Updated 2/20/2012: The latest deal is $415 off a dv6t Quad Edition including free shipping! New offer (again).

How to use:

• Visit HP and Configure Yours!
• In your cart, use the coupon code: NBJ3864

Expires 2/25/2012 or sooner.

There’s also a highly attractive new dv7t coupon available if you prefer the bigger model.

The base configuration includes a Sandy Bridge quad-core Core i7 2670QM running at 2.2 GHz  (up to 3.1 GHz with Turbo Boost), a free upgrade to a 750GB hard drive, another free upgrade to 8GB of DDR3 RAM as well as a free Blu-ray player. The Mobility Radeon HD 7690M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 video memory is an absolute must-have upgrade for gamers.

An important update to HP’s configuration page is that the graphics card options are either an AMD Mobility Radeon HD 7470M or a Radeon HD 7690M, out of which the latter is considerably more powerful. The dv6 was previously available with a HD 6770M, and the difference in the HD 7690M is small–it is similarly equipped with 480 unified shaders but the memory clocks have been adjusted upwards. It has enough performance to run all current games at medium or high detail settings at the entry-level display’s native resolution (1366×768). In terms of value for money, the dv6t Quad Edition is about as good as it gets right now.

The latest Sandy Bridge version of the Pavilion dv6t is a major update over previous versions. Not only has the design been completely overhauled to be more in line with HP’s premium Envy series, the interior components have been given several important upgrades as well. The quad core edition is, as the name implies, available with the latest quad-core CPUs from Intel with four cores and a total of eight threads (shows up as 8 processors in the operating system). There are three different variants of the Core i7 to choose from in the Quad Edition, of which the fastest i7-2820QM runs at 2.3 GHz but automatically overclocks up to 3.4 GHz in certain situations thanks to the now-improved Turbo Boost feature.

Moreover, the recent change in the GPU department has allowed the Pavilion dv6 series to become competitive gaming laptops. The inclusion of AMD’s 6770M 7690M graphics card lets it compete with exclusive and much more expensive gamer-oriented notebooks from Alienware and Asus’ Republic of Gamers series. The specifications for this video card should in theory produce well over 10,000 points in 3DMark 06 and make the laptop capable of playing Crysis 2, Skyrim and other demanding games at high resolution and with sufficient details to make them look stunning.

On the whole, the new dv6t – especially in its quad-core variety – is a massive improvement on previous versions of the laptop with the same name. The only reason that HP has elected to keep the name is likely that it’s well known and established. However, considering the latest specifications and optional upgrades, there is no doubt that the new Pavilion laptops belong in the high-end segment.

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