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"A must have for every laptop enthusiast" on by us97233
Pros: Very quiet, great cpu throughtput, nice design, good construction, screen is brilliant, graphic card is not bad either (GF8400M GS), Very quiet HDD
Cons: Comes with Vista, BIOS is lacking the options for a true power user, poor driver support for XP, poor battery life (standard 6 cell0
Summary: Many people complain about the quietness of this machine: I got to say it runs VERY QUIET. Under medium usage (web browsing and some HDD activity) the fan won't even spin. It will make some noise when you tax the CPU though but nothing that should be unconfortable for anyone, not even for a sound fanatic.
Graphic card is also good enough to play games like Half Life 2 and the new NFS MW and Carbon at the highest levels but without AA enabled - it will hick up sometimes but rarely.
CPU whining doesn't exist or at least I couldn't hear it on this machine (I did on others though, non-HP).
If you want a slick, quiet and yet performant machine this is the way to go.
I ordered this product on HPs website and I got it 10 days after. -
"Extremely unstable." on by benpheil
Pros: Good performance
Cons: Hard drive errors, Internet problems.
Summary: This is an extremely unstable machine. The hard drive becomes corrupted very easily and it has trouble with WIRED LAN connections. I've had it for a month and I've reformatted once and used system restore twice. Vista 64-bit doesn't make it any better.
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"Looks nice, but don't buy if you plan to use in a quiet environment" on by bspitz
Pros: Stylish design and media buttons; media remote control; reasonable price
Cons: VERY annoying fan and buzzing noises; soft touchpad keys; sticky touchpad; loud spacebar
Summary: I was thrilled when I took my special edition dv6500t out of the box. It looks and feels nice, and I'm happy enough with the specs.
After 2 days of use, though, I decided it had to be returned. First, there is a constant, wavering electronic buzzing noise coming from inside. Google searches confirmed that this is a relatively frequent problem that HP has no solution for (they told me to update my BIOS - neglecting the fact that there is no BIOS upgrade for this machine). The only solution was to download a program called RMClock. Although it solved the buzzing, it is utterly ridiculous to have to rely on 3rd party software to fix HP's problems. On the other hand, if you have a lot of background noise and also aren't bothered by buzzing noises, you might be fine.
Second, the fan runs almost constantly at a low level, and occasionally at a very loud higher level. The low level is fine if you are working in places with a bit of background noise. I am a law student though, and every day I have to use my computer in class and in the library. This was so loud that I had to pack it up and use a library computer. Once again, my google searching showed this to be a common complaint. And again, unacceptable for my needs.
Small other complaints:
-I am not sure why, but full-screen video and photos are grainier on this screen than on my old non-glossy Toshiba M30 screen. On a similar note, HP doesn't offer any screen resolution upgrades (but neither do some other companies, such as Toshiba).
-If my finger has any moisture on it at all, the touchpad becomes a little sticky.
-The touchpad buttons are unlike any other I've used: they are "soft", by which I mean they require extra thumb movement to click. On numerous occasions I have not had a hyperlink, etc. register a click.
-The keys are a little "clicky." The spacebar is worse, making a loud "thwack." Not good for taking notes in class or library. -
"huge mistake" on by tiredofbadservice
Pros: worked well for one week
Cons: Customer service
Summary: After using this computer for one week "something" went wrong. I returned the computer to HP who returned it to me after a couple of weeks with a slip of paper saying "problem could not be replicated". Well I still could not use the computer so I called back and they said to send it back again. At this point I requested a refund and was informed that since I had the computer longer than 21 days a case manager would be required to authorize the refund and that one would call me back. I argued that HP had the computer in their possession for most of that 21 day period but that apparently was irrelevant. What followed then was no response from HP despite my calling back and escalating the request numerous times over the following weeks. Today I finally spoke with a case manager (after I called) and was informed that the time has passed for them to be able to authorize a refund and all they could do for me is to make sure the computer is repaired. It would appear that I am stuck with this computer, thank goodness I bought the extended warranty, I get to have this quality of service for at least three more years!
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"Awesome combination of looks, performance, features, and battery life!!" on by bigfujitsu
Pros: Good looks, lots of features, perfect size, awesome performance, long battery life
Cons: A little on the heavy side
Summary: I have been out checking laptops for the past few months. This is the best looking best performance laptop for the size/price. Awesome performance from this Intel processor. Don’t waste your time with the AMD versions of this laptop. The Intel versions offer higher performance and longer battery life!! Save yourself some time and just ignore those AMDs. They are simply just behind with their processor. I Purchased the AMD version and I ended up exchanging it for the Intel version.
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