HP DV6-6c35dx Entertainment PC with Beats by Dr. Dre Laptop Review

Posted on April 25, 2012 by LittleTechGirl • 17 Comments

When I read the specs of this laptop my first thought was “Wow… now THAT is a powerhouse machine!” And it lives up to my expectations…mostly. The HP dv6 with Beats by Dr. Dre is certainly made to impress. This laptop is very stylish with a 15.6″ screen, speaker *bar* nestled under the LCD, and fingerprint reader. A couple of years ago a machine of this caliber probably would have cost three times the price. But at only $579.99 this one fits the budget nicely.

Since receiving this laptop, it has become my primary machine. I have really put it to the test. The way I work I very often have 5 or more programs open at one time. And it is not unusual for me to run 2 different web browsers with several tabs open in each. Right now my Chrome browser has 17 tabs open. :| The HP dv6-6c35dx handles it all without much problem. The problems that I do have I blame on the software. I swear both Chrome and Firefox have issues these days. Anyway… with 6gb of RAM I run into no problems multi-tasking.

The included fingerprint reader allows you to log in to your computer with just a swipe of the finger. And using the included HP SimplePass 2012 software you can use it to log in to commonly used websites securely.

Fingerprint Reader

 

Full Specifications

Product Name dv6-6c35dx
US Product Number A6Y53UA
Microprocessor 2.5GHz/1.6GHz VISION A8 Technology from AMD with AMD Quad-Core A8-3520M Accelerated Processor
Microprocessor Cache 4MB L2 Cache
Memory 6GB DDR3 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
Memory Max Maximum supported = 16GB
Video Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6620G Discrete-Class Graphics
Video Memory Up to 3061MB total graphics memory
Hard Drive 640GB 5400RPM hard drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Multimedia Drive SuperMulti DVD burner
Display 15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit display (1366×768)
Network Card 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Connectivity 802.11b/g/n WLAN
Sound Beats Audio with 4 speakers
Keyboard Full-size island-style keyboard with numeric keypad
Pointing Device Touchpad with on/off button. Illuminated LED touchpad border: press fn + space to turn on or off.
PC Card Slots
  • Digital media card reader for Secure Digital and Multimedia cards
External Ports
  • 2 SuperSpeed USB 3.0
  • 2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
  • 1 HDMI
  • 1 VGA (15-pin)
  • 1 RJ-45 (LAN)
  • 2 Headphone-out
  • 1 Microphone-in
Dimensions 14.88″ (L) x 9.71″ (W) x 1.23″ (min H) -1.39″ (max H)
Weight 6.01 lbs
Security
  • Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
  • Power-on password
  • Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Power
  • 65W AC adapter
  • 6-cell 55WHr lithium-ion battery
ID Mech Description HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated digital microphoneHP SimplePass with integrated fingerprint reader

 

Stand-out Features

The features that make it stand out most for me are the quad-core AMD A8 processor, 6GB of RAM (upgradeable to 8gb), 4 USB ports (most laptops have 3), and fingerprint reader. The AMD A8-3520M APU with Radeon HD graphics runs at 1.6GHz. And a big plus for me, unlike my older 17″ HP machine, this one stays pretty cool to the touch. Also, unlike some laptops that have switched to now having only an HDMI port, this one has both an HDMI and VGA port so you should have no problem hooking it up to an older projector. It also offers 2 headphone jacks so that you can share the music with a friend, or send the audio to another device. This is awesome for DJs. Also, the chrome finished speaker bar is an attractive addition.

Speaker Bar

At 1366×768 resolution, the 15.6 inch screen does not have as much real estate as my 17″ with 1600 x 1200 resolution, but it is still good. Graphics and video are crisp and clean. The glossy screen makes everything awesome and bright, although it is hard to see in bright light situations.

Pros

  • Fast AMD A8 Process
  • 6GB of RAM
  • 640GB Hard Drive
  • Beats Audio
  • Has both HDMI & VGA out

Cons

  • Sometimes the finger printer reader does not “wake up” after sleep mode. This happens a couple of times a week. I walk away from the computer and when I come back and hit a button to wake it up the fingerprint reader light never starts blinking and will not register my swipe, so I have to log in manually. There is a fix offered on HP’s website. I am going to give it a try and see if it fixes my problem.   UPDATE (4/26): I did as the HP website suggested and all is now good with the fingerprint reader. YAYY!!
  • I have also had a problem a couple of times with screen flicker. It is not clear just yet if it might be due to a driver issue. It has not happened in a couple of weeks. But, right at the top of my screen a white line shows up and flickers all the way across.
  • I am not impressed by the sound in this laptop. Yes, it has Beats Audio. BUT… when put up against a Toshiba laptop that I have here with Dolby Advanced Audio, the Toshiba blows it away. The sound is good when wearing headphones, but not when playing from the built-in speakers.

At under $600 this laptop is the perfect choice for someone needing a portable powerhouse or even a desktop replacement. It is also the perfect machine for a college student that needs something portable, but something that can also stand up to heavy use in their room. You can buy the HP DV6-6c35dx at Best Buy for only $579. Great deal in my opinion.

Click the picture to be taken to Best Buy’s listing for this machine.
HP 156

Disclosure: I received the HP DV6 laptop as part of my involvement in the AMD Tech Moms program. All opinions are my own.

LittleTechGirl

Kris Cain is mom to 2 sets of twins, photography nut, gadget addict, web designer, and blogger who has worked in IT for over 13 years. Twitter and Facebook. Kris figured out a while ago that she was destined to be really busy (hence the 2 sets of twins), and she has found peace with that. Read More

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Filed Under: Gadgets, Reviews
  • robbie

    i just bought my pc from best buy and my touchpad stopped working,iv tried hard resettin and reinstallin the synoptics touchpad but it still dnt work,wat cud be the issue

  • http://www.greenshoestring.com Tymn

    I am having an issue with my camera not working. It simply stopped being recognized as a device on my dv6-6c35dx and I can’t seem to find a solution out there. Is anyone else having issues with their camera? There is little to no support to be found out there for this built in device.

  • http://www.greenshoestring.com Tymn

    You mentioned that you had a display problem with “a white line (that) shows up and flickers all the way across.”

    I had this same issue, and was able to find a work around.

    Disable the feature that automatically shuts down the display. Find this under ‘Choose when to turn off the display’ in ‘Power Options’ (click on battery icon in system tray and select ‘More power options’)

    I know this seems like a strange solution, but after doing this and restarting my computer, the problem went away and has not come back. Hope this helps you too!

    • http://kriscain.net LittleTechGirl

      Thanks Tymn! I will give it a try.

  • racecar56

    Thanks for covering those problems! I’ve had the exact same issues you had. The fingerprint reader problem was quite bothersome, I think it’s fixed now, thanks to you and your solutions! Once again, thank you!

    • http://kriscain.net LittleTechGirl

      I am so glad that worked for you! It really was quite annoying.

      • racecar56

        Well it’s been just about a month and I see this problem returns every few days, and rebooting fixes it…until later. The Wi-Fi card also has issues, which actually happen just about every minute-and-a-half, which can get quite annoying, quickly. I better talk to HP.

        I don’t know what’s up with my laptop.

        • http://kriscain.net LittleTechGirl

          Oy! I am sorry that you are having those issues. :( Yes… talk to them for sure.

          • racecar56

            Alright, well I never talked with them yet, but by now everything’s been great. I hope it stays that way! I intend this to be the last time I come back here to talk about it, I don’t wanna fill up the comments with “it’s working” “it’s not working” over and over again.

  • Ray

    Hi there,

    I would just like to let you know that I just purchased this laptop from Bestbuy within the last month. I only paid $529.00
    and it came with office2012 and a 1 year subscription to Norton.
    I am only telling you this because possibly you might be able to get some cash back from Bestbuy maybe under a price match guarantee,or something along those lines.

    Good luck,
    Ray

    • http://kriscain.net LittleTechGirl

      Hi Ray! Thanks for the heads up, but I did not pay for it. :) I got it as part of my work with AMD.

    • racecar56

      You lucky dog! Ah well, I would’ve had to wait a few months to get that price, I got mine on March 14th.

  • Nik

    I have a question. I recently purchased this laptop and the screen brightness constantly changes when I switch screen from dim to bright and vice versa, when the laptop is unplugged. I was wondering if you had this problem and if there is a fix to it, becuase I have called HP and looked but cannnot find one. I love it other than that and really want to keep it, but that screen brightness change is very annoying.

    • http://kriscain.net LittleTechGirl

      Hi Nik! I have not noticed that particular issue. But, it sounds like it is probably something with the power savings settings since it is happening when on battery. I can look at mine (don’t have it with me right now) to tell you exactly what to check, but in general double click on the battery icon in the task tray and check the setting there. It might be set to dim the screen to save power after being unplugged for so long.

      I hope that helps.

      Kris

  • infocyde

    I bought one of these about a month ago. Agree with everything you wrote, including comment about the Toshiba audio being better. Over all I’m very happy with my HP dv6. I was a little worried it might be to slow, but it has handled everything I have thrown at it. I did a few review on the Best Buy site so I’ll just say that I agree with your comments. Great inexpensive desktop replacement / Gaming machine that is light and stays cool.

    • infocyde

      Bad typing day. * “too slow” * “full review”

  • Stephen Austin

    Just purchase the device. Thanks for the info. I will let you know what I think of it in the near future.