*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

SSC, I did a little searching and it looks like you may need to have 15 forum posts before your email function will get activated. This is meant to reduce Spambot activity.

 

Now's the time to stock up on 320GB 7200RPM Hitachi 2.5" HDD's!!

Zipzoomfly has them for $59.99 after $20 rebate, up to 5 drives per rebate.

Zipzoomfly $59.99 deal

 

What can you guys tell me about the mousepad, i was playing with one the other day at best buy, and felt it to be very hard to move about the finger, on it, felt like trying to coast my finger on a mirror. It might have been though cause of all the diff peoples fingers touching it, made it like that, but i dont know.

 

I'm disappointed in HP Support policies. The small plastic cover around the power supply jack and usb port has a broken tab. It was like this when I unpackaged it and HP says I have to send it back to have them replace it - they won't send me the part. That means potentially nine plus days out of my office. Have to make a decision on whether to keep the machine by tomorrow...

I like everything else for the most part. Although I wasn't able to get the quad processor when I placed my order.

I know other people reported this defect - any thoughts??

Thanks,

SB

 

Looks like Intel has introduced some new chips this week.

I wonder if any of them will make it to the HDX18t line?

Intel, Acer Launch Cheap Quad-Core Notebook Chip

 

Out of stock!
wow, that was fast!

 

Mousepad? Do you mean touchpad?

If so, it's "ok". I have felt better touchpads on other systems...

The HDX has a waxy feel to it's touchpad, it's not as smooth and glideful as it could be...

 

Lancorp, thanks for the pictures and testing. I guess you got it to work, and I didn't. I never used Vista to adjust power settings, I just do it through RMClock, and with it, I can set the 6x to 1.35 volt, and I can set to 9x multiplier, and I can never get .5 multipliers. Under Vista without RMclock, I can obviously get native 9.5x. I don't show any temp change when I stressed it at 9x Rmclock and Prime with the different voltages. And it doesn't register any heat difference at idle 6x with different volts. So that's all I can say I have tried, maybe it's something I didn't do right.

That other cheap quad core is certainly cheap! I would have gone with it, but alas i've already got mine and don't intend to do the swap o rama.

 

Tigerdirect has a similar deal, and live.com offers 5% cashback if you click through to TigerDirect store from live.com...

$5 more per drive, but no tax in most states. Still in stock as of this posting.

TigerDirect cheap 320GB 7200RPM Hitachi drives

 

I've seen other replies about the touch-pad being sticky, but mine is silky smooth. I do have pretty dry hands though.

 

Lancorp got them all.

 

Mine's very smooth to use. I used it a lot before I got my clean install and bluetooth mouse going. It wasn't noticable at all, so it must have been fine.

 

i wouldn't judge the touch pad on the display model, those things are encrusted with people goo.

 

LMAO!!!!

 

Has anyone else here done a "clean install" on their HDX 18's? I am wondering what SP file I have to load to reactivate the volume, bass and treble controls on the laptop.

Thanks!

 

I did, and that was just discussed a few pages back. It seems to be a mystery. The volume controls work (even though they don't display on the screen or make any ticking noises) but not sure if the Bass/Treble work or not. Also, the EJECT control does not seem to work. The multimedia controls do work.

 

Battery life is a concern, but not my main concern. As far as battery life goes I could buy another battery, but if I don't use it much it will deteriorate (though not very fast, Li ion batteries do deteriorate over time and with long spells hooked up to their charger), and there isn't an option for a 'extended' battery version for the HDX18 (while there is one for the HDX16 and most other HP laptops).

The main reason why I want to undervolt is that reducing power as much as possible will reduce heat and likely make the laptop run quieter (the CPU fan may run slower or only come on intermittently, or maybe not at all). This will be true whether I'm on battery or mains power. Given that the quad gives me more power than I usually need (but when I need it it's great to have it) being able to significantly reduce power consumption when I don't really need it has obvious advantages.

Really, after reducing power consumption to near what the slower CPUs are rated for I'll probably run into diminishing returns anyway on total current draw of the laptop (which is what would affect battery life). Total current draw is the sum of all components that draw power in the HDX18 - the motherboard/main board, the graphics card, wireless card, and that big, beautiful display -- all of those draw power, and more so in this laptop than in smaller, lower-performing models. But if only to reduce the stress on some components and reduce noise undervolting will be worth my time to play around with.

I think I have all the info now to go on -- apparently RMClock does work with some hacking, I'll just have to be especially careful to not disable (if it's even possible) ominous-sounding devices like 'thermal monitors" and not overclock the processor. Not that I'll really need more speed than the QX9300 has to offer -- if it ever seems to run slow, it will probably be more worth it to look for software, OS, hard drive, etc problems rather than CPU speed anyway.

 

SSC, you could wait for the slower Quad Q9000 Lancorp linked to earlier, to show up on the 18T, it will likely draw less power.

As for qx9300, you're going to be running it at the slower stepped speed (half) most of the time anyway, so it's pointless to use RMCLock, since you'll already be at the lowest voltage. And if I interpret Lancorp correctly, you can run at full speed with RMclock undervolt manually and be stuck at manual full speed setting.

What laptop do you currently use?

 

You're totally right. I love reading that sort of encouragement -- thanks for your post.

Maybe they'll do a special discount on two hard drives when they have a 30% coupon.

And they'll have fixed the production issues so my next HDX is buzz-free.

 

Smooth and easy. Bit of an adjustment at first because it's slicker than I was used to, but I ended up liking it a lot.

 

Back in stock now.

 

In case anyone is still looking for a case, I posted a quick review of a Mobile Edge case that fits the HDX18t perfectly, and includes a SLEEVE that also fits the HDX18t!!!

I got it at Amazon, although it is available elsewhere. Cost was $54.

Here is the post (in the Accessories forum):

Mobile Edge MEV17S

 

I don't need one but I found 1 on eBay for $34.98 (Buy-It-Now) with shipping: http://tinyurl.com/ebayMEV17S

 

I appreciate the feedback and when I get my system I will be trying a few different things and post my experiences.

 

Looks like NotebookReview.com got a new logo today.

Perhaps they can upgrade this forum so it doesn't crash so much!!!

 

Maybe their old logo was the cause of all the crashes of their website, so they made a new one!!

 

It actually looks the same as their desktopreview.com logo. They are probably trying to make everything universal. Or fix the crash thing.

 

and out again!
haha!
quite the cat and mouse game!

 

ahh, yes I love their troubleshooting skills....

forum crashes....must be the logo!!

 

I'm beginning to think that a lot of 17" bags can fit our HDX's....I'm sure some will be tighter than others but it's only a 1.4" difference....

 

Yep, that must be it.

 

I ordered early yesterday morning, and got a lovely email from them today that they are backordered and may have them by 01/05/09, but no guarantees!!!

Nice. You'd think if they had any in the first place, I would have been one of the first to order...

TigerDirect still has them...

 

You sure they aren't having a "quality" issue with them?

 

lancorp where's your thread where you reviewed that bag you got from Amazon? I left a message in there but I can't seem to find it on the board...

 

Here it is!

 

^^^Do you mind taking pics of the sleeve that's inside the bag?

Anyways Happy New Years to EVERYONE here! This is awesome board full of amazing intelligent people and I'm so glad I found it. It's been an incredible resource and I learn something new everytime I visit.

Good health to all!

 

And, this morning, another lovely email stating they shipped my order!!

Too bad, because I had emailed them to cancel it and ordered fromTiger Direct, instead! Arrrrgggghhh!!! Too many hard drives!!!

 

And, Good Wealth to all in 2009!

 

^^^ that sleeves reminds me of those pizza delivery boxes...hot and fresh!

 

Ooooohhhhh, thanks for the pics, lancorp... me like-y.

 

No problem-o....you got the one on ebay, eh? I had that in my watched list...good price!

 

Lol that's what I thought....

Anyways thanks Lancorp for the pictures!

 

One other case that I happened to have sitting around, I just tried, and it fit the HDX18t (snugly), was the Targus 17" Laptop Slip Case



No room for acccessories except thin stuff, but light like a sleeve, and completely enclosed and with a handle. (CK?)

 

That one looks nice actually...where can I find it? And I can take the armband off right and it will be just like a sleeve except for the handles.

 

Yes, the strap comes off. I don't even have mine anymore. You can get it at Amazon.com:

Targus 17" Slip case for under 20 bucks!

 

I'm pumped!

got my hdx18t, xp and GeForce, Nvidia playing nice, go here

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

also, another subject, another fix, fixed the problem with dvds on ubuntsu os fixed

additional harddrive caddy and cable, help anyone?

 

Is anyone finding the speakers to not be as loud as they want them to be? At first I thought they were fine but now it seems even with the volume meter all the way up I'm still not hearing a whole lot of sound. I mean you can hear it but it's not as loud as I thought it would be....

 

Yea, same here. The volume has never been loud enough for me. I did buy some external speakers that I am waiting to hook up, though.

 

That's because the dumb subwoofer is underneath the laptop. BAD DESIGN.

If you pump up your music, something that has bass, then lift the laptop in a 45 degree angle off the table so you can let the subwoofer do it's job, you can clearly hear the difference.

 

Yeah that's a very nice looking case. But you would have to find a way to bring the A/C adapter. Anyone carrying the HDX without their charger is asking for trouble!