HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx
The design looks and feels great. The lid and keyboard deck are covered in dark-brown brushed aluminum. With minimum, somewhat subtle branding ; consisting mostly of a backlit logo on the bottom right corner of the lid and a small one positioned on the speaker bar above the keyboard. The back is covered with matte, black plastic, and the area around the screen is also covered with glossy black plastic.
Design
The HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx isn’t really recommended for traveling, with its 17.3-inch LCD and nice cell extended life battery, meaning this device is fairly heavy and would probably be best to keep on a table most of the time.
The keyboard with full number pad is sizeable, quiet, and comfortable and offers quick response. The keyboard isn’t blacklit, instead, the touch pad is rimmed in light which can be switched off by hitting the Fn key plus the spacebar. The touch pad is also large, giving you the possibility of multitouch gestures such as two finger scrolling or pinch zoom and has separate right and left mouse buttons. The screen brightness adjustment, wireless on/off, media and volume controls are mapped to function keys as opposed to discrete buttons, but there is however a quick launch button for a web browser and a fingerprint reader that makes use of HP’s SimplePress software.
The laptop boasts a 17,3 inch LED blacklit display with a 1600×900 pixels resolution which is good enough to support 720 HD playback, but not good enough for full HD(fact which might diminish this device’s appeal as a multimedia system). The screen is also very bright and has good color and contrast, not to mention that off angle viewing is also good. Unfortunately, the screen is also a little reflective, which is something that may be an issue to some.
Positioned under the screen, at the top of the keyboard are the laptop’s stereo speakers and in the laptops bottom side you can find a triple bass subwoofer. Even if they won’t blow you away, the speakers sound good and sound quality is also boosted by the onboard Beats Audio.
Features
The HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx is available in a number of component configurations, and you can always check out HP’s site and build one that can satisfy your needs. With a solid configuration, the 750GB hard drive offers a good amount of space for storage, even if it spins at a slow 5400rpm. Equipped 8GB of system memory and Core i5 processor and integrated graphics.
Performance
The dv7-6b55dx’s biggest issue regarding performance is its integrated graphics that just don’t have the power to handle complex tasks such as demanding games, or complicated photo and video editing.Batterylife is great, at around 8 hours and 30 minutes.
Pros
The Pavilion dv7-6b55dx is a well designed laptop with a sizeable screen, long battery life that offers great performance for the money.
Cons
The laptop’s resolution is too low considering the screen size and as tests show, the integrated graphics offer less than impressive performance.
Review Conclusion
If you’re looking for a laptop with a large screen that can satisfy your work and play needs, the dv7-6b55dx would be a good choice.
Specs
- Manufacturer: HP
- Processor: Intel 2nd Gen Core i5 i5-2430M
- RAM: 8 GB
- Hard Drive: 750 GB
- Display Type: 17 in
- Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000
- Dimensions (WD): 16.4 x 10.8 inches
- Height: 1.4 inches
bongart
If the laptop comes with Intel HD Graphics 3000, no ExpressCard slot, and a poor resolution choice for the screen size, how can this laptop be classified as “good” for work AND play? It obviously can’t satisfy “play” needs, since it cannot provide the performance necessary with this particular integrated video chipset. Yes, I realize that “play” needs will vary. Without an ExpressCard slot, the expansion capabilities are limited… how can one use it for “work”, if their work requires FireWire, for example? Normally, one could simply add a Firewire card. Not with this laptop though.
Face it. This laptop is a websurfing, Multimedia device. It is not made for gaming, and it is made for light office work only.
Andrew
I saw somewhere the list of games that “Intel HD Graphics 3000″ can easily handle, and believe me there are many of them. Anyways, I am getting this notebook firstly cause it’s cheap but it doesn’t look “cheap”.Secondly for its parameters mentioned above.
Though I would love to read someone’s “experienced” review on it, since I read same lines in each review.
Michael
one thing for sure: horrible graphics
second: not recommend to PC gamers
third: this laptop is for work and listening to music
finally: graphics card can’t be upgraded since it’s a integrated one
PC GAMERS NEVER BUY THIS
Zach
A good word to describe this computer… JUNK.
Bad graphics, and problems all around!
-Sometimes the brightness/volume adjustment will not work.
-Wireless internet button will not turn on from time to time.
-My Itunes will NOT work, no matter what I try. The program closes upon starting.
-The touchpad does not scroll upon startup. I have to go to my mouse preferences and re-enable it in order to make it work properly.
-I keep getting a pop up that says one of my usb ports is not recognized. I’ve made numerous attempts to fix it, but nothing works.
-My logon menu upon start up will go blank frequently, and I have to hard restart the computer.
-My webcam AND internal mic are not recognized! Ive updated them, disabled and re-enabled them and nothing works.
I bought this computer in November 2011. Two months later I have experienced all these problems. This product is nothing but an embarrassment to HP, and I will be returning this computer in a couple of days. Heed my warning. DO NOT BUY HP! You will be incredibly disappointed!
murdock
I have been using this laptop 3 weeks now. I am running adobe cs5.5 suites mostly using premiere pro, photoshop cs5.5, indesign and lightroom… i have had no issues at all with the video card. I have upgraded from 8gb to 16gb of memory but in way of the video card i have not had any issues with it thus far
Deena
I love this laptop! Infact I’m using it right now
The look of the computer is really good, the speakers are even better (thanks Dr. Dre!) and the graphics are really not that bad. And if the gamers that are true gamers stop posting negative reviews for this reason, HP is not a gaming computer company, it’s universal. So with that being said don’t expect a Cyberpower or Digital Strom preformance from an HP. Personaly, I would recomend this computer for non serious gamers and college students like myself, even as a at home office computer for adults. Overall this UNIVERSAL computer is great <3
mark look
the hp is good but the graphic is not good for gaming at all.pls upgrade it
Chayapoth
17.3! inch!!!! its ridicules for a laptop(its bad for mobility because of its size and weight)……..laptop should minimum sized…..then we can call it laptop…….Today I experienced some hardware malfunctions of my friend’s HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx ……some Function key and Fn key issues………otherwise its performance is good enough for simple tasks and normal gamers.Windows 7 User experience’s Processor calculation rating is good enough (7.0 of 7.9) for 8 hrs of battery backup.Except the ridicules size its a good Laptop.