*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Ok...I THINK I FINALLY did the post correctly this time so that they won't delete it again for not being in accord with the strict NBM Marketplace policy...but anyone interested in getting a GSkill 4GB Memory stick or two for your HDX I have 3 left, two of which I'm currently selling at Ebay which you can see here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4790557#post4790557.

I'll post the last one in Ebay after these two sell. Several in the forum have purchased them and posted their positive findings in this thread. Again, I THINK I posted it correctly..I'm hoping I did so that the ad in NBR sticks around for more than 5 minutes in comparison to the last few times I tried Thanks for your interest.

 

SKU KR835AV
HDX9300
System Board 30E2
BIOS F.35
CPU T9200 2.5G

5929 works great. I like the graphic eq.

 

Stupid question..where is the Startup folder in Vista? I found it in Programdata-Microsoft-Windows-Start Menu but it won't let me paste or drag anything there..it also has nothing really in there. I've had it in Documents then shortcutted to the desktop then moved the shortcut to the Quickstart but it requires a stupid permission everytime I open it..

EDIT: Nevermind sorry.. the dragging of the shortcut worked but pasting didn't. Weird.

 

Now that's its getting much hotter does anyone know of a cooling mat/pad they could recommend? I saw the Recom Cool Desk Pro but has anyone used it or another they can personally recommend?

 

Thanks dude! I think I am going to go for it. I called HP and they told me that video card is compatible with my laptop. I also called geeksquad and they said they will install it inhome for 149 bux. So I think im going to get them to install this and a x9000 processor all at once.

thanks for the recommendation!

 

super
paste it on page 100

 

@Dominick_7
I can see you use both 32 and 64 Vista OS.
Which one is faster?

 

A few things... (not sure a Geeksquad tech is up to the task, but...)

1. Download and print out the disassembly section of the HDX service manual. Geeksquad will not be able to figure it out without it since it's not intuitive. You can find the link to the PDF service manual on page 100 (blacknight's post). Include this printout with your machine.

2. Geeksquad may not know how to apply thermal compound. Download and printout a tutorial from the web to include with your machine. You may want to buy a tube of ArcticSilver 5 thermal compound beforehand and include it with your machine with instructions to use it on GPU and CPU.

3. You will need to update your BIOS to at most F.39. STAY AWAY FROM F.40. Older BIOS did not have support for the Nvidia GPU. I forget offhand which BIOS revision starts to support it but for sure f.39 does. Download and update you machine to f.39 BEFORE GPU installation.

4. Beware that disassembling the HDX is much more complex than an ordinary notebook. The price Geeksquad quoted you is likely for normal notebooks which can be disassembled and reassembled in about an hour. The HDX takes about 4 hours round trip.

 

Up to Blacknight's discretion. But thanks.

 

I for one would NOT let GS even touch my dragon. I consider myself just barely handy and I was able to take the dragon apart and install the x9000. Use the provided documents, take your time, keep your screws in order and all will be fine.

 

The HDX I have was made with 64bit, which runs awesome. 64 bit is the way to go on the HDX and I think of most new notebooks. 32 bit is good, but not as good as 64 bit. Its just that because I have been trying to record the movies off my DVR using a software that is only made for 32 bit, I have been forced to use 32 bit Vista the whole time. It feels a a bit less optimized or something. XP ran like crap when I tried to dual boot it, with its Blue Screens of Death, freeze ups etc.. Also no bass, though I guess the new SRS drivers could help with that. 32 bit is usable, no freezing, runs fine, but then again it doesnt feel like 64 bit. The HDX feels like it was made for 64 bit on every level. I can't wait to try Windows 7 BUT I want to first get another external hard drive to back everything up on it first, likely a rugged Lacie so I don't break this one too..

EDIT: I'm still wondering though if anyone could confirm whether Windows 7 Media Center has support for Firewire/video capture..

 

I'm not sure why you had trouble with XP. I am running dual boot (Vista & XP) and have never had a problem with blue screen. Yes, the sub doesn't work, but a couple of apps that I use refuse to run under Vista.

 

Good question, I don't know. I did everything I was supposed to do. Glad to hear it works for you.

PS: Have you loaded all the softwares you usually use, and are there many? I found it worked worse the more applications I added like it couldn't handle anything well.

 

I don't know if it is true or not but Vista 32bit is said to be faster in games.
I've read a test where user played the crisis and he had min fps 30 with 32bit OS and 25fps with 64bit one.
If you had any game and time of course you could check it Can be crisis, cod 2, 4, 5 or something else.

 

Well in my search for 8gb of ram I came across a crucial kit that was up to snuff on newegg, but alas every time I find a kit it seems to sell out. Luckily google is awesome! The shame is I get cash back on all purchases made through tigerdirect and newegg.

http://www.google.com/products?hl=e...a=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

 

I've heard this debate before. How much ram did the individual have in the 64bit system?

 

I only have Halflife 2 s far but if/when I get Crysis I can let you know.

 

Halflife2 can be also.

 

I never load it down in XP. Like I said, there are only a couple of apps that I use that don't like Vista. I'm anxious to try Windows 7. Just haven't had the time.

 

No no, you're getting confused. The 64bit version of Crysis runs slower than the 32bit version. Ofcourse, you need a 64bit OS to be able to use the 64biut exe.

 

Hey Guys!

I'm thinking about undertaking some serious HDX spring cleaning - really need to clean the fans. I"ve had it for about 9 months and haven't dared to do it until now. Has anyone undertaken this project and if so, is it hard to get to the fans? I see that there are a bunch of screws in the back (how does one know which ones to remove to access the fans?). I'm obviously a newb, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

You need to remove the rear panel. See pages 53-55 of the service manual.

Here you can simply blow things out as the fans are exposed. You can also swab the fins with alcohol and a Q-tip. One thing though when blowing them out, you want to make sure that the fan doesn't spin as blowing them out would make the fans spin faster than they were designed to.

 

This is a very powerfull and usefull widget. I spent about an hour learning all the settings and making a custom layout. I have replaced 3 of my widgets with this. I will put the finishing touches on it when I get home from work tonight.

 

Cool, thanks a lot. However, I'm not sure that I have this "service manual" you speak of. All I have is the "Getting Started" book which doesn't seem to have anything about cleaning the computer. Is it an online manual? Anyway you can summarize what it says?...probably shows you what screws you need to take out right?

 

Right. Yes, I should have said that it's a PDF download.

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

Shows in graphic detail what screws to remove. One thing it may not show clearly is that you have to remove the DVD drive and one of its bezel screws that is hidden under a round black plastic sticker.

 

Glad that you like it. Thought I'd share. My fav it is.

 

Thanks a lot 2.0. I have one other question.

I'm also going to install another hard drive - is there anything I should know before doing this. I assume that I simply install it and Vista will recognize it? Or do I need to do any Bios stuff? Please don't laugh....I'm a newb...lol.

 

I was in the same boat as you just a short two months ago! After I installed my second hard drive my Dragon didn't recognize it. Please read my post on page 508 as 2.0 posted instructions as to how to remedy this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4491146#post4491146

We are so lucky to have such GREAT guys like 2.0, RickBerlin, hovercraft, lancorp etc. in our corner!!!

 

man I cant crack this last driver problem with windows 7. I did the release candidate install today and it recognized everything except Intel(R) ICH8M LPC Interface Controller - 2815

I have tried to install this with the matrix manager and chipset utility and its a no go. I found a service pack sp35676 that mentions it but cant find it for DL anywhere.

guys n gals, any ideas.

btw , win 7 does rock

 

Hi. Where did you find it so chip. Please post the link.

 

Credit goes to Coolguy on this forum.

Nvidia 185.81 Notebook Drivers now available!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=377176

I haven't installed this driver yet but will try it later.

 

2.0,
I'm confused as to why you would partition and format disk 1? Won't the extra drive show up as disk 2?

 

No, what happens is that a drive is shipped unpartitioned. Meaning it has no partition whatsoever and it needs to be initialized and partitioned, then formatted. So say the drive is a 320GB drive. You need to make a partition that is the full size of the drive. Then when you format it, the while drive ebcomes formatted.

Disk 0 is your primary drive, Disk 1 is your second drive.

 

Good lookin' out. Highest 3D mark 06 to date.


One thing though, first unsigned Nvidia driver to date.

 

I see....thanks for clearing that up. I think I'm ready now.

 

Very good driver. I notice 5-8 FPS increase on most of my games. 3DMark 06 went from 9033 to 9510! Also adds Ambient Occlusion option in the 3D settings for games that support it.

Ambient Occlusion info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_occlusion

 

So, I'm formatting the new hard drive right now. However, it says under file system that it's RAW, I remember before formatting that it would be NTFS - what's up with this? Hopefully it'll be ok after formatting.

 

Raw is normal on a brand new drive. Means unpartitioned and unformatted.

 

Thanks so much for walking me through this! The new hard drive works flawlessly!

 

Cheers! Looks like you're going to have to change your sig to represent, proper.

 

How's that look?

 

wow in the 9000's for your 3dmark score! i have the stock 9494nr with 4gb ram, and 2.1 gig proccy, and with this nvidia release, i get 7780 on 3dmark 06

 

I would say he has to be OC'd, but I even broke 9700 OC'd at 650/925/1650for the first time with this driver.

 

with the 2.1 gig processor? what specs? wondering what the average/highend would be with my hardware specs.

 

Could anyone verify which 32 bit NVIDIA (+physix if need be..though I think Id prefer official) drivers are best AND retain Blu-Ray functionality? Thanks.

 

Can the same be said for 32bit? Aliso do we know if Blu Ray playback is something that still works with it? Sounds great though..

 

It is the 32 bit driver for me, but alas, not WHQL, so probably no Blu-ray support. There are XP, Vista, and Win7 versions, 32 &64. Get what ever flavor you want here: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

This is the latest official nVidia catch-all, notebook driver. As 2.0 pointed out before, also the first one that isn't WHQL. Why it isn't, I have no idea, except possibly because they are listed as Beta on the nVidia site.

 

Also, for fun, this sidebar widget, MultiMeter, is cool:



http://thehobbylounge.com/forum/index.php?topic=5267.0

This may be a dumb question, but do I need HWmonitor to get this working? I downloaded and installed it but all I get is a empty box.

 

Lookin' good. Be proud!

 

For some aspects (like temperature) you do, yes. But it has to be configured first. I'm not on the drive that I have it on so I can't remember offhand how it's done. I believe you go to options by right clicking on it in the sidebar.

EDIT: (For HWmonitor meter) with HWmonitor running, hover over the widget on the sidebar and click the "wrench." Click the HWmonitor tab, and in boxes 1-10, click on 1 and choose what temp you want to monitor. Try T[GPU core 0] for gpu temp. The number next to the drop down dialogue box is the font size. Now click the title tab and type in box 1 "GPU." Hit ok.

Let's say you want to monitor CPU speed. Click the Multimeter tab. Choose box 3 drop down dialogue and choose CPU speed. You can even title it but clicking title and choosing box 3, entering whatever name you want.

You get the idea. You can even change the colors, add bars to represent things graphically...

Have fun experimenting. Took me a while to get things just right when I used to use it. But it's on the Vista OS on my second drive. My primary drive is optimized Vista with all the fat cut out and tweaked to the hilt for speed.