please , help me to choose my next hp laptop

i posted this in what notebook should i buy but no one replied​

hello , i have a HP dv5 1135 , i bought it almost almost 2 years ago .
now i am thinking about giving it to my sister and buy a dv6 3170 .
now to be honest , after i bought my laptop i did not search nor follow any laptops and video cards reviews and news , so i need some advices please.
first of all , the 9600m GT in my notebook was not so bad , yet i was kind of disappointed , i expected a little more out of it .
my problem was with windows vista , i did format my laptop and install xp based on a guide i saw in this forum . all in all , xp was better for me than vista but it was not really stable .
i would appreciate it if u guys can answer the following points

1-first of all what do u think about windows 7 , in general . i am an electrical engineer , i have to work with autocad most of the time but honestly i love games and want a windows that allow me to play without problems.
by the way this laptop comes with windows 7 premium 64 bits , is there any points where the 32 version might be better ? like if autocad don't work with 64 but works with 32.
and if u happen to know , is there any softwares that allow me to save my license in case i want to format? because a software like this one existed for vista and was good , i live in lebanon and cant imagine myself going through the online applications and phone services in order to certify my license.
i expect to format my computer and install a fresh windows 7 version to get rid of the bloatware and i need to keep my license of course . in the end i paid for this license , right?

2- the hd 5650 , what do u think about it ? my first target game is gta 4 . some people said that gta 4 is also about the processor , but this laptop have a quad core so that shouldn't be a problem.
does this video card have a future regarding any future games? really , i don't want to expect a nice video card , and then suddenly discover that it's not that good .
and another point , how about the drivers for this video card ? when i bought my laptop with the 9600m gt the performance was bad , only to discover later that it came with bad drivers and i had to download 130 mb of drivers at 8 kb/s in order to have a good performance . does HD 5650 always post new good drivers like nvidia does? and does anyone know if the original drivers for the hd 5650 are any good? i don't want to mess a lot with drivers because honestly i did mess with my 9600m gt and it never felt like the same before , i wont be using any softwares to overclock my video card so i just need a card that is good as it is and doesn't need any dangerous tricks.

3-the weight , this laptop have a 15.6 inch screen , and i want to game and have a portable laptop so i think it's fine for me . my current laptop have a 15.4 screen and i already think it's big enough. (that's one of the reasons i prefer this laptop)
4- is there any catch i should know about ? i paid 1350$ for my old laptop , and now this one , that seems (from it specifications) a great great laptop is only for 1165 .
5- i have noticed in the price list of the store i know that many laptops have this HD 5650 , yet some state that it's up to 2.8 GB and other say that it's up to 3.8 ...... is it the processor that makes the difference?
6- any idea about the battery ? in 20 months my HP battery was almost all dead , and now i need to plug all the time . really disappointing ....

 

1-Almost all 32bits application work in Windows7 64 bits. So that is a no issue.
You can maintain your license because you should have the Windows number in back of your computer. The first thing you should do after getting your new computer is to make the recover CD's. They are essential if you want to replace your harddisk or any issue arrises.

2-can't comment
3-don't know
4-Say thanks to competition
5-don't understand your question are you talking about RAM?
6-you should keep a close look at it when it is under garantee. Any problem call HP.

 

#6 - buy from Costco or use a Costco Amex. You get double the warranty and can get your battery replaced if it fails prematurely within a 2 year window.

 

I tried dv7tse. Liked the hardware, including gaming... here's my post about it: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...v7t-select-edition-series-21.html#post6983402

But I'm not so sure about reliability, as my first one stopped working inside of a week. But I haven't read other recent online reports of common dv7 failures, so I am giving HP another chance (plus they even nicer deal with coupon), so am ordering another one. I am price sensitive, and HP has the best technical specs for price.

I ordered dv7tse, i560m CPU, 8GB RAM, bluray reader, 2x320GB/7.2k/HDD, ATI5650 GPU, bluetooth. All for $860 + tax.

Before I returned my other dv7:
#1: Win 7 Home is fine. 16 bit apps won't run -- forced me to finally upgrade. I was able to run 32 apps with no problem.
#2: I like 5650 a lot. Runs surprisingly cool (IMO important for laptop life). Runs recent games at full resolution -- though perhaps without all bells and whistles, but much much better than your nvidia 9600. Missing are Nvidia fanboys go on about CUDA and PhysX... I'll let my CPU handle that.
#3: Sure. Depends on the individual owner, and how you plan to use it.
#4: Read my review
#5: ? ATI 5650 is what it is. Your numbers seem to be CPU speed in GhZ. I got the intel 560m -- 2.8 GhZ / 3.2 Ghz turboboost.

#6 I don't really know about HP battery. But I have read some battery complaints... Perhaps remove the battery when not using it? I have a 4 year old dv9000, and the batter if fine, as I use it as desktop replacement and usually store the battery (at 70% charge). I've read battery life is maximized if kept between 30% and 70% charge as much as possible.

 

Though HP's appearance has improved the innards are getting worse. Weak speakers, poor battery performance, wifi problems and poor screens just to name a few. Something's not right with HP nowadays.

 

I've had 2 HP laptop, and one advise, dont buy from them anymore!!!

cheap hardware, bad hp support rep and faulty firmwares