*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Hi all. I just stumbled onto this lounge hoping to get some information about the mystery of HDX model numbers and complain a little about HP's support web site.

I wanted to update my machine before installing Vista SP1. The HP download site wants to know what machine I have. According to the label on the machine, it's an HDX9200 (the HP System Information utility thinks so too). I have Vista Ultimate on it with both the 32bit and 64bit Vista installed.

Unfortunately the HP web site isn't aware that this model exists.

I thought I'd try HP's ActiveX control that identifies the computer for you. According to that, it's an HDX9000T CTO and the web site has heard of that one but it's not a 9200 and the only 9200 listed is the 9200EO (which I'm afraid might be a European model).

So my question is, which download page do I want and should I install the 32-bit or 64-bit stuff first?

I especially appreciated the link on both pages "Attention: Windows Vista Service Pack #1 Information" that leads to a blank page. That really helps make me comfortable about installing SP1.

Any advice appreciated.

I'll post my support and repair horror story from last fall when I can find my copy of the letter I sent to HP's CEO.

 

I figured it out... It was under "MOVIES" instead of tuner options.

 

Hey wow! Glad you found the right discount and got another one before they're gone. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

We can connect an Xbox 360 to the HDX?

 

Wait, wait. So, theoretically, one could buy a cheap-o ps2, connect it to hdx, and enjoy games on that beautiful-as-hell screen? I was thinking I'd get a ps2 emulator, but that sounds so much better! Unless I'm off base here...

 

2 questions...

I took advantage of the 30% off last week, and should be getting my HDX this week. In just about all the discussions here folks got the higher end processors then I did. I went with this one:

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T5850 (2.16GHz)

Now I cannot find much info on this processor, but how 'underpowered' am I going to be? I am not a gamer at all. Mostly just a photoshop guy. I did get the higher end video card.

I currently have a DV9000 with: 2.00 gigahertz AMD Turion 64 X2, and from what I have heard the Intel chips are quite a bit faster then the AMD anyway. The main reason for getting the HDX was for the bigger screen and more screen real estate for Photoshop. Any opinions/information appreciated.

My second question I asked a few pages back, but it was lost in the audiophile geek talk <grin>.

Is there any chance the HD caddy in the HDX would fit into a dv9000? It would help me with migrating data from the DV9000 to the HDX.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Q1: You're fine.

Q2: With modification, yes. So I don't think you want to go that route. But there are a few other ways to migrate. Via Ethernet crossover cable. Via USB flashdrive. Via wifi.

 

I'm thinking of buying the hp 20 inch roller bag and was wondering if anyone around here has it. It looks good enough and I like how it's also a backpack. IMO, the dakota is butt ugly. Anyone have any impressions of the hp rollerbag?

 

Couple of things I cannot get figured out:

1) My HP wireless manager turns off the bluetooth when I turn off the wireless. Where do I go to set what gets turned off when I turn off the Wifi? I want to keep my BT mouse working, but don't need the Wifi all the time!

2) Did anyone say, with any certainty, that the HDX will work with 4GB SO-DIMM's? I see Newegg has 4GB SO-DIMM's for $169 each (whereas all the other brands are about $500 each!!). I was thinking of picking up 1 or 2 and trying them! My baby deserves the best, ya know!

 

1. Control panel/hp wireless assistant. Click properties then independent control of wireless devices.

2. The chipset can handle 8GB. The question is whether or not the BIOS can. Peeps with Dell's have reported success with 6GB. Then Dell issued a BIOS update and peeps were using 8GB.

 

I'd say go for it and see if they work. You can always return/sell them if they don't. I'd risk it if i could get them here.

 

Is the Expresscard port on the HDX PCI Express 2.0?
There's an interesting external graphics device, the ATI XGP
that will work with any notebook with a PCI Express® 2.0. The XGP seems to have a lot of potential.

 

OK, got two on the way. I will report back the results. I should have them by this Tuesday.

If they don't work, I'll be soliciting Paypal donations from everyone here to cover the restocking fee Newegg charges to send them back!

 

Here's to hoping they work. I'm hoping for X9000 + 8GB + 2x500GB in this thing eventually.

 

Via e-SATA.

I've fallen in love with that little high-speed beast!!

Get yourself an external eSATA box, hook the HD up to that. The enclosures are pretty inexpensive. I think I paid $15-ish for mine at a local store.

 

It's a proprietary port used for the XGP. I believe only one notebook to date has that sort of port. Expresscard and the external PCIe 2.0 port the XGP uses are two totally different things.

The idea has potential but I doubt it'll sprout wings. You don't even find ATI's 38xx series in notebooks. Some rebranded Clevos list ATI radeon 3870 MXM as an option in their descriptions but you can't configure it with it yet.

 

Yeah, it's pretty sweet.

I was thinking about listing it as an option but then I realized not many notebooks have an eSATA port. Especially older ones.

 

The beauty with the one I picked up (it is some no-name brand) is that it also has USB on it as well!

For $20-ish, I could have picked one up with eSATA, USB, and Firewire.

Since I do absolutely nothing with Firewire, I saved the $5.

 

That doesn't accomplish what I want. My HP Wireless Assistant in control panel only lets me turn off/on either Wifi or Bluetooth, like switches.

What I want is for that touch button above the keyboard labeled "Wireless" to only turn off the Wifi when I touch it, and leave the BT on.

I don't see anything in the wireless assistant to do that. I can't belive that turning off the wireless also turns off the bluetooth, which almost anyone who uses it, uses it for a mouse!

 

2.0
You're a real night owl (or early bird).

So there are four devices that claim to work through the exresscard port, but, unless I'm mistaken the expresscard port is limited in bandwith so that it would slow down the graphics output. ATI's device supposedly, using a faster version (2.0) removes the bottleneck. Maybe I'm wrong about this.

Another discussion with a tech revived my interest in the possibility of an MXM swap. If HP wanted to increase brand loyalty they'd offer such an upgrade.

At any rate the HDX still seems like the only game in town for big display lovers.

 

Sorry, but the "team" boarded a plane and left town for good earlier in the week. Game over.

 

i have a question, if I format my HDX and install Vista Ultimate and install all the drivers on the HP website, everything will work perfectly?

 

Yes! Just make sure you don't miss anything during process.

 

Actually, before you wipe your drive --

MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP YOUR "SWSETUP" FOLDER!!!

^^^^ is in all caps due to the importance of this!


C:\SWSETUP is where ALL of your drivers are located!

**EDIT** -- I haven't experienced this with the HDX (I have yet to do a 'clean install', but nothing sucks more than forgetting your network drivers, and nothing else works properly.

 

Can someone provide us with the list of drivers and software which should be installed after clean install to have fully working laptop?

 

Yes you will definitely want the SWSETUP folder located on the root of the C: Drive! There are some drivers there that are not on the HP site (at least not listed in the 9494 section), and on new HDXs there are newer versions that were not released. There are also copies of all the software that comes loaded on the computer. Although if you are doing a clean install you may not want any of his. If you were to loose this folder it is possible to find drivers by doing some searching. But using this folder will save you a lot of time and headaches.

I did a clean install of Vista Ultimate 64 the same day I got mine. All went well using the SW folder. Only issue I had was with the quick launch buttons. But most people have that issue eventually. If you do have problems look on page 100 of this thread and you will find all your answers.
Good luck and feel free to ask any questions if you have issues.

 

I downloaded all the drivers and put them on a DVD, I was thinking of just getting Driver Genius and saving the drivers from there, and then restoring them, that way I don't have to do anything. So after everything should work right? Like all the touch buttons on the laptop etc?

 

How did you fix the touch buttons? In page 100?

 

Here is the link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=169232&page=100 post 992

He gives you a link to the drivers. There is also some other good links and info in that post.

 

I can't vouch for Vista -- much less Vista 64bit, but a few years ago when I did a clean install of XP Pro SP2 (from a long-in-the-tooth installation of XP Pro) -- "Driver Genius" (no idea which version) worked perfectly, flawless, and was super easy to use.


I had long since forgotten about them.

 

I don't have my notebook yet to try to customize the remote, but you may want to go to www.thegreenbutton.com and do a search there. You may also want to look into the Logitech Harmony remote controls to control your media devices, including vista's media center.

 

This is the exact post for those of us at max viewing and are now on page 50:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3634309&postcount=992

About 3/4ths down the page:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=169232&page=20

 

Hey, THANK YOU for that link!! It answers ALL of my (some very technical) remote control questions that I have had!!

Fantastic site

 

I hope this isn't too n00bish of a question, but: is it necessary to use a dvd for the "SWSETUP" folder, or can I just store it on an external hd? It's usually where I store all my programs/drivers/etc.

 

I put mine on a flashdrive.

 

Speculation about a new HDX.

According to digitimes, HP will be outsourcing the production of 15.6" 16:9 aspect ratio notebooks in 2009. Just further proof that HP is looking to make the transition from 16:10 to 16:9. Wouldn't expect a new HDX until perhaps Q2.

Anyway, here's the article:

http://digitimes.com/systems/a20080908PD207.html

 

The link does not work for me. I could be my work computer. I will try it again when I get home.

Thanx for the info.

 

Digitimes also reports on 17.3" 16:9 panels being adopted by several manufacturers.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080603PD224.html

Figure by Q3, Q4 next year, most will be doing 16:9 in their consumer divisions and dumping 16:10 as they have 4:3. Business divisions will probably keep 16:10 for an additional year before phasing that aspect ratio out.

 

Has anybody been successful in getting everything to work on XP? or is there a site with most of the stuffs?

 

Yes, it's been done with some things not working. You won't get subwoofer or IR to work. There's a link in here somewhere to a site that has all the drivers. You'll need to slipstream a SATA driver into the XP install using nlite.

 

Which SATA driver? You got link to that? also whata bout the link for the XP drivers? I really need it.

 

Here's everything you need. This link should still be up:

http://www.hpdrivers.mercs.us/

 

is it 64 bit?

 

Hi guys! So glad I found this site. I have been so bummed out. I was considering buying the HDX and Friday it disappeared from their site. I called and all they would say is it ended its life span. I googled around and found this forum. I've read about the last 20 pages (good info!).

From what I've read apparently there is no chance HP will put out another 20" laptop. I've checked Amazon, Newegg and eBay and none of the sites has exactly the specs that I wanted (T9300, 4GB ram, 240 GB 7200 rpm HD, NVIDIA GForce 8800, 1920x1200 Hi Res 1080p). So I have a couple questions.

I don't want to give up the 4 GB memory, the 8800 and the 1080p screen. How much will performance be impacted if I get the T9000 or less, and a 5400 rpm HD? If I get one with less than what I wanted, how easy is it to add memory, or swap out the HD or the video card?

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

No, XP x86.

 

You can swap out everything easily except the video card.

The newegg deal is the best game in town. The 2.1 ghz chip is bloody decent. It's no slouch. You can add a HD later. probably 50 pages back you can find the bracket to use which can be bought off ebay.

Here's the thing about HDs. Higher capacity on a 5400 will be equivalent to a somewhat lower (-25% or so) capacity of a 7200 rpm. It's a function of density versus rotational speed.

 

This one may even activate the bass in XP. All the others couldn't.

 

Thanks for that fast response 2.0. The problem with Newegg is they only offer the 1680 x 1050 screen and I definitely don't want to compromise on that area. I have found some possibilites on eBay that I may pursue.

Of course I can wait a while to see what else becomes available, but I imagine that I can't wait too long or they will all be gone!

 

Hi,

still messing around with my HDX9350. Has anyone else encountered the problem that the display makes a more or less mono frequent noise except in the brightest setting, which is subjetively as loud as the hard drive?

I have to return the HDX9350 until end of the week if I dont like it. If you believe me or not, I somehow "fell in love" with this notebook!

In brightest setting I can hear only the hard drive (the fan runs silent). If I will replace them by more silent ones, it will be a very silent notebook. I believe hard drives are the reasons, why user reports spread that much in respect to the loudness of HDX. But I am sure that the display noise cannot be fixed as garantee case by HP. I myself would not be able to replace it.

Alexander

 

I'm actually leaning toward this one -

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-HP-HDX-20-1...goryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I just emailed the seller about the extra cost for Ultimate and the 400GB 7200 rpm drive.