Any word on a Core i7 HDX18 ?

Ave,

I'm looking for an 18.4" / nVidia GTX / Core i7 notebook; So far the HP HDX18t has been the most impressive notebook that I've found and have been interested in -- barring the CPU. Does anyone know if there's any plans for a Core i7 HDX18 notebook anytime soon?

Thanks!

 

Yes, the DV8 was just announced.

http://www.blogcdn.com/es.engadget.com/media/2009/09/hp-winter-leak-picture-14a-rm-eng.png

 

Looking very good!! One problem I'm seeing right off the bat though is a poor GPU; the GT Series doesn't stack up against the GTX series (Being offered currently in HDX).

Would there be any other flagship differences between the DV8 & HDX Series?

Thanks!!

 

That looks great, kind of suggests that the Pavilion DV range and HDX range are getting ever so close in terms of feature set. Will HDX disappear?

I was looking at HDX16 - any sign of a smaller screen equivalent to this new DV8?

 

I think you are mistaken, the HDX series (both 16" and 18") do not offer GTX GPU's. The highest GPU is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M. For a GTX GPU, you will have to look somewhere other than HP.

 

Isn't the Core i7 a quad core? If so, than I doubt the hdx16 will get one cuz the hdx16 has always been duo core while the hdx18 could be options with quad core or duo.

 

Yes. They updated the gpu about 4 months ago so I doubt they will again soon. IMHO, the 130M is not the best, but is more than capable. You would only need the GTX series if you wish to run 2 games at once or something really demanding. Yes I play crysis warhead with the 130m at max settings.

 

@RJEvans: Sorry that's my bad!! You are absolutely correct!! HDX Series only comes with GT, not GTX.

That's a little disheartening; Other brands I'm looking at (Dell, Alienware, Toshiba) are all offering the GTX Series cards.

The main difference comes while using CUDA-Enabled Encoding. This is not for Gaming; It's primarily for Encoding & Calculations ... that's where you will see a stark difference between the GT Series & GTX Series (Using CUDA)

I really like the HDX Series; but the GPU is really holding it back.

Thanks Guys!

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5362670#post5362670

 

Very, Very Promising, I'll give you that!! Only problem is that it seems to be a little ways down the road. I'm not expecting to buy anything this month but definitely by November; These upcoming models might just be out of my range date-wise.

Thanks though.

PS: I know this is the wrong forum; should go in Alienware; but no one here would happen to know if there's an m17x planned with Core i7, would you?

 

In my opinion, the cost to productivity ratio is just not there. The i7 might be more efficient, but it's unlikely it's operation will net any advantage. That's a lot of money to pay just for a theoretical improvement.

 

HP has dv8 specs on their website now:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01878059&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en

Shows i7-720 processor

 

I'm wondering if this is going to be customizable; and if the specs offered are "Up to... " or "Basic". I would be more interested in better memory & hard drive space then what's appearing on that page. Its' early though ... I think this notebook is set to appear sometime in the 3rd week of October if I'm not mistaken.

 

again just a bit of info I came into, apparently the dv6 and HDX16 are going to be getting Core I7 as well. As far as graphics go the GT130 is a 9600 built on 55nm. According to notebookcheck ( http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4650.13883.0.html) the ATI 4650 which currently ships in the high end dv6s and dv7s is faster than both the GT130 and possibly the GT 230, but they have no benchmarks on the 230 yet. No word on weather your going to have the ATI GPUs with the I7, but it would be nice.

 

Where did you get your info that the hdx16 is getting core i7?

 

Exactly!! Where did you get your information from?? If this is true; then it's excellent news because it also brings the possibility of the HDX18 getting a Core i7 which would be awesome!!

On the other hand -- I do need nVidia as the GPU choice; not for power but for CUDA.

I haven't been able to find any info of the sorts you're talking about. Care to share your source?

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I agree this notebook looks good and have a lot of potential.

 

The GT 230M is on the weaker side; in fact that's the only weak link on this otherwise fabulous configuration notebook. I'm really hoping you have a choice. Both the comparable alienware, or the upcoming Tobshiba Qosmio x505 have cards far better.

Could be a deal breaker for me; but have to wait & watch when they actually start rolling them all out.

 

I really don't know why they are using the 230M when the 240M provides a little better performance on the same TDP. I was hoping they at least offer the option of a 250M--28 TDP, and much better performance (still not the best, but you can't have everything).

 

I don't know what you guys are smoking as I feel the 130M is moar than acceptable and you think the 230M is weak. You only need a better gpu if you want to play 5 games at the same time on 5 external screens all on max settings. That or if you're doing CGI.

 

Umm... what the heck are you talking about? Go to notebookcheck.net and look at some benchmarks and descriptions for various mobile cards. That site is not super accurate, but that's a great start. You will see that yes, GT130m is more of a low mid-range card and that 230M is better but not by much.

For an 18" desktop replacement it's pretty bad. These cards can not run latest games at full res or even at say 1600x900 with decent settings, heck these cards can't even run 1+ year old games with decent settings. 250M should have been the minimum in this sort of config, if not 260M or GTX 260M. I mean, GTX 280M would be ideal in such a large laptop, but that's probably overkill for vast majority of HDX customers. Pretty much any and all competition is going to have better video cards.

 

I've been to notebookcheck. You will see that there are 6 classes of laptop gpus. The 130m is in class 2, which is above average if you consider that middle is class 3. I play crysis warhead, bioshock, and empires total war all max settings at 1366 x 768 with no issues at about 35fps. Thats why I feel there is no need for a higher gpu really. It may also have something to do that I have 8gb of ram with a 2.93ghz cpu.

 

I know a reliable source. Also bad news about the HDX18. The dv8 is the replacement model for it, as in no more HDX18....... I know that the HDX16 IS being revamped with Core i7, but what the future of the HDX series is going to be is anyone's guess. Also with the new dv6s and dv7s also receiving the Core i7/230M graphics on high end models, the lines between the Pavilion and HDX are going to get blurry. Also apparently the dv6 is going to be going to all 15.6 inch screens.

 

BINGO!!! You hit the nail right on the head!! And that is why I mentioned in one of my earlier posts -- there is a reason that comparable brands (Dell, Alienware, Toshiba) are choosing better cards then HP. 250M should indeed be the minimum offered with the option to shell out more green and get a better card in there.

The other point I want to raise @ optimustarzan, Gaming is not the only usage here. Take a look at the CUDA Streams in all these cards and you will see a significant difference. I personally will be doing a lot of video encoding & calculations; that's where stream processors come into picture using CUDA power. 130M & 230M don't even begin to cut it there.

@ bobthenailer: If what you're saying is true (don't know your source), that is indeed bad news. But then again, even if the HDX18 would get the Core i7 and all, with a poor card like 230M, it would still be a deal-breaker.