DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

HP 6516TX - The computer is personal again

110 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/hp-6516tx-the-computer-is-personal-again.64959/

iMav
iMav Original post #1
Aug 7, 2007 at 9:14 PM
The HP 6516TX specs are amazing on paper and for 58k ithink its a good buy .... first the machine core:

Widescreen 15" - 1280x800 reso
2 GB RAM
C2D 1.5 GHz
160 GB HDD
GeForce 8400 GS - 128 MB

Now some addons which are really cool multimedia features ...

The Quickplay Controls ...

these are touch sensitive tap-buttons which are quick and easy access to the QuickPlay Menu (quick Play is kinda HP's Media Centre),

then the keys have access to Play, Pause, Next, Previous and volume ....

the volume control is kinda cool ... slide ur finger to the right the volume increases slide in the other direction volume decreases

After that this baby has a finger print scanner which allows u to lock ur lappy to ur finger (this is kinda really cool to play with ... feels like MI-3)

Then i get a dual layer dvd writer (which i still have to try)

HDMI output port (another good feature i feel - future secure)

2 USB ports, 1 fire wire port, 1 external monitor connector, expandable slot, Memory card reader PCMI express slot

Now the Wi-Fi and bluetooth features are also there and u have a slider which allows u to turn on or off the wireless features

The mouse pad has a unique feature ... it has a button which when u press the mouse pad is dis-abled -the clicks, scrolls and mouse is dis-abled

Blue neon lights .... this is something adds to the sex appeal of the notebook .... the quickplay controls i was talking about earlier have this blue neon light glowing below them, the charger input on the right has a circular light surrounding the slot where u connect the charger

Integrated Camera and mic ... again really and this my friends is the only draw-back this machine has ... the camera is a VGA camera, the mic has a good range u dont need o go too close to the screen ...

WEI is 3.1 thanx to the 8400GS

and it comes bundled with Home premium and using ultimate on 512 mb and then this on 2gb is like an amazing feeling ... using vista is so cool on this baby

Now comes my personal favorite the Multimedia Remote .... yes i have access to complete multimedia features in my palm .... the remote is filled with featres ... it is blakc and gray and has all buttons in black except the Windows Media Centre launcher which is in Green and the remote looks kick a$$ coz of this green button ... the remote can launch quickplay menu, windows media centre and u browse play pause everything from the remote, the remote also has the shut down button ... hit it the baby hibernates and hit it again the monster awakens (yes hit the button when machine off it springs back to action)

It also has 2 headset connectors along with a mic connector in the front

PS: im arranging the images and will upload em asap ...
gxsaurav
Aug 7, 2007 at 9:29 PM
iMav said:
Widescreen 15" - 1280x800 reso
2 GB RAM
C2D 1.5 GHz
160 GB HDD
GeForce 8400 GS - 128 MB

Not bad, will match a 3 GHz P4 easily in performance. 8400GS is a sweet add on for Vista.

The Quickplay Controls ...

these are touch sensitive tap-buttons which are quick and easy access to the QuickPlay Menu (quick Play is kinda HP's Media Centre),

then the keys have access to Play, Pause, Next, Previous and volume ....

the volume control is kinda cool ... slide ur finger to the right the volume increases slide in the other direction volume decreases

Trust me guys, u have to use it to believe it. Feels like Minority report.:D

After that this baby has a finger print scanner which allows u to lock ur lappy to ur finger (this is kinda really cool to play with ... feels like MI-3)

Ultimate in security.

HDMI output port (another good feature i feel - future secure)

Unfortunately, some ***boys who spends 3 times more money can't enjoy Real HD on there laptops :D

PCMI express slot

U sure? isn't it PCMCIA Slot

The mouse pad has a unique feature ... it has a button which when u press the mouse pad is dis-abled -the clicks, scrolls and mouse is disabled

Nice

Blue neon lights .... this is something adds to the sex appeal of the notebook .... the quickplay controls i was talking about earlier have this blue neon light glowing below them, the charger input on the right has a circular light surrounding the slot where u connect the charger

the camera is a VGA camera

Its made for chatting etc. VGA resolution is good enough.

Which OS r u using? Bundled Home premium or ultimate?
iMav
iMav #3
Aug 7, 2007 at 9:36 PM
ya sorry its the PCMCIA ...

OS: home premium
Cam: most other laptops have 1.3 mp cams even some cheaper hp notebooks have 1.3 mp cam
Ankur Gupta
Aug 7, 2007 at 11:09 PM
Thanx a lot for the review...
Your review makes me more inclined to buy this one...
Also could you run a few tests to gauge the actual strength of this monster...
Waiting eagerly for the pics!!
iMav
iMav #5
Aug 8, 2007 at 12:00 AM
^^ ah the tests ... yup il do those 2moro ...

and dont pin ur hopes on the pix coz they are gonna be from my 6600 :)
T
Aug 8, 2007 at 11:08 AM
iMav said:
The Quickplay Controls ...
these are touch sensitive tap-buttons which are quick and easy access to the QuickPlay Menu (quick Play is kinda HP's Media Centre),
then the keys have access to Play, Pause, Next, Previous and volume ....
the volume control is kinda cool ... slide ur finger to the right the volume increases slide in the other direction volume decreases
The Quickplay Control is really cool to work with, so is the Finger print security system.
iMav said:
2 USB ports, 1 fire wire port, 1 external monitor connector, expandable slot, Memory card reader PCMI express slot
small correction, I think, It has got 3 USB ports.

iMav said:
The mouse pad has a unique feature ... it has a button which when u press the mouse pad is dis-abled -the clicks, scrolls and mouse is dis-abled
There is but one problem with the mouse pad, not so major though, on prolonged use (of about an hour or so) it gets sticky !!

DV6516 configuration is one of the best in market now.... and it rocks...
Choto Cheeta
Aug 8, 2007 at 11:18 AM
Tell me, Same config can come with Dell 1520 (modified) tooo, as price would be same i guess...

What would be ur Choise ??
T
Aug 8, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Choto Cheeta said:
Tell me, Same config can come with Dell 1520 (modified) tooo, as price would be same i guess...

What would be ur Choise ??
Glad that you brough this point out.... Well i did considered DELL option before going for HP. A lot of research into this went by for deciding on HP or DELL. The same config when i tried out in DELL it was almost as same as HP if not less. So it was not cost that made me to go for HP.

And also the services they provide are at par(though the mode is different). Both are reputed companies and have both encouraging and horror stories about their services. No one can say ones services is better than the other or they offer better product than the other. After all the machine is defined by its configuration than its tag name. Its more or less like going for Intel processor or AMD.

I believe, most of you will agree, that HP has got a lot better looks and style than DELL. And that's one of the main reason i went for HP, atleast you will like to have a good looking machine when u pay around 50K;). Its not that HP machines gives you more than what DELL can in terms of performances, or vice versa. Its just a personal choice between them and a bit of homework before(this is really needed)you choose between them.

TechHunter.
Ankur Gupta
Aug 8, 2007 at 5:37 PM
Choto Cheeta said:
Tell me, Same config can come with Dell 1520 (modified) tooo, as price would be same i guess...

What would be ur Choice ??

Well as of now Dell costs more in my city that is Delhi...
A few things you should have a look before deciding on one:
1)Do you need a better gfx card than 8400GS??
2)Do you need a better processor than intel C2D T5250?
3)Do looks matter to you a lot?
4)How is after sales-support of both companies in your city?(its almost same in major cities)
Well answers to these questions is what separates the two...

@iMav
Borrow a good camera frm someone or do watever but please upload some good,clear close up pics of the lappy!!
Choto Cheeta
Aug 8, 2007 at 5:38 PM
@ankurgupta.me

well, Gaurav (Tary_G) bought one 1520 at Rs. 53k (incl tax shiping and that all) with 1 GB DDR-II incl 8600 GT, so i suppose Dell with this same config will definatlly come under Rs. 58k

and i dont understand ur question apart from the looks one...

as I asked for the same config :p
iMav
iMav #11
Aug 8, 2007 at 5:44 PM
no, there is a huge cost difference in the same config now and gaurav's config when he purchased it, it has become more costly now .... besides with hp u get a tv tuner card (which i have to still procure) and a reliance data card ;)
koolbluez
koolbluez #12
Aug 8, 2007 at 5:45 PM
almost similar to my lappie.. xcept that i've a bigger & better screen.. but this one has a newer DX10 GPU...
*img354.imageshack.us/img354/263/uploadtv8.th.jpg​
iMav
iMav #13
Aug 8, 2007 at 5:49 PM
^^ yup and finger print scanner

PS: tv tuner card will come in 2 months and reliance data card depends when anil ambani decides to give it ... crap :x
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #14
Aug 8, 2007 at 6:12 PM
iMav said:
^^ yup and finger print scanner
Thats one reason I would prefer HP over dell

tv tuner card will come in 2 months and reliance data card depends when anil ambani decides to give it ... crap :x
'

lolz...
tarey_g
tarey_g #15
Aug 8, 2007 at 6:42 PM
pics pics pics :D
Ankur Gupta
Aug 8, 2007 at 6:43 PM
Choto Cheeta said:
@ankurgupta.me

well, Gaurav (Tary_G) bought one 1520 at Rs. 53k (incl tax shiping and that all) with 1 GB DDR-II incl 8600 GT, so i suppose Dell with this same config will definatlly come under Rs. 58k

and i dont understand ur question apart from the looks one...

as I asked for the same config :p

Well as iMav pointed out that right now there is quite a big difference in the price between the two so HP wins hands down at the moment...
And if you looking at same config on both then looks and after-service support comes into picture...
If you have flexible budget then the first two questions have relevance...
iMav
iMav #17
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:14 AM
update:

wei score automatically increased to 3.4 it said new hardware found and then when i refreshed my wei score it increased to 3.4 and ya it has 3 usb ports i found the third 1 next to the charger connector
infra_red_dude
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:21 AM
hdmi and fingerprint scanner are somethings what this lappy scores over most of the lappies in that range :)

also, the pcmcia standard is obsolete now. that slot is called as "express card" the cards are now almost quarter the size of pcmcia cards (16bit) and half the size of card bus cards (32bit).

regarding the cam, do check it out again. one of my frenz bought this lappy. he said its 1.3mp.
iMav
iMav #19
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:24 AM
also the quickplay menu and remote control are really cool advantages ... over the dell offcourse

i confused the jargons ... the lappy has:

express card slot ... gx kya kaan fuse kara hai yaar ...
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #20
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:26 AM
iMav said:
update:

wei score automatically increased to 3.4 it said new hardware found and then when i refreshed my wei score it increased to 3.4 and ya it has 3 usb ports i found the third 1 next to the charger connector
Did u reinstalled ?

& You said PCMCIA, I have never seen this lappy how would I know it has express card
infra_red_dude
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:28 AM
dunno why, mebbe its the drivers. do check out the best drivers for ur 8400gs card. try out all thats available and decide on the best. my sis' lappy has the same card wid same memory (dell 1420) but it gets a consistant 3.8 rating for it in windows experience.
iMav
iMav #22
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:29 AM
no i didnt re-install .... i updated vista and jus now chked that it downloaded updated drivers .... infra which drivers is she using did she dwnld em from nvidia site ???

freakin sh!t game performances have increased like helll ..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fifa 07 with everything max is running like a breeze
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #23
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:35 AM
iMav said:
no i didnt re-install

Actually, U don't really need to. Just uninstall everything u don't need & clean the temp & residual files. Its a cumborsome task but u won't have to re-install.

freakin sh!t game performances have increased like helll ..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fifa 07 with everything max is running like a breeze

Welcome to running Windows Vista with 2 GB RAM :D
infra_red_dude
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:36 AM
nope, nothing. i'm the one who'll be doing all the housekeeping work for her lappy ;) and i hafnt updated. its using the stock drivers out of the box. jus experiment wid different drivers - stock, modded... everthing. i'm sure the rating will increase from the present 3.4.

@gx
pcmcia has been obsolete since a long long time. it was cardbus that was existant all these dayz and the express card has superseded it since the past few months.
iMav
iMav #25
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:37 AM
hmmm ... will have to research this now ...
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #26
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:38 AM
Check laptopvideo2go for Drivers for Laptop graphics cards
infra_red_dude
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:42 AM
one thing i don't understand is why is hp/dell not shipping the intel 4965 wifi card (802.11n). its the std. everywhere out now. why are we left out??!!!
iMav
iMav #28
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:50 AM
1 thing i dont understnd is y the hell are drivers not proper
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #29
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:52 AM
iMav said:
1 thing i dont understnd is y the hell are drivers not proper

For what?
iMav
iMav #30
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:53 AM
my display card ... hey infra a small favor please ... could u tell me which version of drivers is there ... else i think il have to dwnld frm nvidia :(
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #31
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:58 AM
iMav said:
my display card ... hey infra a small favor please ... could u tell me which version of drivers is there ... else i think il have to dwnld frm nvidia :(

Check laptopvideo2go.com & download drivers from there.

Check guru3d.com for latest beta drivers of nVidia.
iMav
iMav #32
Aug 9, 2007 at 1:05 AM
laptopvideo has 165.01 (w/o WHQL) as latest and nvidia site has 162 :confused:
infra_red_dude
Aug 9, 2007 at 1:09 AM
ok, i'll check that out and report. you never know, mebbe dell tweaks the driver for their hardware. try hp's site. see if that sht latest. look into their forums as to which drivers gives more performance.

since these drivers are not supported by the gfx card companies, the lappy manufacturers do a lot of tweaking.
Gigacore
Gigacore #34
Aug 9, 2007 at 8:57 AM
nice review
infra_red_dude
Aug 9, 2007 at 12:55 PM
check these sites for optimised nvidia drivers. experiment wid all. one of them will surely suit ur config. you may also try downloading the latest one from hp's site. they apply some specific optimisation to their product drivers.

1) *www.omegadrivers.net/nvidia.php
2) *downloads.guru3d.com/
3) *www.ngohq.com/
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #36
Aug 9, 2007 at 1:17 PM
These should work fine for your card

*downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1700
iMav
iMav #37
Aug 9, 2007 at 6:41 PM
hmmm ... tahnx will chk em outand let u know ... :) thanx again

@intel_gigacore thank u
tarey_g
tarey_g #38
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:00 PM
abe , post some pics
iMav
iMav #39
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:14 PM
the remote ctrl:

*img516.imageshack.us/img516/8941/image040va9.th.jpg

Quickplay controls:

*img104.imageshack.us/img104/9641/image041rg9.th.jpg

Finger Print Scanner:

*img107.imageshack.us/img107/6092/image042oy5.th.jpg

Lappy Open:

*img239.imageshack.us/img239/305/image043ax5.th.jpg
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #40
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:17 PM
Noooo.....don't ruin the beauty of this Laptop with your 6600, borrow some friends cam for some time & take snaps. Make sure they are taken in a well lit enviroment.

The same remote comes with Dell MediaDirect application. Hey manan, can we login to Vista using the finger print scanner, or say...login to yahoo mail in browser?
iMav
iMav #41
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:18 PM
thats why i wasnt uploading the pics .... :x
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #42
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:21 PM
are don't worry yaar, these pics are better then nothing. :D
Pathik
Pathik #43
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:24 PM
guys check out todays mumbai mirror last page.. vaio
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #44
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:40 PM
Mumbai mirror doesn't come in Lucknow, any pics of the page?
iMav
iMav #45
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:48 PM
Sony Vaio CR:

*www.techshout.com/images/sony-vaio-cr-notebooks.jpg

*u-volga.ru/uploads/nons1.jpg

Specs:

Intel C2D (1.8GHz)
Vista home basic
1 GB Ram
14"
80GB HDD
Finger Print Scanner
DVD Writer ....

Price: 54,990/- (exclusive taxes)
tarey_g
tarey_g #46
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:49 PM
ya same remote
iMav
iMav #47
Aug 9, 2007 at 7:53 PM
tarey_g said:
ya same remote
same to what dell is also giving remote ?
koolbluez
koolbluez #49
Aug 9, 2007 at 10:28 PM
My friend had bought one recently... tomtomin of his superb lappie... but after seein min... he started sobbin... i had everything he had(xcept 4 the DX10 graphics card), a docking station free & my screen was larger, clearer & brighter(his biggest complaint, the screen clarity)!!!

I had to console him by sayin that his graphics card is newer & supports DX10... so he could play the l8st games with XBox quality... that seemed to have sobered him up :D
Talk about being the good guy....
iMav
iMav #50
Aug 9, 2007 at 10:56 PM
^^ which 1 is urs and how much did u pay ?
tarey_g
tarey_g #51
Aug 10, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Vaio certainly looks good , but its costly wrt the config . But it does look good , no doubt.

I mav , remote comes with the dell too and dell's own media centre which works in windows or you can start dell media centre without booting in to windows, but as i dont need this stupidity , i removed it :D. Nothing beats vista's media centre. Dell also has play/pause/next/back and volume control buttons seperately on the laptop.
iMav
iMav #52
Aug 10, 2007 at 11:18 AM
^^ hmmmm ... thats good ...
tarey_g
tarey_g #53
Aug 12, 2007 at 1:58 PM
I chkd sony vaio , they love 14 inch displays . So many options in it . I want an 15 inch display laptop but then it goes out of budget in sony. Also why the fuk are they giving home basic when the laptops are costing so much.
Ankur Gupta
Aug 12, 2007 at 5:58 PM
Hey guys I just checked the Dell India site and on customising Dell Insipron 1520 there was an option for 3 GB RAM too...
But the funniest part was that it had been priced costlier than 4 GB RAM...!!
check this out:
*img80.imageshack.us/img80/7185/ramaw4.th.jpg
tarey_g
tarey_g #55
Aug 12, 2007 at 6:22 PM
hehehe ^^ , 4 gb ram was 58k on the dell site some days ago
infra_red_dude
Aug 12, 2007 at 11:18 PM
hey imav, the forceware used on my sis' 1420 is 101.43. but i'm sure it has been tweaked by dell.
iMav
iMav #57
Aug 12, 2007 at 11:35 PM
looks like that, i found hp's driver page and will try them ...
T
Aug 28, 2007 at 6:51 PM
Has anyone tried installing XP on DV6516tx.

When I tried installing XP on DV6516, its giving me error saying "no hard disk found" during installation :(.
I think its something to do with the SATA hard disk drivers. Anyone know how to find or locate drivers for this... i mean, when i say i want some driver, what exactly am i supposed to look for ?? I am really stranger to this, any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks
TechHunter.
iMav
iMav #59
Aug 28, 2007 at 7:21 PM
i think u will need to download xp drivers for sata and then include them inur xp setup ... dont know for sure
T
Aug 28, 2007 at 7:25 PM
iMav said:
i think u will need to download xp drivers for sata and then include them inur xp setup ... dont know for sure
Downloading SATA driver is what i am taking about.... how will i know which SATA driver is the correct one for my Laptop hard disk. I mean what is it based on which i should search for the drivers - Hard disk, SATA Harddisk controller, hardware .... :confused::confused:.
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #61
Aug 28, 2007 at 7:33 PM
TechHunter said:
Downloading SATA driver is what i am taking about.... how will i know which SATA driver is the correct one for my Laptop hard disk. I mean what is it based on which i should search for the drivers - Hard disk, SATA Harddisk controller, hardware .... :confused::confused:.

Which chipset this laptop has? Go to Intel site & download SATA drivers for this chipsets controller
aku
aku #62
Aug 28, 2007 at 8:29 PM
@tech hunter...
man.. go to bios and over there change the harddisk mode to ide.. then it'll surely work.. no nooe of any driver..
T
Aug 29, 2007 at 9:50 AM
Thanks for your replies....
gx_saurav said:
Which chipset this laptop has? Go to Intel site & download SATA drivers for this chipsets controller
I will try looking for that... I have "Intel 965PM Express Chipset". BTW will this a have XP specific driver or a generic one ?

akuCRACKER said:
@tech hunter...
man.. go to bios and over there change the harddisk mode to ide.. then it'll surely work.. no nooe of any driver..
I tried to do that... disabling the SATA Native support.... but the BIOS doesn't have any such option.
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #64
Aug 29, 2007 at 12:31 PM
TechHunter said:
Thanks for your replies....
I will try looking for that... I have "Intel 965PM Express Chipset". BTW will this a have XP specific driver or a generic one ?

This has XP specific drivers which U will need to slipstream in XP SP2 CD via nLite.

Check any driver CD provided with the laptop
T
Aug 29, 2007 at 3:01 PM
^^^ Thanks buddy, thanks a lot :p ... I will try it out.
aku
aku #66
Sep 1, 2007 at 7:29 PM
did that help?

btw any1 having any idea how to create multiple set of recovery disks from the softthinks rcovery disk creator?

Can any1 havin proper info about this please reply?
PS. this aint got nuthin to do wid piracy!
Ankur Gupta
Sep 3, 2007 at 11:14 PM
I too finally bought the DV6516TX and am loving it....
this laptop rocks....
expect a review from me too soon...
BTW iMav which color do you have...my retailer told that it doesnt come in silver....
iMav
iMav #68
Sep 3, 2007 at 11:41 PM
the inside is silver the outside is black
Pathik
Pathik #69
Sep 4, 2007 at 12:05 AM
At ankur.. 4 how much did u get it??
Ankur Gupta
Sep 4, 2007 at 1:14 PM
^^I bought it for 55.4k...
Will buy the additional warranty for 2 years after a few months which costs 5k...
@iMav...same here....
prasad_den
Sep 10, 2007 at 9:15 AM
Got this lappy a few days ago...... Its just superb..!! The looks are sexy.. and the specs are very good..!! Will have to try installing XP on this... :D :D Any specific links for this...??
T
Sep 11, 2007 at 9:10 AM
^^^ You can try this link: Dual Booting XP with Vista ... kinda tutorial for "dual booting XP with Vista already installed".

Also you will need the SATA driver before u start with the installation of XP. You can try this below link given by gx_saurav for the drivers:
gx_saurav said:
This has XP specific drivers which U will need to slipstream in XP SP2 CD via nLite.
I couldn't get time to try this out yet.... anyway let me know if it works out.
prasad_den
Sep 11, 2007 at 1:10 PM
^^ Thanks for the link.. I've installed XP already with the syschat and notebookreview and apcmag tutorials :D, and its now up and running..!! But the fingerprint scanner is not functioning under XP. I've installed the drivers for it, but which software do I need to installe, so I can login to XP with a fingerprint scan..??
T
Sep 11, 2007 at 4:19 PM
^^ That's good to know... can you please give me an overview of the drivers and s/ws that u needed while installing XP and any specific problem that you may have encountered during the process.
And BTW you have done a dual boot setup... rt ?
prasad_den
Sep 11, 2007 at 6:52 PM
Yup.. its a dual boot machine now.. :D
*apcmag.com/5485/dualbooting_vista_and_xp
*forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=165319

Check the above twwo links also.. The 2nd one has an excellent guide, and all the drivers required for XP are also given, along with instructions...!!

One important thing to keep in mind while installing XP SP2 is that, after XP installation, the system initially boots only to XP.. Vista will not be seen.

Install SP2, .NET Framework 2.0, then EasyBCD. Run BCD, click Manage Bootloader. Select Reinstall the Vista Bootloader, then click write. Reboot and it should boot into Vista. From there you can install and run BCD. Click ADD/Remove Entries, and add an entry for XP and save it. That should be it.
T
Sep 12, 2007 at 9:41 AM
^^ Thanks very much for the links... the second link is really an excellent one.

I will try it out...
Ankur Gupta
Sep 12, 2007 at 9:36 PM
Well as promised here is my review of this beautiful beast...
I posted it on my blog a couple of days ago and surprisingly its No.1 on Google for the keyword "HP dv6516TX review" :D

Its been more than a week since I have been using this and to say the least I am totally satisfied with it..It comes preloaded with Vista Home Premium which works like a charm and boots up in 50 seconds flat.I downloaded the latest drivers from the HP drivers site and my windows experience index shot up from 3.1 to 3.4 which is the lowest subscore for the graphics card.

Though its the lowest Core 2 Duo processor on the laptop but it performs pretty well and handles most of the CPU intensive tasks smoothly.The RAM is enough to run any application available today. I tried a few games like Cell Factor Revolution and other which are graphics intensive and I was able to run them smoothly at decent settings though not at top notch settings which says a lot about the graphics card.The graphics card is DX10 compatible so it makes it future proof for the next couple of years atleast.

The clarity of the speakers is awesome thanks to Altec Lansing but the volume isn’t very high,its medium,so dont even think of relying on them to disturb your neighbors when they are fast asleep!! The integrated webcam that has been provided is VGA which is its drawback but it more than compensates for it by giving very good picture quality which is pretty much comparable to 1.3MP ones…

The fingerprint reader is what I like the most as it takes away the hassle to remember passwords for various sites that you logon and instead makes your finger the most important tool while you are on the net.The touchpad is decent thought not a replacement for a mouse.It has scroll feature and many others features which can be customized through the software but still I will need to buy a mouse.The quickplay buttons are touch buttons which handle your multimedia operations.The remote control is pretty handy while watching movies,giving presentations and even for simple tasks such as turning off the laptop.

Now one of the most important criterions for selecting a laptop is its battery backup.This one manages 3 hours on normal usage and around 2.5 hours on internet usage which will further reduce when gaming.This one is not for those who need to stay long hours away from the AC mains but then they can buy the HP 12 cell battery which I am sure will give a battery backup of 5-6 hours atleast..

I haven’t burnt a CD/DVD yet in the drive but the read speeds are very good and I am sure write speed will also be fast.Seems like this short review of mine has turned into a lengthy one but I think I have covered all aspects of this laptop.

It cost me 55,400 rupees to be exact and if you are on a same budget then look no further and grab this one as I certainly recommend it to everyone looking to buy a laptop.The icing on the cake being the free iPod,notebook skin and free 1 year insurance that makes it unbeatable at this price.The only area is loses out on is its lower processor and the 6 cell battery which gives only 3 hours as maximum backup time.

I would rate it 8/10.
prasad_den
Sep 12, 2007 at 9:51 PM
^^ Its quite a comprehensive review..!! And a good one too...
djmykey
djmykey #79
Sep 12, 2007 at 10:32 PM
@TechHunter: - We have HP nc6320 laptops in our office. We change the SATA mode to something that works with XP and then use it just like that. I dunno what gets affected but it works pretty ok ok.

@iMav: - HP never includes any latest drivers for the devices they use in their pcs. We always have to dl the newer version of drivers all the time.
T
Sep 13, 2007 at 9:08 AM
@djmykey, you r right... if we can disable the SATA support to the harddisk, XP can be installed. Its the SATA mode that XP is not able to recognize, without the driver. But with Dv6516, the bios don't have any option of disableing SATA itself, so this cannot be achieved.

@ankurgupta.me- Are u sure the prices are still the same? i got my Dv6516 for 56.5K about 4-5 weeks back but last week when i went and asked the same dealer he said the prices have gone up to 58.7K and the same is the price other dealers also have quoted.
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #81
Sep 13, 2007 at 10:48 AM
TechHunter said:
@djmykey, you r right... if we can disable the SATA support to the harddisk, XP can be installed. Its the SATA mode that XP is not able to recognize, without the driver.

Why don't u make a CD of XP SP2 or Vista with SATA drivers included via nLite or vLite.?
T
Sep 13, 2007 at 11:05 AM
^^ Well... that is what i implied there... I was just clarifying 'djmykey' why i can't go for disabling SATA option. Since disabling SATA option is not available we have to slipstream SATA driver into XP cd, as you had suggested earlier in a post.
I couldn't complete XP installation due to some time constraints... hopefully will do this weekend.
djmykey
djmykey #83
Sep 14, 2007 at 6:36 AM
Hi,

@techhunter - bad luck man that there is no option to change the mode for SATA. So u have to go through the entire process of slipstreaming the drivers. Did you get a CD with the laptop ? If yes that might have the drivers for SATA. U might as well give that CD a try.

@GX - If every time we need to slipstream the CD then this is bad man. I mean is there no way round this kya re. I mean we have 4-5 diff types of laptops and every time we change the SATA mode and go ahead. Am not sure what we r losing on. Any idea what the SATA modes are and what they achieve.
prasad_den
Sep 14, 2007 at 9:10 AM
TechHunter said:
@ankurgupta.me- Are u sure the prices are still the same? i got my Dv6516 for 56.5K about 4-5 weeks back but last week when i went and asked the same dealer he said the prices have gone up to 58.7K and the same is the price other dealers also have quoted.

I bought mine for close to Rs.59K...!! Not sure if I paid more, but I had no other option.. :D
aku
aku #85
Sep 14, 2007 at 8:42 PM
can anyone help me with installing xp on hp dv6502au ?
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #86
Sep 14, 2007 at 9:41 PM
akuCRACKER said:
can anyone help me with installing xp on hp dv6502au ?

Make a Windows XP SP2 slipstreamed CD with SATA drivers included.
aku
aku #87
Sep 14, 2007 at 11:36 PM
that isnt the prob saurav... but getting the drivers is the main prob.
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #88
Sep 15, 2007 at 12:04 AM
akuCRACKER said:
that isnt the prob saurav... but getting the drivers is the main prob.
Which chipset is it? Check at intel.com if it is C2D
prasad_den
Sep 15, 2007 at 1:47 PM
akuCRACKER said:
that isnt the prob saurav... but getting the drivers is the main prob.
Check this link which I had given earlier.. It has all the requisite drivers for XP..
*forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=165319
aku
aku #90
Sep 18, 2007 at 7:25 AM
hmm.. tx.. downloading them right now.
aku
aku #91
Sep 19, 2007 at 11:09 AM
not of much help :(
this lappy (dv6502au) is a AMD 64 X2 one, so i dun think intel drivers are gonna be of any use.

Btw i tried to boot the lappy with a xp home ed. sp2 disk, and to my surprise it recognised the hdd without any problem (it's got a 160gig sata hdd).

And just a few minutes ago gave a call to the hp cust. care, and the assured me that once i finish installing xp, they'll provide me with the 'internal' link to drivers required in xp for this lappy.
iMav
iMav #92
Sep 19, 2007 at 11:17 AM
but wats the problem in vista :?
aku
aku #93
Sep 19, 2007 at 12:44 PM
theres no prob. in vista, in fact working on vista is much easier adn effortless than os x, linux and xp, IMO.

I haven't upgraded the ram, so im having 1 gig only. Therefore what i think is, pre 2006 games will run pretty well in xp and thats why i wanna install xp.

Btw i tried to boot the lappy with a xp home ed. sp2 disk, and to my surprise it recognised the hdd without any problem (it's got a 160gig sata hdd).
^ Is this thing normal... i mean is it suppose to happen this way?
iMav
iMav #94
Sep 19, 2007 at 1:11 PM
im running pre 2006 games fine on vista ...
aku
aku #95
Sep 19, 2007 at 1:17 PM
but still, there SHOULD be a hike in performance in xp, due to its low sys requirements.
iMav
iMav #96
Sep 20, 2007 at 3:43 PM
*www.hauppauge.com.sg/web-content/images/usb2stick_top.jpg

Today i got my free tv tuner card delivered ... and it sux ... big time .... setting up wasnt so esay had to do so many random clicks to make it find and scan the channels ... once done the worst part the sound is mono cant be made to stereo for us ...
T
Sep 24, 2007 at 8:57 AM
Finally finished my dual boot setup on the laptop with XP and Vista...
prasad_den said:
Install SP2, .NET Framework 2.0, then EasyBCD. Run BCD, click Manage Bootloader. Select Reinstall the Vista Bootloader, then click write. Reboot and it should boot into Vista. From there you can install and run BCD. Click ADD/Remove Entries, and add an entry for XP and save it. That should be it.
Thanks for these step prasad... this was the most important step of all.
aku
aku #98
Oct 7, 2007 at 11:52 AM
did anyone successfully installed xp on this lappy?
the only prob im facing is with the sound drivers.
alwynrozario
Oct 20, 2007 at 1:32 AM
Anybody.. please tell how's the game quality on HP 6516TX?
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #100
Oct 20, 2007 at 9:45 AM
akuCRACKER said:
did anyone successfully installed xp on this lappy?
the only prob im facing is with the sound drivers.
Why do u want to use Windows XP on this computer at all? If there are some old apps which u need to use then why not try a Virtual PC 2007 installation of Windows XP.

I removed Windows XP from here long ago, & I m using a Slim n-lite edition of Windows XP in VirtualBox for running legecy applications & testing purpose which again is a rare thing.
S
Nov 17, 2007 at 4:04 PM
can someone tell me where i cud find tweaked drivers for my hp pavillion dv6516tx?? i need to know if i can make my system work as fast as the inspiron...
y the difference inperformance when both have the same config??
any way to make up for the lag??
iMav
iMav #102
Nov 17, 2007 at 5:14 PM
*h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2093&lc=en&cc=nl&dlc=nl&product=3446806&lang=nl
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #103
Nov 17, 2007 at 7:12 PM
lolz...Manan, kya sig hai yaar
S
Nov 18, 2007 at 12:05 PM
the graphics card driver in the hp only fixesw some isuue with a wide screen... it doesnt really enhance performance....:( ........ aaaahhhhhh... y cant my laptop works a lil more fast!!!!!!1
iMav
iMav #105
Nov 18, 2007 at 12:07 PM
^^ it did increase my WEI score ;)
S
Nov 18, 2007 at 12:30 PM
dude.. my wei base score is only 3.2 !!!!! wats urs..? i disabled all starups except for the vert essential... i have only my antivirus runnin... updated my n vidia driver too... wat else cani do?? watas ur wei score?
iMav
iMav #107
Nov 18, 2007 at 12:32 PM
3.4
S
Nov 18, 2007 at 12:45 PM
wats ur screen resolution?? have u reduced it to improve performance??
G
goodie #109
Dec 3, 2007 at 5:45 AM
infra_red_dude said:
hdmi and fingerprint scanner are somethings what this lappy scores over most of the lappies in that range :)

also, the pcmcia standard is obsolete now. that slot is called as "express card" the cards are now almost quarter the size of pcmcia cards (16bit) and half the size of card bus cards (32bit).

regarding the cam, do check it out again. one of my frenz bought this lappy. he said its 1.3mp.
Well, currently, I think [red] DELL is much ahead of HP in terms of the pricing as well as the customization options that u get on its website.
add-ons such as nVidia 8600 , 9 cell battery, lot of software options as well.

goin for it soon.
A
Dec 27, 2007 at 2:31 PM
Somebody asked for photographs??

The Masterpiece:
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02103.gif
The keyboard:
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02106.gif
The Neon Light touch buttons:
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02113.gif
Power source (light glows when it receives power):
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02117.gif
The fingerprint scanner (with other stickers on there):
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02120.gif
The synaptics touch pad (with button to switch on/off):
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02121.gif
The overall base:
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02122.gif
The screen:
*www.anubhavh.com/hp/DSC02123.gif

goodie said:
Well, currently, I think [red] DELL is much ahead of HP in terms of the pricing as well as the customization options that u get on its website.
add-ons such as nVidia 8600 , 9 cell battery, lot of software options as well.

goin for it soon.

If u can wait for the 4-5 weeks delivery then its fine. But the same configuration on Dell would cost u more than HP. 2 yr Dell Warrantied same config product is 54513/- without tax.. add 4% tax and after tax it costs around Rs 56,693.52 which is higher and a little more than HP.