Before we dive into the battery life performance, there are several points that we’d like to share. The battery test results for the MacBook Pro were done on the Mac OSX, and not through Boot Camp Windows that is likely not as optimized for Apple products. The MacBook Pro's non-interchangeable batteries have also engineered to fit into the machine's profile (more mass into smaller space = larger capacity), and unlike conventional batteries on laptops, they are not removable. Here's the specs table again but with added information pertinent to battery life and portability index calculation.
Specifications/Notebook
HP Pavilion dv6
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560
Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch
Processor
Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz
Intel Core i7-740QM 2.0 GHz
Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz
Chipset
Intel HM65
Intel HM55
Intel HM65 Express
Memory
4GB DDR 3
4GB DDR 3
4GB DDR 3
HDD
750 GB GDD - 5400RPM
750 GB GDD - 5400RPM
750 GB GDD - 5400RPM
Video
ATI Radeon HD 6770M
ATI Radeon HD 5730M
ATI Radeon HD 6750M
Battery
10.8V / 5130 mAH / 51.51 Whr
11.1V 5130 mAH / 56.9 Whr
77 Whr
Dimensions
37.8 x 24.68 x 3.11 cm
38.5 x 25.5 x 3.3 cm
36.4 x 24.9 x 2.41 cm
Weight
2.63 kg
2.7 kg
2.54 kg
The power-saving nature of the second generation processor requires less power, hence the 10.8V, 4770mAh battery.
Now that we’ve cleared the details, the much more expensive MacBook Pro showed a massive lead over the Windows based machines, lasting just a bit less than its advertised seven hours. The HP dv6 however didn't do too badly as compared to its other Windows based brethren. Running on interated graphics, it managed a good three and a half hours, while playing the test DVD loop flawlessly. That's a good 100 minutes more than the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560. Moreover, when the discrete graphics took over, the notebook also managed to last for two and a half hours before giving up. Very decent for a modern multimedia Windows machine, that's likely just enough juice for users to perhaps enjoy a movie and a half.
What this means for the average consumer, is that battery life off the wall -- something which can make or break a notebook -- is good for a windows notebook of this price tier. The latest Sandy Bridge processors with integrated graphics also allows for the notebooks to turn off the power draining discrete graphics unit while maintaining a reasonable amount of graphical processing power for more mundane tasks like watching DVDs and surfing the net. As seen below, the MacbBook Pro still takes the lead but mostly because of the integrated battery giving it more capacity, plus the tighter integration of its OS and hardware optimization.
HP Pavilion dv6-6003TX: Divvying up the Sandy Bridge
Reviewed by Leo Boon Yeow on Fri, 17 Jun 2011
The Right Mix
The Right Mix
The trick to selling as many laptops as possible has evolved over the years. It’s now not enough to sell notebooks to us just based on specs alone. Since the turn of the century, Apple led the charge in turning your workhorse into something more -- a fashion accessory. This discovery alone led to fatter profit margins, propelling them into becoming the most valuable technology company in the world. So what is the world’s biggest technology company Hewlett Packard going to do to compete? Exactly the same, but with variations to suit a wider audience and range of price points.
Decking out it’s premium laptops with designer togs has proven to be a wise choice for HP. Branding collaborations with contemporary pop culture icons like Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga among many others has also proven to be extremely lucrative, keeping HP right up there in consumer’s minds when it comes to laptop desirability. It’s thanks to this competitive mindset that the object of this review, the 15.6-inch HP Pavilion dv6-6003TX, one of the first second-generation Sandy Bridge machines on our hands, is able to look like what is does -- beautiful.
While it’s not as beautiful in an ENVY-able laser-etched design kind of way, its simple charms stem from the premium materials that HP has opted to use throughout the Pavillion line-up. In accordance to HP’s current design direction, soft curves accentuate every corner, making it very comfortable to hold in your hands. “Designer” finishing touches also come in the form of the “dark umber metal finish” (which actually means dark brown in laymen terms) found on the machine’s lid and palm-rest. This along with the glowing LED lit HP logo politely giving way to the metallic finishing found at the bottom left corner, invokes a sense of luxury rarely found on laptops under S$2000. And for a list price of S$1799, you would get specs like a quad-core Intel Core i7-2630QM, 4GB of RAM as well as a powerful ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6770M GPU. All in all, this gives the HP Pavilion dv6 the right mix of presentation, power and affordability.
Adding on the the list of luxuries that the HP dv6 has, is the “Beats Audio” branded sound experience that the laptop is touting. This “Beats” experience comes in the form of two speakers under the screen as well as two more under the palm-rest. Sound from the speakers are crystal clear, with no muddy tones even at the loudest volume. The caveat here is that to probably preserve the pristine speaker sound, the maximum volume is not as loud as you’d think it’d be -- so planning a party around the speakers (which aren’t supported by a built-in sub-woofer either) wouldn’t be a very good idea.
But the real magic is supposed to happen when you use the dual audio jacks found on the left side of the machine, as explained in an amusing “Beats” marketing video. In a nutshell, the construction of the well- grounded jacks are supposed to have minimal noise-introducing interference, thus leading to a cleaner sound. Such dedication to a full entertainment experience should be lauded -- fluff or not -- because it has become HP’s way of differentiation.
The usual suspects line the right side of the notebook, including two extra USB3 ports and an extra headphones jack. The others seen here are VGA, HDMI and LAN ports.
The notebook has “Beats” branded tweeters for a better sound experience, just what the doctor (Dr. Dre) ordered.
The brushed metal look is nice, but it really does very little to prevent smudges from fingers.
The HP dv6 has its interior decked out with a premium finishing, making it look more expensive than it is.
In a metal chassis, the 15-inch HP Pavilion dv6 comes equipped with Beats Audio and quad speakers.
Other features include its HD BrightView display, a built-in HP TrueVision HD webcam that offers chatting capability even in low-light conditions, and an integrated numeric keypad with an illuminated touchpad.
By Tracey the photo girl - Aug 25, 2010 - Full review provided by B& H Photo-Video-Audio
The Little Big disk external hardrive is easy to set up and install. It is a little bit heavy to carry around on location.Friends of mine recommended it to me since you can daisy chain multiple Little Big's together and take on location with you.
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I use the Little Big Disks for my photo library since they can be daisy-chained. The biggest selling point for me was that this drive is bus-powered so I don't always need to carry the power supply. Also, the drive speed is great!
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I have 4 of these drives as part of my workflow. I use one as a primary Lightroom Drive and I back up to Lightroom Back Up on separate LaCie. I also back up internal hard drive to dedicated LaCie. I use Super Duper for these back ups. I use a dedicated LaCie as a travel Drive.
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I Love this External Drive!!! When I connect my Firewire 800 to it I don't need to use the Power adaptor, it gets it's power from the Laptop. This unit is very Small and love how it has a esata connection for my big multicam projects. - A must have!!
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Very reliably! Very Fast! Excellent for editing in FCP. I just don't like the blue light. Illuminates the whole room in the dark... Besides that, it is the best!
Faster and more compact than most desktop hard disks, this small, lightweight portable powerhouse boasts high capacity and speed for its size. With built-in RAID 0 and four interfaces, it offers cross-platform compatibility with any PC or Mac and unrivaled burst transfer rates. Exclusively designed by Neil Poulton for LaCie, it has a unique, sturdy, all-aluminum heat sink body that dissipates heat without a fan for silent operation and superior reliability. This FireWire bus-powered innovation offers daisy-chaining to digital video cameras and bootability via FireWire (Mac) or eSATA (Windows). It’s ideal for professional users such as audio/video pros who need fast mobile storage and ergonomic versatility. « less… more »
The future is here, everyone. Let’s check out the just-announced Seagate BlackArmor PS110 Performance kit. It’s Seagate’s first USB 3.0 product and it’s noice — where noice is slang for nice, and for the sole fact that it’s the first USB 3.0 drive I’ve tested. I’m a little excited.
Features:
USB 3.0 interface
Backwards compatible with USB 2.0
7,200 RPM drive
500 GB
0.47 inches thin
$179 MSRP
Pros:
Fast
Includes a USB 3.0 PC Card
Bus powered with included USB power cable
Cons:
Takes a USB port to power the PC card
Review:
Seagate has the right idea. This drive comes with a USB 3.0 ExpressCard adapter. Mainly because only about four people in the whole world actually have a USB 3.0 computer right now. The rest of us will need the PC Card in order to fully take advantage of the faster USB 3.0 speeds — or you could just use the drive in USB 2.0 mode as it’s backwards compatible, but that’s no fun.
The PC Card needs a little help powering the drive, so an included cable sucks what the PC Card needs off a powered-USB port. It’s bus-powered, though, when used in USB 2.0 mode.
The PC Card drivers are locked away on the hard drive instead of coming on a CD or flash drive. This turned out to be a problem for me as I couldn’t get the computer to recognize the hard drive even under USB 2.0 mode until I switched it on line in Disk Management. But once I had the drivers, I fell in love with USB 3.0.
It’s all about the speed. Nothing else really matters, as we’ve been hearing about USB 3.0′ s performance numbers for some time now. Thankfully, this drive holds up to the hype.
Disclaimer: The internal SATA drive in my notebook is only a 5400 RPM drive. However, that’s what’s most common in notebooks anyway and, therefore, the benchmarks below are a good indication of real world results. Stay tuned for a full comparison against a Firewire 800 and eSATA drive. Benchmarks via HD Tune Pro 4.01.
The first chart compares the drive in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 mode against my not, while the second one shows file write/read speeds with USB 3.0 on the left and USB 2.0 on the right. (click to embiggen)
There you have it. The Seagate PS110 is stupid fast for a semi bus-powered portable hard drive. And to think that this is just a first-gen USB 3.0 device. They are bound to get faster and faster. The future is looking mighty good thanks to USB 3.0.
But I don’t know if I would buy this hard drive just yet. Right now it retails for $179 and it’s only a 500GB hard drive. Other options offer a lot more storage for the same price. But then again, this might be the fastest, bus-powered portable hard drive on the market. In other words, you must decide between speed and storage capacity. Personally, I would go for the larger drive until the price drops.
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