*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

I must be missing something here: why the fuss about the screen? Why not order the protective, anti-glare film like I just did? The film from Photodon plus shipping came to $26.38. I've used their film on two other laptops and really don't even notice it is there. Even if there wasn't a lot of glare, it is nice to have it to protect the screen.

 

Slysoft ANYHDDVD removes such nonsense as it is read from the disk. You can watch whatever you would like on any tv you would like, as well as burn anything you would like anywhere you would like.

Free trial, no nonsense, i don't say this lightly, easily the most important utility ever written.

ANYDVDHD

 

Could you post the link to the Targus backpack you are using?

I ordered the HP exec case for 17'', but if the laptop doesn't seem to fit when it arrives (3 days), then I'll be on the search for a new one. A backpack would work even better, actually.

 

When you say "video" do you mean any screen output, or just Blu-ray video? Because, I've used a HDMI - DVI cable to a really old Dell flat panel and it works fine for just Windows.

 

SORRY FOR SHOUTING - BUT THE THIRD TIME ASKING.

WHAT SOFTWARE IS CONTROLLING THE FINGERPRINT?

thanks

 

What, no recovery DVD or backup of the SWSETUP folder before you embarassed your HDX18 with XP?

Digital Persona.

 

LMAO....so XP is not the holy grail you claimed it to be...but I thought xp would solve EVERYTHING!

 

This is what I ordered, works great.

http://www.amazon.com/Targus-TXL617-17-Notebook-Backpack/dp/B0001EMM10

 

It's too bad he gave up, too, because I heard or read a news alert from HP that due to an overwhelming consumer ( one) response, HP decided to ditch Vista and sell and support only XP on all notebook computers starting immediately!

 

Tee Hee.

XP the holy grail?

Uh, no.. just defended my NEED to try it, on the basis that the software I was using was expressly recommending. After trying it, and succeeding all but the external sound card, I have (for the time being) accepted the need for a streamlined Vista install.

So here, instead of getting some assistance from other users, I get the peanut gallery. WHAT A BUNCH OF KIDS you clowns are on a sunday. Go back and read what I wrote. i'm not a fan of Vista. I didn't realize this was like a personal peer pressure issue for you.

Yes I made a backup of the thing, but I didn't do a clean install of Ultimate to reinstall all the bloat.

And thanks LC, at least you gave a smile and the info. Now all of you shut the hell up, i am hosting the local XPA meeting in 10 minutes.

 

The movies.

They are referring to HDCP = protected content, either from HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. Built in coding that will not allow viewing of movies on non-compliant devices. This will be listed in the specifications of any compliant device for those that are pre-purchase, but most stuff available today will be compliant. Otherwise you will have to use either a decoding box, or the program I mentioned, or one like it.

 

oh don't be a tease Lancorp, do tell us about your SSD.

 

You're welcome! We're all just in a Jolly mood this Merry Sunday, aren't we?

I'm busy wrapping presents for the kids, so unfortunately, I can't make the meeting. So, it looks like it's just you.

 

Me, a tease? The G.SKILL 128GB performs the same as the Patriot 64GB...startup times and app launch times are about the same. I'm not much into nit-picky scientific testing, and a second or two plus or minus doesn't mean much to me, so I just time things with my digital wall clock which shows seconds, too.

I've very happy with the SSD. For about $200 for a 128GB, it's great. God help me should I ever get to try out an Intel 80GB...I'm sure it will make my G.Skill seem like a old slo-poke!

If there is anything, in particular, you want to know, or want me to try, let me know. I'm more than happy to play!

 

Advice needed:

As I await my HDX 18 from HP (Jan 2 ship date), I am planning the first actions I'm going to take. This is what I have in mind.

Get the thing up to speed with updates and all of the start up stuff. Then I plan to install Ghost. Ghost the "virgin install" to a directory on the D drive. I understand I should also copy the entire SWSETUP directory to the D drive as well.

Then I plan to take a Vista Ultimate Upgrade DVD that I bought for my desktop and reformat the C: drive and install a clean version of Vista Ultimate 64 (That's what I ordered the HDX 18 with) using the "clean install" method suggested here in the forums. I should be able to use the code on my new sticker since I ordered this PC with Vista (right?)

Once I get Vista installed, update it, activate it, and install only the programs I need, and I should be rocking with a clear C: drive with no restore partition. I can then Ghost the new C drive to the D: drive in another directory, and save that as the "clean install" backup.

Are there any problems doing it this way? Anything I am forgetting?

THANKS

 

No, the key on the bottom is NOT the Windows key used to validate/activate the installation. You need to use the program listed in the clean install guide to download the key and activation file. You then restore that information once your clean install is complete.

 

I got my HP HDX18 about a month ago and I'm very happy with it, but has anyone else noticed heat coming from the "Caps Lock, A, S" area of the keyboard? It's not overly hot but the heat is noticeable and I'm finding it rather annoying. The bottom of the laptop seems fairly cool. It seems as thought there a fan under that part of the keyboard venting the heat. Anyway, just curious if anyone else has noticed this.

Thanks

 

Gotcha. I'll follow that post to the letter!

 

To the "Caps, A, S" guy I haven't really noticed any heat coming from that area. If I reach down under the laptop I can fell the heat but nothing on the surface.

 

The first hard drive live on the left hand side of the trackpad. Even if you get a second hard drive, which lives on the right hand side of the track pad, the right side does not get hot (at least on the 5,400RPM 500GB config that HP has).

There are two fans, and the second smaller fan is actually located under those A S keys you indicated. So, yeah, you're probably more sensitive then the rest of us.

 

I didn't notice it before, but that part of the keyboard is warmer on my HDX, too.

 

What processor and hard drive(s) do you have?

 

I have the following configuration,
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz)
Harddrive: One 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

On a side note, I've also noticed that the harddrive activity light blinks every few seconds even when I'm not using my laptop, and that it doesn't seem to automaticly go in to sleepmode anymore, just to the screen saver. I've done some research and checked running processes under the task manager, but I haven't figured out what's running or what I might have installed to keep the harddrive active...

 

That's the exact same setup as me, I haven't noticed any heat issues at all....

 

Isn't that processor supposed to have little to no heat at all either? Everyone I talk to says that those run very cool....

 

What did you wind up getting, CK, the 2.8GHZ C2D?

 

Well it's not the fastest choice out of the bunch. It's the 2nd one from the slowest. Now don't get me wrong, IMO, my HDX is lightning fast.

I am able to play 1080p movies and skip around without any lag whatsoever. I always use HD movies whether 720p or 1080p as a good benchmark as to how fast it can quickly redraw images on the screen when skipping around scenes...

Just for FYI purposes. I have VMware running as well with 2 Linux OS running at the same time and it's still whisper quiet.

I do notice a little more heat now that the 2 OS's are running, but it's still unbelievable performance..

I am so happy that I just may buy another HDX18t....seriously.....

If anyone here is into Linux (CentOS/Redhat) please PM me. And before all you Ubuntu freaks start to come out and say, UBUNTU!! Please tell me what makes this Ubuntu OS is sooooo great?

Thanks!

 

I have the quad-core with a 320GB 7200RPM drive. Under 'normal' use (standby or web surfing, etc) to the left side of the trackpad is slightly warmer than the right side. However, when I am playing Bioshock, the left side gets quite warm. So far though, I have not noticed any fan noise at all. The fan(s) seem to be working since I can feel hot air being exhausted through the left rear of the laptop, but I haven't noticed any sound at all from them.
By the way, I received the HDX 18t a little over a week ago. As everyone else has mentioned, this thing is a monster! Keyboard feels great. Trackpad is slick, I don't notice any of the stickiness that others have mentioned. The sound is pretty good, I haven't heard any distortion yet. As others have mentioned, there is a slight mis-alignment between the speaker grillwork and the casing, just to the left of the ESC key. Not enough to get upset about. The screen was covered with kind-of-greasy handprints and there was some sticky goo spots around the trackpad, but it all cleaned up easily. So far, I'm pretty happy with the quality of this unit.
If anyone has a solution to BioShock not sending audio on the HDMI cable, please let me know! I'd like to hook this baby up to my 42" HDTV for the holiday "gaming season".
During Black Friday, I managed to get my HP order in during the last 15 minutes of the Microsoft Cashback sale. I eventually got MS to acknowledge my order and so far it still shows up in my account. So it looks like I can keep my HDX18t and the LCD monitor I ordered. We'll see if they pull a fast one before my remaining 'waiting period' expires (35 days).

 

That's really one of the most underrated items when looking for a laptop. Most people completely overlook how the keyboard feels and how it types.

HP in my opinion has THE BEST keyboard ever. It is smooth, very light touch, and has nice feedback. Going to the store and quickly putting my fingers on the other vendors and just jamming on the keyboard, I can tell they aren't as nice and I would have a horrible time typing on them.

 

I love the IBM ThinkPad keyboards!!!

Also in regards to IBM keyboards I also miss the mouse eraser nub in the middle of the keyboard used in conjunction with the three buttons by the trackpad set up. I really hate trackpads. I turn em off.

 

^ IBM keyboards are the best keyboards in the world!!!! i can type nearly 90-100wpm on an ibm keyboard just how i would on a normal keyboard.

i have used IBM's dating back 7 or 8 years for work. i have been through about 7 or 8 models which may not be a lot but on every single one of them, i absolutely loved the keyboards. thank god lenovo kept up the IBM standard for the laptops.

in regards to mice - i stick to an external 99.9% of the time. track pads, track balls/nubs all suck IMO =]

 

Yeah my mom has a dv5t and I must say the HDX's keyboard is light years better!

And I got the 2.8 GHz processor for those that are interested. Not regretting it one bit. I am pretty sure I would have hated the Quad core's temps.

Anyways I'm getting that sleeve from that website and I'm looking into backpacks. Anyone try out that IBEX backpack? It looks pretty tight. My only concern is whether it will be able to hold a notebook and a textbook in addition to the laptop comfortably.

 

Since I've done a clean install with Vista 64-bit I can only playback blu-ray movies using a third party app like Nero Showtime. Is the original HP media player (the one that came pre-installed and played blu-rays just fine) located in the SWSetup folder? If so, what's it called. And if not, is there any other way of obtaining it? Thanks

 

One of the reasons I bought the HDX18 is that it has 2 HDD bays.The plan is to install, in the future, one fast SSD for Windows and one 500GB HDD for storage.As many already know one of the best SSD's is the X25 from Intel that can reach upto 250MB/sec read speed!

Many users that have already bought this SSD say that you need to have a SATA 2 controller to really take advantage of this drive.Othewise you will not get anywhere near the 250MB/s read speed.Many notebooks have the old ICH7 intel based storage chipset that is supposedly rated up to 300MB/s and has some of the sata 2 extensions, but it still recognizes the Intel SSD as a generation 1 sata drive.One should have an ICH8M or later sata controller to take full advantage of the high speed SSD's.

The question is, what type of controller is installed on the HDX18? Is it the new ICH8M or the old ICH7?
This is an aspect that we all have to investigate if we want to install a fast SSD in the future.

 

Since the HDX18t uses the latest Centrino2 chipset, I would have to conjecture that the ICH8M or later is in the HDX18t.

 

I hope you are right and that is what I always thought.
But reading the owners comments on newegg for the Intel X25 SSD there is somebody with the HP dv4t that reports that his SSD is recognized as a SATA 1 drive and that it is limited on speed because of this.

I found it strange considering that the HP dv4t is using centrino 2 too and it is a notebook almost as recent as the HDX18.

 

Annnnnd back it goes!

I've been having a problem with my HDX18t (not counting the couple of things that seem beyond HPs control, such as the issue with Hardware Acceleration and the nVidia card in this model, or with newer Blu-Ray movies being unplayable until they release a software update). You see, the silver bevel along the front edge of my notebook -- just below the touchpad and right in the center -- is loose. You wouldn't notice it by looking at it. But when I rest my hand on the notebook to type, I can hear it making a fairly loud clicking noise as it pops in and out at the loose point. (When I called tech support, he could even hear it over the phone -- it's that loud.)

So I'm about to experience how good HP is at return & repair. They're shipping me out a box tomorrow. I'll send it out again on Friday (after the holiday). They're saying it'll take a couple of days to get to their repair center, and then 7-9 days before they send the unit back to me. I was told that they'll also check out my Blu-Ray problem while it's in for service, so who knows?

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Confirmed on my HDX18t that it is an ICH9-M chipset.

 

To quad or not to quad?
That is my question.
I've read all of the posts here and I'm on the proverbial fence.
I would appreciate more input on the temps, fans and any other issues.
Many thanks in advance.

 

Update:

After 2 sessions with tech support, they decided to replace my system completely. It took then from Friday to the next Wednesday to get that done, but I now have a functioning notebook.

I was a little surprised that the system they sent wasn't exactly the same config:

Purchased __________ Replaced with
2.53Ghz __________ 2.8Ghz (woohoo!)
2x500G HDs __________ 2x320G HDs (I just switched them out)
2G RAM __________ 4G RAM (another woohoo!)

Now to just quad boot the system (Vista Ultimate, Win2k8 Server, Linux of some flavor, and Sun Solaris Intel)!

-DC

 

Thanks a lot lancorp!
That means that we will not have any performance issues in case we decide to install a fast SSD right?
It must be the latest Intel chipset so everything should be ok.

 

I didn't quad and I'm perfectly happy with my laptop. I was agonizing over it but in the end I realized that I was basically obsessing over what I thought was "new tech" and it really just the greedy part of me that wanted something "different".

Anyways I'd say that unless you truly know that you're gonna use programs that take advantage of the quad core right now or maybe in the future I would stick with another processor.

 

Thank you so very much for your input. Like you did I'm agonizing a little right now. I am leaning towards the quad for the future. TBD. I would still like to hear other opinions.

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question. Is there a setting somewhere that will keep my computer from going to sleep when I close the screen? Example: while watching a movie on external hd tv if I close the laptop everything shuts down.

Thanks,
John

 

I just got my HDX18T yesterday, and I'm loving it - all except the temperatures that the quad seems to be having. A reading w/ speedfan once showed all CPUs (4) at 70-80+ and the GPU at 80+.

I really dont like these temperatures, and the targus chilling mat isn't helping much either. Are these temperatures normal for the quad? I would assume so. Are the dual processors any better temperature-wise?

Thanks,

Matt

 

John,

I'm glad to answer this as I am having to learn Vista myself, and as I had read in my XP days, the hibernate in Vista is buggy for many. My machine, A 32bit Ultimate from scratch install, will sleep, then instead of waking up, it goes black, and even after hard power down (holding power button), and then power back on, it stays black. I have to power down again, and only then will it start properly, offering me safe mode as it has detected a problem. (are you bored as I am yet!)

FISTA!

So here's the settings you need. (I did the very thing - hibernate was bad in XP as well. It pleased the environmentalists, but the expense of 2GB of my hard drive!)

Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Power Options > select "choose what closing the lid does"

That is for the default control panel view, in the classic control panel view its the same minus the "hardware & sound" selection.

 

Is the temp on load or idle? Do you have the fans on 'always on' mode?

On idle, and fan always on mode, mine idles around 40c.

 

I haven't fiddled around w/ my BIOS yet, so I didn't even know there was a fan always on mode. Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to try that out right now.

Edit - I checked the BIOS, and the fans are set to always on by default. Anyway, the overheating was most likely due to my poor ventilation. Does anyone have any tips on the 'proper' way to keep good venting?

Thanks,

Matt.

 

For those who are interested in doing clean from scratch Vista 32/64 installs.

You may notice that while on the hdx18t software/drivers page on the hp site, there is a "validity fingerprint" driver download, there is no related software.

I just got off the phone with HP support (london), and I pointed this out to them, and gave them a link (to within their own site) to the V3800 notebook page, which has a link to a July 2008 version of Digital Persona software, which works with the HDX18t.

They will be updating the official HDX18t software/driver page, but in the mean time, here is the link if anyone wants.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-64439-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3674887&os=2093&lang=en 32 BIT

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-64441-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=2100&product=3674887 64 BIT

Can someone tell me if these are loaded with version 3 or 4? And if 3, has anyone upgraded (around 20.00) to version 4? Comments?