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    HD3200 and Bluray - will they work together?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Chananel, Aug 7, 2008.

  1. Chananel

    Chananel Notebook Consultant

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    This is what's written on the hp site:
    Blu-Ray ROM requires 256MB ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3450 Graphics. Update Primary CD/DVD drive or Graphics card.

    BUT

    bestbuy is selling the the HD3200 with bluray right now...

    SO, hardware wise, will these work together? what's the catch?

    (this post is posted in a different format in the hp forum, but they are supposed to produce different results)
     
    Chananel, Aug 7, 2008
    #1
  2. dtwn

    dtwn C'thulhu fhtagn

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    Welcome to customization with HP. It's their way of making you spend more. Much like how Dell does it with "You need the 8400M GS for Blu-Ray and etc."
     
    dtwn, Aug 7, 2008
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  3. CeeNote

    CeeNote Notebook Virtuoso

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    Exactly... technically an HD3200 is more than powerful enough to handle Blu-Ray.
     
    CeeNote, Aug 7, 2008
    #3
  4. cat mom

    cat mom Notebook Evangelist

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    I just bought a dv5-1003nr from best buy for $750. It has the HD3200 and blu-ray rom. I tried it out tonight and it played a blu-ray disk just fine. I could only get it to work if it was playing only on the tv OR the computer screen but not when it was outputting to both tv and computer screen at the same time. Strangely, it gave me an error that said:

    "The content is protected.
    The content is not allowed to play in the current display mode"

    Changing it to display on either one was fine. No skips, and the hdmi cord put both the picture and the sound out thru the tv. I was using the HP Quick Play software that came with the computer.

    "New! HP - Pavilion Laptop with AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-70
    Model: dv5-1003nr SKU: 8933014
    AMD Turion™ X2 dual-core mobile processor RM-70; 3GB DDR2 memory; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with Blu-ray Disc support; 15.4" widescreen; 160GB hard drive; built-in webcam; Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1

    Shipping: Usually leaves our warehouse in 1 business day

    Store Pickup: Available at most stores
    Reg. Price: $899.99
    You Save: $150.00
    Sale: $749.99"

    Note that this computer did not come with firewire.

    So far I am happy with it. :)
     
    cat mom, Aug 8, 2008
    #4
  5. howard911s

    howard911s Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Hey cat Mom, how is the heat and noise on you rlaptop? I'm thinking to acquire one, but i'm afraid of noisy computers... and one that would heat up the whole room..
     
    howard911s, Aug 9, 2008
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  6. cat mom

    cat mom Notebook Evangelist

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    I was surfing the web for an hour and it did not seem too hot on my lap. Warm but not hot. Much less heat than my Gateway with a TL50 in it. It got much hotter after playing the blu-ray and outputting to the TV for a couple hours, especially under the disk drive, but I doubt anyone would have it on their lap for that. The top and front of the computer stayed cool. I don't think there would be a problem typing on it for a long time. I haven't noticed nuch fan noise but I wasn't really listening for it. For now, I think it is the cheapest computer you will find that will play a blu-ray and it seems like a good deal. I'm still happy I bought it.

    For the Blu-ray to play you will need to use fn + F4 to switch to outputting only to the TV.
     
    cat mom, Aug 9, 2008
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