*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Ok will do, thank you.

 

well I got my ubid purchase today. WOW WOW WOW. I think this is the deal of the century. I am a bit confused though. In the Bios is says HDX9300 as in the windows properties. But the sticker on the box says HDX9000???

are they one in the same.

two questions. Is there a sticky to install windows 7 and maintain some functionality.

What is the fastest speed ram we can use

THANKS

 

What the BIOs says is what the unit actually is. HP's revision designation.

The chipset can accept DDR2 800 RAM but will downclock it to 667mhz.

There's no win7 sticky or tutorial specific to the HDX.

 

The best and safest way to install Win7 without any loss of functionality is to upgrade the original HP factory-installed Vista image, but make sure your NVIDIA driver is updated to HP's 179.32 (WHQL) before carrying out the Win7 upgrade. It should be very very smooth, and you will notice big performance and usability improvements.

The only thing that doesn't work well is QuickPlay 3.7 (the application, not the blue buttons). A workaround is to use CyberLink PowerDVD for Blu-Ray.

 

I wouldn't bother upgrading to Windows 7 just yet as a public release of the RC (Release candidate) will be available on April 10th I believe. The final version will ship this fall.

 

I just did dual boot with Win Vista and Win 7, was piece of cake. Didn't want to loose all the stuff on my vista drive xD
Grtz

 

In any case, because of the legacy HP drivers and utilities, a clean Win7 install doesn't go well and you end up with many things not working the way they should/the way they were under Vista. Microsoft is commended for having optimized the Vista-to-Win7 upgrade path (even an in-place Vista refresh, Vista on Vista, isn't as smooth or successful).

 

I installed Win 7 as dual bhoot and there are not problems at all. I installed all devices.

 

Did Win7 find all the drivers itself, or did you have to manually go find and load some Vista drivers for any of the non-recognized devices?

I'm thinking of using my Dragon for a Windows 7 test....

Thanks.

 

does anyone know if the 4965AGN wifi card has two or three antenna's on the 9000.

Does HP still hard code the wifi modules in the bios. I remember trying to upgrade another HP notebook I had with an Atheros and it was a no go.

thanks

 

another quick question. If I have a HDX9000 (identified in the bios as an HDX9300) when search for updated drivers on the HP site what model number do I put in?

 

Doesn't really matter, it'll bring up the same drivers.

 

well did the win 7 install

went well and after a few downloads I have all items working including quick play.

I did notice my win experience score is horrid for disc transfer rate at 2.0

perhaps I missed something to cause such a low score????

also, is there anyway to put the recovery manager back on?

 

A lot of people get bad score for disc transfer.
I have Win 7 too, but I get 5.3 for disc transer. I really don't know how I get that xD

 

I would assume that Win 7 disk score is geared toward SSD's, not hard disks now.

 

The processor power was set at maximum.

By frequency I assume that would be core speed? If so, it reads 1598MHz at idle, and around 1196MHz during game play - do these numbers seem correct?

 

If I want to have a possibility to restore preinstall Vista using F11 after clean install of Vista do I have to install the recovery application on clean system or I don't need it.

 

For some reason 7 has a problem with the disk caching (as far as the Windows Experience Index). If you temporarily disable it on your primary hard drive, via the device manager - hard drive properties - policies, your rating should go up. You can then of course re-enable the caching and the score will stay the same.

 

Hi guys,

I have a dilemma

I want to upgrade my old laptop to something nice, and am torn between to systems.

An HDX 16 with:

2.40 Ghz dual core duo ( P8600 chip )
6 gigs of ram

OR...

An HXD 18 with
2.0 Ghz QUAD core ( QX9000 chip )
4 gigs of ram

both systems have the same video card ( Nvidia with 512megs of ram )
500 gig hard drive.

What would be the faster machine for doing video ?
and what would be the overall faster machine ?

I realize that not all applications will take advantage of a quad-core chip like the QX900, so this is why I"m asking.

Perhaps some of you have bought either of the system, perhaps you have some info, or insight that could help me out.

I'm basically wondering if the dual-core P8600 chip @ 2.40 Ghz in the HP HDX 16 with that 6 gigs of ram will actually be faster overall than the quad core would be, and perhaps even be faster at rendering video ?

thanks for any help, and information.

 

I guess I posted in the wrong section, sorry everyone.

 

Your idle is to be expected. (anywhere from 1196 to 1598mhz. Mostly on the 1598 side. But during gameplay it should bottom out at your normal idle, not go below it. Likely it should stay above it considering it's an emulator.

What CPU usage % are you seeing while playing vs. idle (when you don't have mame loaded)?

Try this if you already haven't done so; in Mame's configuration, under the Misc tab, slide thread priority to "realtime" and enable "Use RDTSC timing system"

 

If you burned the recovery disc set, you don't have to worry about the recovery partition which is what is loaded when you hit f11 at boot I believe. Teh recovery application only makes the disc set.

 

While on this subject I have a question. Is there a way to extract Vista Home Prem from the recovery partition? It ticks me off that HP does not give you the OS disk.

I ask this because I bought Visa Ultimate and am using it for my HDX. I would like to install Vista Home Prem on my Desktop. Officially upon purchase of my HDX I bought a copy of vista. It even comes with the product key.

I have not played with it much yet. One thought I had was to take a HDD and put the recovery partition at the beginning and see if I could boot from it or find a way to execute it. I just thought before I go through all the work I would see if someone has already done so.

Thanx

*EDIT*
I may have found the answer to this. I never really look at the rest of NBR.com but I noticed a sticky at the top of this section that mentions all Vista retail disk are the same and that it just matters what license you use. So theoretically I should be able to use the license on the bottom of my HDX with the Vista Ultimate Disk I have install it on my Desktop and end up with Vista Home Prem. I will try it out and see what happens.

 

anyone have an idea on this question?

 

3 antennas. Likely whitelisted to be in accordance with various country communication protocol approvals.

 

2.0 any idea on my bios question above

 

So you did a clean install and have your quick touch buttons and the whole she-bang up and running? Congrats, I hope wouldn't mind letting us know what you downloaded. Would be helpful to others as well later on down the track to be able to refer them to a post if they are interested in installing W7.

As for the Experience score, I noticed my HD score dropped to 1.9 (160GB 5400 Seagate) so I popped a 320 GB 7200 Seagate in and it jumped to 5.9.

Perhaps 60-70 Mb transfers are the new norm in Microsoft's eyes?

 

That's what whitelisting means. A list in BIOS of approved Wifi cards.

 

the bios in the dragon seems to be very limited. I cant find anything related to the wifi. Guess my only option is to buy one and see if it will work

 

so does anyone have a service manual. i would like to upgrade the cpu

 

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01279508.pdf

 

thanks 2.0

gulp

seems like the Intel Wifi Link 5300 wont work. Figures I just ordered one ARGH

 

From all I have seen on this forum and from reading over the manual it should be quit the task. But everything looks to be well documented. I have a X9000 arriving late next week and will be using these directions. I will give and update after.

 

oh PLEASE do us all a favor and photo document everything !!!!!

 

this big arse Dell 24" monitor at the same time as the native display without any problems? Is there a preferred output on the lappy to use for it?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...4&sku=320-6272

My Dragon has the NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS and there's a sale that ends today on this monitor.

Any help from you guys would be mucho appreciated.

And if anyone has any caveats or warnings or advice I'd, again, be very appreciative.

By the way, love the forum in spite of mainly being a lurker. I've learned a lot from y'all.

Best,

Doc Eye

 

Nope, no problem. You'll have to use the VGA port though. Or an HDMI to DVI-D cable.

BTW, the link returns an error.

 

2.0,

Thanks for the HU on the broken link. I tested it when I posted and it worked. I'm sure Dell scrubs these things out for some unknown reason.

You said, "You'll have to use the VGA port though. Or an HDMI to DVI-D cable."

My question is this, won't the VGA out render a worse picture on this very nice Dell monitor, than if I use the HDMI to DVI-D out into the Dell?

And aren't the HDMI to DVI-D cables beau coup expensive?

Ultimately what I'm asking here is this: is the cost of the HDMI/DVI-D solution preferential over the VGA solution relative to screen quality?

Thanks again for a great forum, too.

Best,

Doc Eye

 

I replaced the front bezel on mine (due to an inoperative blue LED) and it wasn't fun. Here's a tip - use a muffin tin or individual baggies (with labels) to hold the various little screws and other parts as each sub-assembly is removed/reinstalled. It made it a lot easier to get all the right screws back in the right places - and there are a LOT of them - and in lots of different sizes too!

Good luck!

 

Yep. I used electrical tape with labels for the screws and anti-static bags for the sub-assembly parts.

 

Yes, you'll get a "better" picture with DVI. The HDMI to DVI cables aren't that expensive. $20-$25US. Skip th eover priced Belkin or Monster cables.

Here's an example: http://www.optimization-world.com/products/catid/4.html

 

Thanks, 2.0.

And may I propose, given your otherwordly beneficial contribution to this forum, that your tag be increased from 2.0 to at least 3.0?

Thanks again, mang.

Doc Eye

 

LOL, thanks. Just trying to give back.

 

ENTER THE DRAGON

Refurbed unit just got dropped off by UPS....gotta go and check this BIG Bad Boy out!

 

Typing this from the new Bad Boy on the block........quite impressive to say the least....everyone ought to have at least one Dragon!

Need to go and get everthing set-up......thanks to all who helped me make the decision to take the plunge!

 

I planned on it. It will give me a chance to test out my new Sony T700 camera.

 

uhmm.. hi everyone!

It's been a while since I checked out here. Work's been keeping me from "abusing" the Dragon. :-/ But at least I got to finish Spider-Man:Web of Shadows with it. Couldn't believe that the actual gameplay was just as pretty as the cinematics.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi to everyone. I wouldn't have decided to buy the dragon last year if it weren't for this fantastic forum which confirmed each and every reason why I should buy it.

Thanks to everyone!

P.S. 2.0 - wow... HP should pay you for doing this. If only I were still connected with HP, I would have recommended so.

 

anyone found a half way decent laptop cooler for use with the dragon?

 

do you really need it?

 

I used my Zalmon 2000, that I picked up recently for my Dv7t, last night with the dragon while playing a BluRay disc. It's about the same dimensions as my 17" laptop but they state that it can be used for laptops up to 20". It worked really good (excellent in fact) at cooling the machine but If I had my way, I would prefer something slightly larger for this behemoth. When using it you need to be careful when opening and closing the lid as you could tilt the machine to one side or the other. One other thing I noticed.....when I close the lid and put the Dragon to sleep it does not automatically shutoff the cooler.....it does this with my Dv7t.....my guess is that the power adapter that comes with the Dragon is not "Smart" like the one I have that came with the Dv7t.

 

You can rest assured that The HDX Dragon has one of the best cooling systems of any notebook. It has a fan for CPU and one for GPU. A notebook cooler is definitely unnecessary. Especially if you have a Penryn CPU and GeForce 8800M.