Review: HP pavilion dv6t quad edition 7000 notebook

[Jake Dalay]

This is my review of the HP pavilion dv6t quad edition 7000 notebook.

 

It is going to cover the general qualities of any dv6t qe 7000, the specs of my model, the pros, the cons, my overall rating for the notebook,

and then feel free to ask questions, I'd be happy to get back to you about anything.

 

It is based on my experience with the notebook, which I have owned since May 2012. It remains my primary PC.

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The general traits:

 

Dv6t's are 15.6" notebooks, they are of an average weight and size for a full notebook. Nothing ultrabook here.

 

They are almost entirely plastic, except for the top of the notebook which is aluminum.

 

As far as structural integrity, they appear to be solid, but we'll cover this again in a bit.

 

They feature a built in fingerprint reader.

 

You can find all the specific information you need about the ports and other general features online: however,

I would be happy to answer specific questions.

 

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The spec's of my model:

 

I happen to have, over the course of 3 (!!!) returns for some defect or another, gotten quite a high end model in my hands.

 

Processor: Intel Core i7-3820QM @ 2.7GHz

GPU: Nvidia GT 650m w/ 2GB memory

Display: 1080p resolution

Keyboard: backlit

Bluetooth: yes

Optical drive: reads Blue-Ray, writes to everything else.

HDD: 750GB @5400 RPM

SSD: 32GB mSATA

Battery: 9 cell (roughly 6 hours of normal use)

RAM: 8GB @ 1600MHz

 

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The Pros:

 

Obviously, for a laptop, the specs are very nice, and so the ability to select high tier options is a pro.

 

I like the keyboard. It functions well, doesn't let me down or drop keys I have pressed. Features a number pad 

if you like that sort of thing. Dedicated keys for brightness and volume control are a plus.

 

The backlighting is comfortable and clear. (Keyboard backlighting)

 

With the 650m, it can handle most any game at low to medium settings.

 

Screen is nice and bright.

 

Fingerprint reader usually functions well, and having it is a very nice touch.

 

Trackpad isn't amazing, but no real problems. Get's the job done.

 

Bloatware wasn't too encumbering, and easily removed.

 

Overall, when everything is working the way it is supposed to, the laptop is very good.

 

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The Cons:

 

Firstly, the structural integrity of the notebook varies from book to book. As I have mentioned,

I have owned three of these, and some were better than others.

Much of this notebook is held together by glue, and the keyboard (while the keys themselves are fine)

is not well made. My back left hinge for the screen has (without damage) come apart somewhat and then

had to be pressed back together.

 

Secondly, the heat. This notebook gets very very warm on its left side when gaming or maxing out your

folding ability on the Linus team. My second replacement was due to the poor thermal management of the GPU

actually destroying the GT650 within.

 

I found the beats audio to be just average, and mostly found myself using headphones.

 

The sides of the notebook are angled, slightly hindering the use of all ports, especially the USB ports and headphone jacks. 

 

The optical drive is hit and miss for build quality: my most recent drive randomly opens itself, and the cover

on the drive, which is effectively the left side of the notebook, easily and unintentionally detaches from the notebook.

It goes back on, but is a serious issue. (the detaching only happens on my third notebook.) Also, the online reviews are

true: the optical drive can resonate with the built in speakers causing an unwanted vibration and noise.

 

The display is harp enough at 1080p, but it has trouble displaying red. You stop noticing it after a while, but it is clear

that the notebook leans toward orange when other notebooks have no trouble pushing out a true red color.

 

The BIOS is quite limited. Very few real options. But is updated and allows for use of the trackpad to select some options.

But overall, not worth your time.

 

The hard drive options for customization are very limited, and they may even try to rip you off. If I hadnt been in the know

about computer hardware, I never would have thought to physically check for the precense of the 32GB msata ssd. Which

they hadnt installed! They corrected the issue because I called HP, but there shouldn't have been such an issue.

 

Also, on my most recent dv6tqe, they striped the screw to access the back of the notebook, making any upgrade I would like

to do myself that much more difficult.

 

In the interest of time, my last con is that with this processor upgraded model, with the highest end mobile i7, my PC freeze's

randomly. From the first day I took it out of the box. It catches back up and works fine, but there are these strange stalls where

everything stops and no inputs work. This is some sort of laptop issue because it first happened when I had just fired it up for the

first time, and hadn't even connected it to the internet or done anything. 

 

I guess one more con: my first and second dv6tqe's would randomly lose all power. Completely die. Plugged in with a charged battery.

Horrible when you are doing work or typing a paper and suddenly it's lights out.

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Conclusion:

 

I would rate this notebook, when everything works, at 8 stars out of 10.

 

My personal experience has been more like 5.5 stars out of 10 at best.

 

I like the notebook and its features, but there have been too many problems with the build quality, and HP's service in general.

 

I would not recommend it to anyone unless they would be willing to take a risk and spend a lot of time chatting with HP customer support.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading my review, and good luck with your dv6tqe 7000 if you own one.

Again, any questions, fire away!

 

 

(THIS REVIEW IS BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THREE OF THESE LAPTOPS AND HP SUPPORT FOR THEM.)

[naca1227]

This is my review of the HP pavilion dv6t quad edition 7000 notebook.

My personal experience has been more like 5.5 stars out of 10 at best.

I like the notebook and its features, but there have been too many problems with the build quality, and HP's service in general.

I would not recommend it to anyone unless they would be willing to take a risk and spend a lot of time chatting with HP customer support.

Thanks for reading my review, and good luck with your dv6tqe 7000 if you own one.

Again, any questions, fire away!

(THIS REVIEW IS BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THREE OF THESE LAPTOPS AND HP SUPPORT FOR THEM.)

I had owned an HP pavilion 3000 or 4000 or whatever a couple years back and it sucked, it could barely do anything I wanted it to do and on top of that it would crash all the time, turn of randomly and all that jazz. I really really don't like HP.

[unidentical]

I think with HP and acer you have to get right in to their Professional grade to get a solid product (in my limited experience)

 

That's why I go lenovo, almost all of them have a good feel and seem very reliable.

[naca1227]

I think with HP and acer you have to get right in to their Professional grade to get a solid product (in my limited experience)

 

That's why I go lenovo, almost all of them have a good feel and seem very reliable.

I have my Lenovo thinkpad right here as we speak. I like them and they are reliable and I like the software but there is a lot of things that are just not needed, like this fingerprint scanner which already doesn't work as well as two right clicks and two left clicks (one pair on top and one pair on bottom of the pad) aswell as a red nipple that acts as a mouse in the middle of my keyboard :/

[unidentical]

I have my Lenovo thinkpad right here as we speak. I like them and they are reliable and I like the software but there is a lot of things that are just not needed, like this fingerprint scanner which already doesn't work as well as two right clicks and two left clicks (one pair on top and one pair on bottom of the pad) aswell as a red nipple that acts as a mouse in the middle of my keyboard :/

I love that little nip.

 

It can be handy from time to time. I think they keep it because some people like it and the people that do like it just buy lenovos by default.