I waited for the quad cores to come out before buying a new laptop. I would appreciate some feedback on this HP DV6t.

It's in my price range and I'm pretty sure it's a decent buy, any thoughts or advice before I click the buy button?


Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M Processor (2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz)
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 630M Graphics with 1GB of dedicated video memory
FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
FREE Upgrade to 640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
No additional security software
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
Backlit Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


814.00 + Tax Includes Shipping

Looks okay to me.

I'm not sure quite what your first sentence meant, but in case there's any misunderstanding: that CPU is a dual-core. Otherwise it looks like a good all-around computer.

one thing sticks out to me but it may or may not matter. with 6GB RAM (2 DIMMs) you're getting (1) 4GB module and (1) 2GB module. i'm not sure if they will run in dual-channel mode being different sizes. if they don't, then theoretically you would get lower performance having the 2GB extra RAM (assuming you're not actively using more than 4GB). probably not really significant either way, but it stuck out.

See, this is why I ask, I thought for sure all Ivy Bridge processors were quad core.

Yea, this seemed weird to me too. They're giving an extra 2 for free but charging 50 bucks for an extra four.

Basically it's a moot point since thankfully Gonso pointed out that the processor isn't a quad.

Back to the drawing board and thanks for the feedback.

The (mobile) quad-core Ivy Bridge chips are all i7s, with model numbers that end in "QM" The 3610QM and 3612QM are most common, the 12 uses 10w less and is a small bit slower.

Running an asynchronous RAM setup such as a 4+2 will still operate in dual channel in today's chipsets, but not quite as well as having two sticks of the same capacity. If you see a PC you like with 6GB RAM I wouldn't worry about it at all.