Hp Paviliion Dv7 with sandy BRidge

Droper

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Jan 10, 2011
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Hello guys..
I want to buy a new laptop and i have choose this

http://www.melesoft.com/proddetail.asp?prod=XE385EA

I havent much options in my country..
Has anyone the specific laptop..?Are the temps good and how aboutthe noise? (noise is an important issue for me)
Also i have read that hp laptops have issues with their screens..Is too dark and not with good colours.. iS this right ?
i think sandy bridge cpu is colder than the prevs i7 hm?
Sorry for my bad English..
 

Jim_L9

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Mar 10, 2006
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That looks like a nice version of the dv7 laptop. I have the previous generation, and except for one issue fixed by HP, it has been a great laptop. It's pretty quiet because the faster CPU doesn't need to work that hard at most tasks. What do you want to use the laptop for?
 

Droper

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Jan 10, 2011
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mostly for games movies (conect with tv) and browsing..But i am care about this model specific and not for other choises..
 

G489

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Feb 16, 2011
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I have a dv7t 5000 with the 2720QM chip
I believe all these machines have been removed from the market until there is a fix for the flawed Intel i7 chips.

The machine is fast, the disk drive is slooow (I opted for the 640GB 7200 drive, it's a Samsung drive which might explain it... I hate Samsung)

Screen is nice but not overly impressive - 1600 x 900 resolution.
They put the wrong graphics card in this machine as far as I'm concerned. The ATI HD 6570 GPU doesn't spec out any better that whats on the i7 cpu, it does offload graphics, but it must communicate through the bus which is much slower than the on cpu chip graphics. There should be an option for the 5850 series graphics card.

The color and brightness are acceptable, but not great.

Overheating... still an issue. I got 2 batteries, the standard 6 cell and the 9cell. Using the 6 cell overheats frequently, there isn't enough air flow below the machine. The 9 cell lifts the back of the machine by about 15mm and provides better airflow and a better keyboard angle. BUT it still overheats on occasion. when it does overheat is just does a hard shutdown, it simply turns off, no warnings, no time to react, no recovery... This sucks.

Get a laptop cooler

The web cam is acceptable, but not as good as an aftermarket logitech that I use on my desktops.

There are a number of annoying design / cosmetic blunders with this machine that illustrates HP inability to create a well designed machine.

1) The keyboard and number keypad are right next to each other, there needs to be a slightly larger separation between the two. I have thought about putting a piece of yellow or white automotive pin striping between the two sections of the keyboard for a visual reference. I continuously place my hands in the wrong position.

2) Touchpad: The L & R mouse buttons on the touch pad have a totally different feel from the keypad. It's like walking up stairs that are different heights, your always off balance. The buttons are much harder to depress. Solution... Use a mouse for most operations, leave the touchpad on, but only use it for gestures.

3) The function keys are set up backwards by default, you can change this in the BIOS. By default the function keys DON'T key the function, they key the alternate function. For example the f9 is also the speaker mute key. by default the depressing the f9 will mute your system, to use the f9 function you must simultaneously depress the fn + f9 keys. It should worl the opposite way, and the fn key should have an indicator light to indicate a "mode".

4) Number Keypad: There is no indication, except for a short lived popup when you change modes, as to which mode the number pad is in. There MUST be a light on the num lock key to indicate of the number pad is in number or cursor mode. (I fondly refere to this as the "dumb lock" function.

5)my FAVORITE example of how BAD the design and Q/A is on this machine has to do with the placement of indicator lights and port labels.
- First off the USB, like just about every other machine, are too close together.
- There is an indicator light on the power button, but it should change color depending upon the power source, green for AC outlet power, orange for battery powered, red when you have low battery.
- Port labels ... In most cases its not hard to tell which is which, but HP OUTDID THEMSELVES THIS TIME. The port labels for USB, video, e-sata, headphone and mic are all located on the UNDERSIDE of the machine. Sure, if you want to verify which jack is the headphone, and which jack is the speaker all you have to do is turn the machine over!!!!!!! STUPID