A quick question about laptops

edgelord101

Hey, guys. I just have a quick question about laptops. I've always hated laptops and I've never owned one so I really don't know much about them so I thought I'd ask here. I'm going into uni next year and I was thinking of getting the HP DV8 1190 but on pcandparts.com I saw that it had a 1.6Ghz minimum CPU clock but that it could overclock to 2.8Ghz or something. That's all great but is it possible to disable this turbo mode and to keep it clocked at 2.8 at all times? I know it would take more battery power but is it possible and have experienced laptop users done that to their laptops?

Kassem

Why do you want the laptop? Do you need to carry it around to the uni? In that case you should consider a laptop with a smaller screen, as I recall this one has an 18" widescreen.

edgelord101

Kassem wroteWhy do you want the laptop? Do you need to carry it around to the uni? In that case you should consider a laptop with a smaller screen, as I recall this one has an 18" widescreen.

Yeah, I did see the screen's size. That's the exact reason why I want it. I HATE the small 15 inch screens. If I'm ever going to get a laptop, it has to appeal to me with a big screen. I don't mind carrying a little extra weight on my shoulder, honestly. So do you know anything about my previous question?

BashLogic

i havent heard of laptops being overclocked. actually i would never do it, the cooler a laptop runs, the more reliable it is regardless of brand and model..

edgelord101

BashLogic wrotei havent heard of laptops being overclocked. actually i would never do it, the cooler a laptop runs, the more reliable it is regardless of brand and model..

Okay, what about not overclocking it but just disabling the turbo mode so it stays at 2.8 instead of playing from 1.6-2.8Ghz.

julien_saadeh

No, you can't do that. Turbo mode is an Intel technology that allows the CPU to overclock to 2.8GHz. If you disable it, you will be clocked at 1.6. But I dont think you can change the setting.

Read about Intel Turbo-Boost technology.

rolf

Tako_400 wrote
Kassem wroteWhy do you want the laptop? Do you need to carry it around to the uni? In that case you should consider a laptop with a smaller screen, as I recall this one has an 18" widescreen.
Yeah, I did see the screen's size. That's the exact reason why I want it. I HATE the small 15 inch screens. If I'm ever going to get a laptop, it has to appeal to me with a big screen. I don't mind carrying a little extra weight on my shoulder, honestly. So do you know anything about my previous question?

I have a macbook with a 13" screen. When I carry it, the size, weight and power consumption are convenient, unlike the tanks some people carry around. When I get at home, I plug it into my 22" wide-screen benq monitor and my full-size keyboard and mouse, and get all the comfort you get with a desktop computer, but using less space, making less noise and with an extra monitor.
I'm pretty satisfied with this.
Unless you spend most of your time working outside home, or refuse to invest $100 in a desktop monitor, I would not recommend a heavy and big laptop.
I don't think the screen size should be a determining argument against a laptop. I think the major arguments against laptops are poor gaming capability and hard disk speed.

Flakk

The HP DV8 1190 has Intel Core i7-720QM processor which the clock rate ranges from 1600Mhz to 2800mhz.
Now the maximum bus core multiplier is 12x with bus multiplier frequency range about 234mhz, so if you multiply 12 by 234 you get 2808mhz.
Heres how these work: The core multiplier is the unit that always varies to set the core frequency.
When your computer is idle the core frequency multiplier is 7x, which will multiply 7 by 234 and will equal 1638mhz.
When the computer is under load the multiplier is 12x, which will multiply 12x234 and equals 2808mhz.
This has an advantage as it will lower power consumption and heat accumulation and will give the CPU a long lasting life-time.

What you are asking is to keep the multiplier at 12x always even in idle mode, which is a disadvantage cause your cpu will be on full potential which consume more unnecessary power and more resources and will cause more heat. And as far as i know its impossible to adjust this type of value.

So in conclusion what you are asking is somehow impossible to achieve as this is one of the major feats of all the core duo, core 2 duo and i series processors from intel.

zaza

i was reading once abou the i7 micro architecture
and as i understand , that the when turbo boost is activated , the processor will overclock each core differently can reach 2.8 ghz for the i7 720QM , whoever than does mean that all of it's core will reach that speed , some cores might be even underclocked to keep the max TDP under 45 watt - you don't wont your computer to melt internally -
and this turbo boost happens on the hardware level not software - the chip is designed to detect when the computer needs one or more of it's core needs that boost -
and note that turbo boost doesn't happen if all of it's core are working at full capacity
see this article for information
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13512_3-10362882-23.html

xterm

I have the DV8 1090ev. It's insane spec-wise, performs miraculously !

Piece of advice. DO NOT BUY IT!

It overheats like crazy.

Flakk

All HP DV series overheat like crazy thats the major downside of all HP laptops :(

MrClass

HP laptops suck. I have a DV special edition series, and the build quality is just fucked up. Cheap plastic shitty shit. mouse pad buttons break few months later (3 of my friends have HP laptop with mouse pad left button broken). Yeah, the laptop performs great, but its quality and heat generation is simply bad. Go with Sony or a Macbook. I have a macbook pro laptop and it is simply awsome. And with mac and windows operating systems installed, you are assured that you have high reliability.

BashLogic

one of the main reason that the hp dv series are of such poor quality is because 90% of what is sold in lebanon are refurbished and smuggled into the country

Joudi416

BashLogic wroteone of the main reason that the hp dv series are of such poor quality is because 90% of what is sold in lebanon are refurbished and smuggled into the country

This is completely true! hp dv series available in lebanon are mostly refurbished, and if not,some of their parts are replaced with poorer quality!
Luckily I have an uncle in the US that was coming for a vacation in Lebanon, so I bought an hp Pavilion dv6t select edition from hp.com and had it delivered to his address.
I've only had it for a couple of weeks but it's AMAZING and there's a huge difference between it's high quality and the dv series available here, and huge difference regarding the prices too. Also the laptop is custom made with touch screen that is not yet available here. I had researched almost every lebanese laptops' stores websites I could find, and the closest laptop to the one I bought was 400$ more expensive and didn't have neither the touch screen nor the blu-ray nor the backlit keyboard . (untrusted quality too!)

Here's my new laptop:
HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition customizable Notebook PC

• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-450M Dual Core processor (2.40GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)with Turbo Boost up to 2.66 GHz
• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• FREE Upgrade to 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5470 switchable graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
• TouchScreen with HP TouchSmart's intuitive multi-touch applications (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Intel Wireless-N Card
• Backlit Keyboard with Fingerprint Reader
• High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
• System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter 2010

all for ~ 1,100$
The external is from high quality metal and feels amazing and the touch screen is very useful,it's like an ipad.

So unless you have tried the real genuine hp laptops, I advise lebanese people not to nag about hp's quality. :)

Flakk

Toshiba and Acer laptops have the same issues here too just like HP in terms of refurbishing and reselling them at a high price.

Raficoo

i've had a HP Pavilion dv5 for almost 2 years now and i only had to format it twice(due to Full HardDrive). it's pretty good n everything.. sure it overheats(back then DDR3 and the i3,5,n7s weren't as common as today) so i use a Cooling pad and it gets the job done lol

edgelord101

These are just some of the reasons why I absolutely despise laptops. I'm sticking to my desktop, university or no university.

Flakk

Tako_400 wroteThese are just some of the reasons why I absolutely despise laptops. I'm sticking to my desktop, university or no university.

Agreed, desktops are still the best in terms of well everything.

BashLogic

Last spring, I visited Dubai. I thought that I would go and search for gizmo's and stuff just as I used to when I was a kid. to my surprise, the glamor of finding the latest novel devices and at a good prices was all gone. The next best thing to that was finding the pc-market. to my shocking surprise, 98% of what was being sold was either refurbished or secondhand! it was scary to see the amount of dell and apple laptops and desktops available and almost in every single store. the most horrible part to that was that they were being sold at european prices, prices that even include governmental taxation!

no wonder there is a major influx of expensive refurbished crap in Lebanon. as long as there is a demand in the bazaar, there will be the supply of crap at high prices with lousy support and maintenance.

yeah you can get lucky with a refurbished laptop and yes you can cut a deal on it. but its all a gamble with a high risk of not gaining value for money.

MrClass

BashLogic wroteone of the main reason that the hp dv series are of such poor quality is because 90% of what is sold in lebanon are refurbished and smuggled into the country

Umm, maybe, but I got mine from dubai. Still, same low cheap ass build quality :S