*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

minimally damp microfiber cloth. I use it to wipe off the entire notebook.

In other notebooks I have had, I have noticed those keyboard marks become permanent over years of use, so with mine, i have cut a large sheet of paper to fit between the keyboard and the screen. Its 8 1/2 by about 16, and covers the area nicely. The little piece of fabric they shipped with the notebook was great, but was folding and wrinkling on me.

 

Hey y'all. I've been scouting this forum for weeks and you guys have definitely convinced me to get this beautiful machine. Only issue is that I've been waiting to find either a $500 or 30% coupon for over a couple of weeks with no luck! I know all the coupon websites...any suggestions? Should I just wait?

 

Cashback perhaps?

http://shopping.hp.com/shopping/html...ive?aoid=44840

FYI, it's impossible to come by a 30% or $500 off coupon right after HP's reviewed the HDX18T's components.

 

You just missed the $500 AND 30% coupons. I think they came out about 1-2 weeks ago. I used the $500 one to purchase my machine.

 

I received my notice that my laptop shipped on Saturday morning, but as of Monday evening, Fedex still has no info on the shipment. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

I have.

It's probably on schedule, you just won't have any updates on the weekend.

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Now playing: Phil Collins and Genisis - No Son of Mine
via FoxyTunes

 

Impossible? Are you saying another $500/30% Coupon will never become available again for the HDX18t???

 

They will come out. Apparently the use them to clear out stock they want out quick so they review the specs on their machines, or maybe not.

 

They've been coming out every 3-4 weeks!

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston
via FoxyTunes

 

Sage, keep on eye on these two sites.

http://www.techbargains.com/vendor_detail.cfm/296/HP-coupon-code

http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/cheapster/hp-hp-small-business/
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Now playing: James Brown - Papas Got A Brand New Bag
via FoxyTunes

 

So I got my HDX in the mail this morning, and wow!! everything was flawless! I got the Q9100 4GB DDR3 1GB 130M (which i was told was DDR3 when i bought it too...) 320GB 7200HD with the TV tuner. not sure how some people have their screen tilted but i can see my keyboard perfectly without the backlit keyboard.. although i would of got it if i knew it could be turned off.. the heat is very nice.. lol i live in a colder area and it will be nice to keep the legs warm on those cold mornings.. the wireless card gets great range, i went to my neighbors house about 100 feet away and still had 60%/-70dbm connection with G rated router.. the TV tuner picks up decently i was guess.. there is only one station where i live an it picked it up (about 25 miles away). as far as it being a "fingerprint magnet" there are some but i wash my hands often and havent noticed much.... i personaly think this laptop is very mobile... just have to have desire to move yourself is probably the biggest hurddle lol

 

Yeah, I agree w/ the keyboard thing.

No real need for it since the monitor lights up the keys as is. I was regretting not getting it while my HDX18t was being shipped, but now that I have it I know that it wasn't a neseccary upgrade.

I believe it would have just helped the "cool" factor.

Congrats though Kalts!!!

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Now playing: Alice In Chains - Am I Inside
via FoxyTunes

 

Yeah. I agree that the glossy monitor helps you see the keyboard a lot in the dark (even when the screen is at it's lowest brightness).

 

This forum has been very helpful to me as I tried to decide which notebook to purchase.

I settled on the HDX18T. It is scheduled to arrive today, although the build date was estimated to be May 1.

The specs are as follows:
- Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.00Ghz)
- 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
- 500GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (250GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M - For DDR3 Memory
- 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
- Blu-Ray +/-R/RW with SuperMulti
- Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)
- Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- Full Size Backlit Keyboard
- 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- $10 OFF!! System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)
- No Productivity Software
- HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

I was able to take advantage of the 30% off coupon (worth $707.70 in savings to me) when I placed the order on April 19th. Total delivered price was $1,766.88.

I am looking forward to getting the HDX and checking out it's capabilities for myself.

 

I am expecting my HDX 18t, hopefully today. Does anyone know of a reliable way to get in contact with the local Fedex facilities that load the trucks? Every google maps search is coming up with the same 800 number that convenient discourages me from trying.

The expected ship date was tomorrow around 10:30 AM, but I used two-business day shipping and it left Shanghai Saturday. It's now at a facility in the same city as myself as of 7:00am Tuesday; so I'm trying to pick it up or at least verify delivery today so I can stop wondering and working from home.

As most people on this forum; I'm very excited, it's driving me nuts thinking its less than ten miles from my house already.

 

cantuse- they leave the shop around 8am so it will be delivered lol mine was delivered at 845am from 25 miles away.. just try not to look in the back of their truck!! its scarey!! i about freaked when she pulled boxes off the top of mine... but its snug in the box.. as far as calling them i would try the yellow pages do not google lol it will give that customer service line..
dwjimc-congrats! u will love your computer!! and the price will keep making it better! i hope that you return to the forums lol

 

sitting in pitch black (or so it seems) i can see the keyboard perfectly.. that is slightly slouching though lol.. but its great now i can use my computer with out my wife freaking out about light or noise!! the keyboard is omg quiet!!

 

Well, I ordered the computer below over 10 days ago (April 17th), and it was scheduled to be built by yesterday (April 27th). However, the status page indicates that it hasn't been built yet, but I haven't received an update email from HP. I'm guessing that, even in the best of circumstances, it probably won't get to California for another week or more.

Anyone know if any of the components I ordered has been causing delays lately?

Thanks.

HP HDX18t Premium Series Notebook PC
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.00Ghz)
- $100 OFF!! 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
- 640GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (320GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M - For DDR3 Memory
- 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
- Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
- Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)
- Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
- 50% OFF!! HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- No Productivity Software
- HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Turns out they JUST posted an update that it was loaded onto the truck for delivery around 7am. It's 8:45 now so I'm hoping it shows up soon. Definitely returning to the forums afterwards, I don't see that many qx9300, gt 130m, 8gb ddr3 reviews, and I plan on posting my impressions.

YES! I can't speak for anyone else; but the challenge of being married to a non-geek is how my wife prefers my company instead of me in the office. Therefore a QUIET keyboard is a must. I also got the backlit keyboard, because even with my good touch typing and light sensitivity, I hate struggling in bed to find a character. This is particularly important to programming and web development since control characters are placed in such awkward places on a keyboard.

Speaking of which, does anyone know if the keys on the keyboard can be removed and placed in different positions? I'm looking to get the keyboard laid out in the Dvorak style.

 

Help!!!

My HDX18-1180US was bought on March 9 2009 and it has already suffered a hard disk failure. Did anyone else experience this?
HP Tech confirmed the failure and will send me a new hard disk but I am likely to lose all the data on it. Is there anyway to transfer the data from current disk to the new one without paying a fortune?
I love the laptop and it's features but this failure has left me wondering about the quality from HP.

Any help or guidance from the forum members will be highly appreciated.

 

cantuse- not sure about the keyboard being moved but i know u can get a replacement. just not sure if they have one for the hdx... u will have to look around.. also look into a wireless or usb keyboard.. just a thought.. lol i just hit keys till the right one was hit and then i go back and delete what not.. lol i am jealous of ur backlit board though lol i asked the sales rep if u could turn it on and off but he said no... turns out fn + space..... i think that the people that got similar setups to u just never came back becuz their computer was so freakin good.. i almost didnt come back but figured there might be something that would be helpful... the battery is better then i thought.. its about 2 hours.. with about 1 1/2 hours playing crysis.. i watched the Dark Knight on Blue Ray and omg lol wow.. they are $5 to rent so not really sure its that worth it yet but it looked incredible!!
nimi- to be honest alot of us bought replacement Hard drives. you have to take into consideration that HP isnt making every part and the part they do make of course they are going to try and make it at lower cost.. thus there is always a few bad eggs in every dozen.. however there is a polar oppisite as well... i hope that the next HD is flawless =]

 

So while I'm pouting about my laptop taking so long to get built and shipped, I have a couple of questions about what's coming:

The BluRay player is described as "Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer". Dumb question: does that mean you can burn BluRay DVD's with this device? And if so, does that mean you can write dual layer, both sides, thereby getting 50GB of storage?

Thanks

 

No you can only burn CD's & DVD's.

 

Thanks. So what kind of DVD capacity can you burn? Single Sided, Single Layer (4.7GB), or SS-DL (8.5GB), or DS-DL (17GB)?

 

You can only burn DVDs but can also read only Blu-rays. Lightscribe means you can buy special lightscribe dvd/cds and laser etch an image on it.

As for capacity I'm fairly certain it is DL capable (Dual Layer). It says this on my HDX16's drive door. I'm sure the hdx18 uses the same drive.

 

Thanks rageman! I'll keep my eyes peeled on those sites.

 

If anyone would like to sell the $50 coupon, I'll buy it for $40 a piece. It'd save you additonal $40 off your purchase. Please contact me at my email [email protected].

 

So I just received my HDX 18t... how do I determine what model number it is for purposes of updating drivers?

The sticker on the bottom is less than helpful.

It's a qx9300, 8gb ddr3, gt 130m, 250x2gB SATA model if that helps.

 

Click Start/Programs/HP/HP System Information.

 

Thanks guys. BADW0LF, that did it. I just input the number that was coming up and it pulled up the 1200 CTO.

Back to your regular scheduled programming.

 

So for those who bought the fingerprint reader option, I'm curious: how well does it work? I presume you can redirect any password requesters to use the fingerprint reader for verification? Sounds pretty slick if it works accurately and quickly...

 

Its not an option. Its included with the laptop. I have one on my HDX16 tho I have not activated it yet. From what I know, you go to websites, save your password to the fingerprint reader. The next time you visit that site, you just swipe your finger instead of inputting password.

 

the finger prit reader is very nice.. worked everytime so far.. takes less than 3 sec to sign into sites.. less then that to log into windows.. all in all its my first but i think its very nice..

 

It reads your fingerprint very easily. It works with most sites. However, there are sites that it does not seem to work well with (MyTMobile, Verizon, National Grid are some that don't work correctly on mine).

 

Yes the fingerprint reader works very fine.I have already configured with every site I surf and need log in.
But it doesn't seem to work on excel passwords.It is quite sure that this is a software limitation.

Has anybody found a way to use it with Office files?If yes how do you do it?

 

It works on my Excel 2000 password protected files! Setup was easier than with web sites. I just read my fingerprint, type in the password and I'm done.

 

Works great on everything except Skype. Can't get it work for that.

Love having it for logging onto Windows.

 

^^^ lol agreed

 

How can you tell you get 20% cashback? I can't a percentage anywhere. Thanks in advance.

 

I made a thread about this but no one answered so...

I was attempting to calibrate the screen

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/sharpne...harpness-d.png

but I can't adjust the sharpness because there is no option to, so is there a different program that will allow me the change the sharpness setting, or better calibrate the screen?

I'm using the179.48 Beta driver from the NVIDIA website , and I want to avoid using a different one unless it will still allow me to use OpenGL in Photoshop CS4

 

Transfering data - no guarantees, due to the varying failures that can occur, but as a rule if the hard disk spins, you can use data recovery software. my recommendation here would be a bit outdated as the last thing I had to use was lost&found, which 3 times read most information from hd's that norton and other "disc utilities" couldn't even recognize whatsoever. In truth, there are many valid recovery apps based on the same methodology, and these are the similar to what the data recovery firms are using. Just do the research, some let you download the demo to locate files, and you have to buy to retrieve.

since my recovery dilemma's I have become a backup fiend.

if the hard drive does not spin up, there is no software in the world. then you have to send it in, and if you have the money, they will remove the platters and read them in the lab, but probably out of your price range (stories I hear from associates in DOD)

 

Insomnia

My HDX18t will not stay asleep or in hibertation for more than 5 minutes. This is closed, untouched.

I went through all the USB devices changing a setting as recommend somewhere.

 

Listen, there is a general rule for Hard Disks.....If they last the first 6 months or so, that is they don't fail, then usually they last for a LONG time. I could get into why this is, but I do not have the time.

What you have here is a faulty Hard Drive. This happens more than you think. It's nothing HP did, or didn't do. It's just the nature of technology. Hard disks fail. It is what it is. But that rule, 6 months = good drive, is a decent rule to go by.

You are lucky in the sense that at least it failed now, not 2 months from now. Remember, if it doesn't fail in the first 6 months or so, it will most likely NOT fail. There are statistics to back this up, I am just to lazy to look them up. Listen to some "Tech Guy" or "TWIT" by Leo Laporte, you'll get the idea.

As far as recovery; SpinRite my friend!!! Here is the Wiki link, and here is the main link.

Hope this helps, and that you are still an HDX fan!
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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Meet Your Master
via FoxyTunes

 

Well it seems kinda normal a rule like that.
Is like saying "the more you used your HD the less chance you have that its faulty". Probably has been calculated that you are most likely going to use any clusters in that amount of time so you can verify any of them. However the HD arm arent so expansive and its one of the two easiest thing to change in a laptop so, it can be sad, but anyone can just easily swap for a new one, plus they gave you a new one and there is nothing you can really blame to HP, maybe their HD are cheap but still they dont produce them, so its not really their fault.

 

Anybody knows how to get and flash BIOS for this laptop? Basically I still have 9 drivers to install, it refuses and I am currently having problems with Wireless stuff. The Intel tool which is supposed to detect which version I have (I should have something like 5300 or 5100 based on HP official site) says that no Wireless hardware is detected at all. So I want to check if this might not have been disabled in BIOS.

However the BIOS problem is identical to this one. No advanced menu, the crappiest "Bios" I have ever seen in last 15 years.

 

So how do you like your new laptop? I'm waiting on the same configuration (qx9300). Mine's hanging out in Anchorage right now waiting for clearance from customs. As soon as it gets close, I'm going to request that Fedex hold it at the facility for pickup (I work half of a mile from the facility, so it's easier than waiting around the house for delivery).

 

Come to think of it, I remember my older work HP laptop with a matte screen having those marks: it seemed that a screen coating had been eroded permanently in those shapes (perhaps by heat from the keyboard after closing the lid? or oils from my hands?)

Thanks for the tip!

 

Alright, I see the 20% when you searh HP on live.com Case solved

On the other hand.

Has anyone recently gotten the 18T with DDR3 ram and vram? I would like to know what the model for the chipset (because I suppose this is what determines the CPU compability) on that mainboard?
I wan't to get the basic 2.53Ghz CPU and later this year upgrade it to maybe the QX9300. To know if this is possible I just need the model of the chipset and check its specs on the Intel site.

I had an HDX18T not long ago but I sold it so I'd get the illuminated keyboard and DDR3 video and I think, though not sure, the chipset was the PM45 (the ideal case) in which this document www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf tells us it supports DDR2 and DDR3 ram as well as Intel® Core™2 Extreme, Intel® Core™2 Quad, and Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile processors based on the 45-nm process (Datasheet states "256-Mb, 512-Mb, 1-Gb, and 2-Gb memory technologies supported" though. How would you achieve 8GB if it doesn't state 4GB modules are supported - though I think we already know it does support them - ). This ( www.intel.com/products/laptop/chipsets/index.htm) is the list of Intel's laptop chipsets.

 

Got a reply from HP... they say BIOS can't be changed.

 

I have just done it!!! I have many, many photos (72), but i don't know, when I will have time to edit them, order them and post them online.
It is a very long and difficult procedure, so I warn you not to do it unless you know a lot about this stuff...and you gotta have nerves of steel, because it is pretty nerve wrecking, when you have to "pull" your laptop's case apart and you only hope, that plastic parts will come apart and not crack beneath your hands

PS: I don't quite understand this, but it looks like this CPU consumes less energy on idle (browsing the web), than the previous P8400 :O Will report back tomorrow with more information...