HP DV9000Z and Vista RC1

Hey everyone,

This is my review of the HP dv900z with Vista...

First off, my configuration, as shipped:

• Windows XP MCE 2005
• AMD Turion X2 TL-60 (2 GHz)
• 17" WSXGA+ Brightview (1680x1050)
• 256MB GeForce Go 7600
• HP Imprint Finish with Webcam and microphone
• 1.0 GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB)
• 120GB Single SATA Drive
• Lightscribe 8x DVD+/- RW w/ Double Layer
• 802.11 a/b/g WLAN & Bluetooth
• HP Express Analog TV Tuner w/ Remote Control
• 8 cell lithium battery
• MS Works & Money

OK, upon bootup of MCE, it has all of the usual configuration stuff (I really wish there was a "I'm a smart boy, just let me use the dang thing..." button). It worked pretty well out of box. I tried the pout the DVD in, and press the DVD startup button. It took about 45 seconds to get to the DVD intro. Pretty impressive.

So, after using it for a day, I decided to put Windows Vista Ultimate RC1 (build 5600) on the thing. I was worried about this for the following reasons:

• No Vista drivers on HP site
• No Vista 64 video drivers expressly for Nvidia cards on Nvidia site
• Bad luck with previous dv8320 (turned out to be a hardware issue, Fry's has an excellent return policy)

Here is how I installed Vista... I put the disk in the drive, and restarted the computer. Upon restart, it asked me to press any key to boot from CD/DVD. I obliged, and got to the installation screen.

The first bad thing: The screen looks fuzzy. This is entirely a hardware issue, as the pixels don't really scale down. It is readable, but is not as crisp as a CRT. Anyway, I chose the "Install on the same drive as the other operating system", and it warned me about not being able to use the old OS, and this makes sense, as it will be putting things in "Program Files" as well. Plan B was to reimage the Windows MCE back on the computer if things didn't work out.

OK, so it went well, and the computer reboots a couple of times (I was distracted with playing a game with my wife and kids, but the whole process is automated, so it is a "babysitting job" -- the compouter that is, not the wife and kids...)

I entered my user name and password. Actually, as an IT guy, I am used to having all of the special drivers needed for basic stuff, like wireless and other Ethernet devices. I was pretty impressed with the wide array of things that worked "out of the box"

Now, here is the list of things that work out of the box:

• Video works out, but only to 1400 x 1040 16 bit color)
• Wireless works with no issues
• Sound slider on the keyboard (upper left, above the delete key) works
• Sound works
• Installation takes about 15GB
• Bluetooth works
• Ethernet works
• SD Card reader works (and asks if you want to use it to speed up the system!)
• Touchpad works

Now, for the bad stuff:

• One BSOD upon the first shutdown. It apparently bluscreened while shutting down, after about 15 minutes of looking idle, but not locked up. After bootup, it apprised me of this, and I sent in the info for MS to review it, and see if there is a fix for it. Nothing happened when I did this, and it didn't offer me any resolution. This post is after that reboot.
• The video drivers are going to be a search. If anyone has Vista64 drivers, please let me know.
• there are 5 troubled devices in the "Other devices" section of the device manager: 3 Base System Devices, 1 Coprocessor, and 1 unknown device.

All in all, this has been a pretty impressive upgrade, and with the hardware running pretty smoothly. I am going to search for updated drivers for the video.

I hope this helps others, who are looking towards the future, and if anyone has help for the items in the "bad" section, please let me know!

Thanks,

Jeff

 

OK, So I went to the NVidia website and dowloaded the drivers here:

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_rel70betadriver.html

(Vista 64 RC1 drivers, dated 9/1/06)

These took care of:
Other Devices:
Coprocessor

That's about it.

I went to www.laptopvideo2go.com and found the info on the drivers. Note that this is the first time I have ever went to this site, and since this is not NVidia, this is HIGHLY DANGEROUS (Safe, due to them merely modding the INF File, which is text anyway...).

This, being a driver can kill my system, and not even say, "sorry". I stand corrected by Miner (see below), and since this is changing only the INF file, and the drivers are from NVidia, go for it!

Anyway, this post is written before the upgrade; I will install the driver with the modded INF file, reboot, and (hopefully be able to) repost with the results.

The file antivirus scanned OK, so that gives me some comfort...

See you all on the other side of the driver install.

Jeff

 

Well, it survived... OK, it thrived! I am now using Aero glass, 1680x1050 resolution, and things look pretty sweet!!!!

To go get the drivers, go here:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?drivers&series=95&os=6&type=1&dir=1

The ones I have are 96.33

Hope this helps, and I'll post more as I get further...

Jeff

 

The "Unknown device is most likely HP Quicklaunch buttons drivers. I installed the XP software package that HP includes and it works pretty well without any issues.

Laptopvideo2go is safe. All they do is mod the inf's to recognise the mobile graphics cards which Nvidia or even ATi refuse to do so(they just leave it to the manufacturer).

 

FWIW... I'm running Vista RC1 on my dv9000t and have some unknown devices. I've determined it's the 5-in-1 card reader chipset which is made by Ricoh. Specifically, it's this chipset from everything I can gather and I've not found drivers.

http://www.ricoh.com/LSI/product_pcif/pcc/5c832/index.html

 

An issue seen last night (before bed):
The headphone jack doesn't work. When I plug in to it, sound still comes out of the speakers. (Things that make you go hmmm...)

Bos, my card reader works fine, so that may be a difference between chipsets of the t and the z.

Jeff

 

Vista RC1 is still pretty buggy, ive tried every version of vista since build 5308 and vista has really come a long way. About the sound, i suggest you try and download and install vista rtm and use the drivers (xp drivers) from the hp site or windows update.