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This is a great laptop.. when it works... The dv series laptop around this era had a defect in the soldering around the video chip on the motherboard.. the solder would seperate causing the computer to 'die'. This defect was actually a manufacturer recall, but since most people never send in the warrantee information, they were never notified of the recall, which expired after one year. Now if this problem occurs, it's over $350.00 to send for repairs. Even if you purchase a replacement motherboard, there is no garuantee it wont have this same defect, which can occur at anytime, even 4-5 years later. This defect can be fixed cheaply if you're good with a screwdriver and a heat gun, and there are many tutorials on the internet on how to fix this defect yourself (don't do the bake in the oven trick, as it will cause other problems). I own 2 of these (both dv6646us models, which are part of the dv6500 series... it will say on the bottom which exact model of dv6500 you have).. I repaired the video defect myself with a heat gun, and they have both been running great for over two years now. Features vary... Max. memory is only up to 4gb of ddr2 ram, so even though the laptop can run 64bit versions of windows vxp, vista, and 7 (i tried windows 8 preview on it, that worked as well), there is no need for 64bit until more 64bit only applications are available, for now, 64bit only has one advantage.. it can read more ram where 32bit max is 4 gb. It only has a 10./100 lan port, but wireless can be upgraded to wireless-n at 300 (default is wireless-n 150). Bluetooth can also be added if not already included, but requires opening the case to connect the bluetooth card. The bluetooth card sells for around $20.00 three usb 2.0 ports, sd card reader, mic jack, two headphone jacks, touch buttons for multimedia, and an IR remote control are standard with this laptop (remote is stored in the side pcmia card slot). There is also a firewire mini port, and external vga connector. cd/DVD writer also standard, as it was designed to be a multimedia pc. Of all the laptops around that have defects, I rarely give a high rating to any of them, but this one is a little differant, because once the defect is repaired, the computer beats most new ones on the market (minus a few limitations like max ram, lan port speed, and lack of usb 3.0 which wasn't around when this laptop was manufactured).Read full review