David Risley is the founder of PCMech.com. He is the brains, the thinker, the writer, the nerd.
Hewlett Packard is one of the most prominent manufacturers of notebook computers today, and any trip to Best Buy will make that abundantly clear. Well, as of this writing, one of the notebook PCs they have on sale right now at Best Buy is the HP Pavilion DV6000. I picked one up a couple months ago for $800. I was in Best Buy a couple weeks ago and it was on sale for $749. So, this is certainly an affordable notebook PC. So, how does it perform in everyday use? Let’s check it out.
First, The Specs
In my eyes, the DV6000 is proof that PCs are affordable as hell today. These specs compare quite favorably to my desktop, all in a sub $800 notebook.
- AMD Turion 64, dual core processor
- 2 GB DDR2 memory
- 15.4″ WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7200
- 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
- LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
- 1.3 Megapixel Webcam with mic built into screen
- Altec Lansing speakers built in
- 3 USB ports, ExpressCard/54 Slot, Video Out, Integrated Consumer IR, 1 RJ-11, 1 RJ-45
- Windows Vista Home Premium
Now, when you look at this unit on HP’s website, you will see there are different spec configurations for this model. The above happens to be what I have in the unit I am typing this review on.
Use in the Real World
Now, I am not and never have been a big benchmark guy. If you are into computer reviews that load you up with benchmark specs, go to another site. What I am interested in is real world use. I bought this notebook to get work done, not win any contests. So, how does it perform in that regard?
One of the things that sold me on this laptop was the screen. The screen is gorgeous. It is wonderfully bright and clear, and provides a respectable 1280×800 resolution in a widescreen format. Yes, there certainly are notebooks with higher resolution. It really comes down to preference. While other units may give you higher resolution, some may find it hard to read on small screens. For me, I thought 1280×800 was a good resolution to use for a 15.4″ screen. My only complaint with the screen is that the glare is really bad when trying to use the unit outside. It gets so bad that it’s more like looking in a mirror than into a computer screen. Inside, however, the screen is beautiful.
The fact that this unit uses AMD rather than Intel means that it generates more heat. Intel processors just seem to run cooler in notebook computers. All benchmarks aside (because I don’t care), the performance of this notebook is quite good. It actually opens many apps much faster than my desktop PC, which is using an Intel Pentium Core Duo. So, I have no complaints about speed, however, yes, it does generate some heat.
The built-in Altec Lansing speakers will certainly not compare to the larger speakers you would plug in externally, but they do generate a nice sound for the size. For multimedia use, the speakers will get the job done.
The DV6000 comes with a thin, little remote control for use in controlling HP’s multimedia player. HP is using a proprietary multimedia player for playing DVDs called QuickPlay. It ties in with the remote control as well as the QuickPlay buttons on top of the notebook. The player is decent, but many times I found myself simply wanting to use Windows Media Player rather than the QuickPlay popping up full screen. Also, the fact that it is tied into the QuickPlay buttons can be a little annoying at times. Several times I have rested my fingers on the top of the notebook and accidently pressed the DVD button and launched Quickplay. No matter what I’m doing, that interrupts the workflow badly.
For digital photography, I find the built-in card reader really convenient. Since my Canon camera uses SD cards, I can just pull the card out and plug it directly into the notebook to pull images onto the computer. This means I don’t have to track down the USB cable that came with the camera. Nice and easy.
But, It Uses Vista
Like almost every PC on the market today, this unit comes with Windows Vista. Now, on my desktop, I can rattle off a bunch of annoyances with Windows Vista. Many of us that follow technology all the time have many complaints about Vista, and I still stand by the fact that Vista was NOT ready for market upon it’s release. But, judging by the DV6000, Vista does seem to run better on completely proprietary machines. I do have occasional annoyances with Vista on the DV6000.. For example, sometimes it will lose it’s screen resolution settings when coming out of sleep mode. This is an issue with Vista and will be fixed. Other than that, though, Vista runs significantly better on this notebook machine than it does on my desktop. No complaints, really.
Like all pre-built computers, it comes with some pre-installed software. It comes with a 60-day trial installation of Office 2007. Since I don’t care to fork out several hundred dollars just for a ribbon interface, I opted to install OpenOffice, which gets me 95% there for free. The DV6000 comes with some other pre-installed crap, much of it I ended up removing from the computer.
Note to HP
I am pretty happy with the DV6000, but I need to mention a few annoyances for the benefit of HP. When I was at Gnomedex recently, HP was there and we had a lengthy discussion about notebook design. HP does indeed listen to feedback, so here is mine on the DV6000.
- The QuickPlay buttons at the top are too easy to hit by accident, as I mentioned above. Some obvious way to control or disable those buttons would be nice.
- We need some kind of anti-glare surface to the screen. It’s practically unusable in sunlight. I realize that the surface it does have plays a role in the crystal clear colors I see indoors, but something has to be done to make this thing more usable in sunlight.
- AMD is good for economics, but it generates a lot more heat.
Conclusions
The HP Pavilion DV6000 is a really nice, solid notebook computer and you really can’t go wrong with this unit. The price tag makes it very affordable. The unit sports a nice, sleek design and good all-around performance. It also offers a solid balance of features which really makes this entertainment notebook usable as a desktop replacement. In fact, I enjoy it so much I find myself spending more time working on the DV6000 now than I do my main desktop computer.
So, despite a few annoyances, you really can’t go wrong with the DV6000 if you are looking for a solid, balanced work notebook without spending too much money.
Update 11/21/2007
While I have not had the wireless problems many have been complaining about in the comments, I have had another problem - the battery (maybe). The battery seems to not accept a charge anymore, and Windows says “plugged in, not charging” when I hover over the battery icon in the taskbar. So, HP is currently sending me a new battery and we’ll see if that fixes it. I guess this is the kind of thing you deal with when you buy cheap notebook computers.
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Rickhal said:
9/4/2007 11:28 am
If you like the DV6000 try out the DV9000. I got one at Bestbuy several months ago. On sale. It is a refurb but has performed flawlessly since I bought it. It has a 17″ wide screen (which also has the glossy screen which does present glare problems. Even inside with bright lights on) and 200gig of HDD space. I too really like this laptop. And, I have discovered I even like the Media Center XP O/S that is loaded on it. Being an IT geek, I usually go with XP Pro (Vista Ultimate on my gaming box at home). The HP came pre-loaded with XP Media Center edition. I have come to like it a lot. As I have been able to add all kinds of apps and widgets to make it look pretty much like Vista. But, I think I’ll wait awhile before I load Vista onto it. That is because this laptop is performing so nicely, I hesitate to mess it up by loading Vista onto it.
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Phil reply on March 25, 2008 9:22 pm:
interesting posts. I recently purchased a dv6780 special edition to replace a dell whose hard drive crashed (bummer no back up). I alreadlly love it, from the performance to the design (it is a perfect size). The SE comes with 3 gigs RAM and 250 gig HD space. I was encouraged to get get 3 gigs Ram in order to sufficiently run vista. Its a bad ass machine so far, but we will see what problems arise in he future (hopefully none). I paid 1200 with tax and recommend this notebook to anyone. The specs are pretty awesome for a manufacturer built system.
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Gregg reply on June 26, 2008 1:04 pm:
I also have the DV 9000 with VISTA on it. I have had no problems with Vista.
Only one problem so far the hinge on the right side of the screen got hair line crack. I guess the case I have is not padded enough. the crack then progressed to the point where the wires were exposed and the frame started coming off. Fortunately I had the warranty for screen damage and it was fixed at no cost.
This is the best laptop I have owned and I have owned a lot of them. The windows media is a awesome! record TV, play TV I am a teacher and I show stuff to my students right from the laptop since the screen is so big!
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Barb reply on July 1, 2008 6:03 am:
I bought my dv6000 and before the 30 day warranty that Radioshack gave me was up I had to replace the darn thing. About a month later it crashed, so after trying this and that with Tech support they finally sent me a box and said it was my hard drive. They replaced the hard drive and I received my computer in about 5 days………then the ac plug in went bad and the thing wouldn’t charge, and it will not nor has it ever buned a CD………another lengthy discussion with Tech support and finnally a box came…..took 2 weeks to get it back…….then it still would not charge, Tech support ask that this time I please send the AC adapter…….2 weeks later they call say we damaged the cord, to which I say you guys have had this stupid computer more than I have since I bought it, I don’t believe we damaged the cord….anyway I lost that battle, they wanted $265 for an AC adapter, I went to a local computer shop bought it for $44. And guess what…….the thing still will not burn a CD!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will never purchase another HP, nor would I recommend anyone else. DELL is the way to go!
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JFK reply on July 3, 2008 7:25 am:
Hi, i just bought Dv6000 3gb ram 320 GB HDD just 800.00 with built in web cam fully entertainment center just to say this unit are well designed and window vista home i replaced Lenovo 3000 which has wireless radio drop too much….this unit is HP wifi wireless without needed of pc cards for internet connection..go wireless i love this pcs!! it great capacity at low pricess!!! Thanks to HP design
I hope viewwer will be see what HP has to offer!!! but quite pricy!!
JFK
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telegramsam said:
9/4/2007 12:11 pm
Got the same laptop myself recently at Circuit City for about the same price.
I agree totally with the review. Dual core, 2GB of RAM for under $800.00? HP quality? Unbeatable, really.
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brett reply on June 6, 2008 2:24 am:
you’re kidding right? i had to work on one tonight, and found that the dvXXXX series were having some major problems. there’s even a site called http://www.hpnotebookclassaction.com because they have a class action lawsuit against them over it. this laptop i’m working on beeps once real long, then beeps twice short. the display doesn’t work at this time either. i’ve read that people can send them in and get a new motherboard put in if they’re still covered under warranty.
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David Risley said:
9/4/2007 12:18 pm
Rick, I would definitely stay with XP for now. Like I said, Vista is running fine for me on this laptop, but XP is leaner and cleaner, and Vista adds hardly anything valuable to the mix. At least wait for SP1.
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David said:
9/11/2007 5:52 pm
I too have a problem as you decribed:
“Also, the fact that it is tied into the QuickPlay buttons can be a little annoying at times. Several times I have rested my fingers on the top of the notebook and accidently pressed the DVD button and launched Quickplay. No matter what I’m doing, that interrupts the workflow badly.”
Have you or anyone else found a way to turn these buttons off or possibly “hack” them to trigger some other action?
I would like to keep th eMUTE button working as I have not hit that one by accident but frequently hit it on purpose…
Anyone’?
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Rudy said:
9/16/2007 12:51 pm
Just bought it 4 weeks ago. Nice laptop,very fast. So easy to use. Going to upgrade the ram. Picked it up at Best Buy for $700 and a laptop bag was included in the price. It has locked up on me a time or two,but I was trying to do too much to fast. Its worth the money and the features are pretty awesome.
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Brent said:
9/17/2007 3:39 pm
the dv6000 is awesome. However, I cannot complain about the quick play buttons, in fact, I love them. Not even once did I accidentally touch any of them.
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kaya said:
9/17/2007 11:38 pm
bought dv6000 in may 2007….i like it a lot…kind of wish i would have bought the model with the camera so i could have a little extra to play with…but i like the quick play buttons …..it has froze up on me a few times but i was doing too much ….and i think it is a little heavier compared to like a dell….but i guess it’s worth it….:)
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Alan said:
9/18/2007 5:46 pm
Man the only complaint I have here is the fact that you all paid to much for yours. I paid 559 after mail in rebates from circuit city. never go to best buy, they are ripoffs! always check out circuit city first. Oh and my dv6000 is badass im running the intel processor and it does get a little warm but that laptop doesnt.
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Jasmine said:
9/19/2007 9:16 am
Well I sort of have a dv6000 - if you call it that. It has been in the shop for the past three weeks. The graphics card blew out on it one day in August. Apparantly, there are so many of these with this problem, that the part is on backorder so no one can tell me when I will have it back. What is really sad is that HP replaced the laptop I had before this because the one before was a complete piece of crap. Anyway, I do not recommend buying one of these, unless you can get it really cheap and don’t need it longer than 10-12 months. The laptop was really awesome - but trust me dealing with their support sucks. If you speak English, you will have a hard time understanding tech support. Getting someone to help you is like pulling teeth. I work in a mid sized company and would never ever recommend HP because they are too unreliable — I say go with Dell because it is a better way to spend your money. Just stick with the business side - not the home.
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Naveen said:
9/21/2007 11:05 am
This laptop really generates a lot of heat. I’m literally worried about this laptop. I don’t know if this happens for all HP Pavilions.
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Tiffany said:
9/26/2007 10:57 pm
I( just bought the DV6000 3 days ago, I like it but my mouse is weird, like it DRAGS everything and anything, i tried to adjust the sensitivity settings but it totally didont help, so i just hook up the wireless mouse…but can anyone tell me why my battery lasts less than 2 hours before its on one bar? I dont get that? I charge it regularly and I keep it plugged in when Im writng papers…this is my 1st laptop and nonetheless, i like it!
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joel said:
9/29/2007 2:03 pm
i’ve had mine for 7 months. graphics card crapped out in it….tech support sucks ass, indians who cant understand you and you cant understand them. they said they would call the next day to get my address to send the box that i ship it out in (wouldnt tell me why they just couldnt get my address while i was talking to them) it took 3 days for a call back, which was a women who i couldnt understand and had to repeat everything i said 3 or 4 times…..anyways it’s now the 5th day and i havent revieved my shipping box yet…….I wish i would have bult my own or bought a dell
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Tony said:
9/30/2007 6:28 am
I bought my dv6000 laptop 4 months ago and now the display is broken. Worst thing is, I don’t even bring my notebook outside, it just sits in my room most of the time. I really don’t know what happen. Most of my IT friends told me that I should have bought a Toshiba or a Dell because of its robust reliability. They said that there are really many hardware issues with HP laptops.
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Al said:
9/30/2007 11:58 am
I initially bought a Tosiba laptop at best buy, but it kept freezing and I traded it for the HP Pavillion dv6000. By comparison the HP dv6000 rarely freezes, but it has rebooted a few times for no obvious reason. It you look at consumer reports, their only major complaint about this HP is the battery life, which only lasts about 2 hours. As far as the mouse, I also had problems with mouse control and ended up adding an external USB mouse. My other complaint is the wireless card. I typically lose my wireless network 10 or more times a day. Has anyone else had this problem? I attribute this to the cheap broadcom wireless card that HP installs in this model. Since I get perfect wireless internet on my MacIntosh laptop which never disconnects, I have to blame this on the HP card. I am also concerned about the poor technical support that HP offers and the poor long term user reviews that I have read from other owners of this model.
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Gabs said:
9/30/2007 10:43 pm
Got a DV6000 the other month. This unit is just great! My only qualm is about the video card, Mine came with an Intel Graphics 950GM Accel. Since the dude mentioned he got an Nvidia, i was wondering if there’s any way to upgrade my videocard like u wud on a desktop system?
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Jasmine said:
10/2/2007 9:18 am
Just had to update on my DV6000 — Well it is now October — HP has had my laptop in for repair since 8-19-07!!!! I have a case manager who finally attempted to reach me yesterday, of course I missed the call by 10 minutes. I tried to call back, but I only get voice mail. The HP website still says that the anticipated ship date of my “repaired” laptop is 9/18/07. This is just really a sad state of affairs.
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Chris said:
10/3/2007 3:11 pm
I’ve had my dv6000 since February. The biggest gripe I have is with the wireless card; same problem as Al. HP customer service was very nice and diligent about follow up calls. The problem I have with them is the protocol they need to follow. I told them that I could bring my work laptop home (IBM T43) and leave it connected all weekend to the office via the wi-fi network without losing the connection yet the HP sitting next to it would lose the signal. Obviously the problem is their equipment and not my network. Stop asking me if to do a system restore, try using it in a different location (I do not, repeat do not, live in some sprawling mansion), or change settings, or make sure my cable modem is working. Just fix the bloody thing. Three phone calls and several hours later they had me actually yelling (not my style; they had upgraded customer service software that week and were told to ask customers for all information again - the whole personal 411 plus serial and product numbers). It wasn’t until I promised to mail the machine to the CEO with a detailed history that they said they would send me a box to return it. It just came back yesterday (I missed delivery) so I’ll try it out tonight. They fixed the stuck battery latch and upgraded the BIOS. My husband and I are still prepared to mail it to the CEO if the issue isn’t resolved.
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Olaf said:
10/5/2007 7:19 pm
I’ve bought my laptop in the early september for 565 euro (inclusive transport). After i got it i immediatly changed the OS system (windows xp pro, the build in OEM version of XP ’s are usually junk, old drivers and a lot of unneeded stuff, I would recommend this, since it fixes most problems that happen with new laptops).
Anyhow, after doing all the updates, the laptop works like a charm. And still does, i still haven’t got any crashes, reboots or faults whatsoever.
this is my first HP laptop and i’m surprised how fast it actually goes. It loads up programs faster then my workstation with a configuration twice as strong as the laptop.
Yes it generates heat, but so do intels. My previous one was a intel centrino and i also felt the heat there. The heat actually only comes when you use heavy 3D applications (like games), so i’d rather say it’s a combination of the nvidia chip as well as the turion, because turion itself is meant to have a low heat temperature.
The performance is perfect for multimedia,bussines,office,surfing,etc. It ain’t the strongest in gaming, but does its job :).
For everyday performance, i’d give it a 4.5/5 :).
anyway, i’m gonna test the quickplay function, didn’t pay attention to it yet (another new function i found on this great laptop)
cheers,
[Reply]
Tony reply on April 28, 2008 7:29 am:
HI Olaf..
Actually i was going through your write ups regarding this particular modal which i am also having..I have de installed the OS and now that the Wifi drivers which are in HP site is found to be not compatible with this model.Pls could you suggest as to how to go ahead with installing drivers after taking out vista..
cheers
Tony Boycott
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Sancal25 said:
10/7/2007 9:08 pm
I have a HP dv6000 and I had read that the remote can be stored in the express card slot. I put the remote in the slot but I may have put it in backward and now I can’t get it out. Amy suggestions?
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KamikazeChicken reply on April 17, 2008 10:52 pm:
The remote fits in the slot on the right side of the notebook. The slot has the same icon above it as the remote does. You can just push it in and the spring mechanism will pop it out for you.
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Aditya said:
10/8/2007 10:48 am
I bought my dv6646us yesterday from curcuit city and the wireless broadcom adapter does not work. I have ruled out my routers as the problem ( I have installed both my us robotics and my old netgear router). My old laptop is OK on the wireless network, the new HP Pavilion dv6646us just does not connect.
I was up last night with HP - on line Chat, they just asked me flash my bios, update my broadcom driver - but nothing helped. They then asked me to restore the laptop to the factory settings. I will do that today.
Looks like there are problems with this laptop…….. I will take it back to Circuit City and return the PC. Hopefully they will not charge me the restocking fee.
I am not happy with HP AT ALL.
[Reply]
David reply on April 5, 2008 6:34 pm:
did you switch the wireless on?
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Al Beitz said:
10/9/2007 4:31 pm
It seems like other folks are having problems with their network cards on the HP laptops. Based on the responses i have seen since I posted mine on Sept.30th. The broadcom card that is standard in these models costs about $15. Good network cards usually cost at least 4 times that much, so HP really went cheap on the network card. I ended up getting an external USB network card (Linksys WUSB300N Wireless N card; cost $99 at Best Buy) and my wireless connection now works great. This suggests that the problem was with the cheapo broadcom network card. If you are having problems with your network or other components of your computer, you can right click on the “my computer” icon and select “manage”. Under manage you can select a number of options that provide valuable information about your computer. Select “event viewer” and then “system” and you will find all of the error messages and information messages generated by your system. If you are having problems with your network card you should see information and error messages related to connecting to your network.
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Heather said:
10/9/2007 10:39 pm
Sancal25 -
If you did put it in the slot on the right side near the front, then you just have to push on it again. It’s like one of those spring holders. If it’s a different slot then I have no idea. But I thought I put it in backwards my first time too and almost had a heart attack that I couldn’t get it out. I did everything short of a pair of pliars before I figured it out. Hope that helps.
I once changed my quickplay button to pop Windows Media player up instead of the other crap but I’ve upgraded and have no idea how to do it anymore! Any help guys?
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Brent said:
10/10/2007 2:17 pm
You know what HP sucks. This laptop was my second Laptop. DV6000 series. I have the laptop for a little over a year. And it’s broke already. The Wireless went out. I believe it’s the wireless card. I does not even turn blue like it’s supposed to (to let you know that its on) Then just recently, my graphics/video card went out. This is the second laptop that I bought (both HP) and on both of them the graphics/video cards went out, right when the warranty was expired. I am highly i with HP.
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Jasmine said:
10/10/2007 7:55 pm
Brent - have you tried to call HP and renew your warranty? They should renew it, especially if your warranty just ran out. They renewed mine and it was three months out of warranty. It cost me something like $130 - but it was better than throwing it out.
BTW - I am expecting my replacement laptop by the end of this week. HP is replacing it with a dv6500 because they stated that my laptop is unrepairable. It has been nearly two months, and I just can’t wait to put this behind me. Hopefully this next one will make it longer than a year.
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il Bruno said:
10/25/2007 2:22 pm
I Bought a DV6000 a couple of weeks ago and it completly crashed before i even got it fired up and ready to roll. Now im useing the one I exchanged the first lemon for and It has already went to system restore twice now. The wirless card is crap compaired to my old Toshiba which was 100 percent satisfactory. This laptop seems to be the ticket if it could ever work properly but unfortunatly i dont think that is possible. Ive called customer support and HP’s customer support is HORRIBLE. My advise to anyone would be to go with a toshiba especially if your planning on useing alot of wireless.
[Reply]
Upset In Michigan said:
10/27/2007 5:54 pm
Hi.
This is the second HP notebook I’ve bought in 2 years and the 2nd notebook to break in two years. Within 6 months the wireless and sound went out, so I sent it to repairs. Took me 4 weeks to get it back. Still didn’t work. Sent it in a 2nd time, another 4 weeks. Worked fine for about another 4 months, then the video card, wireless card, and sound card died. A COMPLETE LEMON. Now the computer is out of warranty and HP refuses to fix it…
HP is a complete rip off. I will never buy another HP product as long as I live..heed my warning..
[Reply]
Erin said:
10/29/2007 1:57 pm
I’ve had my HP Pavillion dv1000 for 2 years (so no warranty) and the video/graphics card just went out on me. After talking with a service person at Comp USA I was told that there is no way to replace just the video card, that I would need to replace the whole motherboard. Is there any other way to fix this problem that would cost me less than buying a new motherboard and paying to have it installed?
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Artur said:
11/1/2007 6:34 pm
I bout a dv6000 two monts ao. P as orrible customer support and teir product quality sucks. As you can see, my , , , apostrope and backspace keys arent workin. My webcam asnt worked eiter and ive actually refunded a P laptop wit keyboard problems before tis one already.
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Lauren said:
11/2/2007 2:23 pm
Hey every1! Ok well I bought my HP Pavillion around mid-December then my WiFi just stopped working after a few months (and then it was on & off until it stopped completely..I had to connect through the ethernet cable to get online) on August 17, 2007 (two days after I just started college)..AND I got my FULL REFUND back on October 30, 2007. 2 months LATER! Tech support indeed SUCKS. The place I bought it (Sam’s Club) would not let me exchange or return it because the warranty (which was only 6 months) ended two months earlier. So I try calling HP. Hmmmm…well my mom and I tried calling separately so that we could get some response back because when HP says they’ll call you in 24 hours..it doesn’t always work out that way. We called almost everyday..went through 2 different case managers, a box of tissues, and finally had our case escalated to an executive case manager. They sent us the box to return the laptop 2 weeks ago..n I just received the refund last week. Our initial case manager said we would only get 70% of the refund because I had the laptop for 8 months but after the crap they put us through..I got all my money back. Thank God. Now, in a few days I am heading to Apple to buy a MacBook. I have had enough of HP and Windows.
The battery life was also not that good because it would decrease very fast after a couple of hrs and I’d have to get the charger right away. Another thing..those quickplay buttons are ANNOYING lol and those ticking noises when i turned up or down the volume (I never could figure out how to stop that!). I had a HUGE PROBLEM with it turning off randomly..first a blue screen would appear..then I had to do system recovery. and i had to do system recovery many times later because it would not even start up a couple of times. i lost everything. i really wish i did the recovery disks or saved my stuff on my flash drive..but i learned lol
anyways, overall i was most annoyed with my laptop freezing, not turning on, and when my internet just disappeared. that is not cool. but it’s frustrating dealing with horrible tech support and case managers who don’t call u back. so beware of this computer. sorry this is really long but don’t go through what I had to..this was my first laptop n i gotta say it look real pretty at first..but it got real ugly in a few months.
[Reply]
Jamie said:
11/2/2007 5:18 pm
I’ve had the DV6000 since Novemeber 06 and have to say that it was great for the first few months. I DO travel with it A LOT and i had a HP Pavillion ZE4400 before and that was robust and great (though underpowered…).
Im currently in the process of contact Comet for a refund/repair as something rattles inside, the center of the screen panel (the top(when closed)) is cracked and the battery connection is in someway broken - So i cant go mobile…
I do look after my computer with EXTREME care and i feel that this computer is design poorly.
I’m now wishing id waited for the next wage packet and bought a MacBook Pro.
J
[Reply]
Omar said:
11/3/2007 1:01 pm
Hi guys
I bought the laptop 2 months ago and just 2 weeks ago the wireless connection started dying out on me. At first resetting the router would do the trick but now it just does not work! the blue ligh is on, the computer seems to say the wireless card is working find .. however it is NOT!! tested all my routers with other computers and the wirelss connectino is just fine - but the hp refuses to let me go online. So yes - beware of the laptop - i plan to go back to best buy and try not even getting into the whole repair scenario - ill tell them take this piece of crap back and ill pay extra for a macintosh!
[Reply]
Steve said:
11/4/2007 11:45 am
Hey you can EASILY turn off the quick-play buttons using a startup utility. I used tune-up, to disable the keys, and almost all of the other HP start up programs, my DV6000 screams - it is now very fast. AMD processors 2gig ram.
[Reply]
Judy said:
11/6/2007 3:17 am
hey, does anyone know how to access the webcam??????? i’ve searched all over, and i can’t seem to find out how to work the webcam and mic……… help me out here
[Reply]
Brandon reply on April 21, 2008 1:40 am:
I had this same problem. When using a program that uses the webcam, it automaticly promts you to allow or deny either the cam or mic, annoying but it does work.
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jen said:
11/6/2007 1:58 pm
I got the HP DV6000 C-City for alittle over 900. but I got rebates. So I end up only paying around 600. The quick play buttons I hve the same thing too. I use mine for photo,music,dvd. And it works great I had mine almost a year. The outside you can not do, we do motorcross racing and I could not even use it at the races could not see anything, plus the battery dies to fast it you do not use the power saver. So all in all I have had 3 laptops from Walmart took them back with in 7 days of the coputer dieing on me, got the HP DV6000 still running strong. I also have the desktop HP media center a1323w, that almost 2 years old and still working really well also.
[Reply]
kaya said:
11/6/2007 3:40 pm
has anyone had any problems with the cd drive….mine started rattling about 2 months ago when i put a cd in…i tried to ignore it but it’s SOO loud and annoying….if i go 2 best buy …will they fix it for free??
[Reply]
Joseph said:
11/10/2007 2:32 pm
I bought HP dv6000 2 mounths ago,It is really bad because of many things like the battery life is only 2 hourse and it get hot after half an hour,really don’t spend your money on it, spend it on ASUS or DELL or any other mark but i think the SONY VAIO is the best.
[Reply]
Chris said:
11/11/2007 5:42 pm
I was in the market for a new laptop in sep 07. I looked at many but I really like the HP designs and features. I initially bought a 17″. But took bakc for one reason or another… went through 3 of those. Then I got a 15″ with intell and it sucked. Then I got one wiht amd and fell in love with the speed and style. So I went through 4 laptops in 2 weeks before keeping the 5th. It’s a DV6458SE
Fast… functional… but now after about two months… my wireless suddenly just drops connection and there is no way to get reconnected without a restart.
Also, I about a week ago, it started making this low volume high pitch sound. Really annoying… Barely hear it, but just enought to drive you crazy. I have to have the TV up loud to not hear it.
And it does lock up if you’re doing a lot on it.
Support…. well… you can tell they’re underpaid or uneducated.
I really hope this does not get worse… I don’t want more problems or have to buy another one…
Be good for people to list what they have when they talk here.
DV 6458 SE
AMD 64 TL-60
2 gig ram
160gb drive
broadcom wireless
[Reply]
Annoyed said:
11/12/2007 2:34 pm
Bought the Pavillion dv6110ca November of ‘06. Installed Vista in March ‘07. Worked fine for 10 months but just in the last few days it has started freezing many times per day for no apparent reason. Extremely annoying. It can go a whole day with no freeze-ups and then it can freeze 3 times in 10 minutes. Difficult to pinpoint the cause.
[Reply]
Bryant said:
11/12/2007 3:15 pm
The only complaints that I have are about the battery life which is only about 2 hours, and its inability to play most video games. But for a college student like myself or any other person that wants a affordable functional laptop this is the one to get.
[Reply]
Amanda said:
11/12/2007 6:20 pm
Hey everybody,
I’m also having problems with my CD DRIVE on this notebook- and my warranty JUST expired (figures). It won’t read any burned cd’s or data cds, it just rattles and struggles to play and read it - I reinstalled drivers and went through the HP support guys, but to no avail. Anybody know a good repair place ?
[Reply]
STEVE LONG said:
11/13/2007 2:43 pm
HAD MY DV6000 SINCE LAST MAY AND NOW THE ADAPTER DO NOT WORK AND NO ONE HAS ON HERE IN BARRIE ONTARIO.DO ANYONE KNOW WHERE I SHOULD GO FOR WARRANTY.IT WAS GOTTEN AT COSTCO TKS STEVE
[Reply]
Kevin said:
11/14/2007 11:03 am
I bought the dv6000 for school it runs really great! the bad side of it, that i have to say is the fact that the webcam will work now and then, it will not connect to the networks printer. latest update has fixed the problem with the webcam a little bit, but still does it a less. Great for games, i have been playing COD4 on it no screen lag! haven’t tryed play COD4 online yet. But you have to keep the drivers up to date!
[Reply]
tarek said:
11/15/2007 12:45 am
hey..i bought the hp pavilion dv6000, the wireless was working,but i dunno what happend to it, it always gives me the orange color,even if i turn it on or off and its not catching any wireless network, does anyone know how to fix it????
[Reply]
Aaron Collins said:
11/15/2007 12:54 pm
I purchased my DV6000 sometime in July ‘07. On Nov. 11th the screen developed a white line across the the top. I sent the computer in to HP with no problems. It shipped to them and back to me within 3 days. However, when I got the computer back it had a dead pixel right in the middle of the screen. After some hassle with HP and a tech guy that you couldn’t understand, HP is shipping me another box to send my computer back again…. We’ll see what happens.
[Reply]
BD said:
11/15/2007 5:07 pm
Actaully for who ever made this review, Vista was completely ready for when it was released and with HP they do have some problems with there computers in the form that when coming out of sleep mode they do lose some features. But like all things they can eaisly be changed. Vista works fine with all computer, better than XP ever did. also Vista has an enhanced performace in security which allows it block viruses preventing the problems that you may be experiencing. So really maybe its not Vista its either just your settings or your computer. SO please dont make a bad face for Vista, if used properly Vista will do what it was made to do.
[Reply]
Brooke said:
11/15/2007 8:01 pm
Wireless adapter stopped working for me, too. Sometimes with a restart it would work again, but never for long. I purchased mine back in august ‘06, wireless stopped working in November ‘06, display went out, etc., so I sent it back in and got it repaired. Things worked well for a little while but my wireless adapter stopped working a few months ago again, and just today when I opened my computer from standby I had to restart it a couple of times to get the display to show. I’m afraid to put it in standby again.
I am thisclose to getting a Macbook Pro. This has gotten ridiculous, and HP’s commercials just piss me off the more.
[Reply]
Charles said:
11/16/2007 3:44 am
I am having the same wireless modem problems that others are having. I have done a system restore, a hard reboot, and have updated my Broadcom and BIOS files. So far nothing. HP is supposed to call me tomorrow with other solutions. If I fix it, I will post how I did it here.
[Reply]
Emilio said:
11/17/2007 3:19 pm
For me - the same problems with wireless as others. It just disappeared. It is a hardware failure for sure, as I cannot detect the wireless even in linux. It was working fine before.
I solved this problem by buing an externel USB wifi adapter.
Anyhow, I disassebled the case and took out the original Broadcom wifi adapter. There was RUST on its case. As if it was stored in a garden shed. I work with the laptop just indoors, and take a good care of it, so I cannot understand why the part is rusty.
But I have other, much more serious problem with the laptop: when I start the notebook, keyboard does not work. Or it behaves like crazy - as if some button were stuck. But they are not. When the computer heats up, problem with keyboard is gone. Really strange.
[Reply]
James said:
11/19/2007 11:00 am
Exactly same wifi card problem running XP. Definite hardware failure, common fault by all accounts. Tried to reload drivers, e.t.c. Sound went at the same time. Unfortunately the 12month warranty expired 6 days ago for me, tech support wont touch-it.
Quite simply the absolute worst experience of customer service I think anyone could have endured since time began.
The next time I even “contemplate” purchasing another HP product I’ll pull my own teeth out with a pair of rusty old pliers using my feet to remind me of the excruciating pain I’ll no doubt have to suffer yet again with their call centres.
[Reply]
david said:
11/19/2007 9:29 pm
It there is anyone considering buying an HP laptop 6000 or 9000 series I would strongly suggest you reconsider. There is a defect with the system board and wireless card and HP is not recognizing the need for a recall. For more info, check out a great story from ZDnet via David Berlind. It tells the whole story.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=853
[Reply]
MEL said:
11/21/2007 10:10 pm
Ugh..My wireless has stopped working for some reason and im in college and its really making me mad? what should i do about it .. I have a hpdv6000 !! AFter reading all of your problems i think something is wrong with this Laptop
[Reply]
Dia' said:
11/22/2007 9:45 pm
Nice model
but generates much heat
the screen is great .. but not on a sunny day outside
[Reply]
David reply on April 6, 2008 3:17 pm:
i’ll see if i can make you a copy
my email address is
dkillahster@gmail.com
and i can send it to you later on when i make one =]
[Reply]
David Shoemaker said:
11/23/2007 2:12 am
I’m a 15 yr. kid and I bought the HP Dv6000 for school. I traded in my gaming for an entertainment. I bought it off eBay and got a fairly good deal. Problems already:
My main problem is my wireless card. After seeing the above comments, I raelize it is not the driver and it has to be the card. Does anybody have fairly good directions on how to take it apart and clean it out? Thanks.
Send e-mail to: davidalanonline@gmail.com
the layout is very sleek and sporty. I like it so far besides the OS sucked, the wireless sucks, and I’ve spent more time working on it than anything..
[Reply]
Kat said:
11/23/2007 9:17 am
I have to say that on December 21, 2007 I became the proud owner of a HP Pavilion Notebook. Currently, I’m very upset with the lack of customer service, understanding, and quality of HP products. My problem began 2 weeks ago when I noticed my HP Pavilion DV6119US Notebook was no longer reading my Ethernet Port. I thought this problem was due to my Internet Service Provider (ISP). I called them to troubleshoot a few issues with the setup of my modem and their software on my computer. I spoke to 3 of their support technicians and was told everything was fine on their end. The last tech informed me the problem is with my network interface card (NIC) on my Notebook and to give HP’s Customer Service a call to get the NIC card replaced. And this is where my problem began.
I called HP’s Total Care line to begin troubleshooting. First, I was told to unhook then rehook my wired internet access. This didn’t fix my problem. Another tech told me to redownload the NVIDIA driver for Notebook. This didn’t fix my problem. On November 18th, 2007, I asked if I could send my Notebook in for repairs when I was told that I’m out of warranty. I told the tech this isn’t true and faxed in a copy of my receipt which shows that I’m still under my 1 year warranty. On November 18th, 2007, I received a confirmation email from HP that my fax was received and my warranty information was updated. I called back to Tech support the next day. This time, I was told to do a system restore on my computer and if that didn’t fix my problem then I could return my Notebook. Well, I restored my entire Notebook and I’m still having a problem with my Ethernet Port. On November 22, 2007, I called into Tech Support again and I was informed that my warranty expired. I told the Tech that I faxed in my proof of purchase on the 18th and received confirmation that my warranty information was updated. He stated they received no such thing. I asked if I could forward this email to anyone at their department as proof and he simply stated no. He said to fax the information in again and it will be updated in 24 hours. I asked, well if I faxed it in 72 hours ago shouldn’t the information be updated now?
I feel I am going around in circles with Tech Support and they are playing games. So far, I’ve faxed my proof of purchase to them 17 times and they have yet to receive or update my information! Then a tech tells me my warranty expired in September and another says it expired in October. This leads me to believe that Techs are trained to tell customers false information! There is no way that my 1 year warranty expired in either September or October when I purchased my Notebook in December. I was even told that my Serial and Product Numbers were invalid! I interpreted that to mean that my Notebook isn’t a genuine HP Pavilion Notebook. I’m only having a minor issue with my Notebook but the Techs are turning this into a major problem.
All I want is for my Ethernet Port to be fixed which is what I’m entitled to as a HP customer. I read many bad reviews about HP products but I decided to keep an open mind and invest my money into your product. Well, now I’m one of those people who have bad experiences with an HP product and HP’s Customer Service. I am very dissatisfied and refuse to recommend HP to anyone looking to buy a Notebook. The saying is true, “You Get What You Pay For”!
[Reply]
AD reply on May 12, 2008 8:53 pm:
Kat, see my comments bello (reply to Charles comments). Sent back your laptop as you will not get anywhere with HP’s customer service.
AD
[Reply]
Charles said:
11/23/2007 6:50 pm
Wireless Update Problem!
After I updated both the BIOS and the drivers, my wirelsss card worked ONE TIME! After I rebooted the system, the same problem came back.
I called HP and they sent a box to me to put my computer in and send back to them. Based on what I have read, if you have the wireless card problem, you will have to physically send it to them to have it repaired.
By the way, I purchased another Pavilion Notebook about 4 years ago that I am typing on right now. It has preformed perfectly.
[Reply]
Charles said:
11/23/2007 6:57 pm
Class Action Lawsuit?
It looks like we might have a potential class action lawsuit against HP due to this faulty computer. If anyone out there is being charged for repairing the laptop card, it might be worth your while to contact a class action lawsuit attorney and see if they would like to take the case. At the least, HP should repair this issue free of charge.
[Reply]
AD reply on May 12, 2008 8:47 pm:
I have an HP DV6000 laptop too. I had an extended warranty and accidental damage insurance for which I paid extra $250 to receive a 3-day turnaround repair time. 6 months after I bought the laptop, the DVD/CD drive did not work anymore. I sent it to repairs, but HP did nothing, even though they should have replaced it with a new unit. They said they couldn’t reproduce the issue. I got the laptop back in about 15 days, instead of 3-days as I paid for the extra repair service. I reproduced the error right after I powered on the laptop…
Since last November I “fought” with retard HP’s support people. I went in a loop from tech support to case managers, until they refunded me the $250 for the extra warranty, a service that they failed to provide in 3-days, and at all. Then I asked them to accept the laptop as return and refund me for the entire amount that I paid for the laptop, as I bought the laptop with the associated extra warranty which made me pick their laptop. They admitted that they failed providing the service, apologized for the inconvenience and refused to refund me 100%, but only 55%. I refused their offer as it was unacceptable since it was their fault and took the case to my credit card company, who looked over my documentation and realized that HP scammed me with a fake service and a crappy laptop. I managed to take all my money back through my credit card company. It was just in time, as the laptop started to have more serious problems, such as the display flashing and showing wavy red colors.
Don’t give up on your struggle with HP. They are ignorant and speculate the fact that when you call their Customer Service they have your money and you cannot negotiate anything but a bad repair service or a partial refund. Their customer service representatives are stupid and offensive, brainwashed to purposely not help you. If your try to escalate the issue, they take you to a more offensive case manager who is as stupid as the people he manages. They will refuse escalating or allowing you to talk with an executive from HP, such as one of those multimillionaires who don’t care listening to their customers after they take their money. I wrote a couple of times to the Board of HP, on the address posted on their website, telling them my case and the issue with their products and customer service. Of course, no one bothered to call back; I had no expectation that their executives would be better than the employees they hired, but I said it is worth letting them know that their customers are not really unintelligent as they might think.
[Reply]
Charles said:
11/23/2007 7:00 pm
Here is the URL to a potential class action lawsuit regarding this computer:
http://www.hpnotebookclassaction.com/index.html
[Reply]
Mrbrownstone said:
11/26/2007 12:01 am
I just picked this computer up at best buy a couple of days ago. I paid $449 on black friday. I love this thing.
[Reply]
Michael said:
11/26/2007 8:22 pm
I also have an HP DV6000 series laptop (6324, very similar to this article). Yes the battery life seems poor. However, the battery NOT CHARGING is a BIOS issue. I had placed a call to the HP support team and they authorized a return, too. But I found out by poking around the HP site that there is a known BIOS problem, for which you can download an update. It’s wierd, I know, but I installed the update and my battery now recharges without a hitch. Didn’t need to send the laptop back, which was nice. It would be nicer if the HP support team would know about these things. Be sure to go to the HP site every so often to get all the BIOS and other updates.
[Reply]
Donald R. said:
11/26/2007 10:03 pm
I received an HP Pavilion dv6000 for christmas last year. It looks great. That is about the only thing great about it though. My hard drive crashed before it was even a year old. My brother and sister got the same computer. They both had to have their cd rom drives replaced. I was told that my hard drive would be here in 2 business days. I am now being told that it may be up to 2 weeks until it gets here. The people were rude and unreliable. I highly suggest staying away from buying an HP unless you would like a headache and a couple weeks away from your computer.
[Reply]
Pierce said:
11/26/2007 11:29 pm
Well, I just got a laptop like the one you mentioned, but with a intel processer…It works great, though I do get worried about how much it heats up. (do those cooling pads really help? is it worth getting one?) I also have been having slight problems with the wireless card, though only slight anoyances.
About the quick play program…I hate it, esspecially since I have windows media center.
dont even try getting to the web cam, HP doesnt have a program besides quick play to try it with…I would recomend getting “many cam”. (http://www.manycam.com/)
so yea, its a good laptop so far. though some of these comments about the graphic card have me worried….(I’v only had mine for 5 months…knock on wood, right?)
[Reply]
Andrea said:
11/27/2007 12:30 pm
I have the Hp dv6000 and I was wondering if I can use a tablet pc pen with this laptop? if so how does it work?
[Reply]
lou from LA said:
11/27/2007 8:33 pm
To Jasmine/everyone:
I have a DV 6119 that went to Memphis TN for REPAIRS…TWICE since I bought mine in October 2006.
1)the first time it went for repairs was due to the battery, no sound etc (in JANUARY 2007)
2) in June 2007..THE WI FI DISAPPEARED all of a sudden, so 100% like everyone here…there is a major problem with their WIFI SETTINGS/SOFTWARE/CARD.
It took me a month to get it back!
HP is sending me a new DV65OO with Vista but I’ve heard a lot of bad things about Vista, so I;m on hold for now.
[Reply]
Ralph said:
11/27/2007 10:36 pm
Uh - oh… I think I’m in the same dead wifi boat on my HP DV6000SE. My laptop is 9 months old and the wifi has always been slightly erratic - especially when coming out of hibernation and sleep. Now the card isn’t even recognized by Windows Device Manager and enabling wifi with the switch only yields the orange light of doom. Doing an “ipconfig /all” returns some oddities - certainly nothing looks like a working wireless adapter like on my Thinkpad T42 (for work).
I bought this from Best Buy and ponied up for the 3 year service agreement. I’m bringing it in tomorrow and will let you know what unfolds.
Anyone have any complaints about the speed of CD burning? I did that only once (through Vista) and it was dog slow.
[Reply]
Donald R. said:
11/27/2007 11:02 pm
UPDATE!! So I got my hard drive today from the note above. I was excited to get my computer back. Well it turns out that HP sent me the completely wrong hard drive. It didn’t fit in the slot where the old one was, it wasn’t even made by the same company. I called to ask what happened. I was on the phone with technical support for an hour. Then I decided to call a case manager but they all left, so I talked to customer relations who basically said that someone will call me back within 24 hours. So now it will be 6 days since the hard drive crash before even getting a call about getting a new one. So I called tech support again. The new people that I spoke with wanted me to send in my whole laptop in order for them to see for themselves that it didn’t fit. So not only did they make me wait but apparentky I am also an idiot. They are pieces of work. Well anyway I told them that I didnt want to do that because it would take another 5-10 business days. I asked if I could just give them the product number of the hard drive that was in my computer, but no one there understood me. So now I have to wait until tomorrow for one of the case managers to call me. This company has the worst customer service I have ever experienced and their products are mediocore at best.
[Reply]
Kat said:
11/28/2007 6:19 am
I’m back again with a follow up. I decided to send my complaint that I listed above to the CEO of HP. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t him but I received a personal reply and follow up on my complaint above. Everyone should send an email to the CEO by going to this link: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/email/hurd/index.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
Also, make sure to visit the link Charles provided to sign your name to the pending Class Action Lawsuit.
I’m in the process of sending my Notebook to HP for repair. I’m going to write a note with all the major problems listed and hopefully, they fix this thing. No one should have to endure what we’re going through. At least do a recall on these computers. Swallow your pride and fix this problem. I’m warning everyone on every website possible not to buy an HP Notebook. Their customer service is horrible and sadly, their new lines of Notebooks are too!
[Reply]
Julie said:
11/28/2007 6:54 pm
I bought the HP DV6000 on Black Friday for only $450 and 5 days later my wireless connection was malfunctioning. I was on the phone with the foreign tech support people for 3 hours last night and they had no way of fixing this common problem. I will definitely be making a trip back to the store to return this nuisance. That is poor business. No ones computer should malfunction, esp after just being purchased 5 days prior.
[Reply]
Paty Zamora said:
11/29/2007 12:40 am
I love my HP Pavillion dv6000. I purchased during Black Friday, paid under 550 after MIR - great deal. I have never owned anything so nice. I love the pretty neon blue colors on the easy buttons, don’t mind their beeps. My hands don’t reach that far to touch them accidentally so no worries there. I love the mouse pad, it’s large, favorite features there are the scroll bar right on the mouse pad and the lock button to keep from interfering in typing. Didn’t think I would but I LOVE vista.
Sorry for everyone’s woes, I hope not to go thru that, I will keep my eyes open for these issues on my laptop. 1 issue I’ve noticed. While installing my MS Office 2003, the cd rom rattles loudly while disk is spinning. seems the door is loose. I need to hold it to try to muffle the rattling. Anyone know if this is a “Fix it now before it get’s worse” issue?
[Reply]
Ralph said:
12/1/2007 12:07 am
(Update to post 67) The Geek Squad associate was not aware of any common wifi failure on the HP Pavilion line. He agreed that it looked like the wifi was toast (after trying to reload the driver). So… they sent my machine to the Best Buy service center in Louisville. Will keep you updated on further progress.
[Reply]
Nick said:
12/2/2007 10:31 am
I have had this same comp for 4 months and I have had no problems yet. I have noticed the heat but only if I use it on the couch or bed where it can’t breath out of the bottom or back left side well enough. It does take a little longer to find a wireless connection than I would like at times since I sign off and on quite a bit. I also paid extra for the Best Buy service plan so even if I break this thing I get a brand new one no ?’s asked for three years. I have used this service plan before on different things and they really don’t ask ?’s they just give you a brand new computer, plus it is good for one free battery also which could run $150+. All in all I love this thing and Vista runs and alwaysn has run fine for me on here. Games are a little choppy loading, but game play is fantastic for the games I play
[Reply]
student!! said:
12/2/2007 4:41 pm
hi,i’m a studnet and I have a project in one of my subjects we were suppose to choose an object and explain how it works.I choose a laptop and the model of the laptop is HP pavilion dv6000. We were required to show five(5) parts of the object and each part must describe how the object work. I ask help because I have no idea were to begin to. tnx!
[Reply]
Aaron said:
12/4/2007 9:59 pm
I got my computer back now for the second time after this http://www.pcmech.com/article/hp-pavilion-dv6000-notebook-review/#comment-3646
The screen is fixed but some moron at HP service cracked the hard drive cover by tightening the screw too much… oi vey.
[Reply]
Ron Jones said:
12/6/2007 1:30 am
Same here with HP DV6000. I can not be on the phone for another 4 hours I have MS and its difficult.
I did finally get a shipping box to send it back to HP today BUT I am considering just “eating it”? What’s your opinion? I’ll never be able to trust it and I think I can get a few bucks for it on an online auction? Any comments, I just no longer trust HP.
HELP PLEASE!
[Reply]
John Forbes said:
12/9/2007 7:22 am
After getting the brush off from my local dealer yesterday I used this forum for clues! Thereafter I contacted HP Total Care Real-Time chat support for my HP Pavilion dv6245eu notebook (AMD). Excellent service!!
Subsequent email to local agent:-
“I called in yesterday with my HP Pavilion with a totally flat battery. You proposed sending it off to the agents in Johanesburg with a 10 day turn around and I declined bearing in mind the Xmas period. You may recall!
I have, I believe, now sorted it out! I thought I should share it with you. ……
The BIOS is now updated as of this morning and the battery is charging!!”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The two way communcation with HP Total Care Real-Time chat support follows. It is long but I think useful to others as it gives the step by step instruction to sort out the prior non functional battery which is now 100% charged!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Asher: Hello John.
Asher: Welcome to HP Total Care for Pavilion Notebooks. My name is Asher. How may I assist you today?
John Forbes: Hi Asher, I have a HP Pavilion dv6245eu whose battery is registering a zero charge despite being on for hours. I gather that a BIOS update may fix it. Is this correct?
Asher: Sure, I will be glad to assist you in this regard
Asher: What version of Windows (i.e., 98, XP or Vista) do you use?
John Forbes: Vista Home Edition I have downloaded SP37157 which appears to be universal for the AMD machines with Vista Home Edition.
Asher: No, its not like that.
Asher: Could you please give me the Serial Number (e.g.: CNS34915MC) and Product Number (eg: DS542U) of the Notebook? You can find the Serial Number and Product Number of the Pavilion Notebook by locating on a sticker attached to the top or back of the Notebook.
John Forbes: I am unsure of running it and a serious problem arises!
John Forbes: I will fetch it!!
Asher: Sure, take your time.
John Forbes: sn ……………..
John Forbes: pn ……………..
Asher: Thank you for the information.
Asher: John, to isolate the issue please follow the steps below:-
Asher: 2. Remove the Battery.
Asher: 4. Reconnect the AC adapter.
John Forbes: Correction OS = Vista Home Premium
Asher: 5. Turn on the Notebook power.
Asher: Step 1:- 1. Disconnect the AC Adapter.
2. Remove the Battery.
3. Hold the Power button down for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Reconnect the AC adapter.
5. Turn on the Notebook power.
Asher: Step 2:- Uninstall and then reinstall the Power Management or Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI) whichever is present in the system.
To uninstall and reinstall Power Management in Windows Vista, follow these steps:
01. Click Start, and enter device manager into the Start Search field.
02. Click the plus (+) sign next to System Devices.
03. Right-click the ACPI Fixed Features button and select Uninstall.
04. Restart the system. On restarting the system, Windows will automatically detect and install Power Management on the computer.
Asher: Step 3:- Bios update to do that please go to the link below:-
Asher: ,
Asher: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp37001-37500/sp37157.exe
Asher: Please copy the entire URL and paste it in a new window of Internet Explorer. Then open the link from there.
Asher: Are the steps are clear?
Asher: Are we connected?
John Forbes: Hi Asher. They seem pretty clear. I will download
Asher: Okay.
Asher: I hope this information is helpful to you.
Asher: Is there anything else I can do for you?
John Forbes: I think I will follow you instructions in detail and see how it goes. It is now 01h00 in SA (middle of night or 11h00 GMT). When can I get back to you if there is a problem?
John Forbes: 23h00 GMT rather
Asher: You can get back to us at any time. We work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Asher: The session Id of this chat is …………… In the case this problem persist please use this session id as reference, when you login again to the “HP Total Chat Support” this will help us to serve you faster and better, Thanks
John Forbes: Hi Asher. Very much appreciated. I assume you are in the USA. If so have a good day as I think you all say!!
Asher: Thank you
Asher: Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at: http://www.hp.com/support/chat. Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
Asher: Good Bye and Have a Nice time.
John Forbes: Good night!
Asher: Very good night.
[Reply]
Voltaire said:
12/9/2007 8:37 am
Hi there, Anybody knows what’s equipment can do in expansion port 3?
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Voltaire said:
12/9/2007 8:39 am
My note is HP pavilion dv6000, with a expansion port and at this moment nobody knows what equipment can do in this expansion!
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Sefus said:
12/9/2007 8:14 pm
My roomate just got one of these and we were having network problems… problem being it could see the network here but couldn’t connect. 1.5 hrs. after talking to Scott at HP tech support, we decided to reseat the wireless card and viola!
Remember that. Reseat the wireless card. It’s easy to do and saved us a lot of stress. Now I must rest. The phone gets heavy after that long.
Cheers.
[Reply]
kay said:
12/9/2007 11:25 pm
Im a new owner of this computer and i was wondering if theres a way to when you shut the screen the computer can just go into hibernation mode instead of turning off? thanks to anyone who can help!
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John Forbes said:
12/10/2007 5:28 pm
Hi Sefus. Please elaborate on how you reset the wireless card. Perhaps a dumb question, but is it on the computer or the router?
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Sal said:
12/12/2007 12:29 am
So are all these problems true with all DV6000s? because i have a DV6663cl that i bought from costco about a month ago…and i will return it if i have to while i still have time…i dont want to turn into any problems like the ones mentioned later on…
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Scott said:
12/13/2007 12:45 am
I just bought a HP Pavillion dv6000. I am looking to remove a lot of this free crap software HP loads onto the PC. The problem is that when you go to the control panel to remove programs a lot of the programs are not available via that removal tool. So my question to the group, how are people cleaning this PC up. Are they going right into the directory structure and deleting folders?
Thanks for the input,
Scott
[Reply]
Luke said:
12/13/2007 11:08 am
When I bought this notebook, the only option I had was to have Vista pre-installed, and XP was not an option. Vista does not support a Project Management program I need to load, so now I am trying to load XP on another partition and I can’t. Apparently there is no way to load XP on this machine now, even if I was to wipe out the partition that has Vista and try to install XP from scratch, I cannot. Other than that the machine works great, other than some slight overheating issues and the glare you will get if you go outside (it’s impossible to see the screen if you go outside). I bought this notebook from HP because I have had bad experiences with Dell, and good experiences with HP. But after getting this error and figuring out there is no way to load any operating system than Vista, needles to say my next computer purchasing experience will not be with HP.
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Ralph said:
12/15/2007 4:52 pm
(Update to post 67 and 72) Yesterday I picked up my laptop from the Geeks at Best Buy. They had to replace the motherboard. Wifi works again with no noticeable difference in performance. I would like to know if it’s the same wifi chipset, but there’s not much information available from Windows. The repair process took longer than I expected (2 weeks) but it was hassle-free and didn’t cost a cent.
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Gina said:
12/15/2007 9:41 pm
I purchased this laptop as part of a package with a printer and camera. Within two weeks the wireless card stopped working. I traded it at the store for a different one and did the setup, turned it off and when I went to turn it back on it would not boot up - looks to be hard drive failure. I think I will see if they will get me a different model and most likely brand that is a bit more reliable. Looks like this one has a lot of problems and this one will be used for busiiness and i need it to be reliable.
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chris said:
12/18/2007 12:15 am
how does the volume work?? it worked when webcam was on..play dvd cant hear anything??
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Technical Guru said:
12/18/2007 6:15 pm
As the manager of a repair center, I’ve seen a few dozen of the dv6000 and dv90000 series (the motherboard is basically the same). Of all of the machines I have seen, only one has not needed a new motherboard. The wireless problem is related to a bad control chip that will fail. If your wireless card isn’t being detected, the card is usually fine. We have successfully fixed the issue with a new motherboard and the original wireless card. Switching / re-seating the card does not work, the motherboard loses its ability to detect the device, or any device connected.
The nVidia models also have a problem with the VRAM coming loose from the board and causing a POST beep (one long, two short). since the both the intel and nVidia video is integrated into the board, the motherboard again has to be replaced.
[Reply]
Ralph said:
12/21/2007 11:25 am
Technical Guru,
Wow - thanks for the insight. It’s nice getting a real answer on this issue.
Out of curiosity… when a motherboard is replaced for something like a simple control chip how much of the other board components are salvaged? Are these components use for future repairs or sold as refurbs or… ?
[Reply]
Michelle said:
12/23/2007 2:47 am
Hi, I got a dv6000 maybe a month ago, mostly for my mom to play around with.
I almost never let her on my desktop, so we picked this one up because it was on sale.
I almost never use the laptop, because I don’t really have a need for it, but once in a while I take it out or just play around on it.
I noticed that there was a bunch of useless apps (as you said) and I wanted to get rid of them.
I was wondering which ones you did away with, and which ones you kept?
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Chriiss123 said:
12/25/2007 9:42 pm
my DV6000 is great! Although the quic buttons near the speakers that glow blue are annoying. Don’t get the windows vista, even though is nice, but disorganize. stay with this laptop is awsome plus it works all day. i have it on all the time mire than 15 hours a day and it works really fast. the thing is that it uses too much heat
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gregg said:
12/25/2007 11:36 pm
sound card is not recognized; downloaded new one and updates (conexant high definition audio 4.15.50) damn thing still does not play songs loaded on hard drive. a red x comes up beside each song. does not play dvd sound either.
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Debbie said:
12/26/2007 7:49 pm
I have a DV6119US and I think it just burnt up! It smells like an electrical fire and does not boot up at all. Th worst of all is that it just went out of warrant in October, it is a liitle over a year old. I was experiencing start up problems prior to this and I was told by Circuit City to remove the battery, plug in the AC adapter, replace the battery and it should start up - and it did work. I had to do that a lot! It also ran hot a lot!! I think it finally just burnt up inside. Has anyone eperienced this problem?
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Daniella said:
12/29/2007 5:02 pm
hi i just bought my laptop and am currently having problems gettin the webcam to come up on the screen anyone else know how to do this/
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Trey said:
12/30/2007 4:56 pm
I got mine for Christmas and so far so good. It does have a very very very shoert battery tho. Only lasts about and hour and a half
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deanna said:
1/3/2008 9:45 am
well having this laptop i have 2 compalints the webcam is bad.. it works sometimes other times it doesnnt? whats up with that… and another thing would have to be quickplay i mean its too big and ruins everything and doesnt display webcam and just like to add WINDOWS VISTA IS PROABABLY THE WORST VERSION OF WINDOWS EVERR!
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Bob Farmer said:
1/3/2008 6:45 pm
I also have a HP dv6000 This unit has a notched expansion card slot. I use this laptop in my semi truck it gets a lot of abuse but works good for what I need. The USB ports have gotten loose from the earthlink GPS LT-20 I use. I’am looking for a expansion card with 2 USB ports, as the say it would cost approx 200.00 to repair. I’d rather just get a card. Does anyone know where I can get this notched card with the 2 USB ports? Thanks
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joel said:
1/4/2008 2:33 pm
Will never buy another HP laptop.
0)wasted time with support morons who basically tried to get me to do things that I’d already done to fix wireless card except oh yah….restore it to factory fresh conditions that’s the first thing they want to do…..
1)wireless card quit working sent in they had to replace mother board
2)power button stopped working….how do you turn a laptop on then?
3) speakers just quit working….
good luck if you have one
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Rebecca said:
1/4/2008 4:11 pm
my laptop is 3 days old, bought it in france;
the french version is just as odd as the american version cus its still the samelol,
so far ive not been able to do any steady video conferencing with my friends and thats o so not fun for some one in europe trying to keep american friendships alive,
and i cant get the windows movie maker to work properly, the camera just refuses to start.
ive considered returning it but im a basic user and i just hope that when i get my camera installation cd from my samsung, i will finally b able to upload pictures.
does any one kno how to get photoshop on here?
[Reply]
Adnan Rahim said:
1/5/2008 5:17 pm
I changed operating system of my hp pavilion dv6000..after change quickplay button is not working i mean its software not appear in my pc..i want to download its software.from which website??????
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Greg B said:
1/6/2008 11:55 pm
I enjoy using this computer for everyday purposes. It works great. However, the graphics card is somewhat weak. But, I got this for a GREAT PRICE at Office Max, it was a bundle with a digital camera and a printer for only 800 bucks!!! It was a great deal, i’m happy!!
[Reply]
Ryan said:
1/9/2008 2:30 am
I have had the battery problem with my dv6000 as well, what I did to solve the problem was a little unorthodox but really all I did was slam the battery in as fast as possible and it started charging again.
I have had other problems too, the hard drive reading is never accurate, always going up or down 1-2GB, and something is always making the processor usage go up to 25% on the second core, yet to discover what that is. The other problem I had was that using windows DVD maker to burn a dvd will get me to about 95% completion and then I receive an error message. I look in computer and my dvd drive will no longer be recognized until I restart.
All in all, if I didn’t have those two very annoying problems, I would be happier with this laptop. I bought the 3-year warranty at best buy and they claimed it’s the VISTA installation. I would rather load XP on this baby then use VISTA. Yet another problem caused by VISTA.
[Reply]
Kirby said:
1/9/2008 2:35 am
love my dv6000! bought it at best buy on black friday (day after thanksgiving) for $399!!
i agree with the heat comments and the battery life sucks!! it doesnt last long at all… i should probably get a new battery!
[Reply]
Chelsey said:
1/10/2008 4:47 pm
Has anyone experienced the battery life getting progressively worse? I mean, I know it sucks, but mine is gradually getting worse. As of now, the battery dies within ten minutes of being unplugged with a full charge. Also, does anyone know how to fix a horribly stiff key?? This stiff ‘a’ button shit is getting to me.
[Reply]
GrayFox said:
1/10/2008 7:26 pm
I got a dv6000 as a grad gift from my grandfather and it worked fine up until 2007 Christmas, which is when my wireless internet crapped out on me and now I can’t even get past the loading screen(the screen with Microsoft Corporation on it).
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GrayFox said:
1/10/2008 7:29 pm
Oh, I forgot one other thing. Half the time my disk drive doesn’t work properly anymore either. By not working properly, I mean it doesn’t always detect the disk when I put a disk in. Usually takes 6 or 7 attempts to get it to read the disk.
[Reply]
Michele said:
1/12/2008 1:13 pm
I currently have an HP dv6000, my 2nd HP notebook. Unfortunately, I did not benefit from a sale and paid $1200 for this unit. I bought this one to replace an earlier HP notebook when that screen went black and repair was going to be in excess of $500.00 with a 2-month minimum wait time. Because I needed a laptop immediately, I bought the dv6000. That was Aug2006 and today I booted up only to receive a 3-beep warning tone, followed by… you guessed it. A black screen.
I paid for a 3-year service plan so we’ll see whether it was money well-spent but I’m not optimistic based on the first notebook’s history.
This is the last HP product I will buy. I can confirm the previous comments about lousy support from people for whom English is a second language. With the first notebook, I had a problem with the burner, and support advised that my unit was one that had been sold with an obsolete driver. They could send me the updated driver but it would cost me $80.00 plus the FedEx charges — for something they knew was a problem when they sold it to me!
Depending on what happens with the dv6000, I may make a stop at CDW tomorrow.
Thanks to each of you for sharing your comments. I’m so glad I found this site.
[Reply]
Terri reply on June 21, 2008 1:53 pm:
HP Pavilion Notebook Computer Display Problems
On January 31, 2007, the Santa Clara Superior Court certified a consumer lawsuit to proceed as a class action against Hewlett-Packard Company. Plaintiff Degenshein was named the class representative, and is represented by Green Welling LLP of San Francisco, California, and Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff LLP of Sacramento, California.
The class action complaint involves certain HP Pavilion models of notebook computers that contain defective inverters. An inverter is the component that regulates voltage to light the display screen. When an inverter fails, the screen becomes extremely dim or flickers, rendering the computer useless. A simple test which may indicate an inverter failure is if the laptop exhibits dim, dark or flickering display symptoms, but is able to operate normally when plugged into an external monitor. Typically, an inverter costs less than $20, but HP quoted consumers $650 to fix the problem, which Plaintiff Degenshein claims HP knew about before it sold the computers.
When the defective inverter caused Plaintiff Degenshein’s display screen to malfunction during his warranty and shortly thereafter, Plaintiff Degenshein contacted HP for a repair. HP refused to admit the defect and demanded $650 to fix the problem. Plaintiff Degenshein says HP should permanently fix the problem at no cost or replace his entire computer with a defect-free equivalent or better model, and that HP should do so for every other consumer whose HP computer has similar backlight display problems. He also wants HP to return any money it has collected thus far to repair the defective computers. The Court’s January 31, 2007 class certification order is a significant step in that direction.
“HP’s own policy is to fix known defects like this at no charge. It is really surprising that HP refused to fix Mr. Degenshein’s computer and collected money from other consumers to fix the known defect,” said Jenelle Welling of Green Welling LLP. “But, then again, this occurred during a time period where HP seems to have made other unfortunate decisions,” she said, apparently referencing the board room spying scandal and HP’s alleged espionage against rival Dell Inc. “It has been a hard fought battle, but we are pleased to finally move forward toward trial to get consumers the relief they deserve,” she said.
Green Welling has been contacted by many consumers with similar complaints. If you have experienced this problem, a similar problem, or would like more information about the lawsuit, please contact us at (415) 477-6700 or by clicking here. http://www.classcounsel.com/contact.html
[Reply]
Andy said:
1/12/2008 9:23 pm
okay, i had bought my hp pavillion laptop dv6000, model DV6208nr in feburary of 2006.The wireless card has failed and wont be detected, remains on the orange color. Also just recently a month ago the laptop all of the sudden appear not to be powering on. i can see the blue power light come on but only for a quick second. i had sent it into warranty but my laptop has sum physical damage to the lcd screen and casing but this failure is obviously due to defects. the service center did not repair the 2 problems, and just sent it back to me, is this the service im suppose to get, or are they trying to waste my warranty time? btw sending it back in 2-3 more days(waiting for box once again). HP service has some ppl who does the job and some very dont give a #$%^, cause they get paid by the hour.
[Reply]
Andy said:
1/12/2008 9:28 pm
ooo. i actually purchased it in 07 of feb.
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Sam said: