*HP HDX DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Definitely not. The HDX18t display, although called an Ultrabright, is anything but. I think a few others have noted that also. Because of that, one has to tweak the nVidia setting to try to get some vibrancy or "dynamics" out the display. It's too bad they (HP) didn't go with an LED backlit display in their top-end HDX18t. That would have been a beautiful display!

Regarding blu-ray burners in Dell notebooks...I have seen them being offered as of late, but do not recall the models. I do recall, though, that they wanted upwards of $300 for one, whereas HP want $100 more. Good value there.

Nice "dream notebook" there, but with all that, you're almost certainly looking at something big like the Dragon again, not like the HDX18t.

 

Dude...what is the point of your debating this, anyways??? OK, you're right and I'm blind. You keep making presumptions based on other peoples reviews and assumptions that it isn't like I saw it, because they didn't say so!

Are you looking to buy a new WUXGA or what is the point here?

 

You called his baby, ugly. Worse, it was done by comparison. Thing is, you're not the only one who noticed by comparison the differences between the panels.

 

Mobz...

It's like this; right, you read reviews of say a Magnavox LCD TV. Naturally it will be glowing if the review is without comparative to other LCD TVs. So you say to yourself, "good price, good review, I think I'll buy it." Then you go to the store and see a SONY XBR LCD TV and a good Samsung. Now you're not so thrilled with the idea of getting the Magnavox. You have to weigh the pro and cons because by way of relativity, you can see that the Magnavox's screen is not as good as the Sony or Samsung's.

Well so it goes with those reviews. Without the relativity of a comparison, everything looks good. In fact the WUXGA on the HDX looks better than most notebook panels, period. For one, it uses 2 CCFL lamps instead of the usual one CCFL lamp on most notebooks. So it will look gorgeous via that comparison. Now place it next to an iMac or Sony AIO screen and you will notice the difference right away and enthusiasm is guaranteed to be tempered. Place it next to an HDX with LG's WSXGA+ and you will notice a difference. If you're objective, you'll note which is better. If you're looking to justify your purchase, you likely won't. And that's what makes Lancorp's conclusion perhaps as objective as possible in that he had both and was looking to only keep one. In keeping the WUXGA, he knew by comparison that he was compromising for the sake of more screen real estate.

But as I said, he's not the only one who noticed the difference. Anyone who has seen them side by side will notice the difference. It's impossible not to. Two different manufactures with different production processes and materials. One known and sought after for its panels. One that makes good panels for the price.

But at the end of the day, if it looks good to you, then that's all that matters, yes?

So how do you find it?

 

Hi again,

last month, i wrote in this forum concerning a fan problem, bluetooth and quickplay buttons asking for help. I humbly ask for your help once again.

Concerning my fan, ive used HWmonitor and it worked fine, for a while. then it started to stop again. i then formatted and changed my OS to Vista ultimate 32bit. again it worked for a while, but no sooner then 2 days, the GPU fan died again, and my GPU temp went all the way to 80+degrees c. i didnt tried updating the bios, as the last time i had it fixed took me more than a month to get it back, and it came back with more problem than i sent it in.

Concerning my bluetooth and quickplay buttons, ive realised that i was able to launch the programmes normally with the remote, so i guess the problem lies in the quickplay buttons? since they dont light up either, im thinking they may be dislodged or sumthin, coz it seems to work fine from the remote. But i havent been able to solve the bluetooth. I tried to install the driver again and again, but it keeps on saying that theres no bluetooth hardware installed.

 

To be honest, I'm not even aware which one he has or why this was brought up again after two months! I wasn't calling anything ugly...but if that's the case (and he's defending his WUXGA), then I'm happy his looks great. But his doesn't make mine look any better!!!

 

All very well put. I couldn't have used a better analogy myself! And, you're right...I compromised and took what I saw as an inferior display, over a stunningly gorgeous WSXGA+, merely because I wanted the higher res. I was not looking to justify what I had...very good point, 2.0.

In any case, it's all rather moot...I'm satisifed with the WUXGA, and if anyone else with one is also happy with it, then great--we're all happy. Let's all sing Kum-bah-ya! If they are not, then it's nice for them to know the WSXGA+ panel is an awesome display and another choice for them.

 

Well, I wouldn't have expected the ad hominem stuff from you guys.

Since I've never been even slightly impolite to anyone on this thread, but have posed objective questions it's surprising to see some of the responses.

Ever since I've joined this forum there has been a constant refrain about one display being better than the other. If there has been a litany going on here it wasn't done by me.

I would like to know others who have compared the two screens since you brought it up, 2.0. So far I've only read Lancorp's on this thread.

Statistically trying to establish a principle or a fact on one instance (lancorp) is not logical. One point doesn't even define a sraight line.

Lancorp doesn't just have a problem with clear text. He has it in one quadrant of the screen. That's anomalous.

Having bought an HDX WUXGA X9000 a few months ago but not being able to even open the thing beause of a year long crisis I drop into the forum for a feeling of vicarious HDX ownership. So, no, I'm not angling to get an HDX that I don't have, but thanks for the thought.

Cybervisions is one of the best technical people I've ever spoken with, with an amazing background, including NASA. He's been pushing me to open the thing, and convinced me to get an AVR UPC before using it. It turns out that was good advice as my Los Angeles apartment voltage is between 111 and 113, and only yesterday there was a brownout.

I've found other reviews that describe the WUXGA as glorious, for example, and I'm sorry, gentleman, I just don't think think that all these reviewers would describe a screen with off cleartext in one quadrant or dingy color in such superlative terms.

Everybody should feel good about theur purchases.

 

EDIT: I meant to ask: If I get an additional notebook Id like it to have this SXGA screen, and the top specs including a quad core, possibly two GPU slots, 2-3 hard drives, a backlighted keyboard and BlueRay Burner would be a definite plus etc.. Any suggestions on which could fit the bill? I don't care about size really btw..but I would figure an 17 or 18 inch would be more portable despite its weight with all that stuff. Thanks.

 

Ok scratch that then.

Yea evertime I check they've had them and state usually it would delay the order if you select them. I bought AnyDVD HD version and it has BlueRay Support and would love to be able to backup my BlueRay disks with a burner. Yea the Dells were cheaper.

Sorry I was meaning to ask if anyone had any suggestions on which laptop/notebook would be be good for those specs?

 

Yea I saw that yesterday...:/ Sad. I knew something was wrong months ago when their ads via email started up with a fury. I doubt their liquidation prices will be that great though. Both they and that other company can't recall their name that closed down a bunch of stores have been quite expensive.

 

I don't believe there's been any ad hominen. Lancorp was wondering why you seemed adamant about the issue. I explained in regular parlance that it was because it spoke directly against what you purchased. Hence "baby." My HDX that I'm typing this on is my "baby." So there's no disrespect. Just pointing out that it's natural for someone to defend their purchasing decision - I just used a colloquialism - "calling one's baby ugly."

Lancorp calling you "dude" is not ad hominem either. Perhaps impolite as not everyone seems to not mind being called "dude." He was just frustrated that you misquoted him and used one sided reviews to attempt to discredit his observation. In a way, that is being disrespectful. It's not merely disagreeing. It's using the logical fallacy of appeal to authority as if the reviewers somehow without a comparative observation have validity simply because they state a thing is so. And what is more, what is known and are undisputed industry facts about the respective manufacturers of the panels bares out.

As far as logic goes, as with all science, the foundation is observation. Observation is strengthened/validated by testing. The reviewers have set up no tests. So their opinion is nothing more than an isolated observation that represents their past experience with notebook displays in general. There's nothing of note in any of those reviews to use as a guide when it comes to the issue of the respective HDX screens.

As for others stating similiar, it is in this thread and in my PMs. I can't post PMs because that's bad form. If it's that important, I'll dig up the other poster(s) who stated issues that were unique to the WUXGA.

This is a classic case of panel manufacturer variance in the same model. Reviewers almost never catch/report it - users do. What's more, many reviewers are paid directly or indirectly by the respective companies to review a product (most of the links you posted have such arrangements). That's what makes the forum communities and the opinions of their members far more valuable than a review could ever be. The only issue we have to worry about is abject bias due to ownership pride. You see that a lot with Mac owners. Naturally, because they have more of an onus to justify the premium paid. But it's easy to spot. it's pretty much become a running joke now.

Should everyone feel good about their purchase? Sure. They should be able to justify to themselves why they made a particular purchase. Let's face it, you can't justify to everyone why you choose one thing over another. But the one thing we should be able to accept about our purchases is certain facts.

For instance, Quickplay and the Quicktouch panel is a flaky solution. The web cam isn't the best. Good in low light conditions though. Vista is a resource hog - but it works. 6 USB ports would have been better than 4 - especially on a unit this size. An SPDIF out would have been ideal. Inability to overclock the x9000 was a poor engineering choice as that is why there is a premium price for the chip in the first place. A locked BIOS is criminal.

And...

A Tier I LCD panel maker will near invariably make a better panel than a Tier II. Just like a Lexus is almost invariably better than a Cadillac. But should a Cadillac owner feel bad for his purchase given this fact? No, because he has his reasons for purchasing it. But the hope is, is that he will realize that a Cadillac is for the most part, not as well made as a Lexus. Even if it makes JD Power's lists or Road and Track's editor's pick.

He should rely on industry facts and objective observations/comparisons to know which is which and what is what. And in the end, in spite of the facts, he still wants a Caddy simply because it's American made, that's all good too. But we would hope that he doesn't run around saying that a Caddy is more reliable than a Lexus. His might actually be, but the general facts speak otherwise.

I hope that I've fleshed out my POV throughly. You're of course free to disagree. But as you know my history on here, I like to give the best possible info that I can for the sake of others and to arm them with good information so they can make more informed decisions. That is my vested interest. It is my way of giving back for all the help and good info I received when I was wet behind the ears.

 

Did you get it brand new or refurbished? If new where in the world did you happen to manage to get that new?

 

Thanks for the engaging debate/discussion on the monitor btw doodz (keep in mind I'm not calling anyone "dude" Doodz puts me in the clear)

 

I'm not apologizing for calling anyone "dude". I've lived in Southern California my whole life (almost 50 years), and it is just part of my language. It certainly isn't meant to be impolite or demeaning. It's the equivalent of "hey man" or "buddy" or "guys" or one of a dozen other loose terms in the "So Cal" language.

In any case, for the life of me, I cannot fathom why this topic has gone this far. I've asked more than once, and yet do not know why MA is even making this a point. He's got a WUXGA? He hasn't opened it yet? Or he has, and loves it, but doesn't believe me? I mean, really, I don't understand his relentless efforts to attempt to disprove me and my own monitor. Does it even matter?

EDIT: Here's a post from another forum where a user did a side-by-side comparison between a WUXGA and a WXGA. As he mentioned, there is a difference, but it's hard to explain: gateway forum user discussing side-by-side comparison of LCD's

On to bigger and better things, like SSD's. I love'em, the reviewers love'em, so maybe we can agree on that.

 

What's enboldened could be the real reason behind the problems.

Questions:

1. Are you running HW monitor all the time?
2. What BIOS version do you have installed?

For the QP buttons, try this: Battery out, unit unplugged, hold down the power button for 30 secs. Plug everything in and boot up.

Is the movie camera button to the left of the finger P sensor blue?

As for your bluetooth, go to control panel and load the hp wireless assistant. Does it list bluetooth below wifi?

Hit the properties button. Make sure that "independent control for install wireless devices" is checked. If you see the bluetooth icon, you should be able to turn bluetooth on indenpendently from here.

If none of that is there, go to control panel. Select device manager. Hit the plus sign next to network adapters. Bluetooth should be listed there. If it's not then perhaps they failed to connect it when you sent it in for repair or gave you a mobo without it.

 

Is this the latest A321 HDTV tuner driver 1.0.64.61 dated 10/29/2007? I went to the HP site and updated to the v1.7.0.89_1.0.0.61 dated 2008-07-15 but the device property still states 1.0.64.61 dated 10/29/2007. After spending hours with the HP tech on the phone, I'm still having problem with pause/stutters when viewing HD TV under Quickplay. For some reason Window media won't pickup the HD digital channels like Quick play. Thanks in advance.

 

I object to your usage of the word dude and 2.0s use of the word colloquialism..I demand an apology from you both Lol.

 

Suggestion for your new laptop : Asus W90vP , but not a quad core
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600
2x Ati Mobility Radeon HD 4870 in Crossfire setup
4GB ddr2 ram
2x 500GB hard drives
Blu-ray reader
6 built-in Altec Lansing speakers
Win Vista home premium 64 bit
Turbo gear function: overclocks system by 25%

Or just get yourself an Alienware M17X

 

Ya, if was single I would be all over that Asus.

As it stands, with the money I've put into this thing so far, there's no way I win that fight. lol

 

Sorry, dude.

 

Not unless you made a mirror copy of your Recovery Partition.

Your Recovery Partition, like the Recovery Disk Set, contains all of the original software and drivers that were originally installed on your system when it was shipped. Since the HP Recovery Manager uses the Recovery Partition to generate a disk set, a new disk drive without it will get you zilch. You need either a partition to make a disk set or a disk set if you don't have a Recovery Partition.

I'm assuming that the disk set creates a new Recovery Partition on the drive, since the whole process reformats the drive in the process.

 

When I go to the playback devices options menu, I see that "Digital Output Devices (SPDIF)" is a working option. However, I don't see a SPDIF output anywhere on the computer. Is this just a mistake in the menu?

Is there any other way to output 24bit music files?

 

Well it's comforting knowing it's an issue in every system and not just mine. I guess it's no big deal as 95% of the time I turn the system on it's fine and even then it's a quick reboot.

BTW anyone know what the best video drivers on laptopvideo2go.com are right now for our HDX??? I'm still running stock b/c I want the blu-ray capability, but I wouldn't mind trying some hardcore gaming soon since I've watched my blu-ray copy of Planet Earth finally...

 

Several users have best performance with this one: http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_drivers.html
I use that one myself too
Grtz

 

Greeting Old Friends..It has been awhile since I needed your help. I noticed after stopped production of the Dragon the list got a little slow, seems we (you) had solved all the driver, audio, blue light, problems and things quieted down a bit. I'm going on 10 months of living with the "Dragon" and have loved every moment. I added two 320GB drives and a 24 in HP monitor on the side, nice setup, don't know how I could make a laptop any better. MY PROBLEM.... Trying to link a Plantronics 925 Bluetooth headset to the beast. Discovery and pairing is no problem. I go to Control Panel, then Bluetooth and set the "Audio" tab to connect to device. Set the "Sound" option in control panel to new discovered bluetooth headset and set as default. All works well until I go to close "Bluetooth Devices Window" The headset gets disconnected every time I close that window. I have a feeling the problems lies more with the "Sound" options but am not sure. Has anybody here had similar problems or a thought on what the problem is? You people have been so great in the past... here is a new one for you....Thanks, David Gerard

 

What's name of this software?

 

The reason you don't see a SPDIF connector is that it's been replaced by the HDMI port. Newer drivers show HDMI on the DoD setting, however selecting SPDIF will route digital audio to the HDMI port. If your sound system has an HDMI input, that's your solution.

 

Try this one. Not A LV2Go driver..it is latest HP and has favorable reviews, including Blu-ray playback. ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp41501-42000/sp41656.exe

If you are feeling adventurous(i.e. not HP-centric), this is Nvidia driver encompassing majority of notebooks on the market, including HP. Plus you can read a bit about it as well... http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_drivers.html

 

Is there also an update for the CONSOLE touch controls above the keyboard??? Biggest problem I have is that the volume slider is super choppy/delayed and even screws up and crashes some games when using volume control during a game. I think I would have preferred a physical hardware volume control knob and a dvd-rom eject button. Not a huge fan of the current touch controls, unless there is an update ofcourse to make them more responsive.

 

It's choppy because of the onscreen display. Best thing to do is to get rid of it. Here's how:

Type msconfig in the start menu search box.
Click the startup tab
Uncheck HP onscreen display.
Hit ok
click boot tab
check make all boot setting permament
click ok
reboot.

No you won't have any problems with the volume slider.

If you want a cool but small onscreen display that doesn't have any problems, download one of Microsoft's multimedia keyboard drivers (like natural multimedia keyboard or the wireless 7000 )from the following site:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=MK

Enjoy.

 

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I've posted here. I have the strangest problem and I was wondering if anyone knew how to fix it.

Ever since day one, I've never been able to get a USB keyboard to work on my HDX. When I hook it up, I get a code 10 error and it says that the device was unable to start.

Once in a while if I restart the computer with the keyboard plugged in it will work but often times this is not always the case. Of course, when I unplug it and plug it in again it doesn't register.

I've tried numerous keyboards and they all have the same problem. I've even hooked up a Logitech G15 keyboard to it and the screen works on it but the keyboard doesn't respond.

I'm thinking there is some sort of registry issue going on. Anyone have a good tip of fixing this problem without having to do a complete system reinstall? I really don't want to go through that trouble for something like this.

I've tried all 4 usb ports and all of them do the same thing. The USB ports do work and I am able to run a controller, blue tooth, and all different forms of thumb drives from them.

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks Cybervisions. So the hdx once had a spidif output? Can one use an hdmi for just audio?

BTW, the hdx dragon owners lounge rules! Way better than any kind of customer support or tech service. Thanks again.

 

No it never had an SPDIF output like a optical or dual purpose 1/8" phono jack. But HP tends to use the same driver base for most of their notebooks since they use the same or similiar series audi0 hardware.

Yes, one can use HDMI for just audio. It carries both video and audio signals seperately on the same cable. So as Cyb's says, if your receiver has HDMI in, you're good to go.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. Unfortunately, I don't have a receiver that excepts hdmi. I'll just have to settle with 16bit via usb to my DAC - still sounds really good though.

BTW, I've also had problems with my volume quick touch display and tried your suggestion of turning off hp quick touch display - it worked like a charm!

 

Lol good stuff dood.

 

Yea if I were to format everything then use the backup recovery DVDs it will create a brand new partition. So what youre saying is that if I get completely new hard drives, and it makes a brand new partition I will be able to make one more set? Other than that what method and software would you suggest in making a mirror of the recovery partition?

 

I'll check them out thanks. I've heard a lot of horror stories with regards to Alienware though.

 

Or just choose one of these: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_buyprebuilt_nb_us2.html

 

I remember doing this before one of my reformats and it worked but is there a way to get it back again after I do this, and does the microsoft one give you the same options of bass, treble and the like without the lag? Thanks.

 

You can get it back by re-enabling it with a check mark.

As for the Microsoft one, it's just a volume overlay. But it disables itself while gaming so there's no interference. It's light weight and lag free.

As for bass and treble, how often are you adjusting it? If not often, then you can see it in the tone controls tab of the speaker properties.

 

Just to let you guys know. Don't use 18x.xx nvidia drivers, they've caused me nothing but trouble. I tried the "official nvidia notebook" driver beta, but that gave me artifacts in NwN2.

Went back to 177.92, they still seem to be the best for me.

 

I use official nvidia 179.28 drivers and my performance increased compared to other drivers

 

Hi there, in reference to the screens, I own a Dragon Wuxga, a wxga, also an Acer 9810 (20''), wxga, and the best screen when put the three laptops toghether is the dragon wxga, my daughter has now the wuxga, to watch blu-ray movies....

 

The Falcon is closest to what I'd be looking for, but whats the difference between that and Sager? And whats the deal with the price being on the level of getting a nice used car? The testing to make sure it doesnt melt from all the power and colors?

 

Curious to know if they all bought new and if the power settings maxed on the UXGA? Also did you also use the latest NVIDIA laptop driver for both?

 

Awesome! I'm going to try the Microsoft thingy too. I don't change them that much so yea I can go via the speaker properties. Thank you!

 

Nice! Going to try that right now. Thanks!

 

All units bought new, and I did use the same video driver, and oprerating system...