HP Pavilion dv6985se user reviews

Pros The long life of the battery is about the only thing this dud in wolf's cloting has to offer.

Cons Where should I start? Vista 64 bit prevents use of CiscoVPN. The wireless network adapter is incompatible with my workplace network. It took hours to get my home DSL line functioning on this computer. Mouse skips all over the place, multiple GPFs. ..

Summary The dv6985se computer is unreliable. Don't be fooled by its "special edition" moniker. My primary need is for internet access because I teach online. Traveling with it 2-3 weeks ago, I was unable to access airport wireless networks 50% of the time. I am sitting here at my workplace, trying to access the wireless network for the past 4 hours without success. My IT and tech folks haven't a clue what the problem is. It works just fine on out 6 year old Dell laptops!
Video codecs are missing, and have to be reinstalled everytime I restart the computer if I am trying to view a downloaded video. Install drivers are missing, so half the time, programs I want to install fail to install at all. The troubleshooting screens are the worst I have ever seen from Microsoft. Windows 3.1 had better functionality!
While half the problem lies with Microsoft Vista, the other half lies with HP. The adapters have poor functionality, the speakers are very "tinny" as someone else noted, the machine just stops working periodically- the screen goes black, it shuts down and then restarts, with the subseqent message that "Windows is recovering from an unexpected shutdown," no doubt from a short in the motherboard!

I am disappointed the CNET would rate this laptop so highly as that is what prompted me to make the purchase in the first place. It is a lemon- Don't make the same mistake!

Updated on Oct 20, 2008

Update: 6 weeks post purchase- crash of hard drive, unable to recover. Finally had to reformat the hard drive. Useless $800 piece of junk. Will never buy HP again (and will never take advice from CNET re technology purchases)!

Pros 4GB Ram, 250 GB Hard Drive, 2GHZ Dual Processor, Battery lasts for ever and only cost $749 on sale at Best Buy. Keys are good size, no fat finger problems.

Cons I hesitate to even mention this but the only con is what others have reported as well and that's the volume slide. It does hesitate on occasion but believe me, it's very very minor

Summary The bottom line is that this is probably the most powerful computer you can get for the money. My son uses Flight Simulator on it and it's tremendous. Not that color would have stopped me from purchasing this computer but it's far better looking than what you see online. Best Buy said it's being dis-continued so if your looking for a powerfuld computer at a very attractive price, definitely put this laptop on your list.

Pros Great 6 + hour 12 cell battery, looks very sharp, Runs great, Unlike most dvseries laptops this one runs extremely cool. Lightscribe, card reader, webcam, mousepad scroll, solid laptop and battery tho large sets rear of laptop up just rite.

Cons No Bluetooth, Heavy due to battery

Summary I am a tech and own a pc business. I have had this hp dv copper se laptop just over 1 year and must say that it meets my criteria of a great laptop, I have had 0 issues with it, great to use, everything works great did need to update touch media pad to get it all functioning properly. Everything works excellent I do have the intel version rather than amd. Awesome battery life. 250gb hdd is rather small but not bad(easy upgrade) I am personally very happy all but for the lack of blutooth but now days a small blutooth dongle is only $5. Its a very solid laptop, a head turner w/out doubt I love the laptop, wifi does not drop internet that is a user error. I disagree with most reviews, some ppl blame there lack of knowledge on the machine! I highly recommend this laptop, however it is for people that want a great operating laptop with a touch of class. HP did well with this one and from all of my experience with hp dv series laptops they all had over heatting issues however this unit runs extremely cool!

Pros its pretty fast and runs good
its an entertainment computer so i has the computability to hook up to a tv i thought it was cool that it had a remote for it

Cons it does get loud at times and the way the battery was placed

Summary overall i like it its a good laptop it coasted around a grand kinda pricey for a laptop i think