The HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition (dv6tqe) and Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition (dv6zqe) are two very similar laptops that are top sellers on HP.com. From a design and build perspective the dv6t and dv6z are exactly the same. The only difference between the two are the brains inside, namely the processor and graphics cards. The dv6t uses an Intel processor and the dv6z uses an AMD processor. Other than that they offer the same screen, memory, optical drive, chassis, ports, keyboard, web cam – you get the idea. The other difference is the price, generally the dv6z Quad Edition costs around $200 less than the dv6t Quad Edition. So what should you do, go for the cheaper dv6zqe and save money or is there a performance advantage with the dv6tqe that makes it worth paying more for? Let’s compare these two popular HP laptops and figure out which might be best for your needs!
Since the design and build are the same let’s just quickly go over what you’re getting in both cases. The Pavilion dv6 was updated this year so that the standard color is what HP calls a “Dark Umber” finish. The lid has a nice dark aluminum brush finish that’s both professional and stylish. The HP logo on the lid lights up when the laptop is on. The hinge is a drop hinge style design with an elbow like bend to it. The hinges are a silver color and provide a nice contrast to the dark umber lid.
The dv6 is one of the better built consumer laptops we’ve used in a while. It’s on par with business-class laptops in terms of sturdiness. The case and lid are very rigid and have little flex. The only noticeable flex on the body can be found on the bottom under the optical drive housing, this is fairly typical of any laptop as it’s hard to reinforce the hollow area an optical drive requires. The keyboard has a bit of flex on it in places, but nothing that will slow you down typing or be overly noticeable under regular use. Overall the dv6 is a very sturdy laptop that will be able to take some abuse and keep on ticking.
HP dv6z Vs. dv6t Quad Edition Performance
The big difference between the two different versions of the dv6 comes with the performance. While both laptops have a Quad Core processor, the actual performance of the AMD A8 series versus the Intel Core i7 series is not even close, the Intel Core i7 is a much superior processor in terms of overall performance. During our testing we had the two following dv6z and dv6t configurations available:
| HP dv6t Quad Edition Specs as Tested | HP dv6z Quad Edition Specs as Tested |
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When running PCMark 7, a benchmark test that scores overall system performance, the HP dv6tqe with the Intel Core i7 and AMD 6770M graphics scored 4,012 while the dv6zqe with an AMD A8-3510MX processor and AMD 6750M graphics scored 1,659 PCMarks:
| Laptop | PCMark 7 |
| HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition – AMD A8-3510MX, AMD 6750M Graphics, 8GB RAM | 1,659 PCMarks |
| HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition – Intel Core i7-2630qm 2.00GHz, AMD 6770M Graphics, 4GB RAM | 4,012 PCMarks |
| Lenovo ThinkPad W520 – Intel Core i7 2720QM, 4GB RAM, Nvidia Quadro 2000, Intel 320 SSD | 4,299 PCMarks |
| HP Envy 17 3D – Intel Core i7-2670QM, AMD 6850M 1GB, 8GB RAM, 7200RPM HD | 2,592 PCMarks |
| Lenovo IdeaPad U400 – Intel Core i5-2430M, AMD Radeon 6470M, 6GB RAM, 5400RPM HD | 2,287 PCMarks |
The major factor there is just overall better processor performance. You can see that even Intel Core i5 dual core processor equipped laptops can outpace the AMD A8 Quad Core. The score when it comes to graphics comparison is much closer. When running 3DMark Vantage the same systems scored more closely, though the dv6tqe still won out by a pretty wide gap:
| Laptop | 3DMark Vantage Score |
| HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition – AMD A8-3510MX, AMD 6750M Graphics, 8GB RAM | 6,350 3DMarks |
| HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition – Intel Core i7-2630qm 2.00GHz, 4GB RAM | 8,487 3DMarks |
Price Comparison
The other major difference between the two versions of the dv6, outside of performance, is the price. The dv6tqe starts at $799 while the dv6zqe starts at $529.99, that’s a $170 difference. For the given test configurations the prices are as such:
- dv6tqe: $949.99
- dv6zqe: $679.99
Again, a $170 difference after upgrades are made to both online. That’s a pretty big price difference, in terms of percentage the dv6tqe is 25% more expensive.
Battery Life
While the battery life is greatly affected by the processor and graphics it turns out that the difference in battery life between the dv6tqe and dv6zqe is so close you can consider it no different. With the dv6tqe we squeezed out 5 hours and 8 minutes and the dv6zqe achieved 5 hours and 10 minutes. These were with tests both done under “friendly” conditions with brightness set to low and just using integrated graphics and light tasks.
Conclusion
At the end of the day it comes down to comparing the performance and price, so is the extra performance on the dv6tqe worth the money? It depends on your needs and if you can afford it of course. If you know you’re going to be pushing your laptop to extremes and would like to be able to do some gaming then it’s definitely worth considering the dv6tqe. However, if all you are doing is productivity tasks such as web, office, email and some entertainment in the form of video watching and some gaming then the dv6zqe will be perfectly adequate. Think of it like this. The dv6tqe is like a Ferrari and the dv6zqe is a Ford Mustang. Both are fast sports cars, but the Ferrari will get you there faster if you need it to since it can surpass 200mph. But if your speed limit is 80 mph and that’s as fast as you want to go and as much performance as you need, it doesn’t make much sense to pay for the most expensive option does it?
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