*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Coolbeans. I didn't even notice the video switching..is that something the other dock versions had or is that something that expansion thingy has? Seems that the expansion ones I saw listed there had a stand for the notebook but I don't ever remember that accessory available for the HDX Dragon when it was CTO. In a related note, I'm thinking I'd like to overclock and was wondering about a cooling mat as well which I thought would have been included in a dock but I guess not.

BTW when you change the GPU device settings in the NVIDIA Performance option for it do you have to change both the profile and the create profile in both panes, then hit apply and that's it or do you have to also change it in the BIOS somewhere to get it to stick? Also are there any suggested settings? Thanks.

 

my ac adapter has just been replaced. now everything is ok.
I can still hear this electrical noise during my HDD is working but is very qiuet.

 

No video source switcher was never a part of the quickdocks. A video source switcher is a box that has multiple inputs (2 or more) and one output that you use to manually select the input. Basically saves you from having to plug in and pull out cables.

As for overclocking, you don't need any special cooling since you wouldn't be able to increase the frequency enough to cause a significant increase in heat. You would see artifacts and blue screens long before you would reach that point. At most expect a 1 to 3 degree C rise in your top GPU temp.

There is nothing in BIOS for video. Just set whatever settings and it'll stick. I haven't overclocked yet since I've been getting better performance with each subsequent driver release. Currently using 182.06. Will be trying 187.xx soon. But the best person to ask about O/C'ing is Hovercraftdriver. I think you can only go about 100- 200mhz more on core/mem/shader before you get artifacts. Go in small increments of 25-50mhz and test between each incremental step (using 3dmark06 & HWmonitor) until you see artifacts. Not everyone's GPU has the exact same O/C'ing potential.

 

Do you know if oc disables nvidia powermizer or it still works.

 

It should still work. Plus you can always disable the o/c on the fly using Nvidia tools.

 

Dom,

Right click on Computer, select MANAGE, select STORAGE, select DISK MANAGEAMENT, then you can shrink a partition down a size by right clicking on the mapped portion of the drive you want to fool with (has the blue line in it) and you will see the ability to shrink the volume. Then in the unallocated space created, you can add another partition and add a drive letter.

If you are dual booting, you will see space allocated that you can't edit (the allocated area with the other OS), as Win 7 isolates it.

 

Oh ok then you were suggesting that I get one so that I won't have to pull out, re plug in chords over and over again. Good idea.

Ok. In terms of temperature increases what should I look at..JUST increases in the GPU, ACPI, or both the GPU and CPU etc..when measuring it on HWMonitor?

Do I set it in just the first panel for create profile and hit save, or do I just select an already created profile in the second panel and it will use that ..or do I save and apply in both panels? I guess I'm just not sure what you have to do to make sure it accepts a change in settings as far as which panel it looks at for in the NVIDIA Performance software. I'd use the drivers that worked for me but now I'm using 32 bit and don't know which ones are recommended for it vs 64 bit..unless they work the same in both environments. I think so far I've only gone about 40-50 above its default..I didnt know you could go that high. I was scared I'd make it overheat or something.

 

AMEN !!!!!!!


I'd like to buy a spare power supply for my HDX. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

 

\
I searched the thread did anyone put PS3, SLINGBOX PRO HD, AND HDX combination to the experiment?
\
This youtube show it prob work, but delay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otPj6PB55Bg

How about esata/hdmi adapter if there is such a thing?

 

I figured you could do that in Computer Management..but I'm kinda scared I'll mess it up with the way it sets as the default hard drive the one youre booted up in..as in if I'm booted into 32 bit Vista, it'll show that I have the 32 bit on the C drive and 64 bit on the E drive but if I'm booted into 64 bit it will show the reverse. Theres also about 13 GBs unallocated that is used for BIOS I think..I wish I could get rid of that to make more room. Thanks for the info.

 

Figured it was possible but delay was a concern. Turns out, it is a BIG concern.

Safe to say, there's no viable way to get PS3/Xbox to work in the HDX's display in realtime. All capture devices will have a delay.

Unfortunately there's no such thing.

 

GPU, since that is what you'd be overclocking. Nothing else would be affected temp-wise.

Either will do.

You can find equivalent 32 bit drivers on HP's, Nvidia's, and laptopvideo2go's website. "Best" is a matter of personal testing.

If you're uncomfortable with overclocking, don't do it. If you kill your GPU, which might not take all that much to do - all things Nvidia considered, you're looking at serious downtime. In light of Nvidia solder bump issue, I can now only recommend overclocking for the experienced. Even then, you won't get all that much performance increase from overclocking notebook GPUs. Especially with mismatched native resolution relative to GPU power. This particular GPU is already working somewhat harder on higher res screens.

So tread with considered caution.

 

Is this the same Dominick from the Samsung i730 PDAPhoneHome forums? lol

Small world if it is.. I've owned this i730 for almost 4 years now!? And always found excellent info from you and others there like I'm finding here now from you guys in the Dragon's Lounge!!

 

hey guys I am thinking about upgrading the dragon to 8gbs of ram, what did you guys go with? Also I know where I can get my hands on a cheap t9300 ($250) would this be a worth while upgrade over my t8100?
Is patriot any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220384

 

Dominick7 is selling the G.skill ram. It's the fastest and cheapest (ok, apparently not the cheapest anymore). In any event, PM him.

Newegg also has them from time to time: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231202

Yes, upgrading to the T9300, T9500, or X9000 would be a worthwhile upgrade from the T8100. For one, you double the cache from 3MB to 6MB. That alone has a significant impact on performance. The t9300 would be the best bang for your buck. a T9500(2.6ghz) would only be about 5% faster and the X9000 would only be ~8%-10% faster than the T9300. Note, you cannot overclock the X9000 in the HDX. Also be careful about the ES X9000's on ebay. ES = engineering sample.

EDIT: that patriot mem is DDR2-800 which will downclock to DDR2-667 in the HDX which will also affect the CAS latency.

 

i figured the upgrade in cache would make it worth my while but wasnt sure if speed wise it would be a significant improvement. So I guess the possibility of not getting a paired set of 4gb sticks doesnt matter? I would also like to move to a SSD but really have the cash to do all of this at the same time right now.

 

Going to T9300 would be >20% improvement.

Always best to get same brand and model. Even if it means getting them individually to make a pair.

Prices keep dropping and the new indilink controller used in OCZ vertex and G.Skill Falcon solves the stutter problem and small file transfer issues. The longer you wait on an SSD, the cheaper and more refined they will be. They're still cutting edge tech.

 

I have always heard that production quality can change from batch to batch and can have a minimal effect on performance.
I will wait on the SSD for now.
Thanks

 

Dude you sure give that computer allot of hell lol. You keep on trying to trick it out and one of these days its going to blow up or catch on fire on you. lol

 

Has anyone bought that BD-RW that apparently swaps in yet?

 

arrrrghhhhhh, one dead pixel suddenly appeared on my dragon's LCD screen

huhuhuhuhu

 

No, its not just a transformer. It's a switching power supply.

 

Lol yea it is man, what's up Lol. Small world. Just to let you know I'm STILL using the i730 as well! Gotta have the best! I've owned and used it from 2005 as well. Good to see you in here man. So you have an HDX too huh. Yea this and pdaphonehome are great resources. Thanks man.

 

Is it dead or just a fixed pixel? If its dead, as in has no color, is black, or what not, then you can't do anything about it and I think HP won't do anything unless you have at minimum 3 dead pixels. If its just stuck, that is has blue, or some other color then you can massage the screen with a tissue/toilet paper, or something very soft, even just your finger if you don't care about getting smudges on the screen. I have one fixed pixel but I'm too lazy to fix it haha. You can also try other things like UDPixel: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-software-solutions-to-fix-a-stuck-pixel-on-your-lcd-monitor/. I would serious watch out for putting something like a pen on your screen because you can quickly damage it and or leave a scratch. My stuck pixel doesn't bother me that much since its on the right side, but I may just do something about it now that you mentioned it. I usually just massage the screen to get rid of it but it comes back because I think the bezel that cracked on top of my webcam pinches the monitor somewhere.

 

Thanks for the info 2.0! I don't need all that much increase just a bit more than what I have, muchas gracias.

 

Uh, Excuse Me?? Is this the same Lan that drove one of my friends off of this very forum thread after publicly humiliating and crucifying him over some BS screen data for no reason other than to satisfy you own ego and "ugly baby" problem?? If you're referring to my suggestion then to take that discussion to the PM area, this isn't the same thing. I haven't let someone tell me my baby is ugly, as did you then. I understand the concept totally since I was the one who told 2.0 about it, so I don't let myself get to that point.

I appreciate your input, and no offense, but after what you did it takes a lot of balls to tell me what to do considering how you treated him, unless it's just sarcastic suggestion that I do the same thing I mentioned to you back then after it had gotten ridiculous. This isn't the same as the "Screen War" that was going on between you and Adam (who unfortunately left the forum after all of that). This isn't a difference of opinion on hardware, methods, knowledge, etc. I might add that you pushed that issue to the point of literally humiliating Adam on this Forum for no other reason than just to do it, even though his argument was technically correct. And don't get me started on that - don't forget that I DO have the background, both in engineering, test, repair, support and manufacturing and QA. Those monitors are essentially the same when they leave their respective manufacturing plants - anyone who believes otherwise is just ignorant of today's Quality Assurance processes overseeing hardware manufacturing. Where they get changed/damaged/handled improperly to the point where they seem bad is at the Assembly point. It's pretty difficult to expect anything made with top-notch processes and QA will survive the slave labor of China and other such countries. I wouldn't put it past the workers themselves to screw up the screens just out of spite.

I doubt we'll ever see him here again, and Adam never posted anything harmful - the only thing he's guilty of is presenting lab data and and a position contrary to yours and not having the Engineering or Tech background the rest of us do, plus he hadn't yet unboxed his HDX. You only reamed him because as 2.0 so eloquently used my old phrase, he called your baby ugly.

Having said that, as much as I like Adam, to try and voice a technical opinion on something he hadn't yet experienced for himself, without the proper background for such a debate, was an invitation to get slammed, and a bad decision on his part - I warned him as such. But I submit that unlike KH, he never posted anything bad or irresponsible here. I am not the only one here who has called someone out because of their BS posts - I seem to recall someone withdrawing all of his posts from this thread last summer shortly after I joined, when that person was caught and nailed by 2.0. I also remember it left a pretty big hole in the thread.....

There are issues here that you're forgetting or simply aren't aware of. This isn't simply a "flame war" between me and someone else - maybe I'm of a dying breed, but I will not sit idly by and say nothing when someone posts BS and harmful information that might cause those not as knowledgeable to make bad choices they'll regret later on that we could've prevented had we only said something. It actually bothers me that no one else here besides 2.0 and myself really gives a $hit. His last couple of posts to me weren't of that vein, but they were the ones that triggered my Anti-BS Hammer, so to speak, and the resulting responses.

KH's Spam crap posted a link to what turned out to be a dangerous site - after being notified of such, he so far has refused to remove the posts with the links, nor has he bothered to apologize for posting it because he doesn't care. Concerning the F.40 updates, all of us here know how many people lost their a$$es on that particular HP screwup, yet this clown has the audacity to suggest that by some Miracle of the Mighty and Benevolent Techno-God, his HDX survived the update without any issues. Regardless of whether he did or didn't, such a remark could suggest to someone to believe that it's worth a try - when all of us here know dam.n well the odds are against it. Are you willing to give it a go, based on KH's miraculous statement? Not that one more notebook gone would be any real loss to you, be we do know you favor your Dragon as do the rest of us. I wouldn't want to see you lose yours any more than anybody else.

I'd argue that I'm likely the oldest engineer and tech on this thread, and I certainly don't have as much knowledge as others in certain areas. But the one thing I believe that is sorely lacking and missing from "professionals" today, is the attitude, ethics and responsibility that comes with being a professional. "Professionalism" is missing throughout the industry. In my day, we were taught and it was drilled into our heads that Professionalism in everything we did translated into better Customer Service, a better job done, and a better impression of your chosen profession by others as a result. I'd say it's safe to say that most consumers think we're all a bunch of greedy hacks whose only purpose in life is to take what's left out of their wallets that Obama and his a$$hole liberal buddies haven't yet found a way to steal.

Given the state of the Support and I/T industry today, and the "Hired Gun" attitude by most in our field, I honestly believe that I'm part of a group that is fastly fading. No one today cares about the customer, client, or poor non-tech sap who goes online looking for some basic info because they have no where else to turn who is hammered by BS "solutions" from garage, living room or bedroom techs who think that their vast amount of knowledge gained on their 1 or 2 home systems, their Playstation/Xbox, and taking apart the family's old TV is "experience" worthy of furthering the woes of others. The industry has been severely hampered anyway for the past 15 years due to the lack of experienced techs from the Military taking private sector jobs after the stupid decisions by major companies to let their Senior Engineers and Techs go. All they're getting is people with book & database knowledge, and no hands on technical experience at actually taking things apart and fixing them.

As far as the lengths of many of my posts - I'll agree that they can be long, but there's a reason for that, and it goes back to my training and background. You see, unlike many people, I don't automatically assume that a person who is asking for an opinion, advice or help on something is going to understand what I'm going to say; I've found that over the years many people will nod their head and fake it like they do know, but in reality are clueless to even the most basic of technical instructions. And if they knew how to do anything properly with their system, they wouldn't be here asking for help or seeking information.

People DO however, understand a step by step process and an explanation that sheds light on why you're recommending that course of action, or the reasoning behind your position on a topic. I don't always make it as simple as I'd like, but I try. I find it's easier for people to understand than to just assume they know what you're talking about.

Even then, I know that for some lazy jerks, it's easier to follow the simple one-statement fix of an idiot who knows nothing than to actually take responsibility for their system and follow procedures that have been published to fix their system, be it from me, HP or another source. But unlike many, I don't do it for points, kudos, pats on the back, or anything else. I do things the way I do because I try to give the best response I can, because even though I know that the majority of people don't really care, there's always at least one person at some point who does and appreciates it, and that's what matters.

I apply that same theory to Professionalism and when I'm telling someone where to shove it. For example, KH obviously didn't understand the technical post I made some pages back essentially telling him where to stick it, and that was my fault - I "assumed" that he would be able to understand what I was saying, and apply it. I was incorrect, so I felt that a "step by step" explanation was warranted, especially after his implication that he's a "Scientist" & "Ph.D". Those people need a lot of hand holding and gentle explanations, since Common Sense isn't really in their bag. Pickle short of a full barrel, if you get my drift...

I'm sorry if you or others don't have the same attitude as I do when a person posts bad or irresponsible material. You don't seem to have a problem debating things with "passion" that aren't of an ethical nature I let this clown post his BS without saying a word, until it directly affected me once again.

But what the hell? I'm easy. If you and the others here think my attitude and ethics are too old-fashioned and so off-topic that you can't learn something about what Professionalism means, then you and everyone say the word and I'll gladly move on. Apparently there's too much of it in me, and maybe not as much as their should be in you. Everyone here and elsewhere doesn't care because that's what this country and the world has come to - Why care if it doesn't affect you directly? Well, probably because that if you don't, in time you'll be the one who needs help and answers you don't have in an area you're not expert in, and you'll run into the same apathy and BS elsewhere that you've let happen yourself by not caring.

In fact, after thinking about it, I'm sick and tired of preaching to people like you who just don't give a fu.ck about Professionalism at all or whether or not people like KH willfully take advantage of others when it's within your ability to do something about it. You claim to be a Professional - I would submit that you get off your a$$ and start acting like one if you are and give a $hit.

But don't bother - you won't have to worry about any of my long and boring dissertations here any more, and it'll give people like KH more room to post the kind of BS you obviously don't give a $hit about.

I honestly hope that one day you understand as 2.0 and I do that being a professional isn't necessarily the same as acting like one. Don't bother to respond - I won't be back here to read it or give a $hit one way or the other.

Everyone - it's been real. Real what I'll figure out one day, but real nevertheless. I hope that all of you too one day figure out that sitting idly by and saying nothing when you know it's wrong not to lessens all of us.

Vaya con Dios. Das Vedanya. Ciao. Later dudes.....

(The French suck so theirs wasn't used.....)

 

Oh Great - another expert.

Excuse me for not mentioning the switch transistor OR the regulator that FEEDS the transformer, or calling it by its "proper name".

It's a figure of speech, and it has many definitions, the general term of which I was referring to:

Transformer
Noun
A device that transfers an alternating current from one circuit to one or more other circuits, usually with a change of voltage

Before you were born, pretty much everything that was a voltage adapter was just a transformer, but we also used the term to describe anything that changes AC-DC and vice-versa. I'm sure your Electronics 101 teacher at DeVry would be very proud of you for catching me in such a gross and negligent use of the terminology.

And actually YOU'RE wrong - the proper term for an AC in-DC out SMPS is a Rectifier.

 

Haha I know, if I could find a way for it to do my dishes I would

 

When a thread is this long, it gets very easy to kill it off with this kind of long posts that go on and with arguments which really interest nobody but the 2 or 3 people involved.

This is an important thread, the best around about the dragon. Could you guys just stop or just argue thru private messages?

Could we pretty please go back to normal life dudes?

 

I'm pretty sure there aren't even 2 or 3 people interested in these arguments.

Yeah, I tried the same request a few pages back and just got spanked for it.

Hopefully, things will get back to normal around here now.

 

Hi,
Does anyone know how to set the date and time on a HDX9000? There is no option in BIOS setup like every other computer in existance.

 

the limited bios is one of my only real complaints about this otherwise incredible computer.

 

btw you all notice that the HDX hardly ever appears on ubid anymore. Must be running out of refurbs

 

Right click the clock and do adjust time...?

 

But that won't save in the BIOS surely. On power off it will lost the time?

 

Next time you're in front of an X9000, run a wprime 32 benchmark. This measures raw CPU power.

What precisely are/were you doing that made a 3 to 10 secs difference? You would have been doing something that takes 30 secs to 1min 30 secs to complete.

I've run the benches and seen the difference firsthand between the range of Penryns and Meroms. The only noticeable non-placebo difference in everyday computing is seen from going from an T8100 and below to a T9300 and above.

It's been said many times in many places over the years by experienced folk... unless a performance increase is >15-20% between A and B, you won't be able to materially tell the difference other than via a "placebo effect" (it's bigger, costs more, so it has to be better) or by comparing benchmark numbers. It holds true. I've wasted my fair bit of coin on such pursuits in the past to know that it's better to save the money for a new system down the road that will be 100% to 500% faster and cutting edge current.

In any event, being that there aren't many legitimate, non ES, X9000's in circulation, we need to be realistic and not anecdotal about the cost benefit and risk of installing one. Paying $500+ for a ~10% increase in performance on an obsolete platform is not cost effective.

If they ever drop down to $100 to $150, snatch them up. But they likely never will considering that they become more scarce as time goes by.

Folks, save the loot for an SSD. It'll be a far, far, far more noticeable gain than going from a 2.5Ghz, or 2.6Ghz, to a 2.8ghz X9000.

I want this to sink home, the premium one is paying for when they buy an X9000 is for its unlocked multiplier which allows you to overclock it up to around 3.4ghz. But in the HDX, you CANNOT take advantage of it. You can't overclock it. If you could, you would see some excellent gains. In fact, you'd see about a 20% gain over its stock clock of 2.8Ghz.

Right chaps, remember the platinum rule... just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

 

It saves, no worries.

 

x9000 is too high priced for something you cant overclock, I know its already a discontinued model and its better to not sink a lot of money into it, but the dragon is a great system especially for someone that wanted a laptop and a desktop. The only thing that I wish was upgradeable is the gpu, now that I would spend money on!

 

Any chance this new audio driver will work with our rig?

Here.

 

Dev ID is listed in the inf. So yes. Only question is, "will bass work?"

Only one way to find out. I'll give it a shot later...

EDIT; Nope, no bass. Method of installation: uninstalled 5607, reboot, installed 6146, reboot.

 

Agreed. If the GPU was upgradeable, that would've made a kick arse difference.

 

Dom:

True lol.. well i just made mine into a phone also if that interests you haha got a magic jack and it runs awesome! 40 bucks for a year of phone services 19 a year after!

 

Ok I'll try a benchmark next time. I've been tempted to get an HDX18 with the Quad, 1GB GPU, and such but the screen doesn't compare to the Dragons.. It looks squashed and dwarfed.. doesn't seem like a desktop experience like you have with the Dragon. IF I was to get a cheaper HDX as opposed to getting an HDX with 2.8 and 8800, while I remember which X9000 I should get, I dont know that I was clear on which HDX to get..I guess make it a 2.1GHZ as that seems to be the slowest, thus would make it cheaper, but which GPU would I need to get thats upgradeable to the 8800? I saw some video of some dood making a desktop with like 30 or perhaps more SSDs a gazillion GHZ googa quad core and it was sick fast...they were able to burn a DVD in less time than it took to throw a DVD out of a 2nd story window and it hit the ground. Sounds like SSD is the way to go performance wise in this case like you said.

 

You think BIOS man could get the X9000 or even 2.5 or 2.6 to overclock? And or allow us a BIOS that would permit an upgradable GPU? WOrking on something with less than 20 inches sucks I think. Id want to get as much use out of this beauty as possible.

 

Haha sweet. Good deal man. Hey so you think the Palm Pre can be an i730 replacement? What I AM enjoying is being able to sync my Outlook stuff via Bluetooth for the first time since getting my HDX!

 

Dom, take the plunge for us and let us know how it turns out

 

Lol as far as what..buying a low end HDX and upgrading it to a quadrupahertz GPU and 3+GHZ overclocked CPU via a BIOS man update?? Shyea right! You first!

 

Ok anyone here add another hard drive in their HDX? I know that you have to get a hard drive caddy or cage or something right? Where does one procure one of these things and is it worth it or should I just get an external?

 

Quick Touch = The volume and the Treeble\Bass control buttons on the console.

Note: The On Screen Display often gets in conflict with other programs and it is therefore advised to disable it - by typing msconfig in the "RUN" command of the START menu. and then unchecking the OSD option in the SETTINGS tab. The volumes will still work, you just won't get any OSD and the button won't make any sound when pressed - Personally I decided to uninstall the driver in the control panel instead. That way the buttons still work AND I do get a sound when pressing them: the windows EXCLAMATION sound which is trying to tell me it can't find the driver (the good thing is that it can be customized, of course).


Hey guys, I just got an HDX and I'm having trouble figuring out how to do what Black Knight is talking about above.

When I run msconfig there isn't a settings tab and none of the other tabs have any reference to OSD or On Screen Display. I can't figure out which driver to uninstall either so if anyone who figured out how to do this I would really appreciate it.

I have Vista 64.

 

The problem with this, is that the PLL itself is locked, so no adjustments can be made at all. Doesn't matter what the BIOS says it can do.