HP Pavilion dv6t Review

Posted by The Best Review Tuesday, October 18, 2011 0 komentar

It's always showtime with the HP Pavilion dv6t. Powered by a second-generation Intel Core i5 CPU with 6GB of RAM, a 640GB 7,200-rpm hard drive, and switchable AMD graphics, this 15.6-inch laptop can seamlessly stream HD video, play your favorite games and music, and look good doing it. A bright glossy display and the addition of Beats Audio make for a great entertainment experience.

Design

Drawing its inspiration from modern-day sports cars, the dark umber HP Pavilion dv6t has an understated elegance. The brushed-aluminum lid really draws you in, especially the nice little swoop towards the hinge. The sides of the laptop are wrapped in gray matte aluminum, while the base is made of black plastic. Our only complaint is that the dv6t picks up fingerprints.
HP Pavilion dv6t back view
The deck of the Pavilion dv6t has the same rich dark umber finish as the lid, set off by a thin silver speaker panel located above the keyboard, which is nestled between the aluminum hinges. The silver power button and black web browser button sit below the speakers on the left side of the deck. The front lip of the laptop also houses two additional speakers for added audio quality.
At 14.8 x 9.7 x 1.2-1.3 inches, the Pavilion dv6t is slightly smaller and slimmer than the 15.2 x 10.2 x 1.4-inch ASUS K53E, making it easier to slip into a backpack. However both machines weigh in at 5.8 pounds, which means you'll likely use this notebook mostly at home.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Pavilion dv6t's black matte island-style keyboard sits in a glossy black keyboard panel that shows off the generous spacing between the keys. We experienced firm feedback from the large, flat keys without any flex. The palm rest was comfortable and large enough so that we were able to rest our entire wrists on it. Taking cues from its consumers, HP has set the function keys as Direct Action keys, so you don't have to press the Fn key to adjust screen brightness or volume, for example.
HP Pavilion dv6t keyboard
The 3.7 x 2.1-inch touchpad gave us plenty of room to move our fingers, and we liked how it's bordered by a bluish-white backlight. Multitouch gestures such as two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom were easy to use on the smooth, friction-free surface. Two-finger rotation, three-finger press, and flick are also available, but they must be enabled in the Control Panel.

Fingerprint Reader

The Pavilion dv6t features a fingerprint reader, a feature normally reserved for business notebooks; this gives users the ability to swipe a finger in lieu of keying in their passwords. After being prompted to swipe our fingers several times, we were able to access our Facebook account with a single swipe of a finger. We then did the same for our e-mail, Twitter, and Flickr accounts. HP SimplePass can also generate one-time passwords for financial sites such as PayPal. Users can even use the reader to register multiple users, each gaining access using a finger swipe.

Heat

After we streamed 15 minutes of video from Hulu at full screen, the dv6t's touchpad measured a chilly 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The space between the G and H keys was a little warmer, at 92 degrees. The underside of the laptop registered 99 degrees, which is above what we consider uncomfortable (95 degrees), but is typical for a notebook bottom. The hottest point of the dv6t, on the bottom by the vent, registered a somewhat troubling 107 degrees.
While the initial temperatures were a mixed bag, HP's CoolSense utility helped cool things off a bit. Using the laptop's accelerometer, CoolSense detects the subtle movement of a notebook on a user's lap and turns on the fan to maintain a comfortable temperature via three settings (Coolest, Performance Optimized, and Quietest). The dv6t kept things nice and cool on the Coolest setting with noticeable--but not distracting--fan noise.

HP Pavilion dv6t open display viewDisplay and Audio

Watching video on the dv6t's glossy, 15.6-inch HP BrightView LED Display was a blast. The 1366 x 768 panel is bright with vivid color. Optimus Prime's red and blue chassis gleamed and explosions were fiery during the Transformers: Dark of the Moon trailer. Brilliant white and yellow sparks flew during fight scenes and blacks were deep and rich with minimal pixelation. The dv6's wide 120-degree viewing angles meant that three people sitting side by side could comfortably watch the action.
Featuring four speakers and Beats Audio software (pictured), the dv6t offers impressive music playback. Whether it was a bass-heavy track such as "Bad Intentions" by Dr. Dre or something more ethereal such as Evanescence's "My Immortal," the sound was crystal clear and full, easily filling a small room. However, Dell XPS 15's much larger JBL speakers produced even better audio.
HP Pavilion dv6t Beats software
Using headphones with the dv6t, we were able to hear even the minutest details, including distinct background vocals in songs we had heard many times before without noticing them. Videos on CNN.com initially sounded flat, but audio improved when we switched the sound settings from Music to Voice in the Beats Audio control panel. Switching to Movie mode as we watched "28 Days Later" gave us that extra jump-out-of-your-seat scare factor.
Specification
CPU 
2.3-GHz Intel Core i5-2410M
Operating SystemMS Windows 7 Home Premium
RAM 
6GB
RAM Upgradable to 
16GB
Hard Drive Size 
640GB
Hard Drive Speed 
7,200rpm
Hard Drive Type 
SATA Hard Drive
Display Size 
15.6
Native Resolution 
1366x768
Optical Drive 
DVD SuperMultiDrive
Optical Drive Speed 
8X
Graphics Card 
Intel HD Graphics 3000, AMD Radeon HD 6490M Graphics
Video Memory 
1GB
Wi-Fi 
802.11b/g/n
Wi-Fi ModelWireless LAN
Bluetooth 
Mobile Broadband 
Touchpad Size3.7 x 2.1 inches
Ports (excluding USB)
Dual Headphone; Ethernet; HDMI; Kensington Lock; Microphone; USB 3.0; VGA
USB Ports 
4
Card Slots 
2-1 card reader
Warranty/SupportOne year of limited hardware support and 30 days of free limited software support
Size14.8 x 9.7 x 1.2 - 1.3 inches
Weight5.8 pounds

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