*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

check your audio drivers

 

also, right click on the little audio icon and click playback devices to see which/what device is enabled.

 

Anyone having display "weirdness"? For example, if I open a bunch of IE windows, the aeroglass area around the toolbar section of the IE window retains the graphic behind it. It's not just showing through, it actually becomes part of that window.

Also, when I bring up the volume sliders from the task bar (down by the clock), the sliders have bad refreshing graphics. Hard to describe, but very noticable.

Is it just me? Maybe I should reinstall the NVIDA drivers...........

(Still love the laptop, though! )

 

Funny you mentioned this. I have ONLY witness this once when I installed VMware and had some VMware OS's open. Some of the top bar would take images from another window. I thought it was kinda weird but isolated to VMware plugins....

Haven't yet witness it on any normal application though....

 

This is what I carry with my HDX18t--fits very nicely and is very, very, light:



Find 'em on ebay for $40...universal so you can get tips for your cell phone and other electronics and carry only one charger. Works in the car, too.

 

I agree, there's some thing funky going on with the speaker volume.......I'm sure we'll all figure it out eventually! So far, my audio sounds pretty good. But I would like to be able to crank it up a bit more.

 

Yeah that's exactly what I'm looking for...it just seems a lil low.

Anyways I selected "playback devices" and it has Speakers and Dual Headphones as "working" so I guess that's right.

I'm not sure what sglimore meant by driver....

 

Here's a patched together screen cap of what I was talking about. The IE toolbar is split in two to fit in the jpg. You can see how it "doubled" and picked up the old window behind it, but just up where the Norton Toolbar is.

Also, for the volume control, once you slide the slider, the black area goes away, but reappears when sliding - like there's a refresh problem.

Weird

 

Well, I decided to return my HDX18t today.
It sucks since I was able to get the 40% off deal but oh well.

1- For brief moments a good portion of the pixels would stay off when the welcome screen showed up, then they would turn on and everything would look fine. It was like they always needed more time to turn on. Additionally, the pattern wan't always the same. I noticed at least three patterns.
Has anyone else experienced these random black patches in the welcome screen? Usually it's only for about a second then it goes away.
2- The audio controls always seemed to get stuck even after I would remove my finger from the controls.
3- The TV tuner is terrible. I tried it with the supplied antenna and with my cable hooked up. I was never able to watch any programs for more than a few seconds at a time. Definitely not worth the upgrade.
4- I was a bit disappointed with the 9600m gt GPU. Specially considering how much these laptops cost.
5- No DDR3. Not too bad I guess.

There are other notebooks for about half the price and they come with better GPUs, higher resolution screens and DDR3.

I was really looking forward to it but it wasn't meant to be.

 

Sorry to hear, especially when you got such a good deal. Speaking of which, what "other notebooks", in particular, are half the price of the HDX18t and come with better GPU's? And "higher resolution screens"??? How can you get higher than 1920x1080? I think that is the highest, isn't it? ( edit: HP is just slightly lower than the normal 1920x1200 traditional 16:10 screen, so then, literally, there are higher resolution screens, but the difference is miniscule.)

DDR3? Personally, I don't think it's all that it's cranked up to be. Test and benches of it compared to DDR2 show about a 2-5% increase in performance, vs. a much higher cost. Ulitmately, I'd rather have a bunch of inexpensive DDR2 .

In any case, the only other "workstation-class" notebook I'd consider is the Dell Precision M6400 (Quad-core capable). But the cost on that baby is over 3x (almost 4x) what I paid for my Quad core HDX18t. They have a nice WUXGA LED display...I wish HP would offer LED backlit displays...they are superior to LCD for brightness and color.

All in all, the HDX18t is a terrific value, especially when gotten at a huge discount like 40%. You might really reconsider keeping it and either trying to fix the problems or live with the little "niggles" that you have. Remember, no notebook is perfect. Check out all the other manufacturer forums here!

 

A-ha! You've also just got a Gateway p7805u!! You two-timer, you!

Looks like a nice unit. The price (at BestBuy) looks good, and for a gamer, it seems like a great notebook. The CPU (P8400) is kinda low-end, but the graphics card and memory spec looks good.

Time will tell if the quality of this unit is any good. I've never been a fan of Gateway in the past (blah-looking notebooks and mediocre specs and prices), but this one looks like a good deal.

 

Wow that is nice and slick looking, I'll have to take a look....

 

Have you had anymore issues with this? I'd probably just let it go unless it started to become routine....I would also try turning off Aero just to for testing purposes...

 

Search for 33197. You will also need a N30 tip for the HP. It may or may not come with it. If not, Kensington support is REALLY nice, and may send you out one for free if you ask.

 

I rarely turn off my laptop. It's usually put to sleep. Just the other day I rebooted my laptop and right before the welcome screen I did see a huge black streak across my screen from left to right. It looked like what you see in an equalizer with the moving graphs, but then it disappeared. It scared the crapola out of me!!! I haven't seen it again in other reboots but is this what you encountered?

No issue here.

Glad I didn't waste money on the TV Tuner, I'm using my USB TV Tuner which works great.

I'm happy with it other than the fact that I am unable to play Red Alert 2 on it.

No biggie.

I bought my HDX for $1200, I think that is a GREAT deal. Especially when you can walk into any Best Buy and buy a $1500+ notebook and not get what we got in our HDX's...

I don't know what you got your HDX for, i know 40% off, but what was the final price?

Just remember that all vendors have their assembly issues, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. HP has been doing very well actually considering the economy. Can't say much for the other vendors except maybe Dell, but Dell is currently restructuring their entire organization...

 

I hate lugging around this huge brick!!!

If I can keep this at home, and buy the one you mentioned and just leave it at the office, I can just lug around the laptop with no worries! Keep my backpack slim....

 

RampageII also just got a Gateway P-7805u at BB, which looks to be a very good deal on a gamer-style 17". Only a P8400, but has WUXGA (LG) and 4GB DDR3 and a 1GB 9800MGT-something...for $1050. Seems to be an in-store only item right now. Looks nice, and a good price, but I wouldn't say that under a direct comparison, that it is half the price of a comparable HDX18t. I'd say the pricing would be very close, especially with the 30-40% discounts on HP.

 

The cheapest I found on ebay was around 140.00.
Am I not searching correctly?

 

Ahh, let me look that unit up, I like our 18.4" screens, that is one advantage.

Plus my last Gateway laptop had a HORRIBLE keyboard which was a huge turn off, it was just untype-able....

But I do agree, a $1050 price tag is a great deal as well...but I guess since I bought mine for $1200, when I hear HALF THE PRICE, I keep thinking $600...

EDIT: It appears this laptop does not have a subwoofer and from another MB, they said the speakers are pretty weak. Of course ours has that buzzing sound too, but they are pretty loud IMO for a laptop..

 

Search for "Kensington power", then look for 120W AC/DC adapters.

For years, there have been 33197's on ebay for $25-40, and now that I just looked, they are none. Figures! They are listed under slightly different part numbers, though, if you search "kensington power". Just make sure you get one that is 120W and is AC or AC/DC powered.

 

LOOK! Even better if you only need it for AC and not DC (car)--Frys.com is selling them (refurbs) for $14.99!!!! I have always bought refurbs (even from ebay) and they are white-boxed and carry the full 1 year Kensington warranty. Kensington will ship you a brand new retail packaged unit should you have any problems while under warranty. They don't fix them, nor ask you send in your broken one.

Frys link for 120W AC Kensington

 

I agree...I think my Quadcore was just under $1200 after discounts...can't beat that!

Regarding the buzzing sound, I noticed over on the Dell forums, that the Studio 15 (which uses the IDT chipset also) has the buzzing and low volume problems. People have uninstalled the IDT driver and went with the MS-supplied driver and the buzzing and volume problems are gone.

I wonder if there is a MS-supplied driver for the HDX18t? (we'd lose the IDT control panel, etc., though...I think)

 

HMMM....that is an idea....anyone willing to take this chance? Maybe they can do a rollback of the drivers if you lose the IDT control panel?

 

You can disable IDT sound and still get sound to work. I leave it on as part of HPMediaSmart because I noticed the speakers would sporadically make popping sounds. I have not gotten around to leaving HPMediaSmart on and IDT off to see if the popping sound goes away.

As for that Kensington power supply, I am weary that it doesn't have a ground plug.

 

Hello all!
I just purchased my own HP HDX18 laptop on Dec. 28th with an estimated build date of Jan. 8th. Anyone here experience a faster build date than estimated?

Here are the specs:
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz)
- 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
- 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
- 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
- Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
- HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
- 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

I am a little worried after reading about all the issues found with this laptop here in the forum including:
Screen anomalies
Poor performing speakers
Speaker buzzing
GUI issues
(have I missed anything else?)

I am a hardcore Photoshop CS4 user and regularly deal with RAW pictures in the range of 30-200MB files. Anyone here do the same and if so how does this kind of work perform on your laptop? It'll be a big jump for me over the 1GB RAM I've been using. I'm really excited to see the differences. Also, it'll be great to actually be able to play current games (Left4Dead, C&C3, GTA4, Fallout3, etc.) Has anyone done this and if so how does it perform?

Regards,
LordStryker

 

You mean disable the control panel or disable the sound driver?

I don't worry about a ground plug...many Dell chargers also don't have a three-pin plug. I'm no electrial engineer, but since it's DC to your laptop, is grounding that necessary?

 

Haha, lancorp you got me.
I bought the 7805 on the 29th for $1139 after taxes and recycling fees and so far it's been great.
You can't beat the value on this computer.
As far as the CPU is concerned, I plan to replace that later on. I may get an t9600, t9800 or possibly an x9100 quad. Still waiting on some feedback from other owners.
Yes, I've heard they had issues with the screens before such as white spots and bleeding at the bottom. However, they switched to LG panels now and everybody seems to agree that it has been resolved. I also heard of overheating issues from previous models, like the 7811. But once again, that's been resolved. Looks like they took care of all the problems from previous iterations.

 

If the main reason you're returning the HDX is the black patches on the screen and you want to keep your amazing 40% cashback, you may want to give them another shot by exchanging your notebook.

You get the exact same notebook configuration sent back to you and keep the same charges on your credit card.

I'd check with live.com and make sure that they'll still honor the 40% off if you exchange it.

I am really interested to hear what other notebooks are a better deal. Would you mind listing some for us? It could really help those of us who are still figuring out what we want to do.

Thanks!

EDIT: It looks like this post is irrelevant, since you've already replaced your HDX. I guess I'll leave it here in case it helps someone else.

 

I got mine over a week before they said I would, even factoring in Christmas, so I was shocked.

Don't get too freaked about the complaints. IMHO, most are little things that we talk about, but can live with. Nothing's perfect. To me, the performance of the laptop offsets any of the picky crap.

 

vistabad,

* Yes, that's exactly what I was referring to. Sometimes it would be streaks, other times it would be a big patch. Like I said, I noticed at least three patterns. In my case, it shows up every time a turn it on.

* Yes, good call on the TV tuner. Not worth it.

* As far as the GPU and DDR3....Again, considering how much these HPs cost, you would think they would have that included and you're definitely not expecting to see those specs on a laptop that costs $1050 (well, $1150 now. It's been bumped up).

* My HP laptop was $2273 before discount. With 40% discount it was $1434. That's still three hundred more than what I paid for the 7805 and 7805 has better GPU, DDR3, and higher resolution. Some may say the last two are not a big deal, but they are improvements.

As far as price differences, we have to compare apples to apples.
The normal price of my HDX was $2273 out the door, while the 7805 was $1139. That's about half the price of the HDX. Obviously some of us were able to take advantage of a great discount, but even with that discount, it was still some $300 more.

* Honestly, the only things I miss about the HDX18t is the bigger screen, the nice keyboard and the more upscale look.

 

Well, then, keep it "apples-to-apples"--the Gateway does not come with a Blu-ray player and isn't supposed to come with a WUXGA screen, according to the forums and other literature. It seems those getting a WUXGA is an error, especially when the box says is WXGA. I'm not sure what CPU you got for $2200 list price in your HDX18, but it was probably something faster than a P8400 that comes in the Gateway.

So, all said, they are really two different machines that you cannot compare pricewise, as they are really quite dissimilar.

But, still, for the price (or at least what it was at BB), the p7805 looks like a good deal, especially if gaming is your gig!

 

lancorp,

You got a quadcore HDX18t for only $1200?
My HDX was about $1434 and all I had was a dual core at 2.53GHz (t9400 I think). A quadcore for me would would have been an extra $800.

How did you pull that off?
I heard about a glitch from HP where the quad upgrade was very cheap for a short period of time. Is that how you managed to get an hdx18t with quad for $1200? If that was the case, I guess you got lucky.

 

Well, I suppose you're right. I suppose I left out bluray mainly because I can always make those upgrades later on, and the price would STILL be much less than the HDX.

Yes, the CPU is not as nice as the one on My HDX.... 2.26ghz, 3MB L2 vs 2.53ghz, 6MB L2. But you can always do the upgrades yourself and save a lot of money.
When you compare the price increases for every upgrade you choose from a vendor such as HP vs buying and installing the parts yourself, it almost always comes out cheaper to do the upgrades later on vs having HP, Dell, etc do it for you.

Example, the bluetooth upgrade for the HDX was $50. On ebay, you can get one of those little USB bluetooth dongles for $5 out the door. Alright, alright, they're not "integrated" and they take up one USB port, but have you seen how small those things are? They're hardly noticeable. and did I mention $5 vs $50?
How about the quad cores?.... for me the quad core on the hdx would have been $800 more on top of what the t9400 was. On ebay you can get some quadcores for about $500.

I guess what I'm saying is I could upgrade the 7805 to make it perform even better than the HDX and it'll still be cheaper than the HDX.


The only thing you can't upgrade on the 7805 is the screen size.

Edit: Actually it already DOES perform better then the HDX, despite having a slower CPU. Man, that 9800m gts is sweeet.

 

Gotchya. I think the black spots are just because the nVidia drivers may not kick in. I know that I get the same kind of look from the screen if you are installing Linux and the drivers are wrong. As long as they don't occur after you logged in, I wouldn't worry so much about it.

I agree, the HP's do have a more upscale and cleaner look. The Gateway is nice too but it kinda has a rugged look to it, some people like that, I'm not against it, but I like the HP look better....

That is a great price on the laptop though AND you don't have to go through the hassle of trying to get the 40% discount...

 

Yep, I'm one of those lucky $225+ Quad core owners, plus 30% off coupon, plus $275 HP discount for the delay in shipping the Quads. All told, it was $1180.

Just in the right place at the right time. Actually, I bought two at that price, and sold one for $2600. I guess that makes mine FREE.

 

Yes he did get lucky. And I would have been one of those lucky few to buy a quad too back in October but I was too slow to pull the trigger.

 

I have read this on some message board I found. Is the screen 1920x1200 or is it 1440x900?

It seems to be advertised as the latter, but some people are getting the high resolution instead?

 

That was one of several reasons I posted before.
Now that I have the gateway p-7805u, I'm not interested in the HDX anymore.
It's just a better value overall, and it looks like they resolved the issues people use to complaint about from previous iterations.

* The gateway p-7805u is not for everyone though. It's geared more towards gamers. It has a carbon fiber look with orange accents that not everyone likes. Personally I'm not too crazy about the orange accents either. But once I got rid of the silly "gamer" stickers, it looks much better.

What I really like about this machine is the internal components and the great price.
When you think about it, that's what really counts.

 

Yes, you're right, the stickers on the box and the laptop say 1440X900, but when you check the system properties, you'll find it's actually 1920X1200. Just like mine.

Nobody knows yet whether it's just a typo on the sticker or if in fact gateway screwed up and put better screens on them. If it's the latter, then the new shipments could come with the lower resolution screens.
Hopefully, it's just a typo on the stickers so that all of them have the high res. screens. If not, then I sure am glad I got mine early.

 

Lucky you! Well congrats and hope you enjoy it!

Perhaps one day you will return to HP!

 

I would definitely consider buying one later on.
Maybe in a couple of years.

The HDXs are more aesthetically pleasing. I can't argue with that. Well, except for the "swirl" pattern on the top surface.

Honestly, if the HDX had the GPU, DDR3 memory and higher resolution screen of the 7805u, I wouldn't have switched.
Well, that, and assuming my HDX didn't have all the problems that I listed before. If it was just the problems, I would have just asked HP for an exchange.

Hell, if only the HDX had the same GPU as the 7805, that would have been enough for me to keep it. Come on HP, it's suppose to be a "premium" laptop.

Edit: Oh, did I mention the 7805u already comes with the necessary hardware for the second hard drive?......

 

Hi, RampageII --

Congrats on an awesome new computer at a great price!

I wasn't blowing off your other reasons -- I just thought the patches on the screen issue may be the main one, and I didn't want you to lose that 40% cashback if that could be solved. It turns out that you got a deal that's better for you with the Gateway, anyway.

I definitely see the wisdom in buying a computer that's been around for a bit so that problems have come up and been fixed already. I dream about that happening with the HDX speakers situation.

Hope you have an amazing experience with your Gateway.

 

The problems are valid and I was lucky enough to not really have much of what others have experienced. I'm thinking of maybe getting an HDX16t but I havent' really hung out on that side of the aisle so i don't know what issues those guys may be experiencing.....

 

Under MSConfig, if you diable IDT, audio still works. It will not work if you disable IDT under Device Manager. I'm not sure if I ever saw IDT under services, but there is one for audio that controls the headphones.

I'd rather have a gound plug. It mayb not be a big deal with the 18T since it is clad with plastic all over. I remembered the Dells had an issue with high voltage shock, the result being that power adapters were replaced with 3 prong vs 2 prong plugs. I think it affected the Dell 9400.

FYI, I have disabled all the HP stuff under MSCOnfig except for IDT and HPSmartMedia (due to intermittent pop sound I described earlier), and my buttons still work and display. And I have disabled the HP services, there were 3 of them, plus 2 quick play related services. Incidentally, this is the second roll back (system restore) i did because my buttons one day didn't display, but still worked. It may have been some programs I installed that messed it up (K lite codec pack maybe). But so far, it's still working (haven't reinstalled Klite).

 

Hi Laura,

Trust me, I didn't want to lose the 40% either, considering how many people missed out on it and I was one of the lucky few who got in at the lat minute.
But oh well. I hope this new laptop doesn't quit on me and makes me regret the purchase.

Thanks, I hope you find a laptop that's right for you also.

 

I hope that your Gateway serves you well for many years. (And, if there is a problem, it happens within the warranty period. )

Thanks for the good wishes for me.

 

Lol, I already found a couple of issues.
First one is a dead pixel, although you really have to look hard to find it. Of course, once you find it, it's hard to ignore it.
Second one is a hissing noise coming from the fan on the right hand side. This might me normal....but then again, why is only when the fan on the RHS comes on?


Help!!!, HP send me back the HDX.....LOL. ...kidding.....or am I?

 

No problems for me since October.

 

Whatever MB i found earlier today, I know some people were complaining about fan noise, but I think it was on the left side.

yeah, the problem with dead pixels is that once you FIND them, I know my OCD would kick in and I would continually stare at the dead pixel until I go crazy...

 

You must be referring to the quick bursts from the fan. Sometimes it'll turn on for a few seconds and then it turns off. The speed goes up and down, rather than going up incrementally according to temp. That doesn't bother me quite as much.

As for the dead pixel, you really have to get up close to see it. It doesn't look like a black spec. It's more like an light orange tint (maybe it's suppose to match the orange accents on the laptop.....lol ). However, if I put a blue background against it, then it turns black and it becomes more noticeable.
The hissing from the right fan is a bit annoying though.

We'll see, I might exchange it when they get the new shipment.

On a side note, this laptop comes with the hardware for the second HD. No need to purchase a separate caddy and cable for it.