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.
David Risley is the founder of PCMech.com. He is the brains, the thinker, the writer, the nerd.
My HP Pavillion dv6000’s Battery doesn’t charge, I’m planning to send it back into the store where I got it from, they will replace the battery, ‘Hope it works!’ overall thats the only major problem that I’ve had so far with it, although for some reason, I turned the laptop on one day and it just said there was “No Audio Output Device Installed” I just sent it in and they reinstalled something in the main program lists, they said that sometimes you can download stuff and it will just knock some of your programs out of the way. Causing it to not work correctly and make you really annoyed. I also had a problem that I got, “This was my own fault.” I didn’t have any Virus Protection program so I got a virus and the laptop kept turning off by itself, I sent it in twice, it took them about 6 months until I got it back. I bought a Norton Security Scan / Virus Scan Program and now I seem to be ok. I’m still going to have to get that battery fixed up though and I hope this will be the last of my trouble’s with this darned laptop. I would NOT recommend a HP Pavillion 6000/9000 to anyone, although it’s cheap and it seems to work well, after a while it may stop working correctly.
Thanks, – Joseph
well i really doubt the store will replace it unless the battery is within the 1st year
well i really doubt the store will replace it unless the battery is within the 1st year & norton is bad for these pcs
DO NOT BACK THEIR PRODUCT. IF IT BREAKS THEY SAY, AND I QUOTE, “IF IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT THE FIRST TIME YOU TURNED IT ON ITS YOUR FAULT AND WE’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE.” HAVE NEVER HAD A COMPANY SPEAK SO RUDELY OR GIVEN THE RUN AROUND LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE. WILL NOT FIX A COMPUTER THAT WAS PURCHASED LESS THAN A MONTH AGO. WITHOUT EVEN SEEING THE COMPUTER, HP TOLD ME IT WAS MY FAULT THE SCREEN WENT OUT AND THEY DO NOT GIVE FREE REPAIRS. THE CASE MANAGER THAT I SPOKE TO AFTER 4 OTHER TECHNICIANS AND REPS, TOLD ME THEY WOULD FIX IT FOR $400 AND THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE TO BE SAID. THEN HUNG UP ON ME!!!!!!!! WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HP PRODUCT FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE.
i dont recomend this laptop there was a fault in the imbiult fan and all dv2000 and dv6000 tend to break down unfixibly within a year some will get replaced but most not
I had something Minor go wrong with my DV6000, I sent it in to HP with no problems and while it was there they changed out the charger for free. I never had the problem with it not charging but they fixed it before I did! I never had a problem with their customer service. They were also very fast about getting my computer in, fixed and back to me. It was back home in about 2 weeks. I would use them again. I am very happy with the computer and the company.
I bought my DV6000 two years ago and it has always worked fine until about now. Before I would just complain about it being slow but thats probably a Vista issue, and that the battery woudl not last to long when on the road (agree with the problem of not being able to see the screen in sunlight, at all!!)…. Anyhow, March came and my wireless stoped working, just like that. I ignored it slightly. Then my battery stoped working, a big X on top of the battery icon and saying not charging tho was plugged in. Then my sound went, I thought it was my fault when installing iTunes as had probs with that, and not being a computer wiz did whatever it took to get my music going… I handed it to a colleague at work who fixed the music bit, but the wireless still woudl not work, nor the battery charge. I got home, wento onto HP website to search for some drivers as recomended by friend, downloaded some, tried to restart, but he has never turned on again… Well it is kind of like “the lights are on but nobody is home…” Seems like he wants to turn on, the screen is black, and he turns off, then back on and continues, btu nothing never happens. Not sure what to do, have a feeling he is dead and I have to buy a new one. My dad has HP too and is not impressed. At least mine only died after 2 years, but surely a laptop shoudl last for longer than that??
Caroline,
I also bought my DV6000 two years ago and have experianced all the same thinngs you have. Recently my screen went black but the computer was still running – I took it in to see if it could be fixed and I was told that it was probably something with my motherboard and that I should consider buying a new laptop. So I had them backup my data from my HP and started to search for a new laptop – I pick out and paid for a new laptop and pickup my backup data only to return home for my HP to suddently start working again – now I am left with the dilemma of returning my new laptop or keeping it – I’m not sure if my HP is going to go out on me again.. .
Umm that’s the thing, never know how long that will last for. Maybe he has recovered tho which would be great news!
Mine did the same thing. I had to have the MOTHERBOARD REPLACED!!! It was somewhere around $500 and took about 3 weeks to get the part in, fixed, & returned to me! UGHHHHH!
I had mine for a little over a year and under my NVIDIA(i think thats the name in device manager) there are suppose to be three files but one dissapeared and never came back and it must of been something with my wireless because i haven’t been able to connect until four days ago. I took it to a computer fix guy and they tried everything but it wouldn’t work so i had to get a USB connector and its slow and it really made me mad. Then my friends laptop the same age as mine one day just stopped turning on. I hate this laptop but i just don’t have enough money to get a complete fix if there is one or to go buy a new one.
i know these nvidia networking products & mgpu’s suck
I had a HP Pavilion dv6000, after about 6 MONTHS the screen broke, it will cost $700 to fix the screen, in other words, almost the laptop itself. THE LAPTOP SUCKS.
it seems their promo rss feed is sending old info
http://www.hp.com/canada/rss/consumer/computing/rss.xml
i have had the dv6000 limited edition laptop for over 2 years and have had no problems with it and i use it a lot. i agree about the screen in sunlight though.
i know theres no coating so you can use it outside in the sun. it reminds me of the gba
People that get the blue screen, try to check if there is an update for Intel Storage Manager. Normally that solution should appear in the problem solving, or might HP health check gives that message. I usually get those blue screen after I done a clean reinstall to factory values and during updating everything again then it gives me 2 or 3 blue screens during.
im thinking of buying an dv 6000 from one of my friends but from what i just read im not so sure anymore.what should i do?buy it or not.my friend says there’s nothing wrong with it and she’s had it for 2 years,so should i buy it?
DO NOT DO IT!!
Well, there are clearly some HP Pavilion DV’s with known issues, but they are not all bad. Wich dv6000 is it excacly?
What price does your friend ask? As for myself, I ussually tend to stick with something I not complaine about, and untill now I not really have to complain about my dv6000 and it stand more on then off. Your friends dv6000 works for 2 years without problems and most get their problems already before they have it 2 years. But to say if you should buy it, depends on alot maybe check in the store compare the price for the old one with a new one that has waranty on it. And probably every brand have their problems or known issues, not?
JM/Chr
The DV-6/9 were rushed to market w/ Vista Home Premium as standard – aside from video cards and mother boards problems – it soon became apprent that you would need at least 2 Mgs of memory and at least a 2+ processor to reach even minimal performance for Vista and upgrading was just out of the question … the system could not do it …
if the unit does not have at least 2 megs of ram and a 2+ processor do not buy the damn thing – (all subsequent DV’s had 2-3 megs of ram and a minimum 2+ processor) Do not spend money on maybe – you stand a good chance of getting a headache laptop which HP will not support and losing a good freind …
i agree the one i have has a NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150/nForce Go 430 chip thats not even supported for vista anymore. but it was part of nvidia’s die manufacturing error. not to mention it never came with the stuff that this chip supported guess they retooled it because of the crappy 6 cell battery
I got mine from a friend and it worked perfectly for 2 years then died just like that, no warning really. He had only had it a short time and sold it cos he needed cash. From the stuff I have read and my own experience I would not buy this laptop again even though it may not be all bad.
I would not buy a used laptop unless it was very cheap or I didnt mind losing the money. There is no warranty after 2 years I guess either, so money lost if it goes tits up.
I’ve had my Dv6 since about last december, and ive had nothing but problems. Me and my 3 friends have the same laptop, and all of our charges had to be replaced more than once because the tips broke. Also, they all have something wrong with the computer themselves, mine being the worst. My wireless went awhile ago, i returned it to get that fixed, and then it wouldn’t turn on. About every other day, i have to wait about 3 hours just for my computer to turn on, and in the meantime it just restarts itself over and over again. and lastly, the battery is shot. I didn’t leave it plugged in alot at all, so i didn’t fry it, but i have to leave the battery out of the computer and leave my charger in 24/7 or else it will shut off. I would not recommend this computer to anyone, I know for sure that i will never get another one.
I would not advise purchasing this laptop. I purchased this unit about 1.5 years ago and so far, I have had the motherboard replaced twice and now it’s headed to the shop again to the fine folks at Geek Squad due to a short in the switch in front of the machine allowing to turn the wireless on and off. I was also informed That the motherboard might have to be replaced AGAIN during this service. So, 3 motherboard replacements total. All of these problems just started about 2 months ago and my computer has been in and out of the shop ever since. I’m grateful for two things 1) I can borrow a computer from work, which has kept me sane these past couple of months and 2) I got that BestBuy service plan when I purchased that computer. One more hardware strike, and the folks at BestBuy have to give me a new machine. Lemon!!
HI THERE
my dv 6000 is also super @#$%$# and will not switch on.
iv taken it in and have been told that the motherboard is screwed and will cost me more than a new laptop
is that true or is a motherboard actually cheap
this is actually ridiculous on hp side.ive contacted them several times only to find out theres nothing they can do.
i can’t believe this
From my experience, it is not a good product. I bought one DV6225us in Feb 2007. right after one year, battery died. At about the same time, DVD combo could no longer burn DVD, only read DVD and write/read CD-ROM still worked. Last month, it showed the problem that keep rebooting at every 30 seconds with nothing on display. It is interesting to see in previous post others saw same issues and it recovered after sometime. When it first occurred on mine, it did come back to work after a day. But latest break down seems won’t recover. When I opened the display module, i saw a manufacture failure that LCD ground was not screwed to case so it could short with backlight drive board wires. Don’t know if that is the cause for all these troubles. But motherboard on mine probably has gone bad.
most of the DV seris have faulty nvidia chipsets and are now under a recall, so check out the HP site before getting it repaired there even paying the postage .
this nvidia chipset was the last straw. time for a ati powered laptop
I’ve had my HP dv6000 for about two and a half years. Battery would barely hold a charge and that was about a year after so HP wouldn’t send me a replacement. Charger also would stop working, though that could be me being a little hard on them, but my current charger (Non-HP) I’ve had for about a year with no problems. Have had the wireless card replaced twice, both times free from HP and one of the mouse buttons has fallen off. As a college student, I can’t really afford to be nickeled and dimed for things unless they’re vital to the laptop still working. And now my memory suddenly went from 50% to 6% and I’ve yet to figure out where all of this stuff is so I can delete it.
My Mom also has one from the dv6000 series and has it randomly shutting off on her (it’s about two months older than mine), usually when she tries to run Norton which I see is apparently a problem in these.
Still not a computer I would highly recommend however, but it has gotten me by.
well you do have a choice ms even has a page of other av providers other than norton(symantec)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-7.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-xp.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-vista.aspx
The thing about HP is its motherboard, harddrive, and graphics card happen to be placed next to each other. This causes the laptop to burn up WAY faster.
I have experienced several issues with my current HP DV6000. Several months ago my laptop wouldnt even turn on unless it felt like it. I would press the power button and would pray to the laptop gods that the HP logo would appear on the screen. When it would not I would have to do a hard shut down (pressing the power button AGAIN) then turn it on again in hopes it would turn on. This process would be repeated until the laptop turned on. That was my only issue. I called the HP customer service number so many times I had it on speed dial on my cellphone. I spoke to a various amount of people who all said the same thing to me “We can do a fully diagnostic on your laptop for only $100 -$300″ (i forgot the actual amount they stated) and I continued to say “Listen I am a college student. I cant afford to fix your product. Your products reminds me of school actually. first year everything is fine and dandy and then after that year all these bills come and all these fees and suddenly nothing seems to work. I want to speak to your manager because honestly I dont think you know what your doing AT ALL!” the person would continue to try to speak to me until one night FINALLY the agent said “Ma’am my manager would like to speak with you” FINALLY! i realized i must have gained my mothers “fix it or im complaining” skills because the manager must have heard me yelling. He took the phone and actually calmed me down telling me that my motherboard was probably failing and would need to be replaced. They had this “one time service” option where I would send my laptop in, they would fix/replace my motherboard and then ship it back. I was actually like surprised and went along to do so. It took about a week for them to fix my baby and when I got it back it worked well. But now I am experiencing another issue. MY HARD DRIVE IS FAILING NOW!..every now and then ym laptop will randomly freeze and ill need to restart it. it gets annoying at times but it doesnt happen too often. just every now and again. Im hoping to find the nearest computer store that will help me with my issue because god knows I will not contact the HP representatives again
HP notebook has a reputation of over heating. What about this one? And what is the price now?
I contact them for the free fix. (I post the link but cannot post so search “HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement” on google you will find it)
But it only covers laptop bought within two years, so for my 2.5 years one, they charge $398 for a repair, although said might be cheaper if only video card needs replacement.
I strongly recommend owners of newer laptop contact them for free repair, even if it shows minor random symptoms. After two years, it is your own cost. I was laughing at that price because with $400-500 you can find a brand new one.
I really wonder if HP thinks and is satisfied that their laptop’s should only last two years.
I got my DV6000 about six months ago from ebay, its worked perfectly aside from a slight screen problem. When I move it from house to house (I go round my mates alot) I turn it on and the screen comes out in a grey mist like thing, I put pressure on the sides of the screen or the top of the screen and it comes back on, sometimes it take longer than other but it always goes on, does any one have any ideas why this might be.
I am facing lots of heating problem with my PC, which I bought a year ago. I used to power off suddenly. Now its getting powered off within an hour. I can not do anything that takes more time, like uploading and downloading. Its really really annoying. I will never suggest this laptop. I dont know what to do now?
don’t buy any pavilion with the shiny lid. I sold mine for it’s parts. ive had problems with it from the beginning, and im not the only one. the repair shop gets dozens for repair. generally mainboard and video card problems
DON’T BUY THIS LAPTOP! I REPEAT DON’T MAKE THE MISTAKE TO BUY THIS LAPTOP. Sure the exterior is handsome and all but the interior is not so good. I had to send it back to Canada just to replace the motherboard because that’s where i bought it, and another problem is that i live in the other side of the world! Same thing happened again 2 weeks ago and according to the technician the motherboard got burned due to overheat. If they replace, it would be much better if i buy another laptop due to the cost of replacing the motherboard alone. I cannot send it back abroad bec. the warranty plan expired already. :’(
I purchased HP PAVILON DV6000 almost 3 years ago from Costco.2 repairs (motherboard and harddrive replaced). Now 5 months after major repair ,computer won’t turn on. Costco and HP don’t want to know me bec the repair is good only for 90 days. Obviously I have a lemon on hand. Any one out there have any helpful thoughts? Thanks, Mona
This laptop is terrible: within the first year of purchase i replaced the charger 4 times.
the tip was manafactured the wrong way. the screen holder-2 of them also broke 400$repair.
now the fan is broken
For those of you who have had there Dv6000 series for atleast 2 years and are not working now, How much do you think your laptops are worth? Since they are a piece of junk maybe they are worth very little, give me a price and maybe your problems will be solved.
well according to one of the tradin for cash sites quoted $200 for my dv6307ca with 2gb of ram(not original amount)