*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

I do have a extended warranty. and should have a answer from HP this morning as to what option we are going to persue. like I already said, I klnow several people in HP and have already escalated this pretty far above the normav CS chain.

 

Crysis is just one of those games that kinda looks like crap without AA / using a high native resolution. Given I have to play at the resolution BELOW native... well, let's just say I do notice the jaggies.

That said, the level of detail is pretty good for the performance I'm getting from the machine with this custom config (well... good for CRYSIS anyhow).

P.S IT'S OVER FOUR THHOOOOOUUUSSSAAANNNNDDDDD!

 

Well, I said I was expecting a descision from HP today regarding the HDX and the dead BIOS and how they were going to make it right, just got off the phone with them and yes, I am of the opinion they are makeing it right.

First of all, the box that is delayed "up to 3 weeks" to ship this back for repair, that repair order is canceled, a RMA is being issued for this unit and I am being credited full retail value that I paid back in June for it.

I also need to fax to the senior case manager a system configuration that I would like to order (up to the alloted value, which is what I paid for my Dragon back in june. $2850.00 + including tax [shipping was free])

Looking at a 18T, I can probably max a system out...

This is what I am thinking for the 18T.

Operating system Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) edit

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz) edit

Display 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p) edit

Memory $40 OFF 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit

Graphics card 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT edit

Hard drive 640GB 5400RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (320GB x 2) with HP

ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit

Personalization Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid) edit

Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard edit

Networking Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth edit

Primary DVD/CD drive Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer

TV & entertainment experience HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner edit
Primary battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit

Productivity software No Productivity Software edit

Total 2407.27 (not incl tax or shipping)

Wasnt there a quad core avaliable for this at one time ?

The Other Option I have is a dv7T:

Color Onyx edit

Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) edit

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz) edit

Display 17.0" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1680 x 1050) edit

Memory 8GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit

Graphics card 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT edit

Hard drive 640GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (320GB x 2) with HP

ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Personalization [For BrightView Infinity Display] Webcam + Fingerprint Reader edit

Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard edit

Networking Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth edit

Modem Port Integrated 56K Modem edit
Primary DVD/CD drive Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer edit

TV & entertainment experience HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner edit

Primary battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit

Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0 edit

Total comes to 3013.87 (not incl tax or shipping)

=============================

Keep in mind that I am not paying for the one I choose , it will be a RMA replacement.

I play some on line games, do a little graphiocs work (hobby/fun/family stuff, not pro) and run 2 -3 VM's at a time useally for work related stuff (just to give ya a idea of what I do with it)

opinions ?

 

Greetings All,
I’ve had my WUXGA HDX Dragon for about 3 months now, and am noticing some now significant Mura effect that seems to be getting worse. Anybody else have this issue? Do you think it’s covered under warranty?
Thanks!
JoeNeil

 

How do other games look at native res?

I take it you aren't using AA with Crysis.

Do you have any significant backlight bleeding?

Thanks

 

Hi Everyone

I'm new - wow this thread is almost as big as the HDX 9320 itself!

I got mine about 2 weeks ago and been loving it but I cant read any data DVD's - I mean proper published ones like games and software as well as ones I've burnt. The drive just spins and then clicks a few times like I've put a dud in there (of course I have tested the disks on another pc so I know they work). I've tried a lot of fixes recommended by the HP website and various other places. I was just wondering if anybody has had smilar problems - got the blu-ray drive version and Windows Vista (how I hate that already) installed - because if you guys haven't had a similar experience I reckon I might have a bad egg.

I've tried re-seating the drive, uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling (there are no firmware updates it seems from the original). I've tried removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters through regedit and have uninstalled Cyberlink software in case that was the problem. Nothing seems to fix it.

Reads movie DVD and all types of CD just not data DVDs which I think is just weird.

I might have to return it but I'm self employed and this is my main tool so after spending a whole fortnight installing all my software and because I use it everyday the thought of being without it while its fixed is not a pleasant one.

Am I alone? Searched the forum and couldn't find much to encouage me.

Cheers

Glyn

 

Looks like I am going with this setup, I will replace the drives with a pair of 320G 7200 RPM ones and also add the GSKILL RAM (8G total). I have both those sitting here unopened I will then drop the 2 HD's from the 18T into the wife's laptop, as well as the RAM to give her 4G

Think it should do nicely.....

 

Good choice, I would have went that way also. Too bad about the quad-core not being available but the 2.8ghz is a great 2nd choice. 9600M GT is perfect for what you'll be using it for. Plenty of power.

Best wishes with the new machine. Let us know how you like it.

 

They all look rather fantastic. I used to play everything at 1280x1024 on my old desktop... don't know how I'd ever go back now - everything looks so sharp and I don't even notice jaggies, even without AA (on most titles).

As for the backlight bleeding thing, you already asked me that via PMs No issues here. My monitor is making an annoying high pitched whine when brightness is set to 100%, which is a little annoying - only happens when the lappy is plugged in, and some people have suggested it may just be a dodgy power adaptor, but... hmm.

Speaking of which, I have a question :

Does anyone elses power brick... "tick"? Mine makes a ticking noise like some older laptops did when booting up / loading junk... not entirely sure if that's normal or not (sure dosn't SOUND normal >_<).

 

I just now got around to playing a bluray disk in my 9494nr, but every now and then, the movie looks like satelite tv with a bad signal. I dont think pixelated covers it. I am running the latest official hp nvidia update. Any ideas? The disk is spotless

 

Glyn,

I have exactly the same problem with an Acer laptop. I did all the same things you did. It will play movies and Cd's just not any data disk. Really has me scratching my head. I could not find a solution anywhere.

So now I just plug in an external USB optical drive when I need to load a program or use a data disc. Not much of a solution, I grant you, but since I have several of these drives lying around, it's acceptable for now.

I figured that sooner or later I would run across something or uninstall something and it might come back to life. Interesting to know that someone else has the same problem. I figure it has to be a software thing, but I really don't know much about the hardware side, so who knows?

Should I run across anything, I'll be sure to let you know.

Bron

P.S. If I had my way, I'd just use external optical drives and use the laptop internal space for something else anyway.

 

Have you updated quick play software to version 3.7?

 

Thanks....yea seemed to work out well, I must say I will miss the big screen though, it was just way to convienant. Do yopu know if the power supply for the Dragon would work on the 18T, I ask because I bought a 2nd supply for the Dragon that I leave at work. If not, oh well. Bag wise I am set, I haver the roller bag from HP for the Dragon that will work well, I also have a couple 17' notebook bags I might see how well the 18T fits.

The 2.8 core (same core I have in the Dragon) + the faster buss should be nice. I will be bumping it to 8 gigs RAM and am going to be putting the better HD's in soon as I make the recovery DVD'd, but then of course, I will be wiping the system for a fresh install of Ultimate 64 anyway (as soon as I save off the software foilder)

I am also getting the extended warentee with this also. Should be a good system, been reading the 18T forums and I must say, seems a bit different than here, how to put it, less......

Anyway, its a CTO so will be getting the order # so I cant track it tommarrow, its on second day shipping also, but still needs to come from China. I think I will need to dig up that link for the Media Player update.....patching is always so much fun.

 

Dunno, but I do know who to ask. Lancorp. He has/had the HDX Dragon and has an HDX18T. He was one of the lucky to get a Quad-core.

Sent him a PM.

 

Much appreciated

 

hey, I'm still around here...I still have my HDX Dragon!

Yes, the HDX20 power supply works with the HDX18t just fine. It's much bigger, but it works.

For portability, the Kensington 120W Universal thin and light AC/DC adapter (weighs about 2 ounces) works with the HDX18t fine. It's model 33197. Find them on ebay for about $40. You need tip N30 (free from Kensington support if you email them. I did and got them to send me about 5 of them!).

 

Heya lancorp,

Thanks for the info. I will just leave my 2nd Dragon power supply at work then and the one that comes with the 18T at home. Good to know I wont need to buy a 2nd one thought.

Thanks

 

whats the URL for the 18T lounge, guess gonna need to start following that also

 

Hdx9494nr.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=300221

 

May I ask which 320GB 7200 Drives you got, for how much and from where?

 

Hi I got a question not relevant to the Dragon, bought a cheap Acer Aspire 9805 (20.1"screen) with an Intel Core Duo T2600 2.16 ghz (65nm), what would be the best cpu that I can put to it? ( I think that the bus speed is 667mhz), thank you.

 

Hey guys,

I can safely report that this backpack, mentioned on the page 100 post and talked about a few times in the thread, does not fit the HDX.

It is wide enough, and just tall enough, but the top tapers so the corners stick out, there is no way of zipping it closed.

Too bad it's a nice bag.

Does anyone know a backpack that can handle this monster laptop? I emailed Alienware and Mobile Edge. They are all done with their mALX backpack stock. If someone knows where to find one please let me know. eBay and Craigslist shows none for a few weeks now.

 

You might want to retract your statement, because the mALX DOES INDEED hold the HDX just fine with plenty of room. I have a mALX and a Dragon, and there is PLENTY of room.

I think what you mistakenly bought (or were sold) was the Alienware Deluxe bag, which looks IDENTICAL to the mALX, except the Deluxe bag's top is not squared off...it's tapered and the bag is a bit smaller, so the Dragon does not fit. The only way to tell the two apart is by looking closely...

mALX:



Deluxe:

 

No I was talking about a 20inch "Olympia" bag sold at Overstock.com, I think the site removed the url from my post. If you click the link to that quoted post it should show the url. I am looking for an mALX bag though. Do you know where to get one?

 

Welp, just got the "H" order confirm number for my 18T. Was placed at 10:57am this morning from "BUYBACKS HPSHOPPING". Looks like they came through extreamly well for me on this.

Unit should be built and shipped by Nov 14th, and with 2 day shipping, I am looking at having it in my hands by the 18th or so because of the weekend.

 

Is HDX capable to use Intel Wifi 5300 ?

 

So... this high pitched whining noise is getting worse

My monitor emits this very high frequency but constant whining noise - which occasionally dissipates after an hour or two of use; more often it just becomes very quiet, but dosn't cease altogether. At first it was barely noticeable - but now when I turn the machine on after not having used it for a while it makes this *horrendous* noise - which gets slowly quieter until the boot phase finishes, at which point it just becomes an annoying one.

The noise tends to weaken when I take the power cable out - and also weakens when I turn the brightness level down. If I set the brightness to 50%, the noise is barely noticable (but still there), and if I set it to 0% I can rarely hear anything - but I don't particularly fancy using my PC at 0% brightness the whole time just because something is broken.

My power brick makes a very loud annoying ticking noise when the system is under load - it has been suggested this may be associated with the problem - and true enough when the power cable is taken out the noise is much quieter; but I CAN still hear the noise with the power cable out.

I'm not entirely sure what to do - my order stated the monitor would be the 1680x1050 variety, but it showed up on my door with 1920x1200 - people have said the 1680x screen was of superior build quality but... I like the extra real estate - and I just don't fancy going through all the hassle of talking to support if the problem is something I can fix myself without voiding the warranty - I wouldn't even object to just buying a whole new power brick myself to avoid the hassle if someone is able to confirm that is the likely cause.

I'm just trying to determine whether this is going to evolve into a problem that's going to end up causing some serious damage to the machine if I don't get it looked at, or if it's just a minor annoyance that's getting worse but poses no real threat. My instincts tell me it's something to do with the power to the laptop; and I'm concerned about frying something. I suppose the room I'm in is often fairly cold - but it's not THAT cold - could that be contributing?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Is this a known problem?

Thanks for reading.

 

I just nabbed a HP Quickdock for $24 US which I'm quite happy with. Question is, does it actually require a power adaptor to be plugged into to work?
I ask because I know that:
A) The HDX can't recharge from a Quickdock
B) The HDX power adaptor connection doesn't fit into the Quickdock

So will I be needing a seperate power adaptor for the Quickdock? ANd if so, is anyone aware of the voltage and current requirements? I would prefer to find a generic adaptor as opposed to paying more for an official one, thus denting the 'Bargin Factor' of the cheap Quickdock.

Also, I've asked this in another thread but I know that all HDX owners have an AVermedia TV tuner in their setups. Has anyone had trouble tunning in or using the S-Video port? I recently replaced my A312 with an A301 to use a PAL Xbox 360 via the S-Video connection but it refuses to display at Pal-60. Pal-50 displays fine but most games refuse to run at Pal-50.
Anyone else had issues with theirs?

@ Jyon
There have been a lot of problems with the power adaptors that I have read. The HDX pulls a lot of wattage and it seems that HP has released a new brick for the HDX as my replacement one is different to the original.
As for the sound form teh screen, it may be a faulty inverter, not sure. Someone else is bound to know.

 

hi guys.. i'm needing some answers. I have an HDX 9200, which has an 8800m GTS 512mb chip.. what are we supposed to do for drivers for these laptops.. cause nvidia ones won't install and HP NEVER updates the drivers.. so do we just continue using outdated drivers as new games are released?

 

The original custom Targus case made for the HDX & sold by HP has straps so that it can be carried as a backpack or used as a rollercase. What case or pack you get depends on how much or far you're traveling with it. I've got both the HP case and the Dicota MultiGiant. I use the Dicota bag for short trips around town, but use the HP case when going on longer trips as it's just easier to deal with the weight. After adding the system, batteries, an adapter, and any other junk you take on a longer trip that you can fit in, it's easy to approach 25lbs or more. Hauling that much is okay if you're in good shape - my health isn't, so I like the rollercase feature when it's loaded up with a lot of items. There's a spot for the HDX, accessories in the front, and a decent amount of space for clothes under where the HDX slips in so that you can use it for an overnight trip, which is what I think it was designed for.

LC can tell you about the others - I don't think there's a bag made that'll fit the HDX or any other laptop on the planet that he doesn't either have now, or has owned in the past.

 

The Quick Dock is powered by the HDX, thus there is no need for an external power supply. I purchased the Quick Dock when I originally got the HDX and it works fine. Hope this helps!

 

I will check it out, will this update disable all the buttons? thanks

 

Thanks mate. I wasn't too keen or having to purchase another adaptor. So the adaptor on the dock is entirely for charging the connected laptop? (Bar the HDX) If so great.

Thanks again for the info.

 

Just got the HDX backpack from HP (the Targus 20" one) - gotta say, great for short trips away and whatnot - clearly made for this purpose... but then that's not what I wanted it for :/ I wanted a backpack so that I could take it with me on the plane (not to use - just so it didn't get smashed to bits in baggage) - and so I could peddle it back and forward to work every now and then - and for these uses, it's not exactly perfect; it's just TOO large - I've yet to take it onboard a flight with me, but by the looks of it I can't imagine it's going to be small enough for me to justify taking it as my hand-luggage; it's never going to fit in those little baskets they make you use to size up your bag -- and the first thing my colleague did when I got into the office today, was ask me if I was going away for the weekend :/

"Why did you buy it then?" Well - essentially because there's not a lot of choice. I needed a bag to carry the thing in - but that's all I wanted, a simple bag with a bit of padding to make it easy to carry around, but instead I'm left with this enormous backpack that sorta looks like a freakin jetpack (it's all square and... well, not particularly pleasing to look at), with enough space for clothes for a week.

What am I trying to say? Basically just putting some warning out there for anyone else thinking of picking one up - this isn't a "laptop bag"; it's a full on get-away suitcase; with a few extra bits to make it laptop friendly. For what it is, it's fantastic - nice material, lots of little pouches and what have you; but if all you want is something to carry this beast around in - you may want to go with something else --- that is, if you can find anything

 

what do you guys think of an HDX 16t with these specs? This is my first HDX purchase and i do some web design and business on the net and stuff but not a lot of gaming. Is this worth the price? i want a good investment that will last.
Windows Ultimate
P8400 Processor
haven't decided which display to get, is 175$ worth the upgrade to 1080p?
4GB DDR2
standard graphic card
320 GB hard drive
wireless card with blue tooth
blue ray dvd
photoshop 6
standard battery, webcam, etc.
2 year accidental damage warranty

Thanks for your help!

 

Hey everyone I made a couple of wallpapers using as template the original HDX wallpaper - (I took the liberty of doing that without asking for perlmission I don't see why HP should be annoyed by that, but if there is any problem I apologize and I'll be glad to remove the links)

Hope you like them :

 

I'm diggin the first one. Nice job.

 

Funny I fly to Dallas on buisness monthly and take mine (ok...took while it still worked, I will bring the 18t in it though). Actually, I carry the Dragon, a 15' Dell, poewer supply's for both units, CAT-5 ethernet, chargers for 2 cellphones, and a mini wireless router, a mini-usb hub and a mouse in mine. All on a plane monthly from WI to Dallas. Fits fine as a carry on

 

anyone have any suggestions? Are there modded drivers that we can use?

 

You're welcome.

 

Thank you so much for your help.

By following your instructions in both previous posting (page 396 and this page),

---------- RECAP --------------
1. Open your Sound Settings in the CP.
2. Highlight the "Digital Output Device" setting
3. Regardless if yours says SPDIF or HDMI, click on "Set Default"
4. Update to QP 3.7.
----------------------------------

I am now able to see the BluRay Hulk movie on my HDTV and the sound comes out thru my 7.1 receiver and 7.1 speakers system via the HDMI laptop port. However, the sound is decoded in stereo instead of 5.1 DTS even though the movie menu setting shows 5.1 DTS as default. If I play the same movie using WinDVD 9 and AnyDVD, the sound is properly decoded as DTS on my receiver. Am I still missing something?

 

Whew... glad to hear that. I just got an email from HP that my roller bag is on its way. I can't wait to get it.

 

Its a fine bag, no doubt. I carry 2 laptop's to and from the office every day, the Dragon (or 18T when it gets here) and my 15' Dell.

Nice thing about it IMHO, when I travel I have 2 bags, the laptop bag with all my laptop's/networking gear/power supplys etc...and a bag for clothes for the week. In my Laptop bag, there is a spot below the main laptop compartment, where I put a extra change of clothes, just in case the airline looses my bag with all my clothes in it.

And it fits nicely in the overhead storeage, although, prepare for some looks when you go through the TSA screening and you take the Dragon out

I was actually pulled out of line by a TSA agent after the laptop went through the X-Ray system, because "That cant be a laptop, they dont make em that big" leaving Milwaukee for Dallas, and on the way back from Dallas a TSA agent asked if I want fries with that, I looked at her and said what, she said "supersized". I got a good laugh out of that.

All in all It travels fine.

 

Look here for 2.0's post for latest HP drivers (for HDX18, but covers ours with 8800 GTS.)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=169232&page=359

And my post 3655 on page 365 for Laptopvideo2go drivers.

 

In Quick Play there are two options in the DVD settings menu for audio--audio output and audio mode. Check to see that SPDIF is selected for audio output and that Dolby Digital is selected for audio mode.

 

I confirm that SPDIF and Dolby Digital are both selected in QP. I also try to select the Window WMA option and other frequencies values beside the default 44.1 KHz value but nothing seems to work.
If I go to the advanced tab in QP, the options are only 2 channel 44.1, 48, 88, KHz etc. I wonder if this is normal.
I also update to the latest audio driver dated 08/2008 (the old one is dated 07/2007) to no avail.
The sound is decoded correctly as DD, DTS etc if I use DVDs instead of BluRay. In other word, for some reason QP does not decode the sound properly only in BluRay. As for WinDVD and AnyDVD is not a viable solution since the movie is jerky. The sound is decoded correctly but the movie is unwatchable since the movie frames froze and unfroze frequently.
It is very frustrated that BluRay doesn't work out of the box and HP is refused to support this. They say that they support the hardware but not the software that is running it.

 

I'm looking to use my eSata port on my Dragon (when I get it set up, soon , I hope) and spotted these drives on-sale at Newegg. Seems like a pretty good price for 1 TB and 3 GB/s (Sata II) drives. And a nice bundle as well (cables, etc.). The drive has a USB 2.0 interface as well, so can be used with any PC or laptop. See here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101082

Also, found these WD 1 TB eSata II internal drives for a good price as well. If I weren't so busy (and lazy), I'd consider upgrading the internal drives on my Dragon, hmmm... 2 TB internal, sounds good. But, all in all, I like the flexibility offered by the external drives (can easily swap between laptops), so going that route for now. Here's the link in case anyone is interested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101082

Anyone have any recommendations or gotchas I should watch out for? Having the eSata port seems like a big win for the Dragon, to me.

 

I just got my Dragon and have been thinking about how to best to set it up. I'm reading through all the posts here, of course, and finding many tips on Vista setup and so on. I've been thinking that I will probably dedicate my Dragon to gaming and watching video. I have an HP dv9700 w/T9300 that I will probably use for video editing and processing separately, as my Dragon has the T5850 which is probably slower for that work. However, I may try the Dagon for viedo editng as well and see how it performs. But I will *not* use my Dragon for general stuff, web browsing, email, or anything else. I have other laptops I can use for that.

Mainly, though, I will be gaming and watching DivX videos and such. I'm thinking about keeping the Dragon isolated from my home network and the internet. Don't see any real need for it other than occasional updates. I want to update my Dragon as little as possible and try to keep it as stable as I can. If I isolate it, I can forgo some of the security updates and other general updates that sometimes cause problems and instead just update judiciously as needed. That's my plan, anyway.

I might not even install a firewall and anti-virus software that runs on startup, but instead just use some anti-virus and anti-spyware sw occasionally to scan for problems. I will not have any personal information or irreplaceable files on the Dragon if I do this. I'm thinking this might help performance and also eliminate other problems. (If I get ambitious, I might even look into some of the "lite" or gaming-specfic configs of Vista...but for now, I'm not going to get too fancy. Stability will be my first priority.)

I might still connect to the internet occasionally, but only for direct updates to trusted sites (like hp) using Firefox 3 or the applications' own built-in update function. When possible, I will likely download the updates on another laptop and just transfer them to the Dragon (after scanning for malware).

I'm looking for any comments or suggestions of things I should consider in this scenario. Does it sound feasible?

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this!

(My config is a T5850, 2 GB RAM, 240 GB HDD (2x120), 8800M GTS, std DVD-RW (no Blu-Ray), TV Tuner, etc. -- pretty much a minimal Dragon, I guess.)

 

Which is best nvidia driver for HDX , I use 176.22 color look fade.