*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

Did you buy the HDX only because of the cashback or because you need or wanted the HDX?

 

I do the same thng to laptops and computer subs as I do with my stereo and have done for years. I pack it with dense cloth till it gets the right, deep, thudding bass and no distortion.

First thing I did was pop open the sub compartment (one screw) and pack it with a small bit of sock cloth.

It went from sounding good (I really didn't have any distortion) to sounding great (well, for a laptop sound system).

 

Ummm, I actually don't know how many bit panel it is. I had been looking at the w2408h for the longest time, waiting for the price to drop. But when the 40% deal came along, I jumped at the larger W2558hc without really researching it very much. It also has built in webcam and mic. Now I have to figure out how to use it...

 

Actually, it sounds like you are further along than I am. Do you have Bluetooth or the tuner? Maybe you need to start the post...hehe.

Saw your notes above. I will have to take a look.

Wow...that's awesome. I have given HP a very hard time but things like this are slowly changing my callousness.

 

A combination thereof.

Certainly not worth retail price, to me; but $800 off makes the difference.

At least the return period has been extended to 1/15/09.

 

Where did you see that? Is there a link to their web site that shows extended return periods?

 

Once you get a little ways into their website, there is a link towards the top left of the screen that says "Holiday policies". In there it says: "We've extended our normal returns policy for all products purchased between November 1, 2008 and December 24, 2008. These orders can be returned through January 15, 2009. Our standard 21-day returns policy applies, along with all other conditions, to purchases after December 24, 2008."

 

http://www.shopping.hp.com/shopping/html/popup/hpol_10-08.html

 

That is assuming the max heat generated is fixed for the chips as per humans.

The problem is the actual, undissipated heat is much higher (hence the 200+ f degrees you see). You have two cores that will get hotter under load and cooler when idle. What keeps the temps within operational range as load increases is the in-place dissipation system.

I'm not saying one core generating some heat under dissipation is the cause, but if one core is escalating uncontrollably, additional heat next door doesn't exactly help. To what degree it hurts is a what if.

A more accurate analogy would be a room of people suffering with escalating temperatures much past their operating threshold with the inability to cool off properly while also being in close quarters.

Still want this issue resolved if it is actually valid....

 

Is 170 F too hot for my video card (9600M GT)? Would it be advisable to get a cooling pad?

 

~76c is within tolerances, but never hurts to elevate the unit a bit or get a cooling pad.

I keep the rear of my unit elevated with a keyboard wrist rest on a Eurodesk and it works great.

 

I'll try that & see how it goes. Thanks.

 

Not sure if it was posted before or not but here is a link to all the parts available via parts surfer for the HDX18 HERE

I particularly like this one 465540-001 for an alternative remote. It even has a picture of it.

 

I think my analogy was accurate, based on what I thought the posters comment meant. I took that he was thinking the core temps were so high because there were 4 of them close together. My point was that no matter how many cores you have close together, they cannot get hotter than the actual temperature of any one of them! Heat is not additive. So a bunch of cores, each at 90C will not cause any one or more of the cores to be over 90C. If one is at 90C and the rest are at 70C, then of course the heat from the 90C core will raise the others to above 70C.

At least that is how I took it.

 

Looks just like the remote that came with the original HDX (20") Dragon.

 

480985-001
Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN circuit - For use in Most of World (MOW)
CUSTOMER REPLACEABLE WARRANTY PART (CREW)

482260-001
Wireless LAN 802.11a/g/n (Muscat) mini PCI adapter card - Upto 248Mbps data rate, 2.4GHz to 5GHz operating frequency range (Most-of-World)
CUSTOMER REPLACEABLE WARRANTY PART (CREW)

Which one of those comes with our HDX 18ts? The bottom one sounds more advanced and faster...

 

They both have the same functionality. The second one is not listing the "b" mode, but since "g" contains "b", they're all the same.

 

We got the same remote with our HDX18 and HDX16. Was it not standard?

 

To anyone still holding out hope for MS to re-run the blackfriday deal...
http://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch/archive/2008/12/05/update-on-the-black-friday-cashback-outage.aspx

 

Update about laptop bags:
I went to ebags and inputting the dimensions of the HDX (17.2x11.3x1.8 inches) selected an Ogio Politan (18x12x2 inches, cheap on closeout) which should have been able to handle it.
It arrived yesterday and the problem is that the top tapers down from the 12 inches to about 10.5 inches and it does not fit! I have to return it and wait for the Targus XL 17 to be back on sale at Amazon.
Do many here use the Targus XL 17? How well does it fit and how much space to do have for other stuff (power supply, books, files...)?

 

I just posted on the MS livesearch blog how I really feel about MS.
I hope I was not too subtle.
It will probably be taken down soon.

 

sgunes,

"Subtle" as in a 20 pound sledge hammer...I liked it

MS needs to fix their issues or perhaps start publishing MAC and Linux user guides!

 

Hi all,

I was wondering if I can upgrade to the QUAD core in the near future if I bought the HDX18t with a Dual Core CPU - meaning if the motherboard supports it?

My plan is to buy the T9400 and wait for prices to drop on the QX9300 quad cpu and then upgrade the CPU.

Talking to some foreign sales/support guy @ HP said that I may need to change the motherboard.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks ,
Steve

 

Yes, I believe you can, but right now there are no service manuals for the HDX18t.

But, if history is any example, the high end chips of any CPU generation don't really go much cheaper as time goes by. It would be 2-3 years before the QX9300 was probably even half the price it is now.

You want to wait that long?

 

Actually the 2nd one listed is a better one as it is dual frequency. The Newer Draft-N routers (if equipped and usually more money) have a 5Ghz band. There are disadvantages and advantages to this. It will not be faster than a properly configured "N" network but will have less chance of others in your area interfering with your wireless. They are called "Dual" band and some routers have either or type of settings and/or auto switching. I have the Dlink DGL-4500 that is either or.

 

How can you tell the 2nd one is a dual frequency on the N-band by what is listed there?

 

OK, here's some evidence that something isn't right with the QX9300 implementation. I asked a member over in the Dell Precision forums who has a new M6400 with a QX9300 to run some tests using the same apps we have--HWMONITOR and Prime95, both 64bit versions.

His core temps for his QX9300 are as follows:

core1 core2 core3 core4 3700 "acpi THM_"
45 45 44 44 46 40 rep. Min on system boot
53 53 53 54 50 54 rep. Max on system boot
47 47 48 48 46 (?) first
48 48 49 48 52 51 10min idle
40 40 39 39 49 40 maya open with some scene nav. Fans turned on here, so temps cooler than idle temps.
46 46 48 51 51 50 5 mins anim loop

61 61 64 63 52 65 4-thread P95 x64, 2min.
64 64 66 66 52 68 4-thread P95 x64, 8min.
64 65 67 67 53 69 4-thread P95 x64, 19min.
64 64 66 66 53 67 4-thread P95 x64, 25min.

67 67 68 68 53 69 rep. Max at this time

65 65 67 67 53 68 4-thread P95 x64, 1 hr. 12min.
67 67 68 68 53 69 rep. Max at this time


So, as we can see, his cores MAX OUT at 67-68C, while ours MAX OUT close to 90C!! That is a rather huge difference, to say the least.

His idle temps are pretty close to mine, although after being on for about 1 hour, my idle temps are more like 53-55C.

Something is wrong with the cooling possibly? Any ideas why the Dell runs so much cooler than the HDX18t???

Should we contact HP on this?

 

Interesting. I hope the 2nd one is what comes with the laptop.

 

Could it be the design of the Dell? Can it have better ventilation?

 

According to the intel site it is the 5100 series of cards (the first part number) and is dual freq as well and supports 300mbps where as the 2nd one only supports 248mbps and I can not find much info for it yet (other than it is used in Compaqs and the DV5's). After looking at the white paper for the 5100 series I think it is the one that is standard in the HDX18. I will play with the 5ghz band when it gets here on Tuesday. The problem with some of the 5Ghz N routers is that it takes ALL 3 antennas to get a good signal so if you are not real close your signal is weak.

 

Here is the 5100 information from Intel

 

Well, the Dell Precision M6400 appears to be a rather slim unit, at least as thin as the HDX18t or thinner.

As such, it couldn't more spacious, and I know my HDX18t is certainly putting out a ton of very hot air, so I'm sure the ventilation is working...

I'm not sure why, unless the heatsink compound is no good and the heatsink/core contact is faulty.

 

Yeah, I've been looking for a field schematic for the HDX18t, but no luck so far.

I am still within my 21 day return window, so that's something to mull over.

Argh....

 

I am guessing the Dell M6400 has 2 fans, one for the CPU and one for the GPU. I base my guess on the previous M90 model.

 

Thanks lancorp. Interesting observation, I thought when Core 7i will be out there for laptops (maybe 1 year) the cpu's will drop by 50-70% - especially in this economy....

If it takes that long to drop then I guess I'll buy the HDX18t with the 9400 cpu and get my self a used V-8 Xeon desktop server for the really "heavy lifting"

Best,
Steve

 

I guess I'll ask again...

I have had a few times where the treble/bass touch buttons start going off on their own without me going near them. Anyone else experience this?

 

When the i7 laptops come out in 1 year, they are all going to be quad cores with HT, so quasi octo cores. If the QX9300 doesn't price down by then, sell the laptop and upgrade to the Nehalem laptops.

Saleen... the answer is no.

 

I don't follow. I think this is an exaggeration, and although I can't find any decent pricewatch history chart or any such thing right now(just started looking), common sense tells me this can not be true.

You did specify "high end chips" but still, I would think the number would deteriorate faster.

Anyway, learning is something I'm still pretty good at, could someone post a link to such a price chart, if only for my edification.

 

Traditionally with the laptop extreme chips, Intel really controls inventory and pricing and even after a chip is phased out, they do not lower the price down to any type of meaningful level. They only seem to offer OEM chips, no retail and when they're gone, they're gone.

And since they command a premium and usually are the top chip a laptop can handle in an unlocked manner, they do not show up nearly as much as upgraded chips on eBay or elsewhere.

You rarely, if at all, see OEM extreme laptop chips on newegg, zipzoomfly or other decently sized online super sellers. And if you do manage to track down vendors, the prices are always high or they are out of stock. This is even for mildly older extreme chips.

Their other chips,especially desktop chips, do not suffer from such a pricing/availability scenario and depreciate at a much more expected favourable curve so you can nick one here or there for a decent price.

 

In addition to what electrosoft said, it's not just the Extreme chips that are affected. My own personal experience has shown, for example, that the T7600, the high end Merom mobile chip, is still selling for more than $600 new, if you can find them, and they are going on 3 years old now, not to mention nothing special, 2.33Ghz/4M/667.

In general, the price of the high end notebooks chips hold their value, and like electrosoft said, Intel does not really cut retail pricing on those. Their availability will ultimately start to fade away as Intel cuts off production, but the prices stay fixed. Sometimes, good pricing can be found on used or ES samples on ebay, but it really depends on demand. If demand is high, so is the price.

ADDITION: Same can hold true for desktop chips also. Last generation Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Quad-Core Processor, 3 GHz, 8M L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB, LGA775, the top-of-the-line desktop quad core, last year, still selling for well over $1000 at Amazon.com. They're a commodity, like Platinum!

 

After even more research, I tried a different approach:

I re-installed Vista (Again) x64.

Installed the stock HP supplied Nvidia drivers along with all the newest versions of the drivers.

Then I installed the 180.48 (not the beta, but official release) Nvidia drivers with the modded INF file over the supplied drivers (I did this since the HP nvidia file pack is ~150gb and the Nvidia one is 80gb. I didn't want to not install any of the needed HD/custom files). I previously ran either the HP stock Nvidia pack or the 180.70.

Reboot

and here are my temps now (I've run this multiple times after multiple reboots to verify)

Give the Nvidia 180.48 drivers a try.

 

The card in the HDX18t is the Intel 5100, but only two antennas on the card.

I don't see in the specs where the 5100 operates with dual bands with Wireless N. It does support 802.11a, which operates at 5Ghz, but I think it's only the Intel Wifi Link 5300 that supports dual band Wireless-N.

• Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 mini-PCIe adapter (codenamed Shirley Peak 3x3) supporting up to 450Mbps, or
• Intel WiFi Link 5100 mini-PCIe adapter (codenamed Shirley Peak 1x2) supporting up to 300Mbps Rx / 150Mbps Tx

 

Interesting...where did you get the 180.70 with modded INF, over at laptopvideo2go?

Also, why did you reinstall Vista? You don't think that is part of the cooling down equation??

As soon as my HDX18t finished installing SP2 for Vista, I'll give it a shot!

Thanks.

ps. Why does your CPU-Z show your CPU as a T9400???? Odd..

 

Yep, over at laptopvideo2go. The original reason was I wanted the newest, most stable, official version of drivers and no residual of multiple driver installs (even with driver cleaner). I had been in the process of reinstalling Vista and doing fresh sets of different driver installs. I also didn't want any trace of any beta drivers.

After physically inspecting the HSF and the fact one core was totally fine and the other all over the map yet visually the HSF was correctly mounted, it had to be something else IMHO.

I wanted to track down someone who had *nix on a HDX18t to have them run a temp program (or even XP) to check to see if it was a software glitch or conflict somewhere giving the bad readings (same reason I was doing multiple installs and changing up driver installs to see if it had any effect).

It would be interesting to do a generic XP install (AHCI slipstream disk), chip set drivers and test temps.

Yeah, for some reason my CPU-Z shows a T9400 in the main, but the CPUID string text says extreme and visually the chip has the 2.53/1066/12 on it.

 

What's funny is that yesterday, I was looking at the heatsink on it also, and took out all the screws on the bottom, hoping it would just lift off to gain full access to the heatsink. I wanted to remove it and inspect what they use for thermal transfer--goop or tape. But, alas, those pesky design engineers did indeed childproof the chassis and made it much harder than it should be.

My CPU-Z v1.47 correctly shows my QX9300 as a "Intel Core 2 Extreme". Maybe you have one of those ES chips in yours?

 

No go for me. 180.48 with the modded inf installed fine. I rebooted and fired up HWMONITOR. Idle temps in the mid 50's. Fired up Prime95, and ran for a couple of minutes. Fans screaming, the temps hit 90C.

I wonder why yours is lower now? Why did you do a fresh Vista x64 install?

Thanks.

 

Maybe its a good opportunity for AMD to take some major market share from INTEL - by providing retail discount prices on their high end cpu'z - I think im going to work as a marketer for AMD...

 

That would mean the consumer would have to buy an AMD-based computer in the first place!

I've always regretted buying every AMD notebook or desktop I ever purchased. Granted, they've never been the high-end chips, but they've always left me disappointed with slow, slow, slow performance. Who puts 512K L2 cache in a modern CPU anymore? (hint: AMD).

 

I couldn't find any info on HP site regarding the Web Cam specs. Is it a 2.0 MP?

Also, is the Sound Card SB Audigy? If not, anyone doing heavy music making with the HDX sound card -Its supposed to have less than 2 ms latency to be professional grade I believe (ASIO)

I noticed that on the extreme gaming laptops they say SB Audigy Software - but not mentioning the hardware. Is Creative Labs selling software that emulates the Audigy capabilities on other sound cards?

Also, how are the ergonomics of the keyboard/touch pad? I'll be using the machine for heavy real time stock trading during the day (day trading) where QUICK CLICKS and fast mouse movements are needed. My Current laptop is the Presario x1000 CTO notebook (Yes almost 6 years old) and served me very well.

Best,
Steve

 

Even though a bit of off topic - still computer related and cool.

See link below - its a company in the area where I live developing a "mule" to help soldiers in the field sponsored by the DARPA.

See the SECOND video - the HUMAN SIZE mule - See the legs AMAZING response when slipping on ice or stone or being KICKED by a guy (it feels like BLADE RUNNER all over again... :

loanerjack.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/littledog/