Updated November 2012: The latest July 2012 deal is worth 33% off a custom dv6t Quad Edition including free shipping! New offer.

How to use:

• Visit HP and Configure Yours!
• In your cart, use the coupon code: HOLIDAY250HP

Expires 7/19/12

Have a look at the dv7t coupon if you prefer the bigger model (same code).

The base configuration includes a quad-core Core i7 3610QM running at 2.3 GHz  (up to 3.3 GHz with Turbo Boost), a 750GB hard drive, a free upgrade to 8GB of DDR3 RAM as well as a free upgrade to a Blu-ray player. The GeForce GT 650M (Nvidia’s latest Kepler GPU) is an absolute must-have upgrade for gamers.

An important update to HP’s configuration page is that the graphics card options are now either a GeForce GT 630M or a GT 650M, out of which the latter is considerably more powerful. The dv6 was previously available with AMD graphics cards and the latest update to Nvidia’s latest mobile Kepler GPUs makes the dv6t Quad Edition on par with gaming laptops equipped with the GTX 560M. It has enough performance to run most current games at high detail settings regardless of resolution (1366×768 or 1920×1080). In terms of value for money, the dv6t Quad Edition is about as good as it gets right now.

The latest Ivy 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 i7-3820QM runs at 2.7 GHz but automatically overclocks up to 3.7 GHz in certain situations thanks to the now-improved Turbo Boost feature.

Moreover, the recent change in the GPU department has promoted the Pavilion dv6 Quad Edition to a genuine gaming laptop. The inclusion of the GeForce GT 650M 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, including 384 CUDA cores and a 128-bit memory bus for GDDR5 should in theory produce around 2000 points in 3DMark 11 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.