*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

new forum member here and HDX user

i have an HDX9008TX and upgraded my ram to 3GB. i got my baby last december 2007 and no problems so far. from the time it first woke up and all through the 8 to 9 hours straight that it is kept on at least 4 times a week (the rest of time it runs at 4H straight then off then running at another 4-5H again), it has been running smoothly

i am glad that i found this forum and get to read the feedback of the other HDXers out there

:yes:

 

UNRELATED QUESTION... IM NEW TO THIS SITE, IN RACT IM NEW TO LAPTOPS, IVE VERY RECENTLY PURCHASED A PACKARD BELL EASYNOTE VX IN GOOD CONDITION FOR A FAIR PRICE, WOULD SOME HELPFUL SOUL TELL ME WHERE I CAN OBTAIN THE USERS INSTRUCTION MANUAL.
APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE FOR POSTING MY REQUEST IN THE WRONG SLOT.

welder

 

Here you go. Should be the same as your unit. It's in PDF format. Click link or right click and save target as...

ftp://ftp.packardbell.com/pub/itemnr/NECDOCS01880100/L1sm.pdf

 

Hello! Im new here I have just ordered a HDX 9200 .., The one available here in Norway has the T8300 processor , 4GB ram ,8800m gts , and 320 gb hdd (160x2) 1680X1050 display ,and already Im thinking about upgrading/replacing to the X9000 prosessor which I have laying here . My question is : Have anyone of you any experience in dismantling on the HDX (replacing the cpu)? Can someone please post a picture (highdef) of the underside of the HDX(cover your serialnumber) ? That would have been greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

It's all in this PDF version of the service manual:

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

Congrats on your purchase.

 

Thanks alot! That solved it all!

 

You're welcome. Don't forget to apply heatsink compound. Especially important for overclockable CPUs.

 

be careful if the unit didn't originally come with compound on the CPU, it is recommended not to apply any, or if you do, very little in the center of the chip...

Thermal paste can have a negative side affect when too much is applied to certain processors.

 

Very true. Good advice.

Best thermal compound around: http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm

Newegg has it and you can also find it on Ebay.

 

Thank you for for your prompt help. Im finding it very usefull. Is there any other users information availabe?
I havent got the key to open the DVD drive. Are they a specialised tool? Its a lot slower than my desktop, is this usual?
Thanks again, sincerely.

welder

 

You're welcome. Not sure what you mean by "key to open DVD drive." If anything, take a paper clip and unbend it so that you have a straight leg. Insert the straight end into the peep-hole near the eject button on the CD/DVD drive's face. That will hopefully pop it open. Otherwise, there's something wrong with the drive's eject function. As for the unit being slower than you desktop, that would probably be the case if your desktop is newer than this notebook. Not to mention that desktops are generally faster than notebooks.

As far as other info for the unit, I couldn't find any. So I'm assuming there isn't anything more text-wise.

 

User CP/ edit avatar/

Then make sure the custom avatar bubble is checked.

You might have to re-upload your custom avatar. Also make sure it conforms to the size, dimension, and file type specs of this board. No animated GIFs. Shame, I got some cool ones.

 

I followed your instructions and got back "Upload of file failed". I resized the photo. Still, it indicated "Upload of file failed". But clearly it did work.

Thanks 2.0

 

Incidently, my desktop PC is an HP Vecta with Intel 4
Operating system is XP professional and Office 2003
40GB ex corporate.

Highly informative helpfull site. Many thanks.

welder

 

Glad that it worked out. Looks good!

I was thinking about your post from a day ago about HP offering 200GB 7200RPM HDs. I've come to the conclusion that since not all 7200 RPM drives are created equal, that you might want to buy the lowest HD config they offer then buy the 200GB 7200's third party, say from Newegg. There's no telling what manufacturer or SATA speed (1.5GB or 3GB) HP sticks in there and you may end up getting a 7200RPM drive that is only fractionally faster than a 5400 at a higher capacity.

Plan would be:

1. Create reinstall/recovery DVD's. (Don't use the one's that come with the system of from HP. Use the create recovery DVD software on the computer.

2. Buy the 200GB 7200 Hitachi 7k200 or better (depending on reviews) from a source like Newegg. Should cost no more than around $180US delivered each. You may only need one and let the other drive (the 5400 that comes with the system) serve as backup.

3. Install the drive(s).

4. Run the recovery DVD to setup the OS and other partitions on the new 7200RPM drive.

If you're computer savvy enough, at step one you may want to Vlite the install.

One other note: if the next HDX has RAID options, then you'll have to buy 2 of these. But I bet the price you pay third party for two will be less than the upgrade price at HP. As an example; Dell sells dual 200GB 7200 drives for +$450 on the base config of $1999 XPS 2010. Currently on Newegg you can get 2 of these drives for $270 delivered.

 

I'm currently looking for a desktop replacement laptop and I think the HDX would work great but I have a question.

Currently I'm running a Dell 24" monitor and I was wondering if the HDX would allow me to use that screen along with the main HDX screen. Basically a dual monitor setup. I know that you can do this with other laptops as long as the resolution is the same on both screens, but before I spend the cash I thought it would be a good idea to find out.

 

Good thoughts 2.0
Also, I concur that creating reinstall/recovery DVD's across the board and before doing anything with the system is sound advice and a must.

Back to your thoughts, you recall a while back I indicated that I intend to obtain as part of the setup the HP MediaSmart Server EX475 – I still would if HP gets its act together fast enough (if you know what I mean) –> Link to EX475: http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/product/product_detail/GG796AA%23ABA

As you know, the EX475 comes with:
1 TB (2x500GB) internal 2 SATA 7200RPM hard drives
Gigabit Ethernet
4 USB 2.0
1 eSATA Port

Still, I do not know if the 2 SATA 7200RPM drives, and, the eSATA Port that come on the EX475 are 1.5GB/ps or 3GB/ps and if that is read or write speed. Have you information on that? Or, how can we find out?

All in all, I would like it if the 2 internal drives on the HDX were 200GBx2 7200RPM. BTW, do you happen to know whether the 120GBx2 7200RPM hard drives currently offered on the HDX are 1.5GB or 3GB?

Also, you might recall, I indicated that as part of the setup, I was interested in getting the HP SL4778N 47-inch MediaSmart High-Definition 1080p LCD TV:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/product/product_detail/RP853AA%23ABA
The contrast ratio of the HP SL4778N unit is not nearly as high as its competition especially Sony. The only thing I like about the HP unit is its MediaSmart capability. And I wish Sony had a similar option future-proofing my television investment and streaming high-definition video with an integrated 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking, which is also compatible with existing Wi-Fi networks.

vLite: Though I know about it, I have not used vLite yet - http://www.vlite.net/

In reference to the RAID options, I thought the HDX already offered them?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAID.html

Incidentally, what do you think of the Maxon Performance Benchmark CINEBENCHR10.zip http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/cinebench_e.html and the Passmark BurnIn Test 5.3 and the Performance Test 6.1 Benchmarks http://passmark.com ?

One last item, the reason I include links is to make it easier for those who are following our thread and might need them. I have no doubt that you would know most if not all these sites.

 

This recently aquired Easynote VX internet loaded that I cannot acces.Is the correct proceedure to uninstall the existing that I cant use then load my own?

The key for the drive I think is a Kensington or Kennington. Would a paper clip straightened serve the same purpose?

All the best
welder

 

welder:

This thread is the HP HDX Owners Lounge. Unless I am mistaken, it is my understanding that Easy Note VX is a Packard Bell desktop system or workstation. If that is the case, try going to the following page http://support.packardbell.com/global/ or do a search on Google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7GGLR&q=Easynote+VX - hopefully this helps. I am not at all familiar with Easy Note VX systems.

However, generally speaking and like 2.0 indicated earlier, if inserting the straight end of a paperclip into the peep-hole near the eject button on the CD/DVD (optical) drive's face does not pop the tray open, then something is definitely wrong with the eject mechanism of your optical drive. If and when that occurs it is usually due to hardware failure. And although improbable, it can sometimes be caused by software or a driver, which would need to be re-installed.

You might want to do a notebookreview search for Easy Note VX. If so, click on the next link and scroll through the different threads. Hopefully you would find one that best helps you:
http://www.notebookreview.com/searc...000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:11&hl=en

Hopefully this helps.

 

Here's something I forgot; whether it's SATA I (1.5Gb) or SATA II (3.0Gb) doesn't really matter since no harddrive to date can approach that kind of throughput.

What ultimately matters is the hard drive manufacturer and model.

The Media Smart EX475 uses 2 500GB 7200 RPM Seagate Barracudas, model (ST2500063). I can't find any specs on these drives. Must be 7200.7 or 7200.8 drives. Seagate's current lineup is 7200.9 - 7200.11. But the barracuda's have always ranked near the top of class. So no worries there. But older models, like those used in the Media Smart will be probably be SATA I.

eSATA port is SATA II (3Gb) by standard default.

I couldn't tell you what the 7200RPM drive currently offered on the HDX are. I don't think they are Hitachi. Probably Fujitsu, Seagate or Samsung. That's mainly who HP uses. They could be either SATA I or II. But they're not going to be top tier 7200s. In all probablity, they won't be any faster than a 160GB or 250GB 5400 RPM drive given their higher respective densities. To really kick some a$$, Hitachi's 7k200 series is what would be needed. Serious bang for your buck. They're upwards of 50% faster than a 5400 RPM and 25% faster than many 7200 RPM drives of the same capacity.

Matter of fact, here's an excellent review of the 7k200 (there's also one on today's notebook review front page): http://www.storagereview.com/HTS722020K9A00.sr

There's 10 pages worth of juicy details.

The current HDX is non-RAID. The two HD's had me confused too. So I asked. The person I asked didn't know what RAID was so I asked if the hard drives had a volume label and if each were individually accessible. They said yes. That indicates that it's non-RAID.

OK so imagine (2) Hitachi 7k200 in RAID 0? And with Hitachi's reliability, I wouldn't mind going RAID 0 rather than RAID 1 with them. 400GB of blazing HD goodness considering RAID 0 can nearly double performance - at least on paper.

BTW, the Media Smart server isn't RAID configurable either. But it does have a redundant backup option that is part of the onboard OS.

Cinebench is pretty good. It's not used around here much so it's hard to gauge for relative comparision purposes. HDTune, PCMARK, 3DMARK and wPrime are the ones used most.

Great job on providing links BTW.

 

in some areas where i travel, the only way you can connect to the internet is through dial up and, unfortunately, the hdx no longer has any port for a dial up connection.

has anyone here tried a usb dial up modem adaptor for the HDX?

 

What type of connector is used for the TV antenna on the HDX?

 

Thanks 2.0
I just found out that HDX’s 120GB 7200RPM HD’s are Seagate Momentus 7200.2 – Link -> http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/momentus/momentus_7200.2/
There was no indication as to whether they are SATA 1 at 1.5GB or SATA 2 at 3.0GB.
Also, I can tell you from experience (and you might already know this) that HP does switch hard drive manufacturers at random and back and forth – possibly having to do with availability at the time of order placements. For example, I have seen it where HP would go from Hitachi Travelstar HD to Seagate HD and back.

 

It is a 75Ohm coaxial -the standard cable connector.

 

When I go to HPs site and try to download the drivers for my HDX it says to enter the model number. I look on the bottom of my PC and it says that it is a 9200. I enter the nomenclature in the box and it takes me to a HUGE list of 9201 9202 ETC.

How the hel do I know which one is my PC?

 

Ok, so a connector pictured on the left would work? The antenna included with the HDX has a thicker middle pin on its connector.
Is there a specific name for this type of connector that the HDX's antenna uses?
Or can I just use the push on F style connector that is pictured?

 

Hey whats up Cook,

I know exactly what you're talking about, man. I'm in the same boat. Invoice states HDX9000, I ordered the HDX9000 and the sticker on the bottom of the laptop says HDX9200. I know our configurations are a little different- I have bluray etc but after randomly checking some of the different models everything is essentially the same thing. Just get the drivers off the top HDX9000CTO one. Don't bother looking for the NVIDIA 8800m drivers. The recovery disk one sucks, the Summer 07 driver sucks too. (you have to search for that one) Those drivers will crash after awhile.

Good luck. Don't even bother with Tech support- theyre a waste of time.

 

hmm... if the center pin is thicker you could not and should not attempt to push it in. The HDX comes with everything one needs to connect cable or antenna to it. It also comes with an antenna, which I personally do not see much use for. Since HP does change specifications, your best bet is to read your quick setup guide. Good luck!

 

Today March 8, 2008 HP and Hpshopping pulled away all its HD DVD and HD DVD-R from the HDX, the dv9000t, and the dv9000z. I have not checked its other laptops and desktops. But I am going to guess that it did the same across the board. We applaud Hpshopping for doing so for it is the right thing to do. Clearly, our efforts voicing our objections and pooling our actions together are paying off. Let us keep up the good and responsible work. If one can, my recommendation to everyone is not to purchase any system until the manufacturer of whichever system one is entertaining to purchase offers a Blu-Ray-R/RE optical drive. Manufacturers will all have to do it sooner or later. The power of the people can make them offer it sooner. But we have to be strong enough and wait forcing manufacturers into offering us the latest technology that is already out now. After all, if they continue to listen to our voices and implement what is righteous we would be helping them save lots of money avoiding defense costs on otherwise possible adverse actions and settlements.

There is nothing wrong with making billions of dollars. After all, this is what capitalism is all about. Also, everyone knows that technology advances very fast. There is, however, something fundamentally wrong when manufacturers team up developing new technologies then immediately adopting others only to make the ones they have just released on the market obsolete leaving millions of people beating the dust. What is worse is when manufacturers dump discontinued components without such warning accompanying items being dumped.

This is a period of special circumstance. Our actions or inactions will have a say in how quickly manufacturers will continue doing the right thing and offer us what has already been released. Conversely, we should applaud the manufacturers that do.

 

You're right of course. Thank you for the links.

welder

 

I'll have to check out the quick set up guide when I get a chance. Did your HDX come with any kind of adapter for the TV tuner connection? I think I may have a belling-lee type jack on the back of my HDX. The picture below shows a belling-lee connector which looks exactly what I have on the antenna supplied with my HDX.

 

Heya Asuhoru! I got it! Go to your folder options and show hidden files. THen go to your C: drive and there is a folder called SW Setup. It has every installer and driver that was put on your computer! I don't know why they would hide a thing like that...

Lemme know what you find.

 

HPIT calls this a PUSH on F connector as you said above.
Many of the old HDX9000's came with a small adapter to let you go from a Screw on F connector to a Push on F connector.
Your HDX should have come with an antenna. This antenna should have a push on version of the connector.

Do not use the screw on version shown with the gold conector. You need to use the push on type with the black connector.

If you need the adapter. You can purchase it from Radio Shack.
I'm not allowed to provide you with the link. Otherwise my post will get deleted by the sysop.
But I can give you the part number.

Gold Series Screw-On to Push-On "F" Connector Adapter

Model: 278-291
Catalog #: 278-291

Sorry for my bad english.

Good Luck and hope this helps.

 

Yeah I know about that one. Thats what the Recovery Manager uses to reinstall software/drivers. The nvidia driver in there that is supposed to be on the computer sucks. You'll see. Mouse lag and crashes. Good luck man.

When I get to work tomorrow, (i'm babysitting now) I'll post the driver I found at laptopvideo2go that worked and how I installed it- IF you find you have the same problems from the above paragraph.

Aloha.

 

Youre right again, thank you for the links

 

Can someone please give me the link to the HDX9000 Dragon service manual.

Thankyou

 

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

 

RE: HD 240GB 7200RPM

In regards to the 240GB Hard Drive (200x2) 7200RPM for the HDX, one source at Hpshopping informed us that it is SATA1 at 1.5Gbit/s.

 

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and was wondering if anyone could help me out with problem I am having?

Here's my setup:
HDX
Vista 64 bit
2.5g processor
4g ddr2 800mhz
Blu Ray rom/ DVDRW
2x 120g 7200rpm
GEForce 8800GTs
1920x1200 res

I ordered this new from Hp. The problem is when I go to play an SD DVD there is intermittent studdering through Hp Quickplay, Media Center and through a couple third party players. Mostly is noticed when the picture is panning. Blu Ray plays perfect. Spent hours on the phone with HP and they could not eliminate or isolate the problem at all. I sent my first HDX back to try another and the second one I ordered also had the same problem.

 

That's cool. No meaningful difference between SATA I and SATA II since no HD can approach the banwidth of either.

SATA I is 1.5 gigabits/sec = about 190Mbtyes/Sec. Fastest notebook drive's burst mode doesn't breach 100MB/Sec.


In other news, Samsung (which HP uses) released a 500GB 5400RPM HD to their M6 Line up. Expect to see this offered by HP later this summer. It'll be as fast as a 200GB 7200PRM HD given the increased density of the 3 platters. A 320GB 5400RPM HD will probably be as fast if not very close the bandwidth of a 200GB 7200RPM.

HP's HD offering will probably look something like this when the Montevina version launches:

320GB (160x2) As default minimum config.
400GB (200x2) 7200 RPM
500GB (250x2)
640GB(320x2)
1TB(500x2)

Here's Samsung's press release: http://www.samsung.com/us/business/semiconductor/newsView.do?news_id=904

 

Running on battery or AC power?

Also, check to see if your video card driver is set to Maximum performance mode while plugged in.

 

Running on battery was worse than just with the AC. Problem still existed with all settings to max performance and on AC.

What I am seeing is slight pausing or freezing for a split second when the scene is panning. It is only on standard def DVD's. Blu Ray DVD's play perfectly. It also occurs when the DVD is copied to the hard drive which eliminate the drive as a possible problem. I thought I may have bad hardware or a lemon, so I reordered a new one with the same exact configuration. but the problem persists.

Thanks

 

Try using an updated Vista 64bit Nvidia driver from here:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16326

Steps to take:

1. Download driver, double click and select extract,
2. Download modded INF and replace original INF in extracted folder,
3. Install & reboot.

 

Thank you. Would you happen to know what this updated driver fixes?

 

Generally, the idea behind these drivers is performance and efficiency. And that in and of itself usually fixes the majority of problems.

One other thing; here's a pictorial of the steps to install these drivers once you replaced the default inf with the modded inf:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11997

 

Hello everybody - I am planning to get this beautiful machine

Since I am Italian I'll get it down there. Apparently the green white and red HDX comes in two flavors:

One with a T8100 and the geforce 8800gts, the other with the same graphics and a T9300. The difference in pricing is quite high, so I am starting to wonder.

By browsing the net I found that VISTA gives 5.8 to the graphics, but only a 5.5 to the T9300, a 5.3 to the HD and only a 5.1 to the 4GB RAM to similar configuration.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4297

Now I really start to wonder what's the point of even getting a geforce 8800 if everything else brings dow its performance.

Any opinions? At this point I am almost tempted to go for the one with the T8100 or maybe even for another machine...

 

Thank you for quick response I will give that a try. I really appreciate all of your help.

 

has anyone got the 1920x1200 res HDX with 8800mGTS? and have ran oblivion on it??? please please let me know if you have.

 

This person has:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3093933&postcount=27

 

Don't get too caught up on those Vista score specs. If you are buying the unit for its GPU, then you must concern yourself most with GPU/CPU combination. The one thing you don't want is for your CPU to act as a bottleneck to your GPU.

With that said, the 2.5Ghz T9300 will give you better performance than the 2.1GHz T8100 in both benchmarks (e.g. 3D Mark06) and real world performance to a noticeable degree.


Look at a Gateway model with an 8800MGTS and T5450 CPU (1.67GHZ)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=209623

3DMark06 score was 6880.

The HDX with a 2.6GHZ Penryn scored 8790. That's a 27% improvement. A 2.5GHz Penryn would come in about the same. And that figure can be improved with better drivers. The 2.1Ghz Penryn would score around the same as the 1.67Ghz CPU given their specs. Perhaps the 2.1ghz would score about 5% more than the 1.67ghz CPU.

T9300 specs:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAQG

T8100 specs:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAP9