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    dv9500 from costco rocks

    Discussion in 'HP' started by aktxyz, Jul 13, 2007.

  1. aktxyz

    aktxyz Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just bought the HP DV9500 from Costco...in a nutshell:

    - 2GB ram
    - Intel Core Duo "Santa Rosa" T7300
    - 320GB disk (2 160GB drives at 5400rpm)
    - webcam and lots of little nice things

    This was also my first Vista system.

    At first, I was not a happy camper. I get the system home and try to get it on my wireless network. No go. Get rid of all the HP crap that tries to make things better, still no go. Not sure if it's hardware or software (vista). After searching around I found tons of discussions of vista wireless problems. Hint search around for DHCP broadcast, there is a registry thing you need to do if you want vista to work with most wireless routers out there, how dumb. But I did that and it works.

    Once it was on the network, I spent the next hour getting rid of all the HP junk (out of the box, the system was using almost 900MB of memory from preloaded junk).

    Now that I have things setup, this machine rocks. Very good keyboard, great screen, performance is awesome. I did some passmark benchmarks versus my older DV9000, and in general it was almost 2x faster on all cpu benchmarks.

    I went for the in store DV9500 as I am impatient, but you can also customize the DV9500 from Costco's site directly.
     
    aktxyz, Jul 13, 2007
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  2. lappyhappy

    lappyhappy Notebook Deity

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    Glad you like it and were able to get it optimized. Good luck and happy computing!
     
    lappyhappy, Jul 13, 2007
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  3. hr_phenom

    hr_phenom Notebook Consultant

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    Cool! Congratulations. I have a dv2500t on order. Patiently waiting till it gets here...
     
    hr_phenom, Jul 13, 2007
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  4. kaj777

    kaj777 Notebook Guru

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    Was the model you got the dv9543 (item #201946)? This computer is going on sale on August 20th for $1299. I customized a laptop at Costco and am going to return it to get this one when it goes on sale.
     
    kaj777, Jul 13, 2007
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  5. iph03n1xi

    iph03n1xi Notebook Evangelist

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    Link or pic of the advertising?

    *interested*
     
    iph03n1xi, Jul 13, 2007
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  6. kaj777

    kaj777 Notebook Guru

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    I do not have a link. The advertisement was in Costco's Passport coupon book that they periodically send out. Costco has an online version of the coupon book, but it's not complete. I'm pretty sure they send the book to every member.
     
    kaj777, Jul 13, 2007
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  7. El Guano

    El Guano Notebook Consultant

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    So they don't send me one if the only way I get into Costco is by telling the door checkers that I'm just there to get a hot dog?
     
    El Guano, Jul 14, 2007
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  8. Card Shark

    Card Shark Notebook Guru

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    I would like to know how to get rid of all the junk. I unistalled Vongo crap but what about the rest?
     
    Card Shark, Jul 14, 2007
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  9. Fraser13

    Fraser13 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Do you have the configuration of the dv9543? It would help if you could list it here :). Thanks.
     
    Fraser13, Jul 17, 2007
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  10. topboxman

    topboxman Notebook Guru

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    My WiFi initially didn't work with tx1120us (12.1"). It turned out there was a WiFi bug and required update from HP using wired network and WiFi now works. I would update everything from HP because it helped stabilized my laptop.

    My friend's 14.1" HP laptop had the same WiFi issue and he told me about getting latest update from HP.

    Why did HP deliver laptops with WiFi issues? Isn't that the most important part for any laptop? What kind of QA does HP have?

    Peter
     
    topboxman, Jul 17, 2007
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  11. reddavid

    reddavid Notebook Enthusiast

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    reddavid, Jul 17, 2007
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  12. WilsonJoseph

    WilsonJoseph Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am from Canada and have read alot about the HP dv9500t and I can't find it for sale anywhere in Canada. I am a Costco member and thought maybe they would have it here, so i checked. They don't. I live near the border and have been told that my Costco membership card works there. I also get the coupon books, but not with the dv9500t or the dv9543 in them. I wondered if anyone knows If I could possibly take advantage of the sale on August 20th? Can you just walk in the a US Costco on August 20, have them hand you the daily coupon book at the door, as they do here, buy it, then pay duties or traiffs at the border?
     
    WilsonJoseph, Jul 17, 2007
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  13. kaj777

    kaj777 Notebook Guru

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    I am pretty sure you could buy it in the US and get a coupon book at the Costco you go to. My local Costco here in Arizona does not have this model either - I was thinking they might get it soon.

    The coupon says it will also be available on Costco.com - it is not currently for sale there either. You might be able to buy it online and not need the coupon - they usually don't require it for online purchases, but just give you the sale price. I am not sure if they ship to Canada or not.
     
    kaj777, Jul 17, 2007
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  14. CFD323

    CFD323 Newbie

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    CFD323, Jul 17, 2007
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  15. okayplayer

    okayplayer Notebook Enthusiast

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    I wonder if this Costco HP would have HDMI output. I didn't see it mentioned on that PDF but I googled the Geforce 8600m GS and I think it does have HDMI output.

    Anyone know?
     
    okayplayer, Jul 17, 2007
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  16. acaurora

    acaurora Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Just to let you know, in the future or if you still want to further optimize you can use this tool:
    http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

    It is able to search / remove common crapware that is installed on most computers when you first get them. Cleaned my T60 pretty well actually ;)
     
    acaurora, Jul 17, 2007
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  17. kaj777

    kaj777 Notebook Guru

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    The regular price on the coupon says $1479 - The sale price is $1299.

    I am pretty sure all the 9500s with the nVidia cards have HDMI.
     
    kaj777, Jul 17, 2007
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  18. infiltrator7

    infiltrator7 Notebook Geek

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    How portable is your 9500? Would you consider carrying it around with you every day?
     
    infiltrator7, Jul 17, 2007
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  19. gbear

    gbear Notebook Enthusiast

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    i'm almost positive it does... i had my dv6500 wiht the 8400Gs and it had HDMI... so in answer to your question...yes
     
    gbear, Jul 17, 2007
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  20. reddavid

    reddavid Notebook Enthusiast

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    The 9543 is on display at our Costco, and yes, it does have HDMI output. I visit it every week when we shop.
     
    reddavid, Jul 18, 2007
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  21. kaj777

    kaj777 Notebook Guru

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    The 9500 is fairly portable and thin for a 17". However, I don't think it would be the best laptop for carrying around everyday. I got mine to mainly use at home, but to have the option of taking it with me when I need to. I also like being able to use it wherever I want in my home. IMHO, I would think the 2500 or 6500 would be a better option for carrying around everyday.
     
    kaj777, Jul 18, 2007
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  22. zztinker

    zztinker Newbie

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    I was in Costco today with buying the 9500 on my mind. All they had was HP DV 9233C, 2 gig Mem., Core 2 Duo T 5500, Nuidia 256 dedicated, HDMI...$1499.00..What the heck is this.........
     
    zztinker, Jul 18, 2007
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  23. simdol

    simdol Newbie

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    I bought a 9543 from Coscto a few days ago. I ran some passmark tests on this machine and the results show very poor performance when compared to my AMD-X2 (dual core) 4400 desktop computer. I am wondering what is happening.

    The Comparison of these two CPUs at Passmark's web site indicate that the Intel T7300 should have much higher CPU performance. But my 7300 performance shows almost one third less than the AMD CPU.

    If any of you have a passmark test result, please save it as a baseline file and send it to me so that I can compare whether my particular notebook piece is defective or not. I appreciate any help.
    Thanks,
     
    simdol, Aug 24, 2007
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  24. theZoid

    theZoid Notebook Savant

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    That's the notebook I was looking at in Sam's Club....the price, I'm trying to remember, darn it, check it tomorrow, made me look twice or three times at it...Vista performance rating was 4.7 because I checked it :)
     
    theZoid, Aug 24, 2007
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