*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

One thing that just occurred to me: I believe the drive, or the host controller it is connected to, has to be set to AHCI mode in the BIOS to support hot-swapping. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

 

It's most likely currently sold-out and when they get more in, they'll have it back as an option.

 

You will get a much better tuner if you get an after market USB tuner. It will have more options and be cheaper.

 

I honestly don't know that.
The drive is simply not recognised, not in Windows nor in the BIOS.The HP BIOS on the HDX18 has very few items that can be adjusted.Just the date,time, boot order, fan alway on/off etc.It didn't show the external drive recognised anywhere.
I tried connecting it before booting, after booting, I scanned it under the system and disk management under windows but nothing worked.Not even "Paragon Partition Manager" recognised it, that usually shows all drives even not formated or without a drive letter assigned.The system simply can't see the drive.
I will try again when the new eSATA external enclosure arrives and using a different eSATA to eSATA cable.It should work that way, otherwise I can only assume that something is wrong with the eSATA port on the pc.
Anyway, thanks a lot for this information.It may help me solving the problem with the new enclosure.

 

Hey, I can't find this anywhere, and I would rather not open the case, yet.

What is the motherboard model number???

QDI?

Still on the bios hunt.

 

Oh, thank you so much, Tunesmith!!!

I copied your info and sent it off, they should get it when office opens tomorrow, so hopefully they will get on it. I'll have to phone in credit card info since it is a custom cut size. From what I remember these don't take long to arrive by mail. My ship date for the laptop is the 16th, two days from now, would like the film when laptop arrives.

Others say lots of glare, which this cures as well as protecting the screen but haven't read much about the glare lately. Of course I am still working my way through all the posts! My reading has been delayed by getting Brother wireless all in one printer MFC490, on sale at Best Buy last week for $80 (on sale $90 this week at Staples I see). Only two stores in my area had it, had to be ordered from a store that had it. I called ahead after the order, not having gotten the email I was to get in 45 minutes. They said they didn't have it! Online customer service said their records showed that store still had two but sometimes things happen... So called the other store, they had five, wouldhold one for one hour for me to place my order. Next day no email, called, no, they were sold out. However inventory man after a long hunt found it in the storeroom with my name on it. Sigh of relief.

 

This is not new, I had to order a caddy kit for the DV9700t I bought just a few months prior to the HDX18t as well. What does bother me is that http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=contact_us&zenid=648a80105add72b2371a46d804ff2ccb has promised to get back to me with an ETA and has failed to do so every time I contact them. For a 3rd party supplier, they' don't seem to be too interested in working with customers to get us what we want.

 

One issue I am having with my Quad HDX is when i view TV, there is a static/crackle... not there with music or movies, so must be the tuner.
anyone else?
I had a previous model (9400) and did not have issues with the TV tuner....

 

I have another issue (has happened on my HDX18 and my wife's HDX16).
The system will randomly freeze.. can't be from being overworked as it may happen when just surfing the net, or just sitting there doing NOTHING!
i have been reading online re this issue with Vista and HP and some have pointed me to a NVIDIA issue?
ugh..
anyone experience this random freeze and does anyone have a fix?

related...is there a post somewhere about making Vista faster?
thanks for all the help!

 

My 2nd HDX 18t is here but I can't open it...final exam 2mor...

 

Yes. Read this first.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=328787

Not having problems of any kind with mine so far (got it in October).

 

Alright I booted up and the sound/speakers are working fine.

I didn't register my computer since I'm gonna be replacing the hard drives and memory. Speaking of that I've just decided to ahead and do right now. How long will the process take of replacing those things and then reinstalling Vista? I ordered a recovery CD so I don't have to make one those.

But anyways vistabad or anyone who has experience with this please PM and advise me on how to proceed.

 

It took me ~2 hours to do it on my new 320gig 7200rpm drive. It takes forever since it does a complete format when using the restore disks from HP. BTW I used 64bit Ultimate.

 

HDX18 does have integrated stereo mics and a stereo input.

I just hooked up an analog mixer board and n-track recording software to test the audio(mic) input and integrated mics.

 

Thanks ehsieh, I was wondering about that but never asked.

 

Like I said before, pop in the CD, and go watch a movie...it will be a couple hours.... the good news is that it does everything for you so you don't have to sit there and hit "OK" button...

 

Thank god I have not encountered this yet. (knock on wood).

Is your HDX 100% stock? Or did you swap out HDD's and RAM?

 

They told me they would look into it as well. I'm not holding my breath. Luckily I have a 1TB external drive with most of my files but eventually I'd like to stop lugging it around and put everything on the 2nd HDD....

 

That is possible. I bought a $120 USB TV Tuner for $100 when it was on sale over the summer.

You can get a Hauppage or Pinnacle for $80 - 100....

Of course the only thing that sucks is that it sticks out of your USB, for me when it comes to laptops, integrated is always the best way to go for mobility purposes.

But for desktop, the less integrated you have, the more powerful your desktop is...

 

vistabad I haven't even replaced the hard drives or memory yet.

Just got back from Ace Hardware though and I bought a screw driver to unscrew the lid on the underside.

 

Can someone who knows a lot post a step by step on how to replace the stock hard drives and memory unit?

 

it is 100% stock (although I have the 4gb of ram on the way from newegg).. but my wifes hdx16 is 100% stock as well...
i have heard that turning off the "auto restore point" thingy may help???

 

Does anyone have a guide or anything on how I should proceed with this? Also I'm gonna replace the memory with one I bought from Newegg.

Like when I'm doing it what orientation should I have the notebook up. Should the space for the battery pack be closer to me or away from me (top or bottom)?

Finally what side is the one that the OS is installed on? 1 or 2?

Last but not least when it comes to the hard drives will HP's Recovery Disk automatically label them as C and D. Specifically when I look at My Computer I see one drive named "Data". I would like it to be like that when I put the new ones in. So will that be the case or will I have to do something extra after I've booted up?

 

my volume and bass/treble adjustments make the processor work at 100% and it sounds like when i use them, whats the deal, and the bass/treb dont even show up sometimes, whats the deal

 

Here is a snap shot of the HDX18t's Heatsink/Fan for Quad Core's.

Definitely beefier than the Dual Core.

Also the memory slots are next door for whoever was asking about doing a memory upgrade. It is very straight forward. I put the stock (3gb) sticks back in for its RMA trip back to HP in a few days.

 

Yeah I was panicking for a few minutes there but I think I did everything correctly.

It was VERY difficult to remove the hard drive that was in slot 2. I don't know why. I eventually got it out but it was a pain in the .

Now I'm using the Recovery CD I ordered from HP to reinstall Vista on the laptop.

Hopefully everything works out fine.

 

You mean the system restore? I ALWAYS turn that off on my PC's. I just don't need them, it should help improve system performance a tad bit and provide more space since you aren't saving system info anymore...

 

I see that you are moving along.....good luck!!

 

It seems that, HP no longer offers TV tuner. Naturally, they will come up with a new system board, incorporating all those short comings from First production model line and making it to be a real Entertainment Powerhouse.

I will have mine ordered when and if they come up with this updated production line.

Meanwhile, Good Luck !, you guys.

 

Question !!!

When your HDX 18t was delivered, did they include a OS CD, plus a CD with all those Drivers with HP driver files?

What is that system recovery CD that they are charging for? When I have my ZD7000A, they have sent me that Recovery CD for Free of charge. I guess they have found a new way of increasing revenue?

Besides, don't they have Driver files available from HP support Web Site?
Just wondering...before I make mine ordered.

 

A few questions;

Is this in fact a glass screen or is it made out of something else?

Does anyone know of a good sidebar gadget similar to CPUID or any other helpful ones?

Is there a service manual out yet?

 

Glass? No, this isn't Apple....I'm thinking it's just plastic?

 

No, you don't get any recovery CD.

The laptop comes with all the files so you can pop in a blank DVD-R and make the recovery CD yourself. I would suggest using a dual layer DVD because I think that will only be 1 DVD. A regular DVD-R or DVD-RW will be 2 discs...and if you want to use regular CD's, then forget it, you're looking at like 16 CD's...

Only use the files off HP's website if they are newer with bug fixes..

 

From the hp website; "An ultrawide, 16:9 flush-glass display that supplies 55% better viewing than standard panels, making it easier to see at a distance or present to a group"

 

Hey vistabad I just finished reinstalling Vista with the new drives. However I'm not 100% sure that it turned out perfect. And this is the reason why.I have 2 hard drives in my laptop.

When I went to Computer this is what it has.

A) Hard Disk Drives (2):

1) OS (C: )
259 GB free of 288 GB

2) Recovery (D: )
1.75 GB free of 10 GB


B) Devices with Removable Storage (1):

1) BD-ROM Drive (E: )

Both my hard drives are 320 GB and even the OS is only saying that there's 288 GB total instead of 320 GB. So it's like the laptop is only recognizing 1 drive and even then it's only recognizing a part of that drive.

 

when i did the recovery dvd, it gave me the option of doing 2 regular dvd, or 2 dual layer dvd, and i remember thinking, "what kind of an option is that?"

 

In need of Bailout!

My firewire soundcard is crackling and popping like so many rice krispies. I thinks its IRQ related.

How can i change IRQ settings if the bios wont allow me to...uh....change the IRQ settings?

 

Anyone here load 32 bit Vista on the 18?

Success?

Opinion?

 

Maybe the system doesn't recognise the second HDD because it is not formatted.
I use Paragon Partition Manager to manage all HDD tasks such as partitioning, formatting or changing partition size.You can also do this with Vista Administration Tools.

First you have to partition the drive(s) if you like to have multiple partitions on the same HDD.
Second you have to format every single partition.
Third remember to assign a letter (for example C: D: E: etc) for every partition.Otherwise the partitions will not be visible on "My Computer"

As far as the size problem you specified, you simply don't have a problem!
320GB HDD's when formatted result in a 298GB real space.I remind you that 1KB is 1024bytes not 1000 like all HDD makers imply.So when we buy a 320GB disk, we simply buy 320.000.000.000 bytes.Divide this 3 times by 1024 (not 1000) and here you are:298GB real space!

So, doing some math, you have a 288GB partition (C: ) plus a 10GB partition (D: ) that totals 298GB.Everything correct, no problem here.Your problem is that you simply don't see the 2nd physical drive.

Hope that helped you!
Marengo

 

It could say that but I still think it's plastic....I'm pressing my finger against the bottom edge of it right now and it flexes....

 

thanks for the response. Yes, please right click on My Computer, then go to Manage.

Under the Storage section, click on Disk Management and you should see your 2nd drive there unformatted. make sure you format it as NTFS and assign it the drive letter that you want.

C: is already taken by the 1st HDD.
D: is already taken because that's your recovery partition.
E: is taken because that's your BR drive.

So you can use F: as your 2nd HDD....

 

Can you change the IRQ under the devices manager section where you can update the drivers?

 

No, I have always changed in the bios in past situations. I haven't had to deal with IRQs in some time.

 

Although I can not find an easy link to equate this to plexiglass, "flush glass" is short for polyflush glass, which says to me, a clear plastic, glass like panel.

I also can press and flex my bottom edge, furthering my statement above.

 

Yeah, I can see what you're saying about it flexing

 

Yikes! I came here looking for info on the HDX18 and got blinding skimming through the 285 pages!

From what I gather, it looks like there's a performance and price advantage to getting RAM and HD's from newegg and ordering the HDX18 with the minimum ram and HD options. Is that right.

Also, the best coupon code I can find right now is the $250 discount code (NB3234) which expires in 3 days. This wipes out the $200 "instant savings" on the HP store website, essentially saving you an extra $50.

It also looks like the price of the quad went up from the original sale price, so is there an opinion on whether it's worth it or not?

Thanks for letting me jump in here, but I'm ready to order and don't want to screw it up!

I'm stepping out of my dv9000cto which has been hit or miss (display problems, mostly)

THANKS

 

It really all depends on what you want? I bought mine pretty bare bones, with the coupon and got the HDX for around $1200 which to me is a STEAL.

I didn't get it with dual HDD's (big mistake), no quad (it wasn't available at the time), no BT and no TV tuner.

although many here have had some pretty awful experiences with the HDX I can vouch that mine has been solid and I am very very happy with it...

 

Hi, everyone --

Thanks for such an amazingly helpful thread.

For live.com haters, Fatwallet.com has 7% off hpshopping through Dec 31. I didn't see any restrictions on having coupons.

Also, I have a lovely HDX 18t that I plan on returning because of sporadically horrible sound, lots of buzzing and noise

Has anyone gotten clear, reliable sound from these gorgeous laptops?

If so, I'll probably order one again.

Thanks!

Laura

 

My sound is quite good. I usually don't even hook up my external speakers, unless I'm watching a movie. For music they work just fine for me.




On a side note, I figured on installing my new keyboard today, but can't figure out how to get the old one off.

The new one has 4 holes for screws at the top. the problem is; they are located under the Media Smart bar. If you look closely where it slopes in, you'll see them. Does anyone have any idea of how to remove the media smart chrome thing? Or any other ideas for that matter?

I tried getting a hold of pdx-alpha, because I think he has done this before. I sent him a text last week, but he has yet to reply back

 

Is that it's usually done? 2 different partitions for the hard drive that has the system recovery information (I'm guessing that's what "recovery" refers to) and then the normal "C" drive?

Is there a way to keep them together in one partition so that it says 259.75 GB free of of 298 GB) and then my 2nd hard drive which should be completely empty?

Thanks for all the help though. Really appreciate it. You too vistabad.