This review is from: HP Pavilion DV6-3180EA 15.6″ Laptop (Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Bluetooth, Webcam, Win 7 Home Prem 64-bit, Fingerprint reader) (Electronics)
As an avid PC gamer and University student (part time) I purchased this laptop to pass the time when theres a rainy day. What brought my attention to this platform was its impressive sounding processor, its stylish good looks and its small nature.
So, sneakily I purchased this rather pricey laptop whilst my girlfriend was shopping, once the crime is committed there is no turning back I convinced myself.
Like a child at Christmas, with a skip and a hop I plunged the box on the bed and began to open it. I pulled out the laptop and placed the battery pack in easily, then plugged it into the mains. In one massive swoop, I cleared the desk of papers and placed the laptop in the centre, my little trophy!
Expecting the obvious ‘whirrr’ to indicate it was starting up, I double checked I had actually pressed the ‘on’ button. There was silence, but the speed of installation was faster than I had ever experienced. Now, to understand the simplicity of the initial setup, my girlfriend whom has no experience with computers whatsoever felt comfortable setting it up whilst I did a few odd jobs around the house. Within 25 minutes or so, it was set up.
Although I have an interest in gaming, one particular game infact, the first thing I checked out was Microsoft Office. Like a squirrel that lost its nuts, I was somewhat miffed! All that money and no free Word? I highly recommend that in this scenario, its good to know other PC users and slip a few beers in to use their family pack of Office.
Gaming! Ok, there was an urge to play a game on this, I had been waiting ages to play it. With no time lag, great speed, clarity and the detail settings all maxed out, it worked brilliantly! But what I didn’t know was that the mains power wasn’t turned on and within an hour or so running my game on battery, the battery nearly died. This to me is quite a big fault, why create something portable that has to be plugged in to see its full potential?
Once plugged into the mains, I connected the HDMI cable to my 42 inch plasma screen TV. With a wireless mouse, the lights off and chilling on the sofa, this was the most involving gameplay I have ever had. On a downside though, without airflow under the laptop, it overheated significantly. When purchasing this, purchase a laptop fan too.
A few good points stood out when using the laptop, the keyboard was well spaced so there was no ‘fat finger’ syndrome when typing fast and the screen didn’t have any glare at all. The clarity of the screen was also superb. The tools and gizmos which come with this are interesting but not necessary useful to all and the hard drive space has not been dented by my collection of movies and games.
Summary: A pricey little number, with the good points heavily outweighing the bad, spoil yourself and buy it!
Advantages: Stylish and easy to use, this powerful PC is suitable for all purposes with plenty of hard drive spa
Disadvantages: Pricey and with no added extras, it’s a shame it has to be plugged in to experience its full potential
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: HP Pavilion DV6-3180EA 15.6″ Laptop (Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Bluetooth, Webcam, Win 7 Home Prem 64-bit, Fingerprint reader) (Electronics)
I got this laptop 6 months ago for gaming purposes only. And so far the results are mixed.
It seems powerful enough, I got an extra 4gb to guarantee performance for ram heavy games (like the Total War series) but so far I find it still struggling with some games (Battlefield 2, Empire total war, Grand Theft Auto 4). This may be due to other issues. The laptop gets extremely hot and as the heat vents are on the left and underneath, it is possible that not enough heat gets removed hence performance is affected. This limits using it on your lap to having to place a cushion or other support on your lap to prevent heat burns. Heat vents at the back may have been a more appropriate design. Windows Experience Index rates it at 5.9. Processor=7.0, Ram=7.3 (5.9 for 4gb), Graphics=6.7, Gaming graphics=6.7 and HDD=5.9
Sound
The sound is reasonable with headphones but slightly weak when relying on the speakers alone. I would have expected better.
Software
Decent software to start with. HP media suite is adequate for most basic media needs. The webcam is clear and webcam software is easy to use.
Keyboard layout
A full qwerty keyboard but missing a few keys (number keys on the right of a full sized keyboard). It is also has a panel of quick keys on the left that are a total pain. They cannot be deactivated and once pressed bring up either print, web or email options. These keys are near the tab, capslock area and hence will be pressed accidentally a lot. This could boot out of the current program and possibly close the program (happened a lot to me when gaming).
*** There is a graphics update that boosts performance by a great deal***
This is mostly applicable to those who use the laptop for gaming.
Below is the link to the new graphics update (be cautious when installing hardware updates):[...]
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: HP Pavilion DV6-3180EA 15.6″ Laptop (Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Bluetooth, Webcam, Win 7 Home Prem 64-bit, Fingerprint reader) (Electronics)
A good laptop let down by very poor batter life (45 mins on power saver mode).
Also the touch pad is so stiff its almost unusable how this got out of quality control I don’t know.
The power brick is also the largest I’ve seen with any laptop.
Its a pity because these things bring down an otherwise good laptop.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
A worthy investment!,
As an avid PC gamer and University student (part time) I purchased this laptop to pass the time when theres a rainy day. What brought my attention to this platform was its impressive sounding processor, its stylish good looks and its small nature.
So, sneakily I purchased this rather pricey laptop whilst my girlfriend was shopping, once the crime is committed there is no turning back I convinced myself.
Like a child at Christmas, with a skip and a hop I plunged the box on the bed and began to open it. I pulled out the laptop and placed the battery pack in easily, then plugged it into the mains. In one massive swoop, I cleared the desk of papers and placed the laptop in the centre, my little trophy!
Expecting the obvious ‘whirrr’ to indicate it was starting up, I double checked I had actually pressed the ‘on’ button. There was silence, but the speed of installation was faster than I had ever experienced. Now, to understand the simplicity of the initial setup, my girlfriend whom has no experience with computers whatsoever felt comfortable setting it up whilst I did a few odd jobs around the house. Within 25 minutes or so, it was set up.
Although I have an interest in gaming, one particular game infact, the first thing I checked out was Microsoft Office. Like a squirrel that lost its nuts, I was somewhat miffed! All that money and no free Word? I highly recommend that in this scenario, its good to know other PC users and slip a few beers in to use their family pack of Office.
Gaming! Ok, there was an urge to play a game on this, I had been waiting ages to play it. With no time lag, great speed, clarity and the detail settings all maxed out, it worked brilliantly! But what I didn’t know was that the mains power wasn’t turned on and within an hour or so running my game on battery, the battery nearly died. This to me is quite a big fault, why create something portable that has to be plugged in to see its full potential?
Once plugged into the mains, I connected the HDMI cable to my 42 inch plasma screen TV. With a wireless mouse, the lights off and chilling on the sofa, this was the most involving gameplay I have ever had. On a downside though, without airflow under the laptop, it overheated significantly. When purchasing this, purchase a laptop fan too.
A few good points stood out when using the laptop, the keyboard was well spaced so there was no ‘fat finger’ syndrome when typing fast and the screen didn’t have any glare at all. The clarity of the screen was also superb. The tools and gizmos which come with this are interesting but not necessary useful to all and the hard drive space has not been dented by my collection of movies and games.
Summary: A pricey little number, with the good points heavily outweighing the bad, spoil yourself and buy it!
Advantages: Stylish and easy to use, this powerful PC is suitable for all purposes with plenty of hard drive spa
Disadvantages: Pricey and with no added extras, it’s a shame it has to be plugged in to experience its full potential
Was this review helpful to you?
|Better with Graphics update,
I got this laptop 6 months ago for gaming purposes only. And so far the results are mixed.
It seems powerful enough, I got an extra 4gb to guarantee performance for ram heavy games (like the Total War series) but so far I find it still struggling with some games (Battlefield 2, Empire total war, Grand Theft Auto 4). This may be due to other issues. The laptop gets extremely hot and as the heat vents are on the left and underneath, it is possible that not enough heat gets removed hence performance is affected. This limits using it on your lap to having to place a cushion or other support on your lap to prevent heat burns. Heat vents at the back may have been a more appropriate design. Windows Experience Index rates it at 5.9. Processor=7.0, Ram=7.3 (5.9 for 4gb), Graphics=6.7, Gaming graphics=6.7 and HDD=5.9
Sound
The sound is reasonable with headphones but slightly weak when relying on the speakers alone. I would have expected better.
Software
Decent software to start with. HP media suite is adequate for most basic media needs. The webcam is clear and webcam software is easy to use.
Keyboard layout
A full qwerty keyboard but missing a few keys (number keys on the right of a full sized keyboard). It is also has a panel of quick keys on the left that are a total pain. They cannot be deactivated and once pressed bring up either print, web or email options. These keys are near the tab, capslock area and hence will be pressed accidentally a lot. This could boot out of the current program and possibly close the program (happened a lot to me when gaming).
*** There is a graphics update that boosts performance by a great deal***
This is mostly applicable to those who use the laptop for gaming.
Below is the link to the new graphics update (be cautious when installing hardware updates):[...]
Was this review helpful to you?
|Very poor battery life,
A good laptop let down by very poor batter life (45 mins on power saver mode).
Also the touch pad is so stiff its almost unusable how this got out of quality control I don’t know.
The power brick is also the largest I’ve seen with any laptop.
Its a pity because these things bring down an otherwise good laptop.
Was this review helpful to you?
|