After a lot of shopping and reading and bargainning...I chose to get a HDX18t

Well,

After deciding to replace my XPS m1710 that is getting old...I was looking at a multimedia laptop/with the ability to play games once in a while. It was going to stay mainly on my desk as a desktop replacement and also be my business laptop.

I looked at different possibilities. Dell of course since I have nothing bad to say about my XPS. But the XPS studio 16 feels cheap. I played with it in a store and no way was I going to buy that. It's a long way from the old XPS machines built.

That also led me to the M17x from Dell/Alienware but although the chassis is solid and aluminum, the price premium to get an Alien head logo was not worth it. Plus all the reps, supervisors, managers at Dell were giving me a discount but nothing big. They were like? "It's the best laptop so that's why it's expensive"...I said no thanks.

Came close to buy a laptop from Xoticpc.com...I'd say I came real close.

What finally made me go with the HDX was the deal I got. The price was great (30% off) and it had all I wanted. So in the end, the deal was so good I just couldn't pass it up and now I'm just waiting for it to arrive at the end of the month.

Here's what I got:

HP HDX18t Premium Series Notebook PC
* Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) with DVD media
* Intel Core2 Duo Processor T9900 (3.06 GHz, 6 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
* 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
* 500GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (250GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection (The first disk will be replaced by a SSD as soon as it is unboxed)
* 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M - For DDR3 Memory
* 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
* Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
* Webcam + Microphone + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)
* Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
* HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner with Media Controller
* Full Size Backlit Keyboard
* 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery[/B]

Glad to be part of the club!



Oliver

 

Word up G! I'm sure you'll love it.

 

I think so too. Now the waiting begins. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

And thanks for being like the only one out of 30 people that looked at this thread and actually took the time to say welcome

 

Hi

I did the same thing as you. I looked at so many laptops that they all started running together, I couldn't remember which one had what.

But I finally ordered my HDX on the 4th. In another thread I told the story about returning the first one. So, this is the second one that I ordered.

It shipped on the 11th, but it says that I won't receive it until the 17th. The waiting is definately the hardest part.

These are my specs:

tHP HDX18t Premium Series Notebook PC
• Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
• Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme Mobile Processor QX9300 (2.53Ghz, 12MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
• 1TB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (500GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M - For DDR3 Memory
• 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
• Blu-Ray +/-R/RW with SuperMulti
• Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)
• Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
• HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
• Full Size Backlit Keyboard
• HP Long Life Battery

 

Nice. Definitely one of the best bang for the buck right now...especially when you get the discounts. Nice choice on the Quad. I have one overclocked and watercooled in a desktop for video encoding etc and it's great. But for my laptop I wanted the speed and nothing that will require or use 4 cores yet. But you don't go wrong with the QX9300 !

Anyway, I change laptops every 2-3 years and pass the old one to the wife :laugh:

 

I am passing this dv9000 on to my son, he's almost 12. I am not that tech savvy, so I don't think that I would be able to do the OC thing. I have also read that the HDX will not allow this.

I don't do any video encoding or gaming, but I feel that the HDX that I ordered would be "higher end" for at least a few years.

BTW have you read anything in the Owner's Lounge about our new NB. There is a thread for owners of this model.

What does your wife think about always getting your hand-me-downs? LOL

Do you know anything about the TV tuner? I don't remember if it was available for Canada.

How about the GPU? I have read that it is a class 2, mid-range, and only mediocre performance.

I really don't know much about the guts of the machine, so any info that you may add would be helpful.

Thanks

 

Good Luck! I got the same config as you except the RAM (4GB) and the HDD (500GB 1 HD) and the Processor (QX9300). Best of luck! Also, Welcome to NotebookReview Dot Com!

 

Yeas I saw the super long thread on the HDX18. The wife is fine with me getting a new laptop and her getting my old one. She gets a new laptop and doesn't pay a cent!

I know nothing about the TV tuner. Frankly, it came with the package but I really don't care much for it. I ordered it from the US and have it delivered to someone in the US that will send it to me in Canada. There's no customization available on Canada HP laptops. For some reason, HP seems to think Canada is a third world country

The GPU is average. OK for casual gaming and probably not at all high settings but still playable. To really see an improvement in gaming you need to pay premium for a laptop that has SLI and that will still be having a hard time in 3 years.

Although I prefer gaming on a computer, I'm tired of paying $4000 + each 3 years for a cutting edge gaming laptop. Money wise it's absurd. You buy an Xbox or PS3 and a HDX18t and you play what you want + it's cheaper

 

Only reason I didn't take the QX9300 is because I believe the HP HDX can't be overclocked...if I'm wrong please correct me. 4GB is plenty. 8GB of DDR3 is overkill but it was so cheap if added to the machine when built that I added it.

Thanks for the welcome!

 

those systems are boobies

 

I have the hdx16, similar but smaller. The GPU is class 2 but it runs everything I throw at it. Some games like crysis warhead can't be run at max settings but I can play it at high settings no issue. For me, class 1 GPUs are for hardcore gamers.

As for the TV tuner, it picks up about 12 channels here and are very clear. Useful if you want to watch some TV on the go. Also comes with a remote, although you also get a express card remote already so you'll get 2 remotes.

 

Taken from a GPU spec site:

The Nvidia GeForce GT 130M is a DirectX 10 graphics card for notebooks and technically a higher clocked GeForce 9650M GT with a lower current consumption . It is produced in 55nm and the current consumption is similar to the 9600M GT which is produced in 65nm. As the 9600M GT it features the PureVideo HD video processor (VP3) and HybridPower support.

In conjunction with the Nvidia 9100M G integrated graphics, the GT 130M supports Hybrid-SLI (only HybridPower). HybridPower is a technique to choose between the integrated and dedicated graphics core, if performance or battery runtime is needed. This works only in Windows Vista. Up to now the user has to use a tool to switch between the GPUs. Later Nvidia wants to switch automatically in the drivers. GeForceBoost is not supported with this card, as there would be no performance gain.

As the 9600M GT, the GT 130M features 32 stream processors that do the graphic work of the vertex- and pixel-shaders.

The performance of the GT 130M should be somewhere near the 9650M GS. Therfore high end games like GTA 4 and Crysis wont run in high settings, but less demanding games (like Lef 4 Dead) should run fluently in high settings.

PhysX is only supported when two GeForce GT 130M are used in SLI mode (one GPU dedicated for PhysX) as the 130M is not powerful enough to calculate both graphics and PhysX.