I am going to post a legitimate review about the actual product here. A few of the other reviews on this product were pretty much ranting and pointless. I am an IT technician, and I will sum it up as short as possible, but to the point. I bought this for my own personal use, not for work. All in all, this PC has great speed, good hibernation in and out of lid closes (hasn't locked up once yet), and fingerprint reader is actually very useful. Beats audio is marketing mostly, sounds a little better though. This PC is gorgeous aesthetically, and touchpad is useable for once. It has advanced functions (two finger zoom/scroll, etc.). Also, for those of you that don't like the touchpad light that surrounds the touchpad, (fn) function & spacebar toggles it on and off. Double tap the top left corner of the touchpad to turn it off and use a wireless mouse. Other than that, quad-core processor, 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports, pretty good graphics card, fingerprint reader with shortcut software included (you can setup different website shortcuts and/or system functions to access with recognition of different fingers; ie: shutdown with your pinky, or go to your 3 favorite websites with just one swipe of your index finger). It has 6 gigs of ram (expandable to 16 GB), 640 gig HDD, memory card reader, beats audio, and bluetooth, you really can't go wrong for the price. Remember, all PCs have bloatware these days pretty much, most PC support problems are dealt with through globally outsourced firms. This does suck, but it keeps their costs down for us to buy them. I suggest removing all the programs you don't want or need from add/remove programs in the control panel right away when you get it (within the 14 day store return policy), and give this computer a lot of use within that period to make sure it's for you. If you are not tech savvy, pay extra and purchase the store's extended warranty program. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS OR ANY COMPUTER 5 HOURS FROM YOUR HOUSE like one of the other reviewers did. Way too risky when spending 5 benjamins. Anyways, I hope you buy and enjoy this product. I do NOT work for HP by the way...lol. I will say that I did not buy this at Amazon unfortunately because I found it 120 bucks cheaper at a local chain store that starts with an (S******) and has a red brand theme. I would expose the store, but Amazon might not post this review. Last I looked, that deal was still going on. Hope this helps some people.
I was going to purchase this HP DV6-6c10us laptop from Amazon but found a deal at Staples that I could not pass up. Purchased it for my daughter and she loves it. Uses it mostly for work that she brings home from her job along with Internet, email and music. I also hooked the laptop to her 61 inch HDTV with an HDMI cable. She now streams HD shows and music videos to her HDTV by way of the internet. Outstanding resolution.
Microsoft Office Starter also came loaded on this computer. Word and Excel Starter are a nice addition if you don't need the full version of Office. All you need for home use.
Disabled or uninstalled all of the items that we didn't want or need without a glitch. Took about 15 minutes.
The laptop recognized all of the equipment that she had for her old laptop and installed it without a glitch.
After everything was hooked up and operating, including her printer, she decided that she wanted to use it as a wireless printer instead of a wired printer. No problem just pulled her printer software package, that came with the printer, out of a drawer installed the wireless printer drivers and presto, wireless printing. If you no longer have the printer software that came with the printer you can usually download the software from the printer manufacturers website.
Some older equipment such as printers and etc. may not work with Windows 7 desktop and laptop computers. Microsoft makes this quite clear. Many equipment and software manufacturers did not build drivers for their older products so Microsoft could not add drivers for this older equipment to Windows 7. This also happened with Vista. It is not the responsibility of Microsoft to build the drivers for equipment. In the case of printer drivers it is the responsibility of the printer manufacturer to develop and build drivers, then pass the drivers on to Microsoft.
Relating to the previous review of the DV6-6c10us and lack of wireless printing. Almost all fairly new printers will be recognized by computers running Windows 7 when hooked up by way of a USB cable. However, the drivers used for this hook up are not the same drivers required for wireless hook up. You normaly have to install the software that came with the printer to get the proper wireless connection. For that matter to get all of the functions of your printer to work properly you should load the software from disk or other media that came with your printer.
Buy HP dv6-6c10us (15.6-Inch Screen) Laptop Now
OK first things first & in the interest of full disclosure...
I didn't buy this laptop from Amazon. I in fact bought it from my local Staples when they had an amazing deal too good to pass up. I was in fact on the verge of ordering a different laptop from Amazon when I came across the deal I found on this machine. Thankfully Amazon allows us to review products we own so others can make informed decisions so I'll give my assessment of this laptop here.
I've spent a couple of weeks getting used to this laptop & putting it through it's paces so that I can offer a more thorough assessment.
Full review of HP Pavilion dv6-6C10US 15.6" Laptop:
I spent a few weeks researching new laptops & I thought I'd settled on a few choices from online. I went into my local Staples & discovered this steal of a deal & couldn't be happier I did. I was actually in the market for a much more costly alternative (Apple) until I found this laptop.
A few of it's standout features;
1) A nice quad core processor & built in AMD discrete graphics make it capable of handling most anything you throw at it. I use Adobe CS5 for my personal design business & in my tests this laptop handled even a heavy Photoshop render (multiple effects & layers) with ease.
2) The build quality is outstanding. I'm a big fan of the brushed metal shell. It feels good in the hand & stays cool to the touch. No cheap textured plastic here except for the bottom which is to be expected. It also repels fingerprints so it looks clean. Nice job on this attention to detail HP.
3) Expandability beyond the out of the box configuration. This was my major gripe with the Macbooks I was considering. They look great & run great but offer virtually no future upgrade potential. This laptop allows upgrading of the hdd & memory with a simple removal of it's access door on the bottom. I also love that I can increase the memory up to 16gb if I need to. I use some memory intensive software so this will inevitably come in handy.
A few other extras worth mentioning; 2 USB 3.0 ports (rapidly becoming the industry standard), the fingerprint reader that allows quick access to apps, built in bluetooth (nice), & Beats Audio (that I'll admit I thought was a gimmick but I'm pleasantly surprised with it's sound quality).
There are a few drawbacks I must mention too;
1) Battery life is not too good. Of course I've only used it for a few days so this could be a premature judgement on my part. Your mileage may vary.
2) Bonus software that I'll never use. Yep it's got some bloatware. Not too much & it's easily un-installed or deleted. I do wish this practice would end by PC vendors but it keeps costs down for the consumer so that's the breaks. But really 52 games that I'll never play pre installed? And the majority are limited use demos? Come on HP just leave that mess off or include a disc in the box with optional bonus apps & games on it. Let the customer decide.
3) The touchpad is tricky to operate. It seems real sensitive & can be wildly inaccurate. But that could also be user error. Again your mileage may vary.
A few other minor gripes of note; no lighted keyboard (hey we all have a wish list), a rather small eject button on the optical disc drive, & the cheap plastic bezel around the screen itself. It's a fingerprint magnet that looks out of place considering the rest of the machines build quality.
A word about support;
Apple gets alot of credit for their support as they should. Their agents are professional & thorough whether on the phone or in the store. You do get what you pay for here. HP in my experience hasn't been that bad either. They are no Apple, nobody is in that respect, but they provide a decent warranty that should handle any problems with the build quality, installed software, or all too often user error (see above review from Anti-Genius). Frankly, I am of the opinion that for the savings in up front price over a comparable Macbook, which is in the hundreds of dollars & possibly more than a cool grand, this HP laptop will serve the users needs quite well.
All in all I'd easily give this laptop a 4.5/4.75 rating. I give it 5 stars because it's more than a 4 in my opinion. Don't fall for Apples marketing & pay the ultra premium price for less value. Get a laptop like this one (highly recommended) or the equivalent & have access to the entire Windows program & apps library (very few Windows programs run effectively on Macs using their Bootcamp utility, I've tried dozens of productivity apps) & keep more of your hard earned money in your pocket.
Read Best Reviews of HP dv6-6c10us (15.6-Inch Screen) Laptop Here
I am so frustrated by this laptop. Considering the specs it comes with, the price seemingly makes it a wonderful deal. The design is sleek and modern. It runs cool and quiet. Nice screen, above average speaker quality, manageable weight. However, after a few days of use, I can't get past two major flaws.
The first issue that is an immediate killjoy is the pretty awful touchpad, specifically the terrible implementation of two-finger scrolling. It just simply will not work properly. Half the time, maybe more, a regular two-finger swipe will not even register, thus the scrollbar will not move. Sometimes, this will happen many times in a row, and then suddenly your document/web page will jump up or down all those times at once. Other times it just won't do anything. This will drive you crazy if you actually intend to use this feature. I have of course played with the touchpad settings in Windows Control Panel, tried varying degrees of pressure while scrolling, updated to the latest version of the Synaptic touchpad driver... none of these things helped.
There is a way to circumvent the problem that is not enabled by default. Go into your touchpad settings via Control Panel and enable single-finger scrolling. This allows you to scroll by moving one finger up and down in the "scroll zone," which is a narrow vertical strip along the far right edge of the touchpad. This works great but is much more difficult to use. Rather than quickly being able to scroll from anywhere on the touchpad surface, you have to be careful that your finger stays right in the boundary of the scroll zone or else you'll move your mouse cursor to the top or bottom of the screen instead of registering a scroll, then you'll get frustrated and wonder "why is it not scrolling?!", then you'll have to move the cursor back down again and do it over.
The other couple of flaws only manifested after three or four days of use. Like another reviewer (M. Woo), I too am seeing splotches of white light in the bottom-right corner of the screen any time there is a dark background on display. For instance, every time the computer goes into sleep/hibernation or comes out of it, this is painfully obvious and just screams low quality. It was not a problem on day one, now it is, and I bet it will only get worse. The last and least of the issues is the fact that now, suddenly the computer will sometimes abruptly go into hibernation while reporting around 35% battery power remaining. It would previously only do this after warning me to plug it into a power source at around 9% power remaining. Very jarring and disappointing.
Were it not for these issues, I would wholeheartedly recommend the HP dv6-6c10us. Because of them, my experience as a user always ends in frustration and disappointment. The scrolling issue is the worst of all because it's a function that one can easily perform hundreds or thousands of times a day, and this laptop just makes it impractical and unusable. The moral of the story is that great specs for a low price do not make up for low quality hardware.
Want HP dv6-6c10us (15.6-Inch Screen) Laptop Discount?
I did quite a bit of research prior to purchasing the HP dv6-6c10us (15.6-Inch Screen) Laptop, and after trying it out on the Staples floor model I bought it on Amazon for a reduced price. Here are my thoughts:
LOOK:
It is very sleek, and the metallic frame looks good, doesn't show fingerprints, and stays cool to the touch. The screen is glossy, but crisp and clear and pretty reflective. The laptop is considerably thin, and lid carries same nice metallic layout.
FUNCTIONS:
-Contains all necessary ports (including VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, 4 USBs, 1 audio in, and 2 audio out, as well as card reader slot and power jack.)
-Touch pad works great, stays cool with friction with finger motions, and can be locked if need be.
-Fingerprint scanner is cool, theoretically, but in reality isnt all that practical. You can only assign 3 passwords per finger, and Chrome remembers all my passwords anyway. I suppose signing in to Windows is the best place to use it.
-Beats Audio sounds just as good as any computer speaker, I cant tell the difference.
PERFORMANCE:
AMD A110 Processor 2.4GHz (4MB Cache), baseline 1.5 GHz
-good for basic programs and gaming
-Windows 7 I went into kicking since I am one of the few to like Vista, but after a while I came to my senses and the look of 7 is better.
-6GB SDRAM RAM for all temporary simultaneous running of programs
-640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive more than enough for me
PLUSES:
-nice battery life, about 5 hours
-extremely quiet, no fan noise with HP CoolSense
-quick startup/shutdown
-15.6 inch screen right fit for size, and portable (light as well)
-easy to connect to wireless network, wireless printer, external display
MINUSES:
-major bloatware upon first startup, took some removal time since I couldnt do a clean install without startup discs
-HP Quick Web is tricky to disable, it just takes longer to sign in to the desktop (which Windows 8 will essentially do as well, so i recommend getting a Windows 7 computer now)
-not supreme graphics or processing for gaming/editing but I dont do much of that anyway
-dont believe the DVD drive has Blu-Ray functionality
OVERALL:
-this will suit all basic web browsing, MS Office, mild gaming/editing needs
-reasonably priced for mid-range laptop, HP has really stepped it up.
-would definitely recommend
thanks for reading
I bought this laptop a few days ago and so far it's great!
