*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

Mine doesn't look like it lines up. Based on what you're telling me. Which stinks, I would never have thought of that.

 

I've got the same exact router and I'm connected to the 5GHz network and my speeds are from 121 to 145 Mbps.

I haven't tried connecting to the 2.4 GHz network so I don't know if it would be faster or not. Plus I haven't even tried to tweak the router settings to make my connection even faster. Technically the router says it's capable of doing 270 if I remember correctly.

 

ive tried basically every channel and band combo and the fastest i was able to get was 165 mbps while right next to the router, however i ran a speed test and compared the speed between the 5ghz n network at 165 mbps and the 2.4 ghz G network at 54mbps and the G was faster in the tests every time... I'm so confused

 

The Q9000 actually has half the cache of the Q9100. it is based on the 3MB cache core of the P8xxx chips (P8400, P8600) versus the T9xxx (T9600, T9800) that have 6mb cache.

Q9000: http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLGEJ

So you end up with 2x cores with 3MB cache each = 6mb cache total versus the Q9100 which has 6mb cache per core for a total of 12mb cache.

Q9100: http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB5G

Using the rip-off logic, it's probably better to avoid the QX9300 at all costs too, since they can be had elsewhere for $600-700 on eBay.

The Q9100 is definitely more like a QX9300 than a Q9000 (assuming your system doesn't OC or you don't want to OC).

And there's something to be said to buying a CPU and having it installed and tested versus a DIY situation which many aren't comfortable with.

We take it for granted how much time and effort we will put into it to scour parts at rock bottom prices, track down schematics and disassembly guides and spend potential hours to install and tweak items to not only save a buck but tweak our systems for ultimate performance, but we're definitely in the vast, vast, VAST minority.

 

My new (Jan 1 09) HDX 18 has the touch pad that's in the UPPER left.

 

According to HP part surfer here are the stats on the 2 gig ddr3
PART NUMBER:
510401-001 Memory (DIMM) :
2GB, 1600MHz, 204-pin, DDR3 PC3-8500, Small Outline Dual In-Line memory module

510402-001 Memory (DIMM) :
4GB, 1600MHz, 204-pin, DDR3 PC3-8500, Small Outline Dual In-Line memory module

I assume this means that we can put up to 8 gigs of DDR3 in HDX 18. When I looked up PC3-8500 DDR3 on Ram sites, they seem to show it at 1066hz rather than 1600mhz.

Hope that helps.

Big50

 

I keep getting this error:

error

Invalid product. Please try again or follow the instructions below to place a phone order.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Big50

 

If the ram is at 1600hz and the processor is at 1066hz doesn't that create a bottle neck where the 1066hz always wins out and getting above 1066hz in ram does not speed things up?

 

You guys are right about the Q9100 cache..not sure how I missed that, but regardless, it still doesn't change my advice.

For the "dollar-delta", the Q9100 isn't going to be that much faster than a Q9000, I think. Considering the QX9300 was $950 just a few weeks ago, something tells me HP is just trying to make a few bucks here. Check out some reviews and benchmarks comparing the Q9000 and Q9100 and decide if it's worth it.

Since you don't do gaming, I thing the 1GB VRAM option is a waste. It only buys you DDR3 RAM instead of DDR2 RAM, so now you are limiting yourself to more expensive RAM, for minimal performance increase (tests have shown that DDR3 is only about 2% faster than equivalent DDR2). It will be MUCH cheaper for you to upgrade to 8GB DDR2 than 8GB DDR3. To me, that would be something to put your money into.

Lastly, SSD. Sure, SSD's cost more, BUT, if you get rid of the "fluff" in your order, and order more conservatively, (Q9000, 512MB VRAM and dual 250GB HDD), you'll save $1049 (before coupon). That certainly is enough to buy yourself a G.SKILL TITAN 256GB and a 320GB 7200RPM Seagate and still have money left over!! These will give you REAL performance that you can see and have for everything you do on the HDX18t.

I have SSD's in almost all my notebooks now, and with the coming G.SKILL TITAN, they are only getting faster! I cannot wait for this baby to show up. The reviews and specs are amazing! My current PATRIOT and G.SKILL SSD's are already blazing...half the boot up times, half the app launch times, etc. The TITAN will blow even those away! You can't get that kind of speed from an extra 3MB CPU cache or VRAM.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

SSD's are not "over-kill" on the HDX18t. No more than a QUAD core chip is, or 1GB VRAM or 7200RPM drives. They are all performance-added options, which you chose, so obviously, you are looking for, as you put it, the "most bang for the buck". SSD's give you THE MOST bang for the buck!

Also 8GB RAM option is awesome, as you can basically turn off your pagefile and decrease disk use. Stick with DDR2 and your 8GB RAM upgrade is very affordable.

So, a more conservative HDX18t (Q9000, Free 3GB RAM, 512MB video, dual 250GB HDD, BR Burner, wirelessN w/BT) runs $1556 after 30% off. $950 cheaper than your config.
Add a 256GB SSD, 500GB Data drive for D:, 8GB RAM upgrade for $499 + $109 + $379 = $987 (Newegg). So, same price as your config, and guaranteed MUCH faster! One SUPER HDX18t!

 

This is the direct link:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?product=3769214&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&submit.y=0&submit.x=0&lang=en&cc=us

Maybe try to clean out your temporary files and your browser cache.

 

I noticed that there are 2 different versions for the ultimate:

1) HP HDX X18T-1000 CTO Premium Notebook PC
2) HP HDX X18T-1100 CTO Premium Notebook PC

From playing around with HP part surfer I was only able to bring up the DDR3 stuff using the 1100 number. Does anyone know if there would be a difference in the recovery cd's? They show different dates for the recovery cd's.


1) HP HDX X18T-1000 CTO Premium Notebook PC = 09-2008

2) HP HDX X18T-1100 CTO Premium Notebook PC = 01-2009


Thanks for your help,

Big50

 

Do what makes YOU happy.

 

To you existing HDX18 owners that already have this laptop, do you hear a fan running at all or on and off again like the Gateway P-7805u when just doing normal computing stuff (not gaming or heavy video editing) ?

 

Hey lancorp,

Since you seem to be the resident SSD "expert", I have question. I am probably going to buy an HDX18 this week. I was thinking of just getting a 250GB 7200rpm drive and then buying a 128GB G.Skill TITAN. I would want to use the SSD for the OS/apps and then make the 250 my data drive. I don't really want to reinstall everything, so do think it would be difficult to just stick the SSD in and use a partition tool (i.e Ghost) to move the standard HP install from the 250 to the SSD?

My only concern with the SSD is so many people talk about the "shuttering" problem where these things pause. Perhaps best to wait on the purchase until some NewEgg reviews come in.

Thanks.

 

I am about to attempt a clean install and have located most of the software I want to re-install on HPs support website. However I do not see a place for HPs Mediasmart or HP quickplay? Is Quickplay and Mediasmart bundled into the same sw package? What does each do individually? If I elect not to install either will I still be able to play blue-rays? What software actually allows/controls blu-ray playback?

Sorry for the 20Q's I want to be sure I do this right the first time! Thanks!

 

Part of being a "community" is sharing of experience, in hopes of helping others, either in giving of information in hopes the receiver will learn and grow and be appreciative of the support, or in this case to help/guide others away from making bad decisions (financially).

I stand by my advice that I gave. The options chosen are way overpriced for the performance improvement they each give. It's not a matter of meeting his "challenge" and coming up with a cheaper, identical "apple" for him. In my opinion, "apples" from this apple vendor (HP) are too expensive (pun intended)--whereas "peaches" are much cheaper now, taste just as good and make a delicious pie, too!

My point is he can want what he wants. The benchmarks are out there for him to read, and see that all the more expensive parts he "wants" isn't going to get him that much more performance. Instead, he "wants" to spend an extra $1000 for those parts, and ignore parts (SSD and 8GB DDR2) that WOULD DEFINITELY give him a SUBSTANTIAL performance boost.

As always, do what makes you happy, but as part of this community, it's my calling to give others advice to help steer them in a better direction, and give them other options they may have not thought about. They can take it or leave it.

 

It's not a matter, really, of agreeing to disagree...it's your money you're spending, not mine! Do with it what you want. I don't know that there is a vendor right now with a reasonably priced Q9100 with DDR3. I know that for what I can get for $1500, I'd never spend $2500 for 10% more performance. That's my point, really. What you want doesn't amount to $1000 worth of performance, from any vendor, IMHO.

The items I suggest make a much faster system, for less money. That's what most people want.

In any case, I'm sure you'll like your new HDX18t. I was, btw, one of the early (possibly the first, here) QX9300 owners who got their's for the price mistake of the century by HP of $225 (whole HDX18t w/QX9300 was $1183). I suppose you can see why I have a hard time justifying $2500 for what you're getting...

Congrat's, though!

 

The "shuttering" problems are very minor with 64bit Vista (for some reason). The notebooks I've used them on, I've not really noticed any issues (except maybe my Dell E6400, occassionally).

The reviews of the TITAN, though, state that the new SSD has a DUAL controller built-in, to eliminate the shuddering issues! Plus the write speeds of the TITAN are better than the current champ, the Intel 80GB.

So, for the price, you cannot go wrong with the TITAN. many people have said that an SSD is the best thing you can do for a speed increase. They are right.

And, yes, as you suggested, the proper way to configure it is with the SSD as the boot/OS/app drive, and a big or fast drive for your data/music/photos, etc. Also, make sure to move your pagefile from the SSD to the data drive.

Sweet!

 

My fan runs on and off.

 

Sorry, got emotional!

As a comparative PC, you might have a look over at the Gateway forum. The P-7805u (sold only at BB) is being touted as the "deal of the century". P8400 (easily upgraded), 4GB DDR3, nVidia 9800MGT w/1GB RAM, 320GB/7200RPM HDD, 1920x1200 LCD for $1049 and up ($1049 was the price the first week they were on sale, I think they are now $1149 at BB). Also available as a refurb, is the identical unit, but called a P-7811. Identical except only 512MB Video RAM and a 200GB 7200RPM drive. Everything else is the same for $749. Lots of both for sale on ebay at all sorts of prices. This class of notebook is worth much, much more for the power.

I picked up one of each. My refurb was MINT and works flawlessly and fast. I dropped in a T9600 (2.8Ghz) I got for nothing (swapped out of a Dell), and added a 500GB HDD as the second drive ($64 after rebate and the Gateway comes with both drive caddies, btw). The new P-7805 is still in the box, deciding if it's going back to BB....

There are some really good deals to be had out there!

 

The P-7805u/P-7811FX have that oddity of the fans revving up and down a bit, but I found that only to happen when my vista power scheme is on HIGH PERFORMANCE. When I balanced, I hardly notice it happening while doing "normal computing stuff".

My HDX18t, with the BIOS set to "fans always on", doesn't "race" the fans nearly as much as with the BIOS setting off.

 

I'm super sensitive to noise, and I heard this very slight background noise coming from my HDX always. It wasn't too bad -- I returned the HDX for other reasons and plan to get another one.

Going back to my small computer was actually a relief, noise-wise, because it's truly completely quiet.

The fan came on once in a while, like every 4 - 6 hours, doing normal computing. When it comes on, it's noticeable.

 

You probably already know this, but I just wanted to make sure you know that the HDX only comes with the caddy and cable for one hard drive unless you order the HDX with two hard drives from HP.

Also, in case this helps your planning, I believe Vista with HP's stuff takes up around 60GB of space.

Your SSD plan is cool! Love to hear how it works out.

 

Is the built in TV tuner on a mini PCIe interface? If so, could we not substutite this with a PICe SSD?

 

Can someone tell me what software controls blu-ray playback. Looking at the factory config I see there is a "Cyberlink DVD suite" as well as "HP Mediasmart DVD".

I want to do a clean install and only want to re-install the bare essentials, but I do want to retain blu-ray/DVD playback. Which program do I ditch and which one do I keep???

 

Does this thing really have a fan? No, seriously, I never hear a thing. And this includes while encoding video.

 

The is running but I barely notice it to be honest...

 

exe,

Upper one on mine.

 

New BIOS version F.13 just uploaded:

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp42001-42500/sp42189.exe

Changes:

- Adds support for Intel P7450, T6400, and T6600 Processors.

 

I think I have the wrong one as well. I will look when I get home to be sure. Correct me if I am wrong but this is something they (HP) should fix right? I already have to send mine back in for repair as they think all the issues I have been having has to do with a bad motherboard. I have been having issues with the computer not saving things like my mouse speed and issues with try to play movies on it.....

 

Lancorp,
You have provided me a lot of help on basicly the same thing. Thanks to you saved me close to a grand. I really do appreciate people like you taking the time to help.

 

My HP HDX18 order is cancelled.... but they are telling me it's only an "attempt" to cancel, and that I may still be receiving it in the mail. THEN, I am told (LOL!), "You will have 21 days to enjoy it, or return it if you like". GEEZZzzzzzz!
I told them, "HEY, I am not even unboxing it!", "Mark it in your records NOW, I want to return"!

It JUST went into production..... why would they complete it, and then ship it anyway?

I guess this little process of theirs, allows them to hang on to your money a while.... ?

Oh well..... back to my 8930G, and the Acer community.

 

I've just received my hdx18-1010ea today, and I have the touchpad in the upper-left that doesn't match up. Part of the bodywork above the blu-ray drive doesn't line up either. Will HP replace these bits?

 

The reason for this is all the HP custom laptops are made in China and it takes them some time (with the time zone stuff) to see if it can be cancelled. Once it is shipped, you will get a FedEx tracking number that is from China.

Dell custom laptops are the same way

 

If you get the HDX, you may want to unbox it and play with it a bit. You can see how you like the appearance, sound, keyboard, etc. Then you'll know if you want to get one in the future, when the right deal and specs are available.

Unboxing and reboxing are a little bit of a pain, but not a big deal. I doubt you'd spend 20 minutes, total, with both.

If they're going to make you go through the return process (which is an easy one, actually), you might as well benefit.

 

They did that to me too, but they canceled the order 2 days later.

 

Anyone know how long it takes from China? Mine shipped today!!

 

I think they give that line to everyone who calls. Since it just went into production, I doubt it will ship. I've cancelled much further into production and unless it was going to ship tomorrow, I think you'll be fine.

And, hey, I really meant to give some sage advice, which I hope is how you took it. I didn't mean to rain on your parade. Hopefully, if you are still looking for something else to supplement your current Acer, you will check in here every once in a while or check out that Gateway I referred you to. Lots of cool stuff coming!!

 

7 - 10 days is typical

 

I agree with you 100%......wait, no I don't!

The Titan 256gb is awfully sexay!

 

Nooooooo, I can't do that...... then I might want to play...... then I might like it...... then I might want to keep it....... Nooooooo!!!

Best for me it doesn't ship...... look'in at OCZ Whitebooks now..... darn x-fire 3870's are talking to me.

 

What about fan activity and temperature?
Do the fans work more frequently?

 

Mine is the wrong one too (upper left in photo) !
Purchased in Italy early December.

 

My HDX18 is the same as my HDX16 touchpad.

 

I think I've mentioned this before, but my HDX18t always, when waking from sleep, has the fans running faster than normal, and HWMONITOR shows cores 0 and 1 more than twice the temp of cores 2 and 3 (which, just coming from sleep, I find it hard to imagine my core temps at 70C+!).

I'm not sure if the core 0/1 temps are erroneous and causing the fans to come on (I think that is the case), but a simple restart resets the core temps and the fans back to normal.

Anyone else have this problem?

 

Well, as you are probably aware, you can be "sexay" and have disappointing performance!

I popped open my TITAN yesterday and ran some HD Tune PRO benchmarks in my HDX18t, and was not impressed. Maybe I have a bad unit? Speeds aren't that much better than my previous generation G.SKILL SSD, although write speeds are hopping!

An odd issue I am having though, is that with HD Tune, at 65% of the drive, there is a marked DROP in transfer rates, to the tune of about 20%, and it stays there (or starts a slow, steady increase again), but most importantly is that for a bunch of test passes, at 75% HD Tune would give a read error and stop the test!

I ran the test a few more times and for some reason it started going past 75% ok, but overall transfer rates are not what I expected from their specs.

Not to say that the drive isn't fast, because it is! I am happy with the boot time, app launch times are unreal, and write speeds are awesome. But with that 200Mbps spec, I was hoping for something much faster than their previous generation.

 

Lancorp,

So are you keeping that drive or are you going to test another one? I was waiting to see if you were happy to order one, but the error you received has me wondering if I should wait to see if there are other issues. Is it common to get errors with HD Tune when testing hard drives?

 

Guys,

FYI. They have changed the adders for the Quad options again.

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.00Ghz) + $425.00
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor Q9100 (2.26 GHz) + $475.00
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor QX9300 (2.53Hz) + $1175.00

 

I swear HP must use a lottery machine with pop-up balls to determine the "new" upcharge for CPU's. $700 for a Q9000???? Highway robbery!! That chip was announced at OEM costs of $349 each. $700 is ridiculous. And, $50 more for a Q9100? What are they thinking?