Customer Reviews

HP Pavilion DV6675US 15.4-inch Entertainment Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250, 4 GB RAM, 250 Hard Drive, Vista Ultimate)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Having been a long time HP user, I researched other laptop brands but was lured right back in with (initially) this dv6660se's sleek appearance. The powerbook-esque keyboard and subtle design patterns on the glossy packaging is a joy to look at everyday. Easy to use, and even the built in software isn't as useless as stock programs usually are.

PROS: design, 2GB RAM, 250GB, Vista home premium (mine was 32-bit unlike above comment).
-Comes with 12-cell battery which is bulky but lasts at least 4 hours watching movies and listening to music. The battery also raises the laptop off the table, which helps with cooling.
-Roxio software for CD/DVD burning is sufficient, and its LightScribe software is easy to use.
-I wasn't too impressed with the LightScribe function as it prints light-medium gray text/images onto the CD - a little too light for my taste. But the technology is supposed to replace chemical damage your CDs would otherwise get from stickers and writing.
-I thought 14 inches would suffice, but 15.4 inches really make a difference in organizing my desktop and music folders, navigating through Excel spreadsheets, and obviously watching movies.

CONS: no bluetooth (I didn't think I'd need it but found it would've been helpful for a wireless mouse or keyboard, etc), and a little heavy for everyday portability. Although Home Premium is equipped for TV recording, you need to buy a separate TV tuner for that to happen.

OVERALL: GREAT product for its price, especially if you can find it on sale like I did. It is in no way a high end laptop but pretty darn good for everyday use. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being a lay user and 10 being very tech savvy, this would be perfect for up to 8.5

**THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE HP DV2660SE, not the 2662se, but they have almost identical specs and there was no space for the 2660se. Many of the same comments are relevant to both.**

I am not a gamer, so I ignore features that are solely relevant to gaming. This laptop has many positive qualities to recommend it. I have two older model HP laptops from pre-2005 and had decided that I needed a personal laptop, so that I wouldn't have to keep lugging my work laptop, a Dell Latitude D620, home from work with me. (I use my laptop as a desktop replacement.) I was very skeptical about buying an HP: both of my previous HPs from pre-2005 died within a year. Both were slow, clunky machines that didn't work conveniently from the beginning.

I was stunned to discover this machine on sale for $899 at Best Buy. The Geek Squad employee spent 2 hours (!) answering my questions, reading positive and negative reviews of this PC with me online, and discussing the pros and cons of this laptop. He said that HP has improved dramatically in the past 2 years to become one of the top notebook PC makers. In fact, he said that some of the longest-lasting laptops with the fewest problems are from HP.

When I got on the test model in the store, I was impressed by just about everything- since I am not a gamer and my only need in a graphics card is a machine that allows me to do digital video editing. It has decent specs for that, which is all I need.

What I love:
It is LIGHT, even more easy to carry around than my work laptop, which I take with me everywhere.

This laptop manages to be sleek, thin, and gorgeously designed (which is a feature about which I didn't even care, but it does make a difference to look at something beautiful while you work), while being fully functional and feeling sturdier and more rugged than other 14" laptops I have played with.

It comes with a 12 cell battery that is supposed to last for up to 9 hours- I haven't tested it for that long yet, but I played on it all night on the battery and was pleased that the screen works well even on battery power.

Some reviewers don't like the fact that the laptop battery sticks out of the bottom of the machine. However, this has the (perhaps unintentional) benefit of giving the laptop a healthy tilt when it is on a flat surface. This tilt is a built-in mechanism that ensures ample space beneath the laptop to avoid blocking the fans. Since one major cause of premature laptop death is overheating, the fact that this laptop runs cool and has a built-in laptop-cooling tilt is a selling point for me. It also puts the laptop at an angle that I (being a guy with small hands) find far more comfortable than working on a flat surface.

I love the keyboard, which is just right for small hands (roughly the same size as the average woman's hands). Some reviewers complained about the keyboard- if you have large hands, you should use an external keyboard, but it is far more comfortable typing on this machine for those of us with smaller hands. I was on this computer for seven hours last night and found my hands pain-free, which doesn't happen when I use larger keyboards.

The speakers work well for me as a music aficionado- again, gamers won't be satisfied but that's why people buy external speakers.

The screen and internal speakers deliver crisp, clear quality for home viewing of DVDs and listening to CDs.

Having read many negative reviews of Vista, I was delighted to encounter this extremely user-friendly OS. Vista Home Premium, the OS on this laptop, runs very smoothly at fast speeds on this PC. It took under 10 minutes for me to go from taking this out of the box to being online on my web site, though this may be quicker than what some others describe. After initial set-up, I am able to go from totally shut off computer to being on the web in under 5 minutes, which is better than average for most PCs. It might be around 3 minutes. Yes, you will have to play around to learn the new OS, but it doesn't take long and everybody seems to forget that people hated Windows XP when it first came out, too.

The Intel Core2Duo processor says it's only 1.5 GHz speed, but don't let that fool you. Only a gamer will notice the difference between this and the Santa Rosa procesor. For even the intensive non-gaming, all-purpose user, fast is fast, and this processor socks it to you like lightning.

I was impressed by how little bloatware came on this PC, given its low price. I uninstalled only 3 pre-loaded programs: HP Games, muvee autoProducer, and one other program that I don't plan to use. As with all laptops, I recommend removing any unwanted programs, installing antivirus and antispyware software yourself (if you work at a college or large business, your company/university may have free downoads like mine does), and defragmenting the disk to optimise (yes, I use British spelling) performance. You really don't need to buy the Geek Squad install unless you have never had a laptop. Also, make your own restore CDs using the self-explanatory "make restore CD" command (just read your manual) without paying a Geek to do it for you. Laptops no longer come with restore CDs on standard issue, but don't waste money buying one from HP or BB. Just make sure you select "include drivers" when you make the disk.

Speaking of manuals, they have lost about 100 pages since I last got a laptop manual. You will have to google or read your box for some details- not a reason to avoid buying this laptop, just something that is true of most laptops nowadays.

The very generous 250 GB HHD is not the latest solid state drive (SSD), but most laptops have components that are weaker than the SSD anyway, so it doesn't matter if your hard drive is virtually indestructible if the rest of your machine isn't. Wait a year or two for the price of SSDs ($500+ for 32GB SSD, not including any other laptop parts) to drop and the GB size to rival HHD options before you consider making the switch.

2GB of built-in DDR2 ram/667MHz at 5400 rpms is excellent for all but those demanding gamers who want 7200 rpms. Not necessary- even demanding home users who don't do gaming won't notice the minimal appreciable difference.

The webcam works far better than I expected in a laptop. It's not Hollywood quality, but again, buy an expensive external webcam if you want that. It worked very well for video conferencing in yahoo messenger. My only complaint was that movements were a bit slow, but that might be my fault for not configuring the specs properly.

I was worried that a 14" screen would be too small, but it is designed to provide satisfying video entertainment and the screen gives me as much quality as a 15.4" screen.

Port and external hardware slots are very well-designed. There are two side-by-side USB ports on the right between the DVD player- dual layer, writes DVDs and CDs, and has lightscribe- and the LED-lid power cord plug. This avoids some of the fumbling caused by having two USB ports on top of each other. Having the 2 (!) headphone jacks (in addition to the separate microphone jack) in front is very helpful. There is an additional USB port on the left side, in addition to an ExpressCard/54 PC card slot, Expansion Port 3, 5-in-1 digital media reader, etc.

The design is stunning and does make a difference to any user with aesthetic sensitivities- I found myself gazing happily at the designs in between video creations.

This computer also comes with a Roxio package and I found QuickPlay a helpful little program.

It comes with trial norton antivirus and trial windows office 2007. I downloaded Symantec antivirus and Spybot Search and Destroy from work, as well as the full package of Windows office 2003 programs from my work. (Office 2007 is incompatible with Adobe Acrobat Professional, which I need in case I'm working from home.)

The a/b/g wireless picked up 3 times more networks than my wireless work laptop. When the new 802.11 n standard is approved, possibly as early as February, most a/b/g laptop owners will be able to download an upgrade online from HP, so the current draft n on some laptops isn't worth it until the specs of actual n are decided.

Does this have built-in Bluetooth? Since this is a feature I don't use, you might want to check on that. I think so, but find out for yourself.

No built-in TV tuner, but most of us either watch on the NBC/ABC/CBS innertube web site OR have an actual tv. You can always buy a TV tuner, no big deal.

I really don't care about HDTV capacity, as the HD "revolution" has failed to take off the same way that Blu-Ray disk (which I am not sure is supported by this computer- probably not, but check for yourself) has utterly failed at replacing the DVD and CD mediums.

All in all, this is a brilliant little powerhouse that feels like a MacBook without the high price tag. Unless you are a gamer playing games that demand the most competitive specs in existence (Santa Rosa processor, NVIDIA 8100 graphics card with 512+ dedicated VRAM, 7200 rpms, harmon kardon speakers with internal subwoofer- *eyeroll*- none of which this laptop offers), there is no task that this beautiful, sturdy, and lightning fast computer can't handle.

This is an impressive deal- even a steal for the quality. While extended warranties are often rip-off attempts, if you add total accidental damange protection with next-day onsite service for up to 4 years from purchase date, you are ensuring that you will have a functional computer or its replacement for a total of 4 years, making your annual cost under $250 for this machine. The investment is well worth it.

Run, don't walk. Catch this baby while you still can.

Potentially a good computer if it didn't had Vista Ultimate 64-Bit! I found out most applications and more importantly my iPhone wasn't compatible with the pre-installed 64-bit version of Vista Ultimate. Recommend buying the Vista Home Premium 32-bit separately and download the drivers at the HP web site so that you can transfer your XP applications over to Vista. Tried doing a fresh reinstall with the recovery discs it came with to see if I had the option to install the 32-bit or just install the OS without the junk software but that's not possible. You're stuck with the unnecessary junk they installed for you unless you manually uninstall them or like I said buying Vista Home Premium 32-bit separately. The built-in web cam and microphone is nice and the sleek shiny casing will turn heads. The fingerprint reader is buggy. The audio jacks are awkwardly positioned up front so if you're using this as a desktop replacement and you're trying to connect external speakers it will be hard to hide the audio jack that's being plugged in. The 4GB of RAM is plenty but the hard drive is at 5400RPMS. If hard drive speed isn't a factor for you then you won't notice it. Wireless A/G/N receiver is very strong and fast. Lastly, be careful when you close the laptop. The monitor just snaps down like a spring loaded flip cellphone. Laptop will be great in the future when most applications and peripherals will adopt the 64-bit OS.

This is my first Laptop and it's a fantastic one.

My 3 year old desktop was dragging along slowly and it's nice to feel back in the fast lane with some fast multi-tasking.

The case has a cool special edition look, but the important stuff is in the specs. I checked out a bunch of laptops before choosing this one and this one had the perfect balance of everything I was looking for:

2 GB RAM
5400 rpm hard drive (most had 4200)
Huge 250 hard drive
12 cell longer life batter (why does spec above say "6 cell"?)

I originally was looking for an Intel, so the AMD processor was the only thing I compromised on - and so far, so good.

Linking up to my also-new wireless router at home was a snap.

I haven't tested the battery life as yet.

My only disappointment has nothing to do with this HP - it was realizing some of my XP programs are not compatible with Vista and I don't feel like spending a couple hundred bucks at the moment on newer versions so I'll be using my ol' HP desktop for those programs. I know I will wind up upgrading since I love this laptop.

I received this laptop as a christmas present from my family. (needless to say i was ecstatic). Being a gamer i was a little bummed that it was a vista operating system. I thought it would be a good idea just to load an old XP prof. cd on it... BAD IDEA!

Microsoft and HP created a laptop that doesn't support XP very well. It took us a few days to search down drivers that would work (and by work i mean... barely function at times.) Anyway so after a few days of frustratingly fighting with the wireless card, reinstalling various sound drivers, and all around annoyance with HP and Microsoft i caved and called for a vista recovery disk ($28 buck with "next day" shipping...)After a trying experience with an outsourced call center where my CSRep. had me repeat everything i said 5 times... i now expect the cd(s) to arrive in 4 days...

I'm disappointed about with the OS, but other then that I'm very pleased with all the features on this laptop. If you don't mind Vista I'd probably recommend this notebook to you.

(seriously don't try to downgrade to xp with this machine. You'll only get your heart broken)

HP has very poor service. Be prepared to spend plenty of time on hold with people that have little technical knowledge. You will be dealing with support on a different continent. They are friendly, but not very knowledgeable and have not been taught to take initiative on resolving problems. Their first is suggestion will be to try to reformat your disk. I've spent hours on the phone with HP service and twice was told a case manager would call me on the next business day. A month later, no one has called.

I returned my laptop to HP for repair when it wouldn't charge or hold a charge. I was informed by HP that the faulty charger was NOT covered by warranty and the fault was considered "accidental damage" ... HP offered to replace the "accidental damage" faulty charger for $315.88. I was both surprised and upset to find out that the HP external charger that was purchased with the HP laptop was not under warranty. HP is replacing the battery (under warranty) but NOT the charger??

I bought this notebook on black friday of 2007. I paid $1499 for it, and given that it was delivered to California, no sales tax was involved, so that was a major plus right there.

The good:
*It's got a great design and it is very sleek and nice-looking
*I like the fact that it came with the webcam, speakers, mic, wireless, bluetooth, a good video card, a decent processor, 250 GB HDD, and the bonus - 4 GB of RAM!!! I also chose this because Intel processors do not seem to have the same problem as Athlon ones with the wireless dying after a few months of use.
*It is very fast and will give you a run for your money.
*Great for multi-tasking
*Fast to power on, at least compared to my old machine
*The webcam quality is -superb- for a built-in cam.

The bad:
*In order for the 4 GB to be put to use, you have to have Win Vista Ultimate... Which stinks. There are very few programs that can be used with Windows Vista, even now over a year after it's launch, and on top of that, this is a 64-bit version, so it reduces the options even more.
I guess my complaint is not with the machine, but with HP's decision to embrace Win Vista so fully and with such speed, because now HP users are being turned into beta-testers for the great-looking but poor-performing Win Vista.
*Power connector tends to be a little on the flimsy side, and it is soldered to the Motherboard, so you have to be VERY careful with it
*The plugs for the headphone and mic jacks are on the front of the notebook

The Ugly:
*The webcam keeps dying once you power off after each video conference, but that is a problem with Win Vista and not HP. As I said, we're Microsoft's beta-testers for their new OS.

Additional comments:

Due to the strain placed on the processor by Vista, I highly recommend getting a notebook cooling base in order to avoid having the processor overheating and having the fans on all the time. Sure, exchanging internal for external fans doesn't sound to make much sense because that's what the internal fans are there for, right? But trust me, you'll thank me later because it will give your notebook an extended lifespan because overheating causes the processor to die over time. I bought Vantec LapCool-2 Dual Fan Notebook Cooler with Built-in -Port USB 2.0 Hub and it works like a charm, and you're able to power it either by USB (included) or with an external power adapter (not included, at least not in my package)

Also bought Belkin 15-Inch Messenger Bag (Chocolate/Tourmaline) and the Belkin Neoprene Notebook Sleeve for 15.4-Inch Laptop (F8N048-RL). The notebook fits in the bag WITH the sleeve on and there's even room left over for the cooler. The bag also comes with VERY nice padding and a separate "sleeve" for the power adapter, so you don't have to worry about the cables becoming all tangled up. It's also got loads of extra pockets to keep everything you might want in there, including an mp3 or iPod player holder in the front pocket.

Well, I probably would have liked this laptop but the Synaptics touchpad didn't work properly. I couldn't turn off tapping or configure it. I installed several new drivers, reviewed user messages on the HP forum, called tech support and ended up returning it and getting a refund. I'm going to buy a Toshiba Tecra instead.

Also, the HP support message board on their web site is absolutely awful. I've never seen such a poor message board (down a lot, posted messages disappear, search is awful) and lack of vendor participation to help solve problems.

This is a great laptop, but only if you are going to use it on windows operative systems. If you are planning(like I was) to install some other SO like LINUX, do not buy this laptop. All distributions I've tried didn't recognize the hardware(Wireless, Videocard, etc).

Also, HP do not provide drivers for windows XP, So you are stuck with windows vista, and everybody knows that is not a good thing, and if for some reason you formatted the hard drive and deleted the recovery image, You are in troubles because HP do not provide restore CD anymore. You have to buy one from them (U$s 15).

The overall performance for this laptop is good, even with windows vista. It came whit a great amount of RAM/Disk space for the price.

Hopefully in some time the hardware will be compatible with some linux distos...