
* 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
* FREE Upgrade: 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
* Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
* No TV Tuner w/remote control
* 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
* System Recovery DVD w/Windows Vista Home Premium
* Mobile Stereo Earbud Headphones (1 pair)
* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Thanks Guys!

 

i ordered 2 days before you and still dont have mine

 

^^ he is in alaska. china>alaska then ohio or something i forget. so thats why he got it so quick

 

darkstar757:
Sorry, haven't had any need to take mine apart yet. I would keep looking for hard to see clips, screws, etc. Hopefully it's not glued.

TomTom2007:
If you like the monitor, you shouldn't worry about. I have the SEC monitor, and like it. To get rid of my whine, I downloaded RMClock, unfortunately it causes my cpu usage to read 100% all of the time.

BusinessBro:
Bummer. Hang in there, it will be worth it.

 

No, I am not in Alaska, ha ha....
Hey thanks for pointing that out, yeah, I hope there's a better fix for the whining sound. It gets pretty annoying after a while.

 

If you are tearing into your notebook you probably already have this, but I have and maybe others will find it helpfull

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00751094.pdf

Matt

 

Anyone have input on the difference between the 6 cell battery and the high capacity 6 Cell? I assume they are identical in size.

Also same question for the regular built in wireless and the Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG. Is the upgrade worth it?

Anyone?..Anyone?..Bueller?

 

What is UAC? Where is it?

 

I don't know about the size of the batteries, but I would think the size would not be different. Just a guess.

All I can tell you about the wireless is that I have the Intel PRO 3945 a/b/g upgrade and I really like it. I took my notebook to my neighbor's house, at least 150 yards from my house, and had strong reception to my wireless router, which is simply a combination modem/router from BellSouth.

Bill

 

I got the 12 cell and ran it on performance mode and got 4.5 hours and stopped at 21% and charged it. No real demanding applications but no sleep either.

Yes my 3945 works very well also. There are connections all over my neighborhood of 1 acre lots.

 

yah both those 6-cells should be the same in size...never heard of a high capacity 6 cell though.... where can i get one!?

 

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsVista/AdminTips/Security/DisablingUAC.html

 

Mine shipped today!!!

 

Well, now that I have been messing with this for a couple days I have to say I am impressed. Vista isn't near as big a change as I thought it was, and this little rig handles it with ease. I have had issues with the help menu on some programs (most notably my Garmin GPS) because some pathway for online help has changed in Vista. The graphics card screams through Aero like it was nothing.

My concerns over Vista squashing my DVD backups has been all for naught. I loaded my DVD-RB, CCE SP 2.7, IMG Burn, AnyDVD, and DVDShrink suite and the machine plowed through 1 movie (in about 45 minutes less then my desktop) and is in the midst of another. The sweet thing is, with CCE running in the background my old desktop ( 1 GB RAM on a 2.8Ghz Intel machine) comes to a halt (CCE uses about 95% of my resources), but this DC2 processor with 2GB RAM just rolls through it using about 65-70%. Plus I can get online and perform other tasks without any real issues. Pretty sweet.

The machine is beautiful, the wireless is super sweet, and the Bluetooth hooks up without any issue. Did I mention it is a beautiful unit? I almost don't want to touch it it is so pretty. The fan runs a bit longer then I like, and the unit does get pretty warm, but I am not easy on a computer, so it isn't bad. Under a heavy load this gets hotter then my Dell Lappy did, but under normal conditions it is cooler. The 12 cell battery does a decent job, but under a heavy load it's life is rather short. I'd never load my Dell with DVD rips, because they are so taxing, so it is hard for me to compare loads on the machines. With regaurds to typical life, like browsing the web and stuff, I think the Dell gets better mileage/battery cell.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this unit a solid 9.5... without a doubt, thus far, my favorite machine I have owned to date. I had to take away points for battery life and bloatware but it is an outstanding machine.

 

Glad to hear your new lappy is working out well for you. I've had mine for three weeks now and enjoy it more all the time.

I appreciate your take on Vista. I've read a lot of Microsoft/Vista bashing, but it has been fine for me. I had wanted to replace my old HP Pavilion notebook for a few months, but I was waiting for a Vista-installed computer. Would I have upgraded my old computer to Vista? No--it's not that mind-boggling an upgrade. It is, IMO, a decent upgrade, and I prefer it to XP.

Bill

 

Like so many others before me, I'm considering this 6000t from Costco:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11189473&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&N=4017750&Mo=17&pos=3&No=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=4580&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&Sp=C&ec=&topnav=

One *****: does it really only have two USB ports? I consistently see three USBs in most reviews.

 

no, it actually has 3 usb ports
it's weird, even on the official online store, it says dv6000 has 2 usb ports.

 

Yeah, 2 on the left and 1 on the right.

Bill,
I heard so many bad things about Vista I got scared of it. I don't see what the big deal is. All network integration is quite simple, the appearance is really nice, it doesn't seem to slow this system down at all (of course with everything this system has it would certainly be a screaming XP machine), it is backwards compatible like I don't know what... It really is a decent package. I don't see it as being ME2 (trust me, I had ME and it was a nightmare!!) more like XP^2.

Like you, I wouldn't pay for the software to install myself, but it makes the sexy dv6000t just as sexy on the screen as it is on the back of the screen!!!

 

hey can someone help me with this question about my HP DV6275us.... Im wondering about the second drive it has for the recovery. Can i take out that drive & replace it with a BIGGER HD? lets say 160gb or so..? thanks

 

There is no second drive. The recovery drive as Windows sees it is just a partition on your existing drive.

 

Hey, congrats on your new system. I will soon be purchasing one very similar to yours. I was wondering about your DVD Ripping/Burning suite. Where did you get that? How do you like it? Any info would be great. Thanks

Dave

 

Can anyone recomend a good movie DVD backup software and other needed tools (to make it all work) that will run on Vista on this dv6000. I want to be able to backup one DVD movie to another DVD-R disk with as little setup configuration as possible and in good quality without too much compression.

 

I have used alot of DVD ripping software over the years, but I have found this is the best combination for my needs. It is actually a series of programs, which work together to backup your DVDs.

Many of the programs are freewares, but a couple are pay programs.

Freeware:

DVD Shrink

This will strip the RCE protection on many discs, and it will even shrink a DVD9 to fit on a DVD5 disc. However, if you let it shrink the files it drastically reduces quality. I use this and copy the complete DVD to my hard drive (always with AnyDVD running in the background, as it strips most of the discs Shrink does not) and allow the DVD-RB Pro suite to do it's thing and shrink it down.

RipIt4Me

I use this when AnyDVD and Shrink does not work. It has defeated even the difficult SONY VOB protection, but it adds about 30-45 minutes to your time.

IMGBurn

This burns to your disc. It is one of the best, and easiest out there, and it's free!!!

DVD-RB Pro

I included this in freewares, but I recommend you upgrade to pro for $20. It performs the compression and rebuild procedure that delivers almost 100% perfect quality, when combined with a good encoder. It has free encoders included, but I purchased what I consider to be the best encoder, that also works in this DVD-RB program. DVD-RB Pro also converts to .iso and burns to disc, where the standard free version you have to convert to .iso and burn it yourself. By spending $20 on pro (with free lifetime upgrades) all you do is point it to the DVD Shrink file, and it does everything else, or else you must perform a few steps yourself.

Pay Programs:

CCE-SP (buy basic here.

I use CCE-SP, but it is an extremely expensive program. I suggest CCE Basic, as it produces almost the exact same results, but it is a chopped down version. There is no need for SP unless you do allot of deep editing. Basic is ~$60.

SlySoft AnyDVD

Buy this, it is an amazing RCE protection stripper. It works silently in the background, and it is worth the $ by far. It saves sooooo much time. It is ~$30.

 

I can link a couple decent tutorials to use the programs I listed above. I am quite well versed in DVD Backups and can help you guys if you have any questions that need answering.

First off, buy good media. Poor media will create some serious issues. I use Taiyo Yuden but Verbatim is also good media. I buy my media at supermediastore.com and rima.com . I highly recommend both sites for service, price, and quality product.

 

Thanks so much for the quick and detailed response, much appreciated.

 

I'm thinking about buying one of these laptops for school, etc. Seeing as this is (by far) the highest rated laptop here at notebookreview, I imagine that it's a good choice. This is my prospective configuration:

EZ796AV
* – Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
* – Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHz/4MB L2Cache)
* – 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
* – 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7400
* – HP Imprint Finish + Microphone
* – 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* – FREE Upgrade from 60GB 5400RPM to 80GB 5400RPM!!
* – FREE Upgrade: 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
* – Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
* – No TV Tuner w/remote control
* – 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* – Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
* – System Recovery DVD w/Windows Vista Home Premium
* – HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

I do have a few questions, though, and I figure they'll be answered quickly here (judging by the 80+ page topic).

First of all, what are the advantages/disadvantages of buying Vista Business over Home Premium for a laptop thats primary uses will be schoolwork, wireless internet, coding, some content creation (I'm a FL Studio fan) and photoshop/gimp/blender/etc. types of software? Does Business offer any real advantages for laptops in general?

Also, what can be upgraded in this laptop? I have read that it is difficult, but possible, to upgrade the video card (you have to buy the right interface, or something). I plan on upgrading to 4GB ram (2 2gb DIMMs) eventually as well, as that seems to produce a good performance boost in my applications. I don't need to upgrade the CPU anytime soon, as 2 2ghz cores is fine by me, but I was wondering if this was even possible for future upgrades.

Basically, how future-proof is this laptop? Will it be able to remain at its current position in middle-high end through four years of college, if I upgrade the RAM and VGA? What components in this laptop are the most restrictive as far as performance goes, and can I upgrade them later?

Thanks in advance.

 

Your configuration is about as future-proof as you can make a Pavilion at the present. The maximum RAM is 2GB (2 x 1GB), so it won't go up to 4GB. 2GB modules are very expensive, anyway. Of course, that will probably change within a couple of years.

The GPU cannot be upgraded. The NVIDIA 7400 is plenty for my needs, but HP would have been wise, in my estimation, to have offered a faster option.

It's hard to future-proof for 4 years. Doing it for two or three years is hard enough, depending on one's needs. I had my previous Pavilion for four years, and the dv6000t is light years ahead of the old one. I will probably keep this one for another four years, and the offerings then will run laps around this one.

Bill

 

I like Vista too, but I was one of the ones where the upgrade proved to be daunting. In addition to the fact that several programs I ran under XP and previous windows versions will no longer run in Vista, a couple of them gave me real problems when I tried to install them on my new dv6000t. After many hours trying to get various programs to work, etc., I tried to install an older version of Webtrends. It completely thrashed my system, and I ended up having to restore everything to factory default and start again. I finally have everything working ok, and I love using Vista (except for UAC and the whole security/permissions thing), however, I am sure I spent at least 40 hours getting all of my programs installed.


JJ

 

Ci-Daemon

The rig you have selected will last you through school, I would suspect. I think Bill covered your hardware queries well enough.

The differance between business and home premium, from what I have read, are basically in secure networking. However, one would assume you are going to be using allot of public networking, so the benefits would be negligible for you. I find that Vista Home Premium connects well with my secure network at home and at work just as easily and successfully as it does on the public network 5 doors down from my shop. I don't see where Business would be beneficial for school.

jjesq

I hear ya man. I honestly don't think I would have been happy if I had to deal with those upgrade issues. I like Vista, but I don't think I like it well enough to deal with all the garbage you did... I guess what I mean is that if I had to pay to upgrade I wouldn't... I don't see enough benefit from the program. However, preloaded... it was a damn nice deal...

 

Hey guys!!! im Daniel Mendez, from Santo Domingo, Dom Republic... Im waiting for my computer to arrived to my country... a friend bought the computer from HP with these specifications...

Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T5200(1.60GHz/2MB L2Cache)
Display 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (1280x800)
Graphics Card 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7400
Personalization HP Imprint Finish + Microphone + Webcam
Memory 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Hard Drive FREE Upgrade from 60GB 5400RPM to 80GB 5400RPM!!
Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade: 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
Networking Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Im so looking forward to have this computer in my hands!!! I'd already name it, the name is SPIKE!!!!

im a moderate gamer... sometimes I play games like... Diablo, Never Winter Nights... not a real online gamer... but a lot of my friends they tell me that I must play WOW... err hell no!

ANyway... I always talk too much... just wanna to express my feelings because I would have my lovely Spikey!!!!

 

Thanks to both of you for the quick (-er even than I thought) replies. I figure I'll stick with Home Premium for now, thanks to sandt38's assessment. I didn't know that there were so few differences between the two editions; I don't see why Business costs so much more and was expecting it to contain better mobility software, power management....something like that.

I am, however, still worried about Bill's statement that the notebook's maximum memory is 2gb. I know that the maximum that you can buy form HP at this time is 2x1gb, but I don't see why I couldn't buy 2 2gb DIMMs and replace the originals with them, since Vista claims to support up to 16gb or something, and DIMM is DIMM is DIMM (excluding speed and DDR/2 compatability, of course). If for some reason that dosen't work, I plan to use the card reader with a fast, big (2gb+) card dedicated entirely to ReadyBoost, which would essentially add that amount to my RAM, albeit somewhat slower than an actual RAM upgrade would be (correct me if I'm wrong).

I found a manual/guide online that describes how to open the notebook and get to the video card, so if I really need to later I am confident that I could remove and exchange it; I've built my own desktops for several years (and am an EE/CS major anyway). In addition, I've glanced at some external video card options, although not in any real detail. I think the middle-line 7400 will be fine for a while, at least, since I have little interest in gaming on this machine (got a desktop for that). The most graphics-intensive software I would be using consists of 3d rendering and Photoshop, maybe some video editing as well, but with the fast C2D processor I don't think this will be an issue.

I assume that I could also upgrade the processor, as several people on this very forum have mentioned. In 2+ years, an upgrade may be in order for that as well. Again, I am confident that I could do it, having worked on desktops for a long time.

The only other future issue I can think of is the monitor... the low resolution might become a hassle once the standard consumer resolution (like the standards for web pages, etc) gets higher than this monitor supports. Since I think the standard is up to 1024x768 now, the next step up might reach a level that this monitor can't handle. In that case, I'll probably have to just buy a second monitor, since I don't think it's even remotely possible to change out a laptop LCD screen, particularly this one. Not a big deal, either way. I don't like ultra-high resolutions on little screens anyway; my vision is bad enough as is.

My final question to all of you: BrightView or not? I've heard reviews both ways.

 

Brightview or matte?

It all depends. If you have a lot of direct light from outside with a large glare and it's pretty much unavoidable, you may want to go with matte.

On the other hand, you will get deeper colors and a better overall look with Brightview, IMO.

I have the Brightview after having had matte for the past 9 years. Neither is perfect and I could adjust to either. If I am forced to make a choice, I go with Brightview.

How's that for a non-answer?

Bill

 

I like matte. I have owned glossy and matte and I have to say my matte screen is the best I have seen. Glare from classroom florescent light will drive you crazy and outdoors use is impossible. I use a GPS on my laptop so seeing in bright light is important to me. The glossy screen is fatiguing to me. Plus, the colors are oversaturated, and contrast is unrealistic. I know most people prefer this effect (which is why you see "chrome" effects on many cameras), but I prefer natural images... I am an anal home theater-phile as well, so maybe that is why i am like that

 

I have been noticing that my touchpad gets a little hot; not so hot you can't touch it, but definitely warmer than adjacent areas of the computer. I was just wondering if anyone else has been experiencing this.

JJ

 

Isn't the hdd under the left palm rest? Mine gets a little warm there, but fairly insignificantly so. The right side is normal temperature, and the touch pad is somewhat in between. I wouldn't call it "warm," though. I have to lay my hand on it to see if there's any warmth at all.

What speed is your hdd?

Bill

 

It's 5400 RPM. Thanks for your observations. I think I was just getting paranoid. The touchpad isn't really hot, just warmer than the area to the right of it. I feel better now.

JJ

 

Glad to help. I'm the same way. When I had my old HP Pavilion, I had gotten used to its squeaks and whatever idiosyncracies it had. Getting the new HP, I was looking for anything that didn't seem right. It took me a few days to regain the realization of what a good computer I have.

"Buyer's remorse" is often unwarranted.

Bill

 

Hey guys,
I wanted to ask if this configuration will run Windows Vista(Home premium) with Aero well:
Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83
1 GB RAM
GeForce 7400 256 mb ram.
(maybe some games like nfs carbon?)

thanks