HP Pavilion dv6, HDX 16 and more see updates, rumors
By Donald Melanson 
posted Apr 8th 2009 1:16PM
posted Apr 8th 2009 1:16PM
In the market for an HP laptop? Then it looks like your buying decision just got a tad tougher, with another round of official and not quite official announcements affecting four more models among the company's many offerings. Those include the dv6 (pictured above), which is now available with lower-cost Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 or Core 2 Duo T6400 processors and ATI Mobility Radeon HD4530 or HD4650 graphics, and the considerably higher-end HDX 16, which gets a boost in the graphics department courtesy of NVIDIA's GeForce GT 130M GPU with 1GB of on-board RAM. What's more, while HP isn't saying anything about it just yet, Notebook Italia seems pretty sure that the 18.4-inch HDX 18 will also be getting a similar graphics upgrade in the coming days. Lastly, it seems that the 17-inch Pavilion dv7 laptop has also seen a mild update in the form of the dv7-2000, which now packs ATI's latest Mobility Radeon HD4000 series graphics, and a Core 2 Quad Q9000 processor on the top-end configuration.
Read - Notebook Italia, HP Pavilion dv6, HDX 16, HDX 18
Read - Notebook Italia, HP Pavilion dv7
Read - Notebook Italia, HP Pavilion dv6, HDX 16, HDX 18
Read - Notebook Italia, HP Pavilion dv7
I LOVE HP!! this is one mega-awesome laptop!!! =D
HPs look better than Dells. HP also allows more costumezation.
@ Seaurchin
You can't find any clown outfits for your Dell?
I'm not impressed at all by the dv6 laptop - sure, it has pretty good specs, but the user interface leaves a lot to be desired. All the touch interfaces become a horror to work with even if it's slightly humid or your fingers get ever so slightly sweaty. I found the layout of the keyboard highly unintuitive, constantly groping around to find the right key after typing a word or two off-center. Although there is a numpad, it wasn't all that useful because its different sizing and key response made it rather easy to miss keys. The media controls at the top also had the touch problem, btw - and the volume control was kind of laggy at times.
@SeaUrchin
Totally agree! HP laptops are sexy, I'm just waiting for W7 to pull the trigger.
If I'm not mistaken, W7 should be hitting stores within the next few months..
"What's more, while HP isn't saying anything about it just yet . . ."
Check the US HP website. These options/updates are already available for purchase/customization.
That's pretty cool, but I am not impressed with HP's quality...
really? hmm I always thought HP had better build quality than others, I found them to be better than dell at least, although I'm sure Dell have picked up their game since laptops have become more popular. I guess it's good to have all the options to choose from.
I'm debating about an HP or a Dell Studio XPS, or a Dell XPS (if my budget shrinks). What are people's thoughts? Build quality?
The Studio XPS 16's RGB LED 1080p screen should be vastly better, especially with regards to colors. However, the hdx16 has a better graphics card in the 130M, probably 20-30% better.
Regarding the HDX 16, the GT130m is hardly an upgrade from the 9600m GT... it's primarily just a rebrand with no noticeable improvement in performance.
True. The difference is a drop from a 65nm to 55nm process, and a slight shader clock bump (1200 -> 1500). I haven't seen a review yet, but the 150M (9800M GS refresh) would likely be decently better.
Has engadget been getting slower? All of these updated notebooks have been out for weeks... THIS IS OLD NEWS.
I believe this article is pointing out the updates, not the actual release of the notebooks themselves.
still wouldnt it be... idk smarter? to post this when they first showed up lol
CJ its clear engadget had no idea GT130 was already out for weeks for the hp HDX
these updates already happened longtime ago "GT130 CARD"
I don't know why manufacturers are still sticking nvidia on the mobile side. nvidia has been an embarrassment with all of their issues and renaming schemes.
because even some of the non tech-savvy people might've heard about nvidia, and they aren't educated on these embarrassments that we are experts on.
For the HP HDX 18t, HP has offered the Nvidia 1GB GT 130M for a couple of weeks now or more. But they still offer the 512MB Nvidia 9600M GT as an option, too.
I'm looking to purchase one of these HDX 18t's, but I've been waiting for HP to bump off the 9600M, and then add (along with the 130M) Nvidia's GT 280M graphics card. The 130M just isn't good enough for that machine - it's a mediocre 128-bit card. I want to see a 256-bit card (and something more powerful overall) in the 18t.
HP has always placed mediocre graphics in their flagship laptops and I could never understand that. They've gotten just about everything right in the 18t, except for graphics. It's not as if they have an upline that would be cannibalized if they did the 18t justice with a top-end graphics card, so I don't know why they don't just go for it and give the 18t the best Nvidia or ATI has to offer.
I want some serious graphics power in this thing! C'mon, HP!
Oh, and speaking of upgrades, add a WiMAX option, too.
Dude don't waste time with waiting for a better GPU for the HDX18, this laptop is actually not heavy and its slim compared to other Gaming 18.4 Laptops like Asus W90 and etc
GT280M(9800GTX~) or GT260M (9800GT~) Will NEVER be available for the HDX18 because first of all Both of these GPU are 75WATT while the GT130M is less than 25WATT usage so unless HP make the cooling better for the HDX18 which will result on a bigger and more expensive coolers don't expect them to come
HP Laptops is for mainstream they will not compromise the whole HDX18 series by making it bigger and more expensive for gamers sake
However it would be nice if HP made a laptop for Gamers (Gaming laptops always do all other things right too) but 1920x1080 screen with 9600GT~ is not cutting it (running games on 1024x768 for decent frame rate on 1920x1080 is gonna look ugly)
And wiimax is coming at the end of the year (Sep~) for Core i7 Mobile it gonna be built it with intel platform for many new laptops~
Thanks for the feedback.
Not sure if you'll read this or not, but if you do, what's your opinion of the 1GB GT 130M running on a 1080p screen? I'd also be running a Q9100 Quad-core. I'm sure it would be acceptable, but being that it's a 128-bit card, it seems there would be quite a bottleneck for all that memory.
Sadly it wont be acceptable running on 1920x1080 but it would be amazing GPU for 1280x800 resolution
Another problem with GT 130M is that it doesn't have PhysX unless its on SLI which the HDX18 doesn't offer
Check this link for more info about the card
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-130M.13789.0.html
I say wait for the GeForce GTS 150M/160M Nvidia announced them a month ago and they are coming soon
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/03/nvidia-intros-geforce-gtx-280m-260m-and-gts-160m-150m-laptop/
And GTS 160M/150m is possible for slim laptops unlike GTX280M
1920X1080 Resolution = High End = You need High end card "GTS 160M is High end card
1280x800 = Mid range = GT 130M is mid range card
Hey, thanks again...
I understand what you're saying and it provides me with further insight... looking more at the 160M, I believe that card would serve my needs and wants.
Closely comparing both the 280 and the 160, the cards are virtually identical in specs, except the 280 of course has double the core engine power of the 160 (twice the proc cores, gigaflops, and texture fill rate). Although I can't speak of the 160's real world performance, the comparison specs would never lead me to believe that the 160 is a mediocre card. I'd be surprised if it couldn't drive most of the games out there with satisfying performance.
Hopefully, HP will add the 160, but whatever happens, I'll hold out for something better than the 130. My belief is that they won't support the 9600 much longer and a new addition is on the way, but time will tell.
Hi, don't want to throw the cat amongst the pidgeons, but from the whole fiasco with he 7&8 series of mobile Nvidia GPU's in HP laptops, I would advise anyone thinking of buying an HP to stay clear.
When they work, theyre great, but the technical support is shoddy. They managed to lose the unit twice in their repair centre, and then turned the blame on me,and when I got it back, I found that they've done a sub standard job i.e. not fitting the monitor bezel back on properly. Poor show.
I recently purchased the HDX 18 and the tech support is great. HDX owners get a special HDX only tech support number they call and the agents are all great and very helpful. None of it is outside North America (all the agents I got were in Canada).