*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

You're correct - they run nice, cool, and quiet all the time, even when they're under extreme load. HP really screwed up by ditching the 20" HDX.

I've worked on my clients' Toshiba's, Sony's and ASUS's and they all run hot. Of course you also have to take into account that any notebook with a larger case is going to have better airflow and thermal dispersion simply because there's more space for the air to flow and for heat to dissapate.

 

Since Phinfan said he had the same problem, it's likely not a problem with your house circuit, but you might want to check the outlet voltage just to be sure it's not sending too much voltage to the adapter and causing it to short. Also see if it does it in other outlets or just that one.

Also, pull out the plug end that goes into the adapter - check the end with a flashlight and see if there's melted or deformed plastic and/or blackened terminals from shorting. It could indicate a bad connection there.

If there's no external visual evidence of shorting, then it's likely there's a circuit shorting inside the adapter case. If it is, I'd bet also that the adapter case is probably a lot hotter than it should be, and I wouldn't be surprised a bit if you also smelled that great melted plastic smell that occurs when electronics are frying if you didn't see it externally. You might check for deformed plastic on the outside of the case though.

If it's shorting internally,the adapter was probably dropped at some point or there a was manufacturing defect like a cold solder joint that fractured during shipping. You can check it with a multimeter - put the leads on the connector and if it's shorting you'll see the voltage fluctuate rapidly. Be ****ed careful not to actually touch the connector itself when it's plugged in or you might get shocked depending on how bad it is.

Get another one if you didn't order a spare. You don't want to be around when Lithium cells overheat and cause bad things to happen, which is what'll likely happen if you're sending too much voltage to the battery pack. Things like melting the case and whatever happens to be around it isn't a good thing...

 

I agree ! Man, these are nice machines.

I looked at Alienware, Acer and Toshiba before buying. I thought the Acer 8920 was nice until I saw an hdx20. An 8920 would be slightly more portable, but what is a few pounds here and there after you are over 12 pounds.

Man, do I hate hot and noisy laptops. Nothing worse than sitting with a hot laptop on your lap, fan howling. The zd7000s sounded like a small vacuum cleaner !

I agree. Its much easier for a large fan to move air quietly than a small one.

My girlfriend's friend saw my hdx20 on the weekend. He couldn't believe how large it was and how nice the screen was. This thing is such a pleasure to work on.

Speaking of which... back to it !

 

If it was "In Search Of" it would've been in caps - ISO. Remember I was talking about cleaning with a Q-tip to get skin oil off the scanner. Iso = Isopropyl Alcohol.

 

It uses DIMMS - laptop RAM.

 

For 8GB (2x4GB) G-Skill F2-5300CL5D-8GBSQ
CAS 5-5-5-15 for $330 @ NewEgg

 

It was always called dreamweaver IIRC. I remember using dreamweaver 2.0 and then later getting the Macromedia MX suite. Used to always sing the requisite anthem from REO speedwagon before each boot up.

I'm guessing this is a trick question. Perhaps macromedia built it off someone else's code then debuted it as dreamweaver 1.0. That was how everyone was doing business back during the internet boom. But I remember the arguments back then about which was better, dreamweaver or frontpage? Or the old school method of text editing HTML code in notepad or megaedit.

 

And now they're out of stock again. That was the fastest, evah.

 

My Adobe 8.0 pro was stand alone. It doesn't work without the 8.2 update. Specifically the PDF virtual print driver. I don't recall what the exact problem was but I got it working just fine on the TX2500. But I couldn't get it to work without error on the HDX. And since it's mission critical, I just went ahead and got 9.0 pro extended. Which BTW, is much faster and super stable.

 

For what it's worth, I never got the virtual printer working either on Vista 64 and I know wasn't the only one with the problem. As replacements, I'd recommend Bullzip as a virtual print device and FoxIt PDF reader. Foxit is the zippiest PDF reader I've used, but the only other one I'd used prior is Acrobat.

 

2.0

When your hard drive performance went from ** to ****! did you go from 5400 rpm drives to the Seagate 7200s, or from another 7200 drive to the Seagate?

Who makes the 160 GB 7200 drive in the HP equipped Dragon? I'm wondering if I would see an increase by going with the Seagate rather than the installed 160 7200.

A tech person I spoke with today told me that smaller drives are quicker than larger ones, which surprised me.

If the Seagate would offer an advantage what about going with the faster drive for the boot, and a slower one for storage?

Thanks

 

I'm not to knowledgable so someone else is going to have to fill in the difference on these two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000260381 1309139889&name=4GB


http://crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=C7462994A5CA7304

Quite a big price difference. What am I missing?

 

The latter reference is a 4GB KIT, 2 x 2GB, whereas the former is a 4GB module (single), allowing one to have 8GB in a notebook.

Even better, Newegg had G.SKILL 4GB single modules for $169 each, I think they sell them in a pair for $329. And the best? I got the same G.Skill's on ebay using the Cashback 30% off from NCIX for $105 each!!! My HDX18t will be very happy (once I get it)!

 

While I would agree based on experience and reaction in this forum, apparently their sales figures told another story...apparently, no one wanted one until they were discontinued!

 

DUH! Thanks!

 

Something I forgot to mention last post - on the Power Settings, you can create a custom Power Plan. I have one specifically for use when I'm plugged in at home and I don't want the thing going into sleep or hibernate all the time unless I close the lid on purpose. The link is on the left side when you open the Advanced Settings window.

With QuickPlay you have to select a source, either Analog or Digital and use a coax input - antenna pickup doesn't work very well. If you route a coax cable from your cable / satellite box into your tuner card, set the source to Analog and you'll get a signal if you set it to channel 3 or 4, depending on your setup there.

The black HP Getting Started Guide has a pretty good tutorial on getting signals into your Tuner card and setting up for recording to your HD's, setups, settings, etc. - check it out. Like most of us, I never looked at it when I first got my HDX. But in the end, I listened to one of my old sayings - "When in doubt, read the directions".

 

A Fujitsu 160GB 7200 RPM HDD to the Seagate 320GB 7200 RPM HDD.

The Tech is misinformed. Lower capacity drives are slower than larger with with same number of platters. The reason has to do with density. A 2 platter 320gb 5400 RPM HDD will be as fast if not faster than a 2 platter 160GB 7200 HDD. A 2 platter 320GB 7200 RPM HDD will be significantly faster than a 2 platter 160GB 7200 RPM HDD. There's an easy way to explain it all but I'm all out of explanations at the moment.

So yeah, you can go with faster one as your main drive and slower one for your 2nd HDD. You can upgrade in stages.

 

I think that the late popularity boost was due to something I've brought up previously, and that's the major boost in 64 bit system sales, Blu-Ray drives, increased showroom visibility, and the price drop of the HDX 20". It's hard for most people to shell out that much cash for something sight unseen.

I still can't see anyone like us (graphics/design pro's, consultants, etc.) getting a 16 or 18" and being happy with it - those systems aren't even close. What did that HP sales guy say? "Better Graphics Experience" or something when talking about the new ones? Yeah right. I get better graphics experience with my PS3 and Aquos.

 

2.0

So you noticed a dramatic speed increase (loading times) with the Seagate?

 

yeah, the problem is, I doubt HP was making anything on the HDX20's when they were on sale, especially with the coupons...I know I stole mine from them after all was said and done!

I'm not sure I can agree with you on the second statement, and in particular, the 18"...we'll see. As a consultant, the HDX20 is too heavy to cart around, and it is mainly my shop PC and for when I travel (by car). If the 18" works out, and that beautiful QUAD CORE will weight heavily on the decision, it will be about half the weight, air-travelable, and higher resolution than my current Dragon (which was only WSXGA+).

Considering I just saved an unexpected $365 on my HDX18t today using MS Live Cashback, it's almost an unbelieveable deal. (the cheapest Quad Core QX9300-based Dell Precision with a 17" screen is $3300 and that is with 1GB and an 80GB drive and a lamebutt low-res screen!)...

 

Yeah, greater than 25% speed increase. According to HD tune, I peak at nearly 45% speed increase.

download and run HD tune v 2.55 on your drive;

http://www.hdtune.com/

 

I guess I'll reserve judgement until your feedback - keep in mind that I'm using mine with the X9000 and the 1080p display, so from my perspective mine's going to have to see some pretty stiff competition to sway me. I'll agree as a consultant also it's not for regular commute or travel, but then again, most of us (except Brent - tough kid) got it as a mobile DT replacement rather than just another notebook because of the processing power and RAM capability.

Also, for me anyway, watching BD's on anything less than 20" is a waste of LCD real estate. Who wants to squint while watching HD movies? Defeats the purpose.

 

Wouldn't 1080 lines look better the smaller the screen is? I mean, I know 50 or 60 inches is great, but then you have to sit back 10 feet in order to not see the lines. I don't really think 2 inches makes much difference, but I know if I were going to watch a BD movie, wouldn't the 1080p display be better than the 1200 line display in the HDX20? You get black bars with 16:9 movies, right?

Plus, with my almost-50 year old eyes, I do plenty of squinting!

 

Hi!

Sorry my English is not very well. I'd like to ask advise. I have read almost all pages in this forum and I can see here very different peoples. This is really good forum. So I just asking all out I hope to get some opinions what you thing and how you have build your systems.
I'm very active person, I travel a lot and I like to be busy every where I go. I'm also very active in financial markets and when I travel I also working. I have with me my SLR camera and Full HD video camera on my trips and I like to play some games some times. So now when I saw HP HDX, I whose 100% sure that I will bay it, I thougt to wait a little bit, I hoped that they will add bluray writer and better video card. For now we cnow that it will never happen. Bat I still want to bay it, till it's available. I ordered also from my friend new Sony vaio AW series AW11XU/Q

https://www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonySty...commendations&forward=showcua&bc_search=rhome

If you looking to Vaio's specs, then sure they are beter then fully loaded HDX, but the 18.4" screen is for my opinion disappointment, good quality I'm sure, but it's too small and too wide for working. Is it really so that peoples looking more BD films from laptop and not working much. Believe it or not, but I still want HDX because of screen.

OK I will bay HDX also and will see which one is better for my lifestyle.

Now guys, please I need your advise. Basically I need HDX for:
1.My work on financial markets.
2.HD photo editing
3.Full HD home video editing
4.Some video games.
Is it possible to configure HDX so that it's universal for all my needs, I know I cant get perfect, but maybe almost perfect
Most important thin is for me big screen, question is now WUXGA or WSXGA. I know I have read from this forum all ready, you can't lover resolution because image will be blurry.

1.Financial markets...lots of graphics and fast flicking numbers...WUXGA or WSXGA, is anyone used it, how is response time, if you using WUXGA how is the numbers and letters, are they too small maybe.
2.HD photo...again WUXGA or WSXGA...I read about screen calibrating...how is results, can you see exactly what you have shot out there.
3 HD video...same story, can you see exactly what you have filmed out there. How you archieving your full HD films because any hard drive will be full soon, archieving BD discs maybe or any other options.
4.Games...here I think is problem. For work, photo and video I think is better WUXGA. For games like Crisis and so on, new games coming out. HDX resources are limited, as I understand we have only chance to lower resolution if games not running well. Is there option to do it so that image will stay good. I'm thinking all ready to bay extra HDX WSXGA screen for future. Please what you thinking, how I mast configure my HDX. All advises are welcome. Sorry about long story. Thanks for reading. Ullar

 

2.0 - I have the Hitachi 5400rpm 250GB notebook HDDs in my HDX. Are these HDD installed as a Master/Slave or is it installed as RAID? I wanted to reconfigure the HDX with the faster drives plus I want to repartition the C drive as 100GB is way too much for a primary partition since 30GB have proven to be more than plenty for me.

One more Q - is the HDX drivers SATA I or II?

 

Ullar, by the looks of your needs, you are most likely looking for identical configuration to my HDX - i.e. top of the line:

VIDEO GAMES - for the latest games top run well, i.e. 60fps+, its difficult to push with the HDX. Only 1 or 2 notebooks are out there i.e. top end Dell and Alienware that can handle games like that but screen size is compromised. The higher the resolution, the higher the system requirements. I generally play Counterstrike Source and it runs beautifully on my HDX @ 1920x1200 with 4AA & 8AF. So try to get the 8800M GTS video card - skip the ATi since it doesn't have enough power.

FINANCIAL MARKETS - I do a little bit here and there with foreign currencies (FOREX) and either the WSXGA or WUXGA will do you fine. I also ran the program on my Dell 30" 2560x1600 resolution but it was a bit of an overkill. Bigger screen means more ticker display on the screen. Hardware is not an issue here.

HD PHOTO - although the WUXGA screen from the HP is very good - there is better. My Dell 30" produces better colors & saturation. But again, WUXGA here is preferred. Faster processor also helps in processing the images.

HD VIDEO - just like the latest games, the faster, the better. You WILL want to have the fastest CPU, 7200rpm HDD and WUXGA screen since this is the limit for 1080 videos. I generally download my HD content from the internet and this is compressed to MKV format which varies between 2-4GB for every hour of video. Yes, HD videos will take up a LOT of space.

My HDX configuration:
* X7900 Extreme CPU 2.8GHz
* 4GB RAM
* 2x 250GB Hitachi 5400rpm HDDs
* Nvidia 8800M GTS
* WUXGA

Since my original factory install Vista is not yet configured, I noticed the HDX is slower compared to my Fujitsu P1610 U7700 fitted with 64GB SSD. Although the HDX's CPU is technically twice as fast as the U7700, the SSD hard drive makes all the difference. There are threads out there where people have successfully converted to WinXP with their HDX. So I'm certain it would be quite blistering under XP.

 

Does anyone know how many HDXs were sold worldwide?

 

I mean HDX Dragons.

 

Unfortunately, like a lot of people are figuring out, you missed out, unless you can find one online - what I mean is a 20.1" full configuration HDX. The newer ones are scaled down in size and power - I actually like the new ASUS better than the 16 and 18 HDX's. But that's me - I'm sure Lan and a few others have their own opinions. There's only a few of us with full configuration 20" WUXGA HDX's here. But from my viewpoint,the main reason I got it with the max configuration is because of everything you talked about doing, and then some. Except for financial stuff - not my bag. But I will say if you've never done graphic design or editing on a full 1080p screen, you're definitely missing out.

Also, if you really want to take advantage of any HDX's power, you need to get it with a 64 bit Vista OS (Ultimate for me, but some like Premium) to get the full range benefit of any installed RAM configuration.

As far as gaming, if you look through some of my posts recently, I wrote few paragraphs on that as well. Gaming speed is a function of several factors, not just one. Key elements in gaming are:

1. CPU type and speed
2. RAM configuration
3. OS type
4. Network - standard, port setups, special adapters, etc.

Of those 4 I listed, I personally look at network setup as the most important. As I've said on other occasions, you can have the fastest PC on the planet, but if you've got crap for a network setup, it negates any advantage you might've gained spending all your money on your computer and not your network hardware as well. . A PC is just a big calculator that crunches information extremely fast - but if it can't get that information to a destination at the precise time it's needed, it's all a waste of time.

Remember, Sensei Elvis Say:
"System only as fast as slowest component in Setup"

That's also why Windows Experience Index overall scores are always based on the lowest component subscore.

As far as Vaio's go - they're good machines, but they run really hot. If you've got thick skin and don't mind getting your palms and wrists burned, then get one. The one feature about the HDX that stands out among all others is how quiet and cool it runs. Also, looking at the Vaio you referenced, I wasn't all that impressed with the specs - it's still only a Core 2, not a Quad or Core 2 Extreme, and I noticed how conspicuously absent any specs on little things like input/outputs it has. The HDX has almost as many connections as my Video Blaster external.

BD burning - 2.0 can answer this better than I can, but the only reason I can see why they didn't put a BD burner in the HDX is that at the time they weren't available for notebooks. I can't see any reason a BD burner couldn't be installed into an HDX, but then again I'll defer to 2.0's knowledge on that. Even if you can't, there's always an external burner. It's not like it a major league item when looking at overall system specs. And as far as large HD video files you were talking about - that's why they make 1 TB externals. You only need internal drives for programs and current files. Anything big or old can get archived or put on a larger external drive.

 

Hi CyberVisions:
I did actually read the black book, but l'll be more specific; quickPlay setup wizard, gives me the choice of digital TV (ATSC), and the format here in Australia is DVB-T, I contacted the vendor of my unit and he reckons that maybe somewhere in America someone is having my same problems, my unit was designed for the American market, but I'm going to keep it because it has Wuxga, screen instead of the Wsxga.
Anyway thank you for your help.
Oscar

 

I'm considering sending my HDX into HP.

I've been using it a while and noticed a few things.

My unit's WUXGA screen has noticeably dark corners in the lower left and lower right. It's very apparent with DPT showing a hash image. The dark corners become worse depending on the angle. If you look at the screen from the left, the right corner is very dark, look from the right, the left corner is very dark, straight on they both look dark but to a lesser extent.

The screen also bleeds backlight from the bottom bezel. Relative to the given brightness setting, the bottom is always brighter and bleeds light. Its noticeable on full screen video or a black desktop. I'm not even sure if there are dual backlights in this screen, it seems to only be coming from the bottom.

I'm starting to notice a faint darker band across the bottom of the screen about 1-2cm up. It looks like an outline of something opaque in the panel blocking some light from diffusing evenly.

Its hard to get a picture of the faint dark band across the screen, if you follow the top of the dark corners that's where the band goes across the length of the screen. By eye its easier to see something is strange there. The picture is taken from a slight right angle so the left corner looks darker. No attempted fixes like loosening/tightening screws or checking inverter wire connections has helped.



Can anyone take pictures of their screen with DPT showing hash pattern and 50% backlight?

2.0's post always relevant.

I talked with HP and they are willing to take it back, but they just say it will be looked at by an HP technician. No guarantee the panel will be replaced, and if it's replaced no guarantee the replacement won't have dead pixels or other defects.

Other minor issues I've noticed. If you hit the button that toggles the touchpad on/off, the touchpad light turns from blue to orange; then if you hit the 'Theater Mode' QuickPlay key, the row of blue lights on top goes out but the orange touchpad light only dims and it flickers. It looks like a weak connection somewhere. Can anyone check their unit for this behavior? It might indicate something loose under the case, similar was reported earlier in the thread about one unit's QuickPlay keys.

A cosmetic issue I've noticed, the two parts of this unit's case seem slightly misaligned, the rear cover is skewed to the left. Shouldn't be hard to fix though.


And unhinged the screen leans very slightly to the right, no idea why.

This unit came with HP factory seals on the box, I was hoping for better quality checking before they ship these out. But I really only care about what might be a bad LCD panel.

Does anyone have experience with HP repairs?

 

My unit is a HDX9200, (GW473AAR) when looking for parts, the closest model I can find is GW473AV, it really got me thinking, what could be wrong?

 

Sorry dude, your HDX isn't the max configuration. It's close, but not "top of the line". Only X9000 users can make that boast - and we don't. We just list it in our sigs.

Ullar -
DO NOT even listen to any thoughts about downgrading to XP, unless you're looking for migraines to go with it. Yes, you can do it - but you'll still be without certain drivers because HP doesn't support the downgrade to XP from Vista.

HDX's were designed for Vista, not XP. Telling someone to downgrade to XP from Vista is like telling someone who's got a 'Cuda with a big block Hemi that you recommend they take it out and replace it with a 318 because they put in low octane gas in the tank for the Hemi to run on and **SHOCK** - it ran like crap. So the engine must be bad - replace the engine?

The HP Support forums are littered with the tears of those who couldn't see the light (and/or listened to someone that didn't know what they were talking about) and upgrade their Vista Editions and RAM configurations, and instead downgraded their systems to XP. And

Your HDX is slower because you've got a 4mb L2, not an 8mb L2 - it makes a difference, even with a faster processor. It's like increasing the speed of a water pump without changing the size of the output pipe. You get increased pressure but not volume. You're also using mechanical HD's and not SSD's on your HDX - bit of a difference.

Solid State Drives are nothing more than external RAM boxes - gee, no wonder they're faster than mechanical drives.

It's hard to believe it's taken almost 30 years for the technology to make it to the mainstream computer market.

As far as gaming - We've already covered it many times before in this thread, but as 2.0 and I have said previously, HD speed doesn't mean a **** thing in today's online gaming. Programs today run from RAM or from a combination of RAM and the Optical Drive. Games haven't run exclusively from HD's in several years. And if you're having problems gaming with new games on an HDX, you might want to take my advice and invest in a better network setup and a monitor with a lag removal circuit. Oh that's right - you've got that great Dell 30" that DOESN'T have the lag removal circuit. Bummer.

Also, Ullar's looking at the 18" HDX - it comes with the NVIDIA 9600, not the 8800, as does the Vaio he's looking at. Actually the 9600 is in just about all the new notebooks come to think of it.

I didn't know Dell was making a 30" WUXGA notebook monitor to compare the HDX monitor to. Learn something new every day...

Speaking of the differences in your 30" and your HDX monitor - if you're saying your external looks better than the HDX monitor when hooked up in multi-display, it's not the external monitor's setting or display making the difference. Video output from the HDX to the external is controlled by the NVIDIA CP. You can make adjustments on the external while it's being driven by an external source signal, but it won't affect it as much as the video source settings does. Disagree? Try it and see.

HD Video - hate to disagree once again (well, not really), but RAM is the biggest factor when dealing with HD Video, not processing speed or HD rpm. CPU processing and speed is the factor if you don't want to sit around all day waiting for it to process, and if you like to run multiple programs while recording (not recommended). But you need a minimum amount of RAM to even think about dealing with HD Video.

Also, using your own logic, you're contradicting yourself by telling Ullar that he should get the fastest CPU and HDD's for HD Video. You don't have the fastest CPU or HDD's on your HDX, and yet you claim not to have any problem with it.

As far as large HD files, why are you even bothering to record large HD files on your internal HDX drive when you can redirect it to a large external drive with 1394 or eSATA capability? Files that are a few gigs in size (and can hardly be said to be taking up A LOT of space on today's drives) aren't that big a deal, but there's no need to waste the time editing it and processing, and then sending it to a larger drive when it can initially be saved on a larger drive to begin with, be it mechanical or Solid State. Good video file management means eliminating unnecessary and time consuming steps with large files.

 

Thank you for your wonderfully sarcastic post Cybervision - this forum desperately needs a lot more people like you....

The reason I asked Ular to for the fastest CPU and HDD, because processing time is dictated by the CPU and slow HDDs is a bottleneck. Surely I'm fairly certain Ular has a some understanding you don't merry high end CPUs with 1GB RAM....

The fact that I mentioned my HDX is slower than a Dual Core 1.3GHz CPU has nothing to do with cache. The HDX has 4MB cache, and the P1610 has 2MB cache. I already mentioned the SSD drive made all the difference - why are you repeating my own point? I 'm sure you are not dyslexic......

Lastly, I never mentioned I was comparing monitor to monitor when I put the HDX WUXGA to the Dell's 2560x1600 resolution. I simply pointed the fact the Dell has better color. For your information, My Dell 30" is not connected to the HDX. I have a dedicated Quad core gaming machine with an Nvidia 8800 Ultra OC video card installed.

My apologies for not being 100% correct claiming my HDX is not "top of the line". The fact that a 9800GTX video card is available in OC versions, I'm sure anyone that claims he owns a 9800GTX OC with 3GB of RAM, 500GB HDD and the fastest intel E8600 is not considered 'top of the line' as the RAM can be upgraded to 4GB and the HDD to 2TB+, etc..... Get real m8..... close enough is good enough...there is no need to be nitpicking like a b***h.

 

You've got some good drives in there. You won't see all that much of a performance boost with the 320GB, 7200 RPM drives. Figure maybe 15% boost. EDIT: Actually you will see a boost. I thought I read that you have 7200RPM drives already. So figure >35% boost. As for the config, it's neither a RAID nor a MASTER/SLAVE setup. It's just dual drives with the BIOS configured to only look at Drive 0 for a boot sector. Chipset ICH8 HEM/HBM that's in the HDX doesn't support RAID. Weird choice on HP's part right?

The interface internally as well as the external eSATA is SATA II.

 

Practically impossible to obtain that sort of proprietary info. Companies don't give out that sort of metric. But I'll tell you that relative to the other Pavillions, it was minuscule.

 

I couldn't duplicate this particular problem. Everything completely dims on mine.

 

Seagate 320gb 7200's at Amazon for $90 and free shipping, no tax

 

Got the exact url or a serial number to look them up ?

 

2.0

I understand from your comment that HP wouldn't share that info, but do you think that over 10,000 were sold? Just based on your experience.

Thanks

 

As a conservative worldwide estimate, I'd say at a minimum, more than 3000. The lion-share were sold when they intro'd the 8800M GTS. Even more were sold when prices dropped by about 40%.

As far as over 10,000, it's possible but but I don't think so.

 

Any laptop is going to be a compromise. They are not like a desktop computer where you can select the components you want and assemble a machine tailored to your needs.

I have similar needs to yours. I do a lot of technical work - document editing, simulation, CAD, writing code, etc. I am an amateur photographer. I manage an investment portfolio.

I've used my friends' 12 and 15" laptops. No thanks. While they may be cool for the airplane ride, they suck for doing actual work on. The processors are too slow, they run hot, the screen isn't good enough to be a primary display, the keyboards are too small, etc.

I need a lot of screen area. I've usually got several applications running at the same time and I am frequently copying and pasting from one to the other. Yes, you can do that on a single screen, but its way easier to have enough display area to have several documents displayed at the same time. For me that means 2 20 inch 1680x1050 displays.

The small laptops are changing. We just ordered my girlfriend a HP dv5 with a T5750, 1066 FSB, 4 GB of RAM, etc. A machine like that would make an excellent compromise IF it had 2 HDMI ports. At the office one could run it with dual monitors and a USB keyboard and mouse. On the road you could make do with the 15 inch screen.

My last laptop was a zd7000 with a 1680x1050 17" screen, the best 17" screen I could buy at the time. A lot of people underestimate the importance of the screen... to me its the most important part of a laptop, next to the keyboard. Assuming, of course that the processing power and heat management are up to snuff.

My advice to you is don't skimp on the display. I though my zd7000 had an excellent display. And it did, until I bought my hdx9494. It might not seem like much going from the 17" display on the zd7000 to the 20 inch display on the hdx, but its a tremendous improvement. I can't believe how good the display is on this thing. Your eyes will thank you, over and over again.

A lot of laptops don't have enough cooling to run all out day after day. One thing I love about my hdx20 is that it can run all out, all day in a warm room and the fan isn't howling. Many smaller laptops do this and its very annoying. Yesterday I created tar backup files for 64 GB of stored files. It took several hours and the processor and hard drives were running full out the whole time. Nevertheless, it was nearly silent. I feel that large laptops have a distinct advantage here.

Laptops are not as fast as desktops. Here is a very good and interesting comparison of an Alienware X9000 laptop to a few desktop machines.
http://www.techspot.com/review/106-alienware-area51-m15x-notebook/
In most cases, the desktop machines run 50 to 100% faster on similar tasks. However, it is not practical for some of us to lug a desktop machine from place to place. An hdx20 might be big and heavy, but its a lot lighter and less bulky than a mini tower, keyboard, mouse, display, cords, etc.

Furthermore, once you reach a threshold, for business computing anyway, you only need so much speed. My Dragon opens documents quickly. Everything is virtually instantaneous. If I want more speed, I could upgrade the RAM to 8GB, install a SSD and bump the processor up to an X9000. It will never compete with the quad core processors, but it ain't no slouch either.

I am not a gamer. I can't speak to the hdx20's suitability for gaming purposes. But I know this... games are constantly changing and as of fall 2008 they are pushing the limits of desktop processing power. I am sure this trend will continue. I would thus be much more inclined to use a desktop machine as my gaming base than any laptop.

So... any laptop is a compromise. I think the hdx20s are outstanding because they offer such a nice compromise. Their main drawback is their size and weight. What you get in return for that is a fast machine with a beautiful display and keyboard that runs cool and quiet. The hdx20s hold 2 hard drives. I consider that essential for any serious computing, as is an external eSATA port.

Then we get to price. One can build a darn fast desktop machine for $1000 and keep it up to date performance wise for $500 a year. A lot of high end laptops cost $2500 or more and depreciate at 50% a year. I feel the hdx is an excellent value at $1600. While it too may depreciate, its initial cost is lower and I think it will last longer than the average laptop.

I hope this helps.

 

I just bought a HDX9010NR to send to relatives overseas:

20.1"-diagonal widescreen WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7500 operating at 2.20GHz
4MB L2 cache
Up to 800MHz frontside bus confused: I thought 667)
2GB of DDR2 SDRAM memory (2 x 1.0GB) (I'll upgrade to 4GB)
240GB dual 4200-rpm SATA hard drives 2 x 120GB each (I never knew they came in 4200's. I might upgrade to the 7200 seagates.)
HD DVD-ROM/SuperMulti DVD (they will not be using blurays)
ATI video card (they are NOT gamers)

Final price with shipping: $685

I think I got a good deal.

 

2.0

Wow. Take about an exclusive club. Maybe HDX owners should meet yearly in Cancun. We could have hats shaped like the 20.1 inch screen. Just a thought.


So...is the neighborhood of $90.00 for the Seagate 320 GB 7200.3 a steal? A deal that's likely to disappear.

Thanks

 

Where's the link? Searched all over amazon & couldn't find it. Newegg's & tigerdirect's sale are over/sold out.

 

I don't know. It was dsgerard who posted that.

 

Drives just get bigger and cheaper. I could get a 1.5TB external for the price I paid for a 1TB external three months ago. 2.5" Notebook drives are priced higher relative to 3.5" drives but the same dynamic exists for them. If you feel you want to wait you'll see bigger drives for the same price, or current drives for cheaper.

Hard drives are the fastest moving of PC component technologies, I've found. Especially considering the demand for High Definition content storage.

 

It must be the unit I have. I'm going to take apart the top case and give a look. I need to try and realign it anyway, someone put it on crooked.

I actually just dragged my HDX over to the Staples which is an authorized HP service center. At least I can explain the issue to someone in person and verify the condition of the HDX before I send it off, plus they say you get to inspect the repair when it comes back to Staples before you sign off for receipt. The guy was helpful, he saw the dark corners and the faint line across the bottom, acknowledged it looked like a problem. He called some direct HP tech line and described the problem, they issued a case number and ordered a Fedex shipping box to the Staples.

Then I hear relayed over the phone that due to hurricane backlog HP can't be time definite and it may take 4 to 6 weeks. They said they lost power to their repair facility. I'm flying at the end of October and I want the HDX. So they put the case on hold and he's gonna keep the return box in the back till early November.

The biggest test they did was booting to BIOS and looking for the effect, it was still there but less pronounced than with the DPT hash pattern, or a white background.

The regional tech walks in at the end and asks the problem, he's half on the phone and just replies with "backlight leak". He didn't seem too surprised.

But I'm still unclear as to what exactly these dark spots are about.

Found this post, but there wasn't any followup so not much to learn there.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=51166

I feel the same way that poster feels.

 

So if I miss the $90.00 deal I'm not passing up on the golden fleece.