HP Pavilion DV6-2170US 15.6-Inch Laptop Black Notebook
HP Pavilion DV6-2170US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)
I chose this feature rich machine as offering more than any other when it is on sale. My primary use is business with occassional field trips, which could be done with aplumb with a slightly more dated dual-core CPU upwards of $200 less with better battery life. But, the sale price made it possible to justify this HP’s i3 Intel core for the occassional dabbling in multimedia and DSLR photo editing for the more pleasurable and smooth experience it can offer. It replaces a venerable, but dieing Toshiba A45 Satellite just in time to migrate. Toshiba had good offerings, but none touch this HP’s bang for the buck that I could find on the shelf during an urgent need. A Toshiba model was my second pick with fewer features and respectably more money. The hard-core gamers will want an i5 engine with upscale graphics. For business and casual multimedia, there’s nothing wrong, here.
It is ported out the yazoo beyond its 4 USB ports. This model is HDMI capable with an included remote control. Other DV6 variations can include satellite/cable receiver hookups and/or a built-in TV tuner. Since these features are not now in my radar, I would refer you to HP’s product site for the accurate details now that you know it’s possible.
As a touch-typist, the keyboard is comfortable and responsive. I see touch-pads as necessary evils over a wireless mouse and prefer to turn mine off with the included and readily accessible nearby switch; no software clicking required. I’m using the touch-pad at this writing; it has a right-side scroll bar that wants to work when I don’t want it to and not respond when I do, but doubt this is much more than me and the nature of that beast on any model. The upper portion of the keyboard panel includes touch controls for the wireless adapter, volume and speaker mute. The speaker tone is respectably balanced for their size, notably not too tinny and very adjustable with the audio driver. As delivered, bass tended to splatter a bit, which adjusted out nicely.
The 15″ class 16:9 format wide-screen is just right for these 60-year old eyes that have worn glasses since dirt was made. At first run the screen was VERY bright with blacks a little washed. The Intel graphics driver offered a very nice adjust routine to bring things into a more pleasing balance. It even includes an effective text enhancement function and Win 7 lets you scale text size to your need. For now, I will say that my amateur DSLR photos display with good enough quality to permit effective editing, but a pro wouldn’t use it as an editor. A separate monitor port is included.
I have played a few of my homebrew HQ .WMV and DVD burned videos along with the store bought variety; it runs through them with ease and it all looks respectable. I was exceptionally pleased with the performance of HP’s N-draft wireless adapter that downloaded a 311MB printer driver under our 6mbps U-verse connection in about 10-minutes. Hot dog, Cat5 is now dead in our house with reliable performance at the farthest points indoors through several walls. Yippee! Just as nice, Windows 7 actually detected our AT&T U-verse router with ease and established connections with all of our networked devices without one complaint … what a breath of fresh air compared to my wife’s Vista machine, which refused to connect to anything under any circumstance no matter what without installing independent network control software (Network Magic).
The initial setup includes an HP routine that makes a one-time set of 3 x 4.7GB DVD factory-state restoration discs … your data is not included. Win 7 now includes a scheduled backup feature, which should automate nicely with a $100 external drive. An on-line service is now relegated to those worried about fire and theft. Regrettably, the routine does not appear to work over a network and I’m wondering why. Despite this nice feature, HP’s bloatware, which was actually within reason, includes a handful of on-line vendors ranting for your backup business immediately followed by Norton ranting at how stupid I am for not having activated its AV suite. Sorry, but the last time I gave Norton access to one of my machines it was like dealing with the IRS; once you buy into their system it is impossible to get out and I actually paid them to do this to my machine. Any vendor that makes life more complicated gets banished forever. Windows Defender is automatically included with Win 7 and AVG-Free is compatible.
This isn’t a Win 7 review, but you are likely buying this new OS with the hardware as part of the experience; Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit). I found Win 7’s migration features serviceable, but not for the feint of heart. The file migration doesn’t seem to offer enough ‘pick n choose’ options to eliminate that accumulated and unwanted garbage and requires transporting a file to your old computer with a flash drive or equivalent. As a result, I chose the ‘do-it-yourself’ method by network. There is no rocket science in migrating an Outlook or Windows Mail contact file. Either ‘export’ or search and copy the .WAB file from your old machine to a flash drive and ‘import’ it at the new machine.
If a performance rating vs. cost means something to you, then this is worth your time. Win 7 now includes a fundamental hardware benchmark routine. At this writing, the scale is 1-to-7.9 and designed to be adjusted as today’s fastest hardware becomes tomorrow’s slowest. As this feature gets updated, your computer’s score will gradually drop against newer improved systems and it is comprised of several ’sub-scores’. The overall rating is based on the LOWEST sub-score; it is NOT an average. I don’t see why you cannot check this on store displays as you review models. Here is where this HP falls:
Processor (i3): 6.2 RAM: 5.9 Graphics (Desktop): 4.2 Graphics (3D business and game): 4.9 Hard Drive (data rate): 5.8. The overall score is 4.2 for the Desktop Graphics score.
This HP is not the ultimate gaming smoker, but I would call it a ‘mainstream smoker’ for a laptop well ported to connect to about anything with the ability to run everything pretty darn well at a very good street price. Compare these relative scores with your primary, secondary and tertiary needs and you’ve picked your winner. You will find them under “Control Panel”.
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