*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

I have that same touch pad also, not sure if its right but definitely doesn't look like the lines match up.

Quick Question for allllll the HDX owners out there. Do you feel like your keyboard bows inward around the rows on the left? If you tilt your HDX at a angle and look at the keyboard evenly from the front it looks like the keyboard bows inward...

I am happy with my HDX but this keyboard thing is bothering me as I feel it wasn't built right.

 

I thought so too, but when I was talking to the lady at customer service about lowering the price of the laptop the other coupon that was 30% did not show. Only the NB8818. If you look on this site under the Laptop Deals tab you will see the following coupon description: (Date 1-23-09 @ 5:19 am EST):

HP 30% Off dv7t, tx2z, HDX 16t, HDX 18t Laptops
RETAILER: hpshopping.com | EXPIRATION DATE: 1/28/2009 11:59:59 PM

HP HDX16t Premium Series Notebook PC - 2.13 GHz, 320GB HD, 4GB RAM
HP is offering 30% off web-only coupon for the purchase of an HP Pavilion dv7t, tx2z, HDX 16t, or HDX 18t Notebook PC when you purchase one or more Notebook accessories on same order at the HP Home & Home Office Store. Use coupon code: NB8818. Remember, the coupon requires you to add an accessory and this coupon expires after 1,000 uses. The cheapest accessory you can add and get the deal is a $7.99 deluxe micro fibre cloth.

Big50

 

Try the following two steps since I know it worked for me on the NB8818 coupon.

1) Add the cleaning cloth $7.99
2) Once you are at the check out screen were you can enter the coupon make sure you enter the coupon in capital letters. I went as far as cut and pasting it into the box.
When I first put it in with lower case letters, it said it was not valid or something like that. Then when I put it in using capital letters, I got the message saying that HP would match the best deal or something like that and it worked.

Big50

 

Hey guys sorry if this question was already answered but is this laptop silver or black? I keep seeing pictures and it looks mostly black but then I see pictures on you tube and on here and it looks silver. Could someone please help clarify.

Sorry if im off topic.

 

It's just 9600/9650gt.
HP should use something like 9800gs/HD4850.

 

It may have already hit 1,000 uses

 

Silver and black, keyboard = silver, surrounding frame = mix of silver and black.

 

YES YES YES!!! FINALLY!! I've been checking that site out for it, this must VERY RECENT!!!

EDIT:

OH NO!!!!!


NOTE: This is not an HP Original Part. Caddy shown with hard drive installed. Hard drive not included. We currently have limited stock. We are now taking backorders.

 

My unit has finally shipped from China today .

I was able to confirm via an email from HP, that shows a credit for the difference in processor costs. It maybe worth your time to call them and see if you can't get some sort of reference number on your price adjustment. When I called the customer service number they were at least able to tell me there were notes in my file on it.

HP HDX18t Premium Series Notebook PC
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Processor Q9100 (2.26 GHz)
- 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
- 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics
- 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
- 800GB 5400RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (400GB x 2) 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 +/-R/RW with SuperMulti
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- Extra 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- No Productivity Software
- HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


Thanks for all of your reading material to help the time pass.

Big50

 

DId you order the Quad back in October?
I was one of the first to order the quad and on the day it was to ship was when HP cancelled it as an option.. i ordered the downgraded processor, but then suddenly the Quad was back at a higher price... HP allowed me to return the 9600 for the Quad, honored the original price (225?) as well as 200 off the order, 10% off my wifes HDX16 and 100.00 to use in the HP store. When I had to reorder, live.com was doing the 20% so I got 680.00 back as that order was close to 3,000, even though it was going to be reduced to 1600.... So I ended up getting the Quad for just under 800.00!

So, IF you ordered back then and was forced to cancel, you should contact Ryan @ HP to inquire...

 

Hey guys can one of you answer this question? Can you transfer Data between 2 computers using an USB cable? I have pics on 3 diffenrt computers and want to consolidate to one.

 

That is great news, I think that is the bag I already have for my 17" Dell E1705. That will save me a couple bucks. Thanks

Brian

 

I had ordered two bags from Amazon based on things I have read in forums.

The following:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5G7MC

and

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00023763Y

Neither bag is coming close to holding this HDX 18t, I can't even get it into them without feeling like I am going to scratch its gorgeous exterior. I will have to search back in this thread but I believe I got links to both of them from here saying it would work. I can return so thats not a issue but is there any type of bag or sleeve that's padded well that is not a back pack?

 

I have my contact at Targus looking to see what he recommends. When he lets me know I will let you know.

 

Keg, dropped you a PM.

CC

 

Since no one is answering, I'll share something that may help.

You can easily move files with Vista and a wireless or wired network -- from XP to Vista, from Vista 32-bit to Vista 64-bit. The only thing you can't do is Vista 64-bit to Vista 32-bit.

Moving files between two Vista machines using a wireless network was a breeze for me.

Vista also easily allows transfers using a special Easy Transfer USB cable. It's not the standard USB cable. Sold on amazon.com for $25 with mixed ratings.

Of course, once you're spending $25, you may just want to get a USB flash drive, which are frequently on sale on newegg and elsewhere.

This doesn't answer your question about whether or not you can use a regular USB cable to transfer files.

 

Thanks for all the information and even where to find them. I really appreciate that.

 

Thanks Laura. The USB key would not work as I take a ton of Pics. One one computer alone I have close to 20 gigs. The wirless thing....how do you do that? I have a wirless network at home.

 

Newegg no longer has the 2x 4GB G.Skill memory DDR2 667. Does anyone know where I can purchase this?
BTW, HP is now selling part #506591-001 4GB 1 DIMM, 800MHz, 200-pin, PC2-6400, SDRAM Small Outline Dual In-Line Memory Module SODIMM for $462.65 - Um, I don't think so.

 

I do not think that is possible.

You'll most likely have to copy all data files to one main computer the slow way....

 

Have you every thought of just getting an external hard drive? Even a terabyte drive is somewhere in the neighborhood of $130.00. That way, not only can it help you move all your files to one computer via USB/firewire/esata, but you can leave it on the external drive as a backup.

 

Bleh, figures after mine already arrived from newegg, I think this is the correct one:

And if anyone else needed the 2x4GB G.Skill memory package (and I do indeed have the right link here) this beats newegg's price:

http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_parts.asp?PRID=12305

 

Use Easy Transfer in Vista (put "Easy Transfer" in the search bar of the Start menu to find it). It walks you through the steps. Very easy and straight-forward, especially if all the machines are Vista.

Good luck!

 

My pleasure!

Newegg had a 16 gig USB flash drive for $15 and maybe free shipping a couple of weeks ago.

It would be easy and quick to transfer all your files with that.

On the other hand, Easy Transfer is free, easy, and available on your computer now, though it will take more time.

 

Any way I can get some of you HDX owners to check out your Keyboard?

Mine feels like the left side of it by the following rows: wert, sdfg, xcvb sinks into the keyboard. Its not a flat leveled keyboard.

It almost looks like someone smacked it with a fist and it indented in but it is not loose. Even the CTRL button seems very high. While I type I feel it hitting my left palm..

I will try to take a picture.

 

it feels pretty solid on mine....

 

Thanks Laura, you learn something new everyday!

But how does this work? the USB cable's have different end points.

Is there a USB cable with the same ends?

 

Vista,

You need a specialized USB peripheral known as a USB bridge (sometimes called a USB to USB adapter) to do this, plenty of info avail when searching on those terms.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

You can use the adapter or get the special cable, but you can also use Easy Transfer with a wireless (or wired) network, which I did.

It was simple and it worked (though transferring from Vista 64-bit to 32-bit was a no go.). An awesome Vista feature.

 

This thread might help http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=336393

 

A wacky option...in case anyone wants to transfer files among computers and also have an off site backup ... for a monthly cost.

www.jungledisk.com (thanks to CyberBeach for the info)

It allows you to transfer your data to super-cheap Amazon storage online. You could then download your data to any of your computers.

Jungle disk is $20 to buy.

Cheap Amazon S3 prices -- $0.10/gig to upload, $0.15/gig/month to store, $0.17/gig to download.

So, for example, a transfer of 50 gigs would cost about $16 for Amazon upload, storage, and download. Continued storage would be $7.50/month + upload/download fees.

EDIT:

CyberBeach pointed out in a later post that it would take days to upload 50 gigs for most people.

 

Here are my results:

The GT 130M has about a 15% advantage over the 9600M GT. Details below:

HP HDX18t (9600M GT) = (SM20 = 1651, SM30 = 1446) (Total Score = 4252)

HP HDX18t (GT 130M)

0 3DMark Score 5032 3DMarks
1 SM2.0 Score 2100
2 HDR/SM3.0 Score 1834
3 CPU Score 2318
4 Game Score 0 Points
1 GT1 - Return To Proxycon 17.46299553 FPS
2 GT2 - Firefly Forest 17.54244423 FPS
1 CPU1 - Red Valley 0.738497913 FPS
2 CPU2 - Red Valley 1.163873315 FPS
1 HDR1 - Canyon Flight 16.78236389 FPS
2 HDR2 - Deep Freeze 19.88916206 FPS

 

Thanks for the post and info Darith, how is it you were testing this setup?

 

Cool, thanx!

 

Is anyone using a memory card for ReadyBoost with their HDX 18? I had A 2Gb SD card in my 9000 but was never quite sure that it helped or not.

 

Hey lancorp,

Naw, you really didn't rain on my parade, and the cancellation and refund, went smoothly as you said it would.

You did inspire me to re-think the graphics solution of the HDX18 however. I realized that I would never be satisfied with the 9600M GT (or 9700M, etc.... perhaps a 9800M GTX). Seems HP always 'Dribbles the Kibble' with regard to available technologies, and I've grown tired of their 'coupon' marketing schemes.

SO (and your'e right, lotsa cool stuff coming), I have decided to abandon HP, and opt for what I KNOW will satisfy me. Gonna splurge a bit!

I spent two hours on the phone chatting with Mark over at K-I-N, and I've pre-ordered a REAL gaming notebook.

I know, I know lancorp...... you are probably gonna spank me again, but I couldn't resist the new ATi 4870 solution, due out in the Mar/Apr timeframe. My build is in production, and will ship as soon as the X-fire cards are available. I should be one of the first to get me hands on one of these monsters...... I'll have to post an 'Un-boxing' with benchmarks after it arrives.

I am having it config'ed as follows:

Qty - Component

1 Chassis - Nagamaki - WUXGA (1900 x 1200)
1 Intel QX9300 (custom OC'ed)
1 Customization - DragonPlate C.F. palmrest
1 Customization - GraphicShield
1 DDR3-1333 2 Gig RAM
1 DDR3-1333 2 Gig RAM
(custom programed)
1 GPU - ATi 4870 - 512 MB
1 GPU - ATi 4870 - 512 MB
1 Hard Drive - SATA - 320 GB 7,200 rpm
1 Hard Drive - SATA - 320 GB 7,200 rpm
(RAID0)
1 O.S. - Vista Ultimate 64 Bit
1 Optical - BluRay Burner *****
1 Warranty - 3 Year Manufacturer's Warranty
1 Wireless - BlueTooth Module
1 Wireless - Intel 5300 a/b/g/n
No bloatware..... customized/optimized appz & drivers

Guaranteed pricing, no more than $4,253.00, 'Out-the-Door'.

Anyhow, if anyone is interested in a notebook that SCREAMS, check out K.I.N!

http://www.killernotebooks.com/default.htm

Or better yet, give 'em a call..... 920-205-0110. Mark seems to be really SUPER people, and it is VERY refreshing to chat with someone so good at their game!

ENJOY!

 

Been lurking here for awhile and finally ordered an HDX18 based on the generally positive feedback. I received almost unbelievable turnaround on the shipment. Left Shanghai on 1/19 and received in Maryland 1/22.

Notebook in generally good shape other than fingerprints and residue on some surfaces. I did get the incorrect touchpad mentioned in the last several posts. Are many of you who received this error returning your computer?

Everything else is fine but I am becoming fixated on the touchpad. Is it worth going through a return?

Thanks

 

I've been wondering the same thing myself!

 

Question: How much speed would I gain by giving up 4GB of PC2-6400 memory for 8GB of PC2-5300 memory?

My 18t:
HP HDX18t Premium Series customizable Notebook PC
Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate 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
640GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (320GB x 2) 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
Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
$30 OFF! Extra 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
No Productivity Software
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
HP 20" Roller Case for Notebook PCs

I replaced my primary 7200rpm 320GB drive with the 80GB Intel SSD.

 

Wow thanks! Good stuff, yet another "cable" to add to my collection!!

 

Ok, this is going to sound weird, but lately I've noticed that my HDX18 would randomly come out of sleep mode.....but not the sleep mode when you press "FN" + F5.....just the regular sleep mode when your PC goes idle and the screen goes black....

Anyways, I would notice that it would randomly just come out of that mode and suddenly I noticed that "coincedentally" it seems to come out of that mode when I click the UP or DOWN volume on my cablebox remote control!!!

So as a test, I let my HDX go to sleep again, and I clicked on the volume and low and behold it worked!!!

I think the HDX must be listening on the same RF frequency as my cable box remote control...

If anyone is in the NY area and uses Cablevision/Optimum remote control, you can test this for yourself....heck, test this anyway with whatever provider you have!!!

 

I was a bit worried about that as well. I ordered one yesterday online then called them. They said they were in production and that it would probably ship out that day, in fact I got an email that it did ship out to me on Friday so while it was back ordered it still shipped faster than most companies ship in-stock items. The only thing that bothers me is that they charged sales tax even though it is shipping to Oregon.

Brian

 

Laughing Laura, the catch is that it could take days to upload 50 gigs because most internet providers give you slower upload than download. This is okay for backup purposes because once you get all your stuff uploaded, only changes are transferred each day when you do a backup. (JungleDisk may someday allow you to fedex a loaded disk drive to them to intialize your online backup.)

On the plus side, Jungle Disk also gives you the ability to map a network drive letter to Amazon cloud storage. Unlike the old Xdrive days, this mapping does not cause your OS to become unstable .

I'm also using a ThermalTake BlacX SE external SATA drive "enclosure". It connects to my pc via USB cable, lets me hot swap 2 1/2" or 3 1/2" SATA drives. The ThermalTake BlacX devices run 30-45 bucks. Over USB 2, 7200 RPM is not faster than 5400 RPM, so I just get whatever Toshiba or Hitachi 2 1/2" drives are on sale to use as backup disks. I have about 5 of them now, 200 to 320 gb, all costing 80 bucks or less, about the same price as a DLT tape and a lot faster.

I use ShadowProtect Desktop and image my drive once a week. The fastest way to be back up and running after a drive won't boot is via a ShadowProtect restore - it works and it's amazing.

Anyway, one way to transfer files would be to use an external enclosure plus a raw drive, or as you said I think you could just buy one of those passport-type external usb drives all ready to go.

 

I read somewhere - maybe Windows Secrets - that if you have 2 gigs or more RAM, ReadyBoost does nothing or almost nothing for you.

ReadyBoost was an idea that came and went before it arrived...

 

To me, I'd be weary of any company who would do that, considering Oregon does not charge sales tax. The suspicious part of me wonders if they're just pocketing the tax money they collect.

 

I haven't posted in awhile but wanted to pop in and vent about the Intel wireless. Sure it is dual band but dam is it flaky. I have a 16meg down and 2meg up cable connection and it would vary between 6 and 12 meg. Plugged in it was 14-16 and using a dlink DWA-160 I see the same speeds as plugged in. Also with the Intel I would get a lot of "pauses" in downloads.

I need a new keyboard the JKL keys are bent down and sometimes the K comes out. Not to mention the space bar sometimes requires an extra hard push. They said they would gladly replace it but that means I'd be without it for too long and they would not send me one to swap it myself.

 

Thanks, CyberBeach. I didn't think about the upload/download times.

 

Don't get me wrong, that sounds like a sweet system, but is it really 2,200 more expensive than a similar HP with a slower graphics card and no overclocking? Is it really worth that premium?

 

I've heard that too, but I've also heard of people with plenty of ram using it and the ready boost still filling up with files accessed frequently. Kind of like a mini SSD only not your whole hard drive like some of you have setup.

 

Probably not. I run an equipment rental company and we have sold some stuff online that you don't technically have to charge tax on, and my account tells me every time he'd prefer I charge tax. In an audit he has to prove it was shipped interstate and by common carrier. Plus, he is worried about the law changing.... So he's always wanted us to charge tax anyway - better safe than sorry - we still dont know. They may be doing it just in case. I wouldn't think they would be worried on just charging a 5% markup on an item they seem to have exclusively - no need to hide it in tax.