15 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
First Laptop Experience -- HP
Date of Review: Feb 9, 2008
The Bottom Line: Great for students or teens or for those who prefer a light gaming system with DVD entertainment included
As a student, obtaining a laptop was my ultimate goal earlier last year so that I could take notes faster in class, plus have access to a computer on the go in order to keep up with my homework. So I set out to get what I thought would be the ultimate "toy" that would help with not only homework, but on the road entertainment with a DVD player and a carry-with-me machine which houses the Sims families I play with on a regular basis.
After several days of researching the HP machines amongst the Sonys and several other brands I hadn't heard of before, I settled on the HP DV6626US PC Notebook. The attraction of the glossy black case was soon as disappointment as fingerprints would illuminate on the glossy background. The 15.4 widescreen to watch DVDs on was nice until fingerprints became embedded into the screen. The Core 2 Duo processor does give you definite fast play when you load up the 1 gig of hard drive space with multiple downloads for your Sim families. I actually never had a lagging problem at all when playing the Sims, which uses up 18 gigs of my hard drive space! The HP DV6626US model has a DVD/CD burner which I loved, but it worried me because when making back-ups of personal DVDs or CDs, the burner would make loud noises, sort of like a jet plan preparing for take off!
Overall? It is a nice laptop, I don't really have any complaints outside the finger print issues. The wireless internet card makes it easy to take with you to college that is wifi and I've even had it at a bar that was wifi, lol, but no problems there. Although it doesn't have a built-in webcam, connecting one to it is simple to do and talking on Yahoo phone is no problem as it has a built-in microphone. This laptop is definitely a portable entertainment system! I used AUX jacks and plugged it into my home stereo when using iTunes and it sounds as if I have a stereo component playing instead of my laptop. This option however caused problems as the jacks plug in on the front of the laptop and if you're holding it on a regular basis, the cords eventually get tired of rubbing against your body and short out.
Other minor problems I had would be the laptop getting extremely hot. I solved this by buying a lap desk made for laptops. I'd have to shut it completely down at night so that it wouldn't overheat while I was asleep.
The MAJOR problem is exactly one month before my warranty expires? My laptop is now on it's way to the HP repair service as the graphics card went out. It left without mercy, flickered for a day, and the next day, it wouldn't come on at all. I'll be sure to update this review if need be, assuming I hope not to have any problems after the return of my laptop, but I've seen negative feedback on this level, so we shall see.
For students, I would recommend this laptop. For hardcore gamers, I would suggest something more than this particular model or even this brand period. Alienware makes great gaming systems, but that's another review at another time.
