dv2500t/dv6500t/dv9500t Current/ Prospective Owners Lounge

[BayAreaTech]

What upgrades/accessories have people been getting with the new HPs? In particular, I'm curious about the fingerprint reader- does it work? I'm wondering if it's worth the extra money to select it. Same goes with the upgrade to Bluetooth. Thoughts/reviews from those who've opted for either of those two upgrades?

Hello.... new guy here.

I'm very thankful that I found this forum! Just what I was looking for, as I've been perplexed about the dv6500t initially having only one choice for video card. I found the answer and now the issue is a non-issue and I'm about ready to buy with the NVIDIA.

In regard to the above question as to the effectiveness of the fingerprint reader, I too had questions. In fact, my question about biometrics -- used in combination with Computrace LoJack -- made Yahoo! Tech and took the dude a few days to research and come up with an answer. Here is what I posted, with the link below to the answer (I'd paste the answer here too, but this is already running long:

Will a Fingerprint Scanner Make a Stolen Laptop Harder to Recover?

Fri Jun 8, 2007 4:41PM EDT

See Comments (2)

Reader Joe writes (in part and edited): I am obsessed with security and am considering two notebooks, the HP dv6500t, which has a fingerprint scanner, and the HP dv6000t, which does not. Whichever one I choose, I want to protect it with Computrace LoJack for Laptops so it can be recovered if stolen.

If I were to purchase LoJack for the dv6500t, would it be less likely that my stolen laptop could be traced/found because the thief would not be able to boot into Windows (without my fingerprint), thus not connecting to the Internet and sending out a trace to Computrace's command center?

If I got the dv6000t, this would not be an issue. I really want to protect myself with LoJack, and I also love the idea of added security with fingerprint reading, but it seems as though the combination of the two might make it less likely that the notebook is recovered, especially if the thief swapped out the hard drive out of frustration in not being able to get into Windows. Your thoughts?

Complete post and answer:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/292...8t.PnaRjsE1vAI

I'm a huge HP fan, having grown up about five miles down the road from headquarters in Palo Alto and still live not far here in the S.F. Bay Area in Silicon Valley, hence the name "BayAreaTech" (BAT?). Couldn't come up with another suitable name. Currently using an old zv5000 on crutches, but have a powerful HP desktop Media Center TV PC.

Looking forward to interacting with this forum. This appears to be one of the best I've seen, with great information and smart discussion.

Joe

[ZT3000!]

If the 6500 had a WSXGA and 8600anything option, I would be all over it. As it stands though, their business models are more appealing to me in the 15.4in size.

[dennisk]

I just bough the dv6500tse. Originally f3sv was my choice but the dv6500tse just looks so much better and people say its more "well built". I don't know how much the 8400m gs will lack compared to 8600m gs, but I hope it can still play some games (hl2 games / war3/ sc2 maybe)in okay settings.

[ZT3000!]

I just bough the dv6500tse. Originally f3sv was my choice but the dv6500tse just looks so much better and people say its more "well built". I don't know how much the 8400m gs will lack compared to 8600m gs, but I hope it can still play some games (hl2 games / war3/ sc2 maybe)in okay settings.

HL2 will run just fine on your computer, no worries.

Hell...I played HL2 about 4 times through with the laptop in my sig. Yea, check out that amazing GPU...

[anjunab!tch]

I've seen the white dv6000 in Best Buy and it actually looks quite nice. The keys have a different finish. But I dont like that the base of the laptop is still black. If they made it all white that would be stylish.

I don't think so mate, black is sexier , even if you want to buy a camera, would you go for the white camera?

[Fant]

I don't think so mate, black is sexier , even if you want to buy a camera, would you go for the white camera?

I meant that if both the top AND bottom were white it would look more stylish (kind of like the ibook). I think it looks a little weird that the top is white and the bottom is black. I purchased the regular dv6500t which is black on top and bottom.

[Fant]

I have had my dv6500t for a few weeks now and wanted to post on my findings so far on the various options. Hopefully this advice will help those looking at purchasing one of these machines.

CPU: These core2duo chips are fast. You dont need the fastest one. Save some money and get the 1.8ghz which will run cooler and therefore possibly give you more battery life. I dont know anything that I can do with the 2ghz that is noticably faster than the 1.8ghz

Memory: This one is simple. If you are going to be running XP with light work, I would consider 1gb the minimum. If you will be doing Vista, go for 2gb. But you can save some money here by choosing the cheapest memory option with HP and buying 2 1gb ddr667 chips from elsewhere for less than $100 total. Hell you can probably even get a 2gb and 1gb chip (3gb total) for less than HP's cost of 2gb. But if they have a sale on 2gb it will prob be only slightly more just going with HP.

Video: If you will be playing modern 3d games, you will NEED the nvidia option. If you need the HDMI output for outputting to a larger display that doesnt take VGA, you will NEED the nvidia option. For everyone else, the Intel option is fine. The dv6500t really needs a 8600 series graphics to be competitive with others. The new macbook pro with 15" LED, 8600gt and 1" thickness beat HP on all counts.

Hard Drive: I went with the 120gb because I thought the 80gb would be too small if you plan on leeping the recovery partition. If you want to save some cash, you can go with the cheaper 80gb option and upgrade to a 250gb in 6 months when prices of those notebook drives drop.

Optical: I chose the Lightscribe DVDRW but I never use it. The lightscribe discs are too expensive and take too long. Save some cash and get the regular dvdrw.

Webcam: The webcam is suprisingly good quality on low light. However it's really a nice to have item. I never video conference. However if you use skype it can be useful. For everyone else, you dont need it. However it doesnt add much and you cant add it back in later so this is really a personal choice.

Fingerprint scanner: I have to usually scan 3-4 times before it correctly identifies me. For a home machine this is overkill and unnecarrry. If you will be using the machine where lots of other people are around and you want them to stay away, it may be nicer. It also works well if you are using the machine for multiple people. However you will be using it mainly for yourself with auto-login, its a waste and just gets in the way when you put your palm over it.

Recovery DVD: Save the $20 and burn em yourself. If you ever need em, you can buy em later from HP support for the same cost. Or you can use the anytime dvd included with the laptop to do a clean install anyway.

dv6000 vs dv6500: I chose the dv6500t mainly because I was hoping Santa Rosa would give be improved battery life. I get about 3 hours. However after seeing many dv6000t at circuit city for $799 well equiped, I dont know if I made the right choice. If you are a gamer, the dv6500t is a much better option due to the new GPU. But the new cpus and improved battery life arent enough to command a premium.

Wireless: all you really need is 802.11g. I havent really had a chance to test the 802.11n speeds so I cant comment on if its worth it. I chose bluetooth as the integrated option costs the same as an external bluetooth usb receiver. I would get bluetooth just because just about every new cell phone has bluetooth capability.

Thats all I can think of so far. Go ahead start ripping my comments to helll.

[orev]

Fant: thanks for a good mini-review. You covered some of the smaller things I was wondering about, like the fingerprint scanner.

[BayAreaTech]

Fant,

Your postings have been great and I appreciate the above recommendations. You may be saving me some major dollars if I take your advice and go for the 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo instead of my original choice of the 2GHz chip.

People in I.T. are always talking about how important L2 cache is in a CPU. Obviously, the Intel T7300 is the only option that offers 4 MB of L2 cache....and it's only an extra $62. Does the faster chip really run much hotter? Do you think having the 2 GHz chip (T7300) will make much of a difference in performance, especially given Vista's reputation as a resource hog? I'm really looking to future-proof as best as possible but, like you, don't want to waste money on unnecessary hardware. You've already got me thinking twice about the fingerprint reader.

Take care.

[Sid1]

awesome mini-review fant. now u've got me thinking about the ram and the cpu ...but its too late coz i ordered mine on wed. i didn't even know that it included the anytime recovery dvd for clean install, that makes me feel good coz i was so close to choosing the recovery disk option for $19.