*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

there is a program called "Cyberlink You Cam" and read this link
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=us&lang=en&product=3827799&docname=c01270613

 

Hm, I can get the fingerprint reader to work on my Win 7 64-bit when I do 1 and 2 of the steps - but then win7 will not start.
And if I try to follow step 3 and install the demo in version 3.1 the fingerprint reader says, that no reader is installed. Does anybody have a link to just an updated driver without the demo of the program?

 

Whoops, HP HDX18. My mistake!

 

It was You Cam I had installed on my last laptop, is there nothing like it on the HDX? I find it a bit poor if not, considering this one cost me 3x as much!

 

Mine came with a webcam program under the media smart branding. To get there follow these steps:

Start>All Programs>HP>HP MediaSmart>HP MediaSmart Webcam

 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=2100&product=3827799
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2100&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3827799&lang=en
post your HDX modle # please

 

Fantastic! Got it going now, but only after downloading it, thanks very much. It's a HP HDX 1201EA as well.

There's definately nothing in the MediaSmart section too. I presume this is normally pre-installed on new HPX's?

 

here is latest drivers and software for your modle # , check the dates on this webpage need help post here , all Media Smart software should be preinstalled
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2100&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3938559&lang=en

 

Can anyone tell me if the ESata port on the HDX 18 (and HDX 16 and HDX Dragon) is powered? Will I need to make sure that any ESata drive/drive enclosure I pick up has a A/C power adapter?

 

Hello everyone. We bought this laptop about 2 months ago.
Here is my review with possibly one or more questions at the end. Please bear with me as it is long but I feel everyone deserves to know all the information I have to share so far.
I became a member after finding this forum and reading through many of the posts, and I plan to skim through them to see what more I can learn about this laptop.

Shocking to see what almost $2700 Canadian dollars gets you.
There was no sign of a decent user manual, no disks, nothing. All signs of cutting corners are quite evident on HPs part. They give you a cheap black 'pillow case' as a cover and that's that. The store where I bought it, Best Buy, did not even have a leather carrying bag to go with this model as everything was too small. They also offered to 'Setup' the laptop for around $250 extra. That's the same as going to a mechanic to get gas put in your car. No Thanks. It was nothing more than or any different than setting up a new pre-loaded OS on your own where it asks you a bunch of questions, and you do the honors. Definitely not worth $250.

The build quality just proves that spending money on the most expensive product in any category does not necessarily mean you are getting the BEST product. This laptop tops the price chart for both FutureShop and Best Buy. It was their top of the line offering. After you add up the 3 year warranty, the total comes to about $2700. My wife has the receipt somewhere and I don't remember the exact price but its about this much.

What's great about this laptop:

Sadly, all I can say here is the design and the size. I actually like the size of this thing. Functionality wise, the PC is very responsive once the OS (Vista 64bit) is loaded, however

What's NOT to love:

I see the HDD lite always flickering, meaning the HDD is constantly going.

OS: Vista takes too long to boot up. I don't see how the Quad Core processor or the 4GB of RAM are any good here. The HDD is a 5400 RPM drive. This was probably done to keep heat and noise levels down. However, I believe the real problem is that the OS is not a real M$ OS. Its HP modified and soon as Windows 7 comes out, I'm getting rid of Vista and going to tweak the OS.

Blu-Ray: Still some problems. Grainy video. Protection problems. I won't bother to touch this until I put in my own OS and programs.

Build Quality: My favorite topic to knit pick and for a good reason. These days, no matter what you do, you can never run from the "Made in China" sign. No matter what. Even then, as much as this sentence makes me cringe, I've come to the realization that no matter where your product is made, its always going to be made by the lowest bidder. Sure, the laptop has fancy lines, and a fancy look, but the plastic used is of some really poor quality. There are certain "temperature" marks, where you can see the weakness in the material. The screen border has some silver or metallic material if you peek under the glossy outmost plastic panel. It is some sort of a lining which protrudes out at an angle on one side, but is fairly well hidden on the inside. This shows the lack of interest on the part of the technicians who put this thing together. The same people who build $300 laptops are probably also building your $2700 laptop. What a shame. No structure and No standards. Utter disappointment.

Some of you might want to look at the where the camera positioning on your screen actually is. Mine is off center and I doubt HP will do anything about it, but it won't stop me from trying to get them to fix it. Again, utter disappointment.

Will I buy HP again? Big square NO.
Since we only paid half price for this laptop, and the other half was paid for by the company, I can say it was worth it. But would I have paid full price out of my pocket? No I never would have, simply because, when I spend that kind of money on this kind of a product (electronics) I expect quality. From every angle, I expect exceptional engineering. My particular model sure looks solid, but I know the plastic on the bottom is terribly cheap, the screen assembly is shoddy, and the order of the BASS and TREBLE control on the touch strip is the opposite of what shows up on the screen.

So if the touch strip display order is like this:

Bass
Treble

The on screen display order will look like this:

Treble
Bass

Yes I am picky, but if you are spending this much money, you have every right to call HP and get on their nerves to fix this issue. The profit margin on this product is extremely high, but then again, I have heard that they weren't expecting to sell many of these so I can expect this to be one of the biggest blunders. I think HP had good intentions here but terrible implementation. This simply shows a lack of care, and ignorance on HPs part.

If anyone has been able to exchange theirs for minor superficial issues, let me know. We keep ours spotless, and in great condition. I have found that Saran Wrap Cling Plus covers the keyboard nicely and the touch pad is still VERY useable. This will keep the keyboard clean because it is of a metallic accent and bound to get dirty.

Conclusion: Overpriced for its feature offering, shoddy and typical 'chinese' build quality, Screen glossy enough to make you turn it off on a bright day, but you will not be able to because there is no seperate control to just turn off the screen and alignments may be out of place. This is my biggest peeve knowing the lifespan of LCD Displays, there should be a button allowing you to manually turn off the screen when all you want to do is listen to an audio book.
It is also possible your laptop was played around with by store employees before they sold it to you. I suspect that in my case as there were minor scratch marks on the bottom.
In addition to this, all your dollars pay for HPs special HP HDX customer service department and nothing more. Once the HDX line is dead, they'll rename that department to something else while charging a premium for their next line.

On a positive note, if you are into looks, and you must impress, then this laptop is great. It looks nice, and does the simple things you want your PC to do. Handles mostly anything with ease except maybe games but I am not a gamer and I think if you are spending this much for gaming, you might as well get an Alienware. Quad Core processor here is over kill, specially when the GPU is so weak. However, it does work great as an entertainment device and once you get rid of HPs OS, you'll be much better off with your own. Did I forget to mention that it is sexy, sleak, yet has a look of decency instead of "Bling".

HP HDX18 1180CA (Note that this is the Canadian version, and sadly, no customization was possible. Another short end of the stick from HP. I will be calling HP soon to see if we can get our issues resolved, and will post back on this forum with the result of how co-operative HP turns out to be. Stay tuned folks

 

i agree with some u have said , no TV tuner no Backlit Keyboard , no options to configure , low end Processors At HP Canada , Canada i guess is a 3rd world country or second Class , in HP's eyes , if i had seen the Asus W90 http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=443977
i would have bought that instead, ive had no problems with BD playback , or any other issues with my HDX-1024CA i bought at Future Shop. as for HD running go to msconfig diable some start up programs . there are many. i like this HDX unit But Love the Asus More . And See whats included with Asus , lovely Asus Backpak , i want one but cannot find it . enjoy HDX , i do

 

OCD: Sounds to me like you got a defective return. I've had mine since Nov. 08 and wouldn't trade it for any other laptop on the planet (and it's not just for the looks either).

I have paid as much as $8500 for my laptops in the past and I am very picky about waiting for what I want. This is by far the best I have ever owned.
If you have seen something you like better see if you can exchange it for that. If not, hopefully, HP will replace it with a new one.

On the LCD, I have never had an LCD screen burn out. I have never had a pixel burn out. If it's bad, it's generally bad right out of the box. That obviously doesn't mean someone else hasn't seen this, but I've seen a lot of them and other than complaints about the resolution on some of them, they seem to be very reliable.

Best of luck!

Toronto699: The Asus is almost 3lbs heavier, that was the deal killer for me. I take my HDX18t almost everywhere I go (I might not say that if I had to fly with it.)

 

TechnoFile: In regards to what you said. This was not a "return" as you stated. I just want to stress on the fact that if you are spending thousands of dollars, you expect the build quality to have some very high standards.
These days, one can't help but feel the change in where resources have been pulled and the industry has sucked the consumer dry. Cutting costs does not carry over to the consumer as our economy has proved in the recent months.

If you look closely, you will find these faults yourself. Please read my post slowly and in detail in order to get an idea on what I am trying to convey, and if you have the model HDX18 1180CA, then check to see where your 'web cam' alignment is.
Secondly, check the screen border and see if it is properly aligned.
Third, check to see your Treble and Bass controls above the keyboard, and compare that with your On Screen display and you will see for yourself that my review as an owner is an honest observation. Obviously I will not purchase 10 of these, and then review them, and say "well most of them are perfectly engineered", and most people would not either. Most people will buy just 1, and want its build quality to match the price they paid.

The point is, with the amount of money we spend, why should there be lemons at all? Why can't they give their premium product line some attention? Or how about just give more attention and care to EVERY product and make the industry better again. What about offering a lesser model, and no customization for Canadian customers? Bad move on HPs part. Now I am seeing all sorts of these popping up on eBay but if you are Canadian, and own a U.S. model, HP will make it very hard for you to get support if you have not bought this from a Canadian retailer. You would have to provide more proof than you would if you were Canadian.

My thoughts on this are a lot deeper than simply tackling the fact that I got a lemon. Maybe I did not get a lemon. It could be that I just have a keen eye on picking out things that you probably have not picked out yet.

As for the Asus, I don't like to be insulted in my intelligence. Asus is a new comer in this game, and I wouldn't be caught dead with my pants down with an Asus laptop. They should stick to what they do best, Motherboards. For a company that does not even provide an 800 number, it seems to me like all these Chinese companies want the entire piece of the pie. When it comes to laptops, stick with Dell and HP, there just may be some hope. I am counting on it when I call HP. Will keep you guys posted. Thanks for your posts. Just have a closer look at your products to find deeper faults. You might be surprised at what you find.

 

OCD: I can understand your frustration. I have felt it over several purchases in one way or another over the years.

I do not have a Canadian version of the HDX18 so I can't comment specifically on it. All I can tell you is:

My HDX18t arrived with no scratches anywhere on it.
The screen lights up all pixels and is gorgeous.
I do not have the alignment problem with the webcam.
The volume display you mentioned is there, but that isn't enough for me to give this machine up.
And after 6 months of heavy use it still has no scratches or damage.
The fact that the 18t has what appears to be the 16t's touchpad is the only design issue for me, but not a deal breaker.

When it comes to support, I'm not happy with any of the manufacturers. However, I think HP is trying harder than the others to improve the situation. Your best bet is the chat line or email if you don't want to be tied to the phone for hours.

What I have told you is for my situation only. I have seen posts from others that have had a variety of issues and I do agree with you that nobody should get a machine in the condition that some of these people have had to deal with, you included,

Best of luck to you my friend!

 

OCD: The lack of customization of HP products in Canada is probably a result of the trade agreement between HP and Best Buy/Future shop to protect their sales territory. I am sure HP will like to sell as many units as possible but Canadian retailers often like to protect their sales area and thus charge Canadians higher for products.

I customized my HDX 18t on May 13 and received the unit from China on May 21 in satisfactory condition. If the unit you bought was not an open box and has the scratches you mention, may be you should return it for an exchange.
You deserve a product that you will be happy with.

 

Hi folks, I've ordered a HDX18 and I'm looking for a backpack - I'm sure I've read somewhere that the Jansport Boost's laptop compartment, advertised as for 17inchers will accommodate the machine but the dimensions of the laptop sleeve I've found seems to vary (I think there's only one size for the Boost - 37Litres). Can anyone confirm whether this will do the job? Cheers.

 

It is a powered eSATA port. The easiest way to tell if a port is Power Over eSATA compliant is to check if the port also does USB. If it does then it is a powered eSATA port.

 

OCD:

Well, I spent nearly the same as you on my HDX18t, and in the 20 years I've been buying computers, I've never been as thrilled about a purchase as I have with this one.

So I guess it's all about your perspective. As you said, it seems like most of your issues are very "picky". I'm not sure what you were expecting, but I doubt you'd be able to find a comparable laptop on the market, especially for the price. BTW, constant hard disk access and slow-loading Vista have absolutely nothing to do with HP, since it's an OS issue. And I'm not sure what your concern is over camera positioning, but if somehow yours was manufactured with the webcam off center, I'd be very surprised. I'm sure the components are pretty standard. But to say it's overpriced for the features I think is WAY off base.

And in one sentence you say you expect exceptional quality, and another you say you can't get away from the Made in China sticker nowadays. Maybe you're expectations haven't yet met reality?

Sorry you had a bad experience, but like I say, if you can find anything even close in a laptop anywhere else, let me know..

 

I'm going to order this one today:

Operating system Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.00Ghz) edit
Memory 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M edit
Hard drive 500GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (250GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Graphics card 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M - For DDR3 Memory

I've been searching for definitive answer on the Dual vs. Quad core... didn't find it, so just going with my gut and getting the quad. Also 6 GB ram... what the heck, more is better.

It's a desk top replacement for me. Not counting on it, but it'd be great if I could run some 3d CAD program like Solidworks too.

 

I'm still trying to decide between the dual and quad core as well. I can't afford more than the 2 ghz quad, and unless the majority of my programs use at least 3 of the processors, there would be (I imagine) a noticeable slowdown between that and even a 2.53 ghz dual

 

The 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo would get you much better performance than the 2GHz Core 2 Quad and it is $100 cheaper which is a nice little bonus.

Anyone know what happened to the 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo? It's not an option anymore.

 

so the 2.66 is better, and then everyone says not to bother upgrading from the 2.53 to the 2.66.

basically if i have 200-300 bucks to spend, should i upgrade from 2.53 to 2.66, or up to the 2.0 quad, or get 6 gigs of ram instead of 4?

 

Jerkson: If I had a penny for everytime a critic to a critic came along such as yourself, I am sure I could buy enough of these laptops to say a Majority of them are good and well built.
I don't think you understand the message I'm trying to convey here. If you are happy and thrilled with your purchase, I am happy for you.

Please read my post carefully, nowhere do I say that there is something better. This is the laptop we wanted. So we got it. However, the build quality suffers from minor defects.

I do realize that constant disk utilization does not have anything to do with HP...but I don't consider the OS provided by HP to be "REAL" Microsoft Vista, and for that I recommended installing your own OS. I also commented on this if you read it correctly that its not something that cannot be fixed.

I did say it is overpriced for the features available because you can get the same features in a Sony Vaio minus the processor/ram/gpu combination. I wanted to stress the feature aspect on usability rather than raw power.

If you are not sure what my concern over camera positioning is, take a closer look at your webcam lens. See if it is in the middle of the circle cut out around it. Also take a look at your screen and see if the screen border alignment is proper. I am not talking about PIXELS or any display element. I am talking about the physical build. Turn your laptop around, and notice the shoddy plastic. Turn it over to the side, and notice the VGA port is skewed over to one side (also closer to one wall than the other), the power connection is also the same way and feels "weak".

You are correct in that I say we should expect a good build quality. You are also correct about my Made in China comment. What you are not understanding is, a higher price paid, should fetch better quality, but it clearly does not.

If I find a better laptop, I surely will let you know. I really don't want to get into a hassle with you here. I realize that no matter what, someone out there will have a different opinion, such as yourself. I am merely stating my experience. Does the laptop do what I want it to do? SURE does. You may have spent 20 years buying computers, but did you spend 20 years looking closely at what you've bought? If you were to buy a brand new luxury car, and pay a good amount of money for it, you would expect all of its advertised features to work flawlessly. You would also expect a symmetry from all of its various physical components unless they were meant to be designed a certain way making them assymetrical.

In the end, I did conclude this latop is indeed very nice. However I am not going to say there isn't something better out there. But that's not the point. This is one of the best laptops out on the market. A real beauty, I love its size, and I love its looks. It could use a few other features such as the ability to manually turn off the screen, English only keyboard for Canadians, as well as the ability to customize. If you failed to understand what some of my main points were, please have a look at them again. Thanks for wishing my good luck and I will certainly try to resolve this with HP. I recommend you to take a closer look at your laptop from all angles, and understand that just because you paid a premium price, and that you are thrilled by it, does not mean your product design was physically implemented as was intended by the designers. It is your duty as a customer to criticize, judge, and ask for better quality from these manufacturers. Practice your consumer rights instead of just accepting things for what they are. If you see something wrong, do something about it. I am just here to warn others thinking of making this purchase that they may not see the quality they expect. But I will also say that this is probably the most beautiful and most decent looking laptop out on the market. I too am thrilled by it. Thank you for reading my post.

 

Cute. I'm sure that was an unintentional typo, not a cheap shot, right? Geesh...

Uh, it is...and so what if it isn't. I'm not being a wise guy, I really don't see what difference it makes. We're not talking about a handmade Swiss watch, we're talking about something that is pumped out of a production line in China.

Looks fine to me. About what I'd expect from something off a Chinese production line.

"Shoddy" plastic? In what way? I'm just not sure what makes one plastic shoddy and another not.

Feels fine to me. Especially considering what's inside a typical power connection like that. Usually a spring loaded type clip.

Again, do you honestly expect that from a production line unit made in China? At a price that's significantly lower than anything that even remotely compares?

Really, I'm not trying to give you a hard time, I'm just very surprised at your expectations for a device like this. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just trying to understand. No need to get all upset and take cheap shots.

 

what video driver is everyone using , HP's posted one or the one from Nvidia website? Will using the one from nvidia website affect performance of the HDX 18 as in problems of installed software , like touch buttons , Blue Ray play back etc? nvida driver is version 185.85 HP's posted driver is 7.15.XXXA{179.04}

 

OCD: It appears you are upset with the quality of you HDX because you overpaid for it. The price of almost everything costs more in Canada compared to the U.S and HP is not to blame for protectionist policies that keep out competition in Canada.

It will be unrealistic for HP to make English only and French only keyboards for Canada considering the size of the market.

Canadian consumers have always being shortchanged when it comes to consumer rights. The CRTC, LCBO, banking and lack of foreign competition, telecom and cable to name a few. I am all for consumer advocacy, but most of the issues you mention derive from the nature of the Canadian market.

The cars my friend builds at Chrysler in Brampton are about 30% cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada. It is the nature of the Canadian market.

 

Jerikson: I rest my case. If you are happy, then I'm happy for you. I am simply stating that if you as a consumer are not happy with the quality of your product, then you are within your rights to let the company know.
Secondly, I did an honest review of what I recieved. Not what everyone else recieved. Do you see what I am trying to say? If you got a good laptop, well built, then great and I hope a majority of people purchasing it with their hard earned money get the best product. But for those who did not get what they expected (decent build quality), please support them and offer solutions instead of bearing down on them. Other than that, I apologize for the typo in my previous post. I do not get upset at those who enjoy getting what they pay for while bearing down on others who didn't, it's simply not worth it. With that said, thanks for all your comments, but really, support and understanding is what is needed to help out the community and would be buyers so they know what they may get. Thanks for your time.

 

Jazzsol, I did not overpay, and I am glad I did not. Infact we paid half price, taxes extra ofcourse, which is about what the regular price in the U.S. would be.

Would I have paid full price? Probably not for the laptop I recieved. But I would pay full price for the one Jerikson recieved. His laptop is fault free. Mine is not.

I agree with your statement that Canadians get short changed all the time. Every product that is sold here is twice what it is in the U.S. if the conversion rate is applied. I agree with your post as a whole. It's the nature of our market. This is often what forces Canadians to purchase products directly from the U.S. When it comes to cars, last I heard about this topic, the insurance companies made it tougher for Canadians to purchase brand new cars in the U.S., so did the federal and provincial governments in vehicle registration unless you are very wealthy.
If you paid for a premium product, and happened to be one of those who recieved a faulty or badly manufactured product, what will the company do about it?

 

As I don't play the latest games, I like HP's 179.04 drivers because they don't downclock to 169MHz core/100 MHz memory (i.e. the "2D clock"), resulting in a smoother Vista Aero experience. On my HDX18, the 179.04 drivers only downclock to 275MHz core/200 MHz memory (i.e. "low power 3D").

The 185.85 nvidia drivers do downclock to the 2D level, resulting in a slightly jerkier Aero experience. However, the nVidia 185.85 drivers do upclock to full 3D (i.e. 500MHz core, 400MHz memory) clocks faster than do the 179.04 drivers.

Kind regards

 

Upgrade to the 6GB of RAM before you upgrade from the 2.53GHz to the 2.66GHz. Of course if you have the money to upgrade both that would be great but if you can only afford one upgrade then the RAM upgrade would provide a greater noticeable performance increase.

 

Great, thanks a lot

 

Has anyone tried installing a 3M privacy filter on the HDX18t? I purchased a 19" laptop version, which was about an inch too long and cut it, but the challenge is mounting it on the screen. The typical 3M mounting for laptops is some clear, stick-on tabs that you mount around the screen, and you slide the privacy screen (basically just a sheet of plastic) into the tabs. However, aside from the fact that this is a very poor design (using anything stick-on is just asking for trouble), the bottom part of the HDX18t screen gets a bit warm, so you can't mount the bottom tabs along the bottom of the screen or they'll just separate after a few hours or usage.

I've been toying with various ways to improve this, but I'm coming up empty. Anyone had any success? Thanks.

 

$2700

Not sure where in Canada you live but most of my friends from Toronto & Vancouver shop on this side of the border (due to proximity). With coupon your setup would cost you in neighborhood of $1700 or maybe even cheaper.

You could also have it shipped from US if you know someone here. I shipped one unpacked HP last month for $24 + $50 customs

As far as quality, most of them are good built. No problems so far and speed is great. If you wan big improvement , you could get SSD and Win7, but I have 2 x 250 standard drives and no problem with speed (even with full CS4 package installed).

I know Canadian regulations sucks, but there is plenty of ways around them

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4804126&postcount=125

it is tight but it's working great for me

 

i would not use any screen filter or protector , over time they turn yellowish , they will degrade your screen over time , and screen will lose its lusture .

 

I'm considering replacing my WRT-54G wireless router with a DLink DIR-655 wireless-n router. Has anyone tried this with the HDX-18t?

 

I have a DIR-825 that I use with my HDX18. I have had no problems at all connecting to the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz network. When I connect to the 5GHz network my network speeds kinda fluctuate between 150Mbps and 270Mbps. When I say fluctuate I mean if I actually open wireless details and watch network speed.

 

CHECK THIS:
I want to share a workaround for one of the most annoying problems in the use of the remote controller, stuff going back to window mode from full screen if you change volume.
The workaround is simple, run Windows Medial Player and put it on the taskbar or whatever, the OSD won't show up if WMP is opened so you won't go back into window mode.

I want to say that this notebook is really poor, not worth its high price, has a lot of issues. Buy this notebook only if you get a discount (i bought it for 1200 euro instead of 1600).

 

hey guys, i just got my hdx18 the other day. I'm loving it so far. I'm trying to set up my fingerprint log in for all my favorite websites. I have gone through and did the finger print on the log in, and it asks for all my information and it logs me in the first time. However, when i come back to that website and try to log back in with my finger print, it makes it seems like it i need to set up the account, but the account is already set up within the finger print program.

My question is, what am i doing wrong? I have all my accounts set up and I can see them within digital persona but when i try to log in, it makes me create a new account for that website. Anyone been able to figure this out or get it to work correctly? the finger print log in works fine when logging into windows.
Thanks

 

Looks like HP finally released another BIOS upgrade for this laptop, F.23, but the link is dead! They pulled F.21 a few weeks ago after I had installed it. I went back to F.20. Vista SP2 also came out a few days ago, I'm downloading that now. The BIOS info says that it:

Updates the Intel MRC Code to version 2.7.
Updates the Intel AHCI OP ROM to version 1.20_E.0012.
Updates the BIOS to support Microsoft Windows Vista Operating Systems with Service Pack 2 (SP2).

So hopefully they will fix the link.

Has anyone had the following problems with the HDX18:

- Resuming from sleep or suspend will sometimes force the display to VGA and 16 colors?

- Does your power cord feel loose? This has been discussed about 200 pages back, but it seems excessive. I went to Best Buy to compare and they do feel loose there too, so I guess it is normal?

- Anyone play a graphic intense game and notice how burning hot the underside near the fan gets?

- Do you think the volume is too low? I have mine at MAX all the time and if in a noisy room can be hard to hear the audio.

Other than those minor issues I do love this laptop.

Jerry

 

Yeah the power cord isnt really stable, but it never popped out of the plug so its fine for me.

The video card is right on the left of the touchpad so, playing games means that side will become HOT, and even the WASD keys become really hot.

The volume seems fine to me, at max level you can hear some vibration sound from the top right of the notebook, annoying.


I really would like to know if you heard any random BZZ sound while playing games coming out from the fan on the left on the touchpad? Seems to happen only at mid speed, not at low speed or high speed.
I would like to know it cause im thinking to send the notebook to the assistance cause of this.

 

My first HDX18 had a VERY annoying buzz every time the Quicken register sound would play, so I returned it: the new one doesn't buzz on anything.

 

I installed SP2, and my shutdown/restart time increased by 3 and a half minutes. After I restored prior to the install, shut down/restart times returned to normal. I'm going to hold off for a while.

 

JerryI: I have had the problem with the low sound level. I don't like my solution, but if you can't hear the dialogue during a movie you don't get much out of watching it. Here's what I did:

1. I increased the equalizer settings in the IDT Audio Settings to max for all frequencies, then saved them as a Custom setting.

2. If that is not enough, activate Loudness Equalization on the Enhancements tab for Speakers and Dual Headphones Properties. You'll find this on the Playback tab for Sound in Control Panel.

Hope this helps!

Piper: I installed Vista SP2 and did not notice any change in boot up time one way or the other. I am using the F21 version of the BIOS firmware. I installed this prior to HP's removal of it from the download page a few weeks ago. I do intend to go to the F23 version when HP fixes the link.

 

Usually when firmware arrive and then suddenly the link is pulled, it's from problems that were found. Did anyone here use the firmware 23?

 

The link has not been pulled yet, it just doesn't work. So if you can't download it, you can't even try it.

I do plan to install it once the link is fixed.

 

That's what I mean. For the link to be listed, but not work - IMO means it was pulled at the last minute, and they are working some kind of fix before putting it up again. That's why I asked if someone here may have ran it, and then again, I would think there are hundreds of hdx users who have never visited the lounge.

 

The F23 BIOS update link is now fixed. I just downloaded and installed it.

 

The new driver for the video card on hp.com says:

Enhancements: Fixes an issue where, after installing the NVIDIA Driver, the display resolution reverts to 1024 x 768 when the notebook/laptop is resumed from Hibernate (S4) mode.

Have you tried them?

Also i was able to download the .23 firmware now.

 

Thanks breath & techno, yes sp43820 (Firmware F23)is active. And I'm still in for a donation of 100.00 for someone to write a decent bios.