Pros: Processor and GPU are excellent. I have ran Star Craft 2 on ultra settings without any issues. WoW on ultra except for shadows and get roughly 45 FPS in Dalaran. Minimal bloatware only took about 10 mins to remove.Its a beautiful machine. The case has some kind of artsy pattern on it.
loading times are low thanks to the 7200 RPM drive. other laptops in this price range didn't have this. I was able to copy the 18GB WoW from my main computer to this in about 4-5 mins (via ethernet cable not wireless).
Cons: the display resolution is a little low for the size. I've seen other laptops in this size range with superior displays. In spite of this, the resolution is worth the sacrifice in exchange for everything else being so powerful.
The touch pad is a bit strange. The buttons are part of the pad. This means that while your trying to click on something you can accidentally move the mouse, however the sensitivity is very good.
Buy HP Pavilion dv6-3052nr 15.6-Inch Entertainment Laptop (Silver) Now
Ok, first off the specs are great for the price. A lot of bang for your buck.Now the less obvious things that may or may not be deal breakers.
-The screen resolution is weak. I use this primarily on my desk with a big 24" monitor attached, so it doesn't bother me. But if you're on the go with this often, 1366 x 766 is not much screen real estate.
-The keyboard is PAINFUL to use. HP has added a column of 'Quick Launch' keys on the left side of the keyboard so that %50 of the time that you think you're hitting Ctrl you're actually launching the calculator app. Also by default the F1-F12 buttons are replaced by 'Action buttons' (volume, screen brightness, etc.) so that you have to hold the 'Fn' button to actually get the Function keys incredibly frustrating.
But don't worry, with some hacks, you can program the keys do whatever you want. Download KeyTweak and check out this thread:
And you can toggle the 'Action Buttons' setting in the BIOS Config (ESC on startup).
Overall, Great value, terrible keyboard. After tweaking the keys, I'm happy with the purchase.
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CAVEAT EMPTOR, this notebook is OK, performance is excellent, screen OK... but the keyboard is hideous. I hate it. I didn't notice how annoying it was until i opened the notebook and started using it.The complete keyboard is displaced one key to the right. This is very annoying. If you have some experience with computers, (e.g. if you don't fish in the keyboard using two fingers) you are used to having the leftmost column of keys being the [`] key, the tab key, the caps lock, shift key and ctrl key.
This machine has some custom buttons (remember the compaqs from early 90's?) in the leftmost column of keys, one for email, one for firing the (slow) software that deals with video and music, one button for the browser, one for the printer (???) and one for the calculator (??????)
I don't understand how someone could make the decision that having a custom button to fire up the browser is so important that the lateral and awkward shifting of the keys is acceptable.
Every time i want to press the A key i end up hitting caps lock, etcetera..
I must work with other computers, so if i eventually get used to this keyboard, i'll press the wrong keys in other machines.
HP should fire the guy that designed this keyboard. (i rate the keyboards in the previous HP machines i owned as excellent)
If i could pay some money to have this keyboard replaced for a regular one, i would gladly do it.
This machine has other design problems.
One of them is the touchpad. It's a lot bigger than usual so it's difficult to touch just with one finger. You'll inadvertently end up touching it with other fingers. The keypad also lacks a hardware button to turn this huge touchpad off. This is annoying.
This machine lacks the (now usual) hardware buttons to turn the volume up, turn the wireless on, etc. They are integrated into the F keys (F1 to F12). So, if you are working in excel and want to change the contents of a cell, you press F2 and this dims the screen brightness. To press the REAL F2, you have to press the FN key and then F2. How much more annoying this keyboard could have been???
Last, it doesn't have the numeric keypad. OK, i've owned notebooks without numeric keypads in the past, but they had smaller screens. I own another DV6, with a Core 2 duo that has the exact same screen size, and it has an integrated numeric keypad.
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This computer is great; you really get your money's worth for the price you pay. I have had this computer for about 4 months and it has been living up to its expectations. I am an Industrial Design student and I needed a good preforming computer to run different types of design programs effectively and efficiently. When I am using this computer I usually have iTunes, Facebook, my e-mail, and multiple design programs running at the same time and it still runs very smoothly. Aside from the performance, it is also very user friendly and easy to start using right out of the box. Some of the different features are great on this computer. I love the fingerprint scanner, which I use not only to log on to my computer, but also for any website that requires a password that I need to log in to. The hinges on the screen are very sturdy and you actually need 2 hands to open it (one to open the screen and one to hold down the computer. The web cam is good quality and the HP MediaSmart web cam program has some great features. All in all this computer is a great buy if you are looking for a high preforming, sturdy, and reliable machine that fits in somewhat of a budget.
