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"Cnet's review is sooo bias" on by blazin_it_alwyz
Pros: Very good laptop
Cons: Cnet's review is so bias
Summary: Like seriously, where do they get this stuff? Read their review summary.
"The bottom line: We like the HP Pavilion dv6000's attractive design and multimedia features, but don't expect this Core 2 Duo laptop to break any speed records."
First of all, a laptop is only as good as the parts you put into it. They give better ratings to more expensive laptops, but the fact is that the more expensive laptops they review are configured with MORE RAM.
If you notice, the dv6000t laptop they review is only configured with 1 GIG OF RAM! Seriously Cnet, how do you expect the laptop to "break spead records" if your not putting enough ram in the laptop in the first place for it to perform! Like seriously, who still puts 1 GIG OF RAM IN THEIR COMP IF THEY ARE LOOKING FOR PERFORMANCE?! Cnet you dropped the ball man.
I actually looked at the other reviews of laptops that got higher scores, and it's total bull! Also notice how they state that battery life is poor, but they don't bother to tell you that instead of the 6 cell battery that the dv6000t comes with, it can also come with the 12 cell battery, which they state, and I quote
"An optional 12-cell battery costs $40 (CNET did not test this battery)"
FIRST OF ALL, I don't know if you have been keeping up with how much batteries for laptops cost, they DON'T COST 40 bucks, that's for sure, but if you mean that instead of getting the 6 cell, you can get the 12 cell, ya you can do that, but there are pros and cons with that, which cnet fails to even mention, once again dropping the ball. And the fact that they compare this to higher end laptops with bigger batteries but yet opt to review this laptop with the weakest battery that comes with it is also suspicious(READ:bias)
What is ALSO CURIOUS is that this laptop, the dv6000t is rated 6.7, but yet the dv9000t is rated 7.9, which is a decidedly enormous jump of a rating for which there is little to no merit, especially when the laptops are almost identical, except the dv9000t has a bigger keyboard (keypad), option for hd-dvd (and everybody knows that you shouldn't be gettin any next gen formats as of yet, even according to cnet.com), and probably other stupid stuff I'm forgetting. Just because something has more stuff doesn't mean (hey, you have more stuff that you pay more for, but hey let's bump up the rating still) and that deserves a 1.2 point rating jump? Let's get serious.
If you actually read the review of this laptop and compare it with other reviews of laptops, you will see how bogus this review is, and I will continue with that theory.
And I quote "Our Pavilion dv6000 ran on Windows XP Professional; given its many media features, we're surprised the system is not available with Windows XP Media Center."
I will state this now: You can ABSOULUTELY configure xp media center on this laptop. I wish I could insert a picture of me having the choice to put windows xp media center on the laptop. And EVEN THEN, is that reason to knock this laptop? It really seems like they're nitpicking on stupid stuff.(Read:Bias)
Oh and here's a really good one.
"When it comes to battery life, the Pavilion dv6000's 2 hour, 35 minute battery life is somewhat disappointing; we'd hoped for at least 3 hours."
Now, keep in mind that the bigger the screen, the better the video card and hard drive and processor, the more power your consuming. Now the dv6000 is not anywhere near as nicely configured as the dv9000.
and I quote from the dv9000 review "When it comes to battery life, though, the dv9000t triumphed: its battery held out for 3 hours, 19 minutes"
Now, HOW is a bigger laptop with a bigger screen (17 inches opposed to 15.4 inches) better video card (Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 opposed to Nvidia GeForce Go 7500), more hard drive space (2 100gb 5400 rpm hard drives opposed to 100 gb 5400 rpm hard drive!!), etc, going to last 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES LONGER!
That's impossible, especially since both of the laptops are using core 2 duo's, so you can't say the efficiency of the processor, so tell me Cnet, what is making the dv9000t so much faster huh?
The bigger laptop is allowing more space for the laptop to breathe, and to circulate the information, therefore making the battery power low, also making the laptop faster? (sarcasm)
So basically Cnet is almost 100% at fault, and show's how accurate their testing is.
It's pretty sad because I have been a long time cnet fan, and this used to be the first place I go to, and pretty much the last place, but I've noticed they've become uninformitave, inconsistant, and bias (like how they were completely bias against this computer).Updated
I just wanted to go over some points; I was reading my article and noticed some small and very minor mistakes; I thought I would go ahead and let you know.
When I say battery life is 1 hour and 30 min more, if you do the math it comes out to more like an hour. Like I said, just correcting minor details, the fact still remains that Cnet dropped the ball, I'm just correcting minor stuff here.
and when I say
"That's impossible, especially since both of the laptops are using core 2 duo's, so you can't say the efficiency of the processor, so tell me Cnet, what is making the dv9000t so much faster huh?"
When I say that quote, I meant "what is making the dv900t so much more ENERGY EFFICIENT huh?"
Ok, had to get that out of the way, I like for my reviews to be AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE *cough* Now some after thoughts.
I was just re-reading the review, reading my review again, thought I should add some points onto that.
Have a look at the pros.
"The good: Slick, lightweight design; decent processor performance; built-in Webcam; two headphone jacks."
"Decent processor performance" huh? Even in the good section they're STILL dissing this laptop! I don't understand why in these high end laptops, it's the same core 2 duo processors, and those processors are oh so much better?! I suppose these other high end laptops that get good reviews have "Special Edition Core 2 Duo processors....."(sarcasm)
, and that's why a Core 2 duo is a great proc on a high end laptop, and a "decent" proc on this laptop.................
Let's move on shall we?
The Bad Section.
"The bad: Mediocre battery life; optional glossy display can be reflective."
Ok, we all know what the mediocre battery life is all about now, already covered it in my review, cnet doesn't know what they're talking about so.....
Lets see.
"Optional glossy display CAN be reflective".
1st of all, key word is OPTIONAL.
Going to go off the subject for a second, but for a reason.
The Laptop can come with a remote. Some people think the remote is dumb, didn't get it with the laptop. I thought it would be useful, and got it, because it was OPTIONAL. If you like it, get it, if you don't like it, DON'T FREAKING GET IT!. At least they HAVE the option. And read the quote, they didn't say it is reflective, they said it "can be reflective". If you have a lamp right in the back of your head, then ya, it can be reflective. I know we all love cnet, but if you look around really good, you can find some good reviews about this laptop, and other people seem to find that optional screen is one of the best screens they could of got, especially for when they use it and what they do (read: optional for your lifestyle).(READ: OPTIONAL)
And about the ram argument in the original review, here's a funny little quote I found from the review.
"The dv6000 didn't come out ahead on the multitasking and Photoshop tests, though, most likely because it has less RAM than its competitors."
Um, Ya! ya think Cnet? Wow whoever reviewed this laptop...........wow I can't believe this..........
Ok. Now that I have went over all the reasons why Cnet.com's gripes over this laptop are totally unsubstantiated, and although it would be nice to say this laptop is perfect, no it isn't perfect. It did make me mad that Cnet had stupid things to complain about, so seeing as how this should be a FAIR REVIEW (as should all reviews from this site should be), I'm going to go over some legitimate gripes.
1.Laptop Cover
The Laptop Cover has a very shiny black finish that absolutely attracts dust and finger prints, even so much that HP even includes a cleaning cloth with the laptop (don't you think that's something cnet shoulda covered?)
2.How laptop closes
Most laptop's close and you can hear a little click, and to open it you have to slide some button from left to right to get it to open. This laptop however, closes by magnetic means. There is a strong magnet on the laptop cover, and a magnet on the base so that when you close it, opposites attract and it keeps the laptop closed. Some people found this weird, different, didn't like it, some people did. Once again, it would be nice if there was some mention about this, because this was a selling point for some people.
3. How far the laptop opens.
This is probably the hugest point of the laptop, this completely made or broke like alot of purchases of this laptop (I actually went to a really good place on the internet where alot of people were giving feedback about this laptop, some of the feedback being that cnet dropped the ball), and this is how far the laptop opens.
Usually, laptops just have a regular hinge, and usually will swing pretty much all the way open, but this laptop has like a new age hinge, and it's pretty cool, the only problem is that they implemented it in a way that only allows for the screen to swing so far open before it won't go any farther.
Now, this ALONE can make or break anyone purchasing it. If you stand up at work and want to use this laptop, to be able to see the screen on a laptop you have to swing it open farther than usual. You won't be able to do this so much on this laptop.
Also, if your laying in your bed, and want to rest your head on your pillow, put the laptop in your lap (hence the word "lap-top"), you have to swing it open a little bit more just because of the way your laying and where your knees go and such. Once again, you won't be able to do this so much on this laptop. Personally, I think this laptop is a 10, and this is the reason I deducted 1 big point of the laptop when I made the original review.Updated
Now. Don't you think this is stuff you should know about? To anybody reading this review, I "daresay" this has affected your purchase if you were EVEN considering this laptop. Let's see, was there anything else?
4. 12 cell battery
Ok, remember in the original review, where I was "complaining" if you will, about the fact that they didn't even bother to go over the 12 cell battery? That's another one of the huge selling points. But there are some pros' and cons to the battery.
pro - longer battery life
cons - sticks out of the bottom of your laptop, more expensive
Now, the 12 cell will pretty much double your battery life from whatever it was. But it does stick out at the bottom. Some people actually like this, because it makes the laptop tilt on a desk, giving you some ergonomics (lol). It is kinda awkward if you are laying down and it is on your, because it is sticking out.
Alright, I have to go, so I'm going to wrap this up.
Great laptop, some drawbacks (but that's with anything you buy, nothing is perfect, it's just finding the laptop that's closest TO perfect).
Cnet dropped the ball, I wrote this to pick up there slack. It's also absoultely funny, the date is 10/12/06 and if you scroll down the page and look on the right, you will see that THIS LAPTOP is the most popular laptop on Cnet.com RIGHT NOW. Hmmm......... now why is that.
Like I said, gotta, go, I will keep checking back, see what you guys have to say about this. Hopefully if this get's enough comments Cnet will retract the review, give us an apology, give us another review, a DECENT review at least.Updated
Hey guys, me again, thanks for the comments. I mean seriously, if this is THE most popular laptop on this site right now, I mean, someone has to lay it out for everyone, right? OK. So lets continue.
Here is a quote from the review.
"We like the sleek look of the keys, but we hate the beeping that indicates you've pressed a button; the sound can be disabled, but doing so is rather complicated."
First off, rather funny that in the REVIEW, it says that the button sound CAN be disabled, but if you watch the actual video, it is said that you CANNOT disable the button sound. Wow, the reviewer doesn't even agree with herself! Seriously, how can you expect to be taken seriously when you write a review and a video that come out at the same time and cover an aspect of something and have both types of reviews contradict each other?
Anywayz, anyone who bought this laptop a while ago can go to the Hp site and get a new version of bios which will disable the sound. If you bought a laptop like this recently or are planning on getting one in the future, it will come with the updated version of bios, which for non-technical people, is some options you can tweak, one of them being to cut of the sound the buttons make. And it's not complicated, I can explain it in like 3 steps.
1. Turn computer on.
2. Press F10 when it prompts you to.
3. Look and there will be an option, press enter and enable it. Done.
So, once again, one of the little gripes that cnet apparently had that made them deduct 3 points of this thing for no reason has been demolished. I'm poised for checkmate and it's your move Cnet. -
"Good product marred by poor support" on by AXG
Pros: It has everything that I could think of at reasonable price
Cons: The 12 cell battery sticks out too far, the imprint finish is prone to smudges
Summary: I recently had a very bad experience with HP support when I purchased this laptop. I ordered the laptop on 10/20/06 fully loaded with 2GB RAM, 2Ghz processor, bluetooth, lightscribe DVD writer, 12 cell battery, 256MB display card, HP imprint finish with integrated webcam and microphones etc. The laptop was shipped from Shanghai, China (I always thought HP made these laptops in US) on 10/27/06 and was delivered to me on 10/30/06. Very impressive.
I opened the box There was nothing much in it by the way of packing. I was surprised to see laptop shipped from China to US supported on just two foam pieces. Maybe because FEDEX has its own planes, they can take care of stuff better.
I had also purchased HP's most expensive 3 year accidental damage protection and extended service plan.
One thing immediately caught my attention. The HP imprint finish is extremely susceptible to finger prints, smudges and scratches. On top of it, is it shiny black, so unless I was wearing gloves all the time while handling this laptop, it would get all smudged and smudges would show from a mile. Maybe this is why HP included a small microfiber cloth. But I realized that I will need several yards worth of it.
The setup was easy though I would have preferred that HP leave optional softwares to the user. Anyways, everything was working fine and I spent several hours downloading the Windows updates and doing other customizations and everything seemed to be working fine.
Then I decided to pair my Cingular 8125 Windows Mobile 5 smartphone with the built-in bluetooth. This is one of reasons I bought this laptop. I was tired of connecting the USB bluetooth dongle every time to my Acer Aspire laptop. No matter what I did, the 8125 would not ActiveSync with the DV6000t. I tried all possible solution given by everyone on the web but it just will not work.
Finally, on 11/1/06, I called the award winning technical support. After all, I had paid $349.99 extra for the support. I was on hold for about 10 minutes before I could speak to a live person. The moment I spoke to him, I was positive that this was outsourced support. The person took all my laptop details like part number, serial number, model number, date of purchase, my name, e-mail address, phone number, ZIP code, permission to contact via e-mail, if this was my first contact with support and so on. I was wondering if he would ever ask me what problem I was having, but finally he asked the big question: how can I help you today.
I told him the problem. He said: So your bluetooth is not working. Then he put me on hold for 2 minutes. He came back and asked what device I was trying to pair the laptop with? I told him that it was a smartphone. He put me on hold for another 2 minutes and then told me that this kind of issue is handled by another department and I would have to pay to get support. I told him that I had paid extra for support but he insisted that it was the only way available for me. I told him to put me through to a supervisor. He said that he had already told me the only way out. I insisted. He put me on hold for another 2 minutes and then told me that the supervisor was busy on another call and that even if I spoke to the supervisor, he will tell me the same thing. I was extremely upset. The additional support I had purchased clearly said that it covered any configuration issues.
I immediately called sales and returned the laptop. It was picked up today by FEDEX.
I liked the laptop. It gave me a battery life of 4 hours doing file transfers. Even then it was not fully discharged. The laptop was quiet in operation. The fan did turn on, but it did not make a loud noise. The speed of laptop was good. The ultrabright display was reflective and could not be used outdoors in sunlight. The webcam was good and the sound quality from built-in speakers was good. The wireless network worked fine. The laptop is well loaded with software. There is Quicken 2006 and Money 2006. There is a 60 day subscription to Norton Internet Security. Lot of DVD writing and lightscribe software. Microsoft Works is included with document, spreadsheet, various useful templates, e-mail etc. A 60 day trial version of MS Office 2003 was also installed.
If you are buying this laptop, make sure you take 120GB disk. The 100GB disk leaves only 70GB free. Normally, in a 100GB disk, there is only 92 GB usable space. Out of that, HP uses 8GB to create a recovery partition on D: drive. There is about 14GB worth of operating system and other software installs. If you create a recovery DVD from D: drive, you can free up the 8GB space. The recovery works very well. Before returning the lapop, I recovered it its factory condition and it took half an hour.
The laptop has an optional remote control which can control DVD player etc. The problem is that the IR receiver for that remote is very small( about pea size) and is located on the front panel, next to audio connectors. With the 12 cell battery sticking out of the bottom and the whole laptop sloping forward, I found it hard to operate anything with that remote.
There is a standard built-in 5-media type card reader. This is not mentioned anywhere in the specifications.
The laptop does not accept PCMCIA cards. It takes only the newer Express cards.
The media controls on the front panel are truly appealing. They light up as small blue icons and operate by touch (not pressure). The battery charger is on the side and the charger cable kind of sticks out. The charger also has a blue indicator around the connector to indicate charger is in use.
I do not understand why CNET has given a rating of 6.7. I had read this CNET review before buying this laptop and was bit cautious. The laptop however turned out to be a very good, much better than I had expected after reading a 6.7 review.
I loved this laptop but I felt cheated by the support policies. If the support had made any attempt to rectify the issue, maybe it could have been resolved or I might have made a compromise on bluetooth. I was irked at the fact the support person did not make any attempt to do any kind of troubleshooting. He did not even bother to ask if the bluetooth was turned on. He straightaway tried to make more money out of me. The support cost made up 20% of the total money I had paid and HP still wanted more!! Pathetic. To add insult to injury, HP e-mailed me a survey about my experience with technical support. I clicked on the survey and the first question is asked was "Did you contact HP technical support about a problem where it was determined that your laptop was out of warranty?"
Maybe I will buy the same laptop again but without the extended support.
Another thing which irked me about extended support was that even though I bought the support and laptop from HP in a single transaction, it was somehow my responsibility to activate the extended support. Why HP could not fill in all the details and send me a pre-activated support? All other laptop makers do that.Updated
I am loving this laptop. HP recently sent me the free Windows Vista upgrade as they had promised. I installed Vista and all HP drivers and application software were present on the DVD. I did not have any problems installing Windows Vista. With Vista, I am still getting 2.5-3 hours of battery life on a 12 cell battery AND with Windows Media Player playing my favorite songs. The speed is way better than Windows XP. It has been 5 months since I am using this laptop and my opinion has not changed a bit.
I had installed OpenSuSE Linux 10.2 on this laptop and the 64-bit distro worked just fine. It turns out that the T7200 Intel core duo is 64-bit processor. I had taken this processor as an option and paid extra for it. Obtaining 64 bit drivers for nVidia card was a challenge though.
I would also like to say that after I complained to HP corporate about my experience with tech support, their tech support has improved really.
The price on this laptop has dropped a little bit in the last 6 months. I am glad that HP sticks to their prices unlike some other companies who keep changing the price of their product several times a day. -
"1 GB vs. 2 GB is not a fair comparison" on by ddietzel
Pros: Fast, reasonable price, very nice looking, inexpensive extended warrantee, and support by staff who can speak English
Cons: More powerful graphic processor option would be appreciated
Summary: This new HP unit offers very good bang for the buck. The reviewer needs to rerun the benchmarks after snapping another GB of RAM into the HP for a fair comparision with the other laptops in the article. I'd be willing to bet that the differences in benchmark results between the three system would then be statistically insignificant. This unit will please all but die hard gamers as there is no option to order it with a high end video processor.
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"Good Value (Underrated by CNET)" on by theconsultant
Pros: Overall Good Design. Reliable. Great Performance (depending on config.) Backed by major manufacturer.
Cons: Standard 6-cell battery a bit too wimpy. Fancy gloss black finish option gets fingerprints too easily. Docking station solution is a step back from previous models.
Summary: I'm a hardcore notebook user being an Internet Consultant I'm constantly using my notebook in various locations. I run many applications at once including video editing (usually have 10 browsers open, Microsoft Office, etc.)
I'm a research fanatic when it comes to buying things. I have used an HP Pavillion Notebook for the past two years and have been quite happy with the reliability, performance, and support (even though I rarely need to use their support resources - a good sign.) I decided to splurge for a new notebook and get the most powerful 15.4" system I could find for $1,500 or under. I did NOT have my heart set on HP.
I researched notebooks to death. It came down to the HP or one of the offbrands like an ASUS. With the offbrands you get a bit more bang for the buck (slightly faster CPU, next step up video card, option for 7,200 RPM hard drive, etc.) Since I had good experiences with HP and preferred to buy something backed by a major computer brand, and most importantly Costco had it on their website so I could return it up to 6 months from purchase, it was an easy decision.
I purchased a DV6000T with the best options possible. T7200 processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive (although 5,400 RPM it has as good of performance as a 100GB 7,200 RPM due to increased platter density), GEFORE GO 7400 Video Card, etc. Came in at just over $1,500.
I DID NOT GET THE GLOSSY BRIGHTVIEW SCREEN. I HATE THEM. I went to the store before purchasing just to be sure. 90% of the notebooks on display had the glossy display. Not sure what the big deal is. The colors look more saturated but the glare from lights and windows is terrible compared to the non-glossy. I guess its just something the stores are pushing as the latest, greatest.
Got the web cam and the fancy black glossy finish with the wavey pattern.
The notebook performs great. I ran PerformanceTest 6.0 (freeware) tests and it got a total 543 score. (My previous notebook which was top of the line 2 years ago go 258 so I essentially doubled my notebook performance.)
I am very happy with this purchase. These are the only downsides to this unit:
- The standard 6-cell battery supposedly doesn't last that long (I trusted multiple reviews regarding this point.) So I opted for the big 12-cell. This battery sticks out from the bottom so the notebook sits at a slant which is quite comfortable and I don't mind the extra weight to get 5-6 hours of batter life! There's an 8-cell but has to be purchased as an accessory and wasn't an option when I setup the system. If you don't mind a little bit more weight and bulk and have been frustated in situation previously with running out of battery, GET THE 12-CELL BATTERY.
- The fancy gloss finish gets ugly fingerprints in it so easily I strongly recommend not getting it if you can. (I think though it comes standard with the Webcam + Bluetooth options or something so there might not be a way around it). HP obviously realized this too late as they include a small little cloth to be used for wiping the finish. I wish I had my old matte solver finish or other matter finish. But looks are NOT important to me, so I'll live with wiping the fingerprints off from time to time.
- The only downside with going with a major brand is they include a lot of "bloatware" that is software that really isn't necessary. If you don't remove it, click ctrl-alt-del and look at all the system processes running. The amount of software that automatically loads in the background is just CRAZY. I imagine a lot of it is beneficial to the non-techy user though. It's not to hard to uninstall.
- My only other gripe would be the QuickDock Accessory. With my previous HP notebook docking station, you just set the notebook on the station and pressed down to connect it to a connector on the underside of the notebook. With these new HP Notebooks, the "QuickDock" essentiall has an 18" big cable with a huge plug that you have to plug into the side. There's an extremely fancy socking solution that has an additional hard drive and prompts your notebook up so you can use the notebook screen as your monitor, but I think that's cheesy. LCD monitors are cheap.
I would definitely recommend this unit. It is easily in my opinion the best bang for the buck among all the major brands (Dell, Compaq, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony, etc.) if you are looking for a notebook with 15.4" wide display. -
"Beware of Brightview" on by wearin_shades
Pros: Options and throw-ins
Cons: Brightview monitor
Summary: Don't select the Brightview monitor option unless you've seen one first. The glare is really severe. I'm now faced with either locating a glare filter or sending the product back.
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