*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

Hehe, tried to post a couple sites after you started saying you couldn't find the Gskill anywhere, and I coulnd't find it anywhere either. Thus all my posts were the best deal I could find at the time on 8gb sets of sodimm that would work. That is a great deal, congrats ed!

CC

 

lucky sob. I cant find these anywhere !!!!!!!!!

 

Just luck of the draw.

 

Some guys just get lucky!

 

Appears newegg has the 8GB PC2 6400 (FULL SPEED) ram back in stock for $575.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148232

 

Does anyone know, if all the HDX18 laptops have the same CPU cooler? Because i have ordered one with P8400 processor (a very good price), but I am planing to upgrade it to t9800 and I want to be sure, that it will be able to keep it cool.

 

Well I have the 2.8GHZ Core Duo and 4GB memory.

Mine is DD2 and 512 dedicated Graphics.

My score is a 5 as well because of the Graphics. I thought with the new Graphics and memory yours would be higher than mine.

--Rocco--

 

I've done a fair amount of searching through the thread and not found this specific issue. Wondering if anyone else has it.

My HDX18 has rogue quick launch volume and wireless controls. Specifically, after fresh restore within 8 hours of use, putting it into sleep at least once, my volume controls take off on their own doing whatever they like, randomly. Laptop can be sitting there by itself and I'm 50 yards away.

Through troubleshooting, I uninstall everything HP related and all my quick launch buttons no longer work accept I can mute volume and kill wireless. At this point, the wireless connectivity turns itself off and on randomly with no resolution.

Been in contact with HP, shipped it back, they found no problem and shipped it back to me.

Problem still exists. Pulling the battery out and shutting off the system so it has no power for 30 seconds and rebooting intact clears the problem for up to another 8 hours. Then everything begins again and continues to get worse until the above procedure is repeated.

Current resolution is to install an expresscard wireless card, this works great with the built in wireless disabled. However, the quick launch wireless button continues to cycle on its own and does delay/interrupt processes while doing so.

Anyone else? I'm about to take a chainsaw to this machine.

 

That's what I thought too. Can one of our more learned notebook experts explain this for Rocco and I and the rest of the forum readers who might not understand this? As it stands right now, I already game on the Dragon and my DV7T; I am planning to put an SSD in as my primary drive and then throw in a 500GB 7200 rpm for my ITunes movies and music videos. So I really don't see myself gaming alot on this, but I really don't understand all this difference in graphics.

 

DDR3 does not really affect graphics performance and neither does 1GB of dedicated memory (at least not in not-so demanding graphical applications). Thing is, that this graphics card simply is not capable enough to need more than 512MB of memory.

 

What is your WEI on the other machine's?
According to this there isn't anything higher than 5... a score of 6 in undefined(according to the info below)
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsvista/pages/windows-experience-index-an-in-depth-look.aspx

 

There's no stress on the ddr3 as there is on a ddr2. It does the same thing as a ddr3 but works harder when pushed to it's limit. The drr3 stays constant. When apps get more advanced in the future, you wont need an upgrade.

 

If we are talking about graphical performance, then the video card is the bottleneck in this laptop and no type of memory can improve your graphical performance, because even with DDR2 the system is more than fast enough to get the most out of 9600m gt.
I also think, that DDR3 does not have a noticable effect on overall system performance, because it has higher latencies than DDR2 and the frequency is not THAT much higher (1066MHz vs 800MHz). On the other side DDR3 should consume a bit less power and produce a bit less heat.

 

which is why im getting DD3R modules <3

 

Well I didn't mean anything rude by it. But what I meant was if I don't put a notebook where the case intended it to be carried in, I don't feel right. I guess its one of those personal feelings on things.

I apologize if I came across rude, I didn't mean it.

 

I am going to check that out, as I do prefer top loaders but the 2 that I purchased from Amazon just didn't fit the notebook where the notebook was supposed to go. I will order that one and try it out, thanks Lan!

Right now I am on my 2nd notebook with HP and just got the RMA for my first one.. I swapped the HD's out so I didn't have to reinstall EVERYTHING... Now I just have to hope they don't check all the part numbers. I don't think I did anything wrong.. 250 7200 RPM for 250 7200 RPM. I will update if the return is processed to my card and they don't have any issues with it.

The 2nd HDX 18t I got is in much better shape than the first.. There is still some bow in the left side of the keyboard. But on a scale to 1 to 10, 10 being the worst the with the 1st being a 8 this one is a 3. So I may live with it. I am still debating.

 

Anybody have any comments or Opinions about the HP xb4 Notebook Media Docking Station ?

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/notebook/notebook_hp/dock_solutions/1/accessories/KG461AA%23ABA

 

I just ordered one - I should have it in the next day or two.
Costco online has them on sale until the end of the month at $147.99 - while supplies last.
I think that is a good deal at $50 off.

HP xb4 Notebook Media Docking Station

 

I think the power adapter is not included and has to be purchased separately.
kind of a bummer there.

 

Yes, that is my understanding too.

 

You would use the one that came with your notebook. Granted you would still need to unplug if you wanted to take the notebook with you.

 

Yes it is, my brother-in-law has one for his HP and it did not come with a power supply. The keyboard is very loud when you use it.

His was defective with the 2nd VGA port for 2nd monitor. I would test that out first thing to make sure it worked. It took him 2 returns at Costco to get one that worked.

 

Hey can anyone tell me how to adjust the bass and treble settings to be SET at a certain level all the time?

Everytime I boot up the settings return to these random levels that I guess were the default and my audio just sounds weird.

I finally found that having the Base and Treble turned all the way up made the sound a lot better (normal that is to my ears) than it was before...

Are there any audio fixes that anyone recommends for the 18t. I'm loving it so far aside from the audio issues which are minor.

Last but least what are people's boot up times for Vista on this laptop? At first mine seemed to be fast/decent. Now a days though it seems to be taking a good amount of time to load up. I dunno if its because I have the Windows 7 beta on the 2nd hard drive or not but I was curious as to what others thought of the start up times.

 

Does the power adapter that came with the laptop also work with the XB4 docking station or does it need a different power adapter?

 

It works with the same adapter.

 

Vista observes your habbits and after some time starts loading your most commonly used programs into memory on boot. Result = slow booting, but faster performance after it has once loaded. You also have to take in account, that you have probably installed some programs, which load at startup, since you have bought this laptop.

 

If you check a few quotes back, someone said when they upgraded the service pack(or something like that) from the HP site, or upgraded something from HP, that the sound started working properly again. See if you can find it a few pages back.

 

JM,

No worries, I didn't take it as rude, I just still don't understand what you mean by "If I don't put a notebook where the case intended it to be carried in".

Would the HDX18 not fit the "laptop sleeve" in the Belkin Messenger you tried? Or was it just too tight for your comfort? Mine fit the pocket it was meant to go in, I was just trying to understand whether you didn't like the tightness or if the Belkin you tried didn't actually fit at all (as Lancorp said the second one he tried was too small.)

Just going for clarity in case someone else was interested in the Belkin Messenger 17 and they are no longer fitting our laptops.

CC

 

Has anyone tried the Targus CityGear laptop bag with the HDX 18? It says it fits up to a 17 inch laptop but seems to have the same internal dimentions as the XL and I hear that fit the HDX18. Here is the bag I am talking about. http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=TCG216US

I would love to know if the computer will fit before I order it.

Thanks

Brian

 

I'm not sure about that particular Targus but I have have a two year old Targus that I used for my 17 and now currently put my HDX18 into. Its snug but it fits without forcing it.

 

Hey Brian: I have that exact bag, however, my HDX 18 isnt due until Friday. If you can wait, I will let you know ASAP.

 

Yes, I have a comment.. I had this for about 35 days. Had the audio out to Logitech Z5500. One issue was because I was not using the supplied speakers, there was a buzz coming from the unit.. i "fixed" it by plugging in a headphone jack into out one of the outputs.. but yeah, that looked real pretty.
But otherwise WAS working well...
Then one day, I received this LOUD beeping coming from my HDX18, one I had not heard and it would not stop. Plus it was difficult to move the cursor to any folder or shut down menu.
Restarted... during reboot I was notified of damage during boot up and Vista would attempt to fix. Same thing with the loud beeping...
I was ready to call it quits and send in for a replacement HDX18.. but then I experimented... I unhooked the xb4 and had the power going directly to my HDX... no issues at all...
then I hooked my HDX to the quickdock... NO ISSUES>
hooked to the xb4, the same issues.
Called HP and at first was told "sorry, the 30 days has passed"... i told them the purchased was no payment for 90 days yet it wasnt guaranteed past 30 days?
around and around we went until a supervisor came on and agreed to the return for credit.
so that was my experience... i hope it was isolated, but for now I will stick with quickdock!

 

Can anyone fele a slight vibration where your left wrist rests when typing? I am assuming it is a fan.

Also, when I installed a second hard drive the vibrations became cyclic.

 

It's been a while since I've been around but I noticed there's still a question as to the microsoft rebate. I received mine in my account in Dec. so the rebate is real. it was $35x.xx based off the coupon I had used at the time (25% i think)

 

Is that what you're referring to?

 

Hi All.

Kinda off topic ATM but thought I'd share my success with overclocking the 9600m GT in this beast.

So far I've managed to get my GPU up to 650/1570/570 (Core/Shader/Memory) up from the 500/1250/400 stock speeds.

Using BIOS version F.13 A, the latest version of the GPU drivers from the HP website (7.15.11.7904 A) and Rivatuner 2.22.

Make sure you get yourself a copy of GPU-Z to confirm your clocks are actually overclocking. It's also a great Temp monitor which can output your temp readings to a .txt file so you can easily keep track of your temps while gaming.

Run up Rivatuner and modify the following settings.
(if you're running Vista, you'll need to run Rivatuner as Administrator)

Click on the "Power User" Tab and scroll down to "RivaTuner / NVIDIA / Overclocking" and change the following items to 1

(First make sure that the "Protect Database Entries" icon is not enabled..i.e. not clicked in)

EnableLowPower3DControl
EnablePerfLevelForcing
UserAlternateStartupDaemon

If you wish to be able to crank your shader speeds above 1280mhz also modify the following

In the "Power User" tab. Scroll down to "RivaTuner/Overclocking/Global"
and set the following to 100

MaxClockLimit
MinClockLimit

This allowed me to set the shaders up to 1570. I'm actually pretty sure i could go higher than this but haven't tried yet.

Click Apply/OK

Next, go back into Rivatuner and On the "Main" tab, click the arrow next to "Forceware detected Customize" and click the first icon (System Settings)

Ensure "Enable driver-level hardware overclocking" is ticked and make sure "performance 3D" is set in the combo box next to it.

Set "Force constant performance level" to "performance 3D" (very important)

That's it! you should now be able to crank your GPU as hard you are brave

I would give the beast a restart before playing with the clock speeds just to make sure that all the mods reach the registry.

Now here's the really strange thing with doing this on the HDX18's
Mine actually runs cooler in games with the overclock enabled!

Usually i get temps upwards of 85C after playing games for even a short period of time and usually well over 80C after a 3dMark06 run.
With the overclock enabled i'm lucky to hit 78C after 3 runs of 3dmark06 and only hit 80 after about 45mins of running 2 instances of rthdribl! (if you don't have rthdribl, Google it and get it! it's a great GPU stresser for testing overclocks. Run up 2 instances of it and it'll really give your GPU a push! )

Now onto the part that really made me smile.
Pre-overclock i had an average 3dMark06 score of 4072.
Post-overclock I'm getting 5444.
That's a 34% increase in score!!!

Haven't had time to give any newer games a good crank yet but I'll be sure let you all know after i get home tonight

Also if any of you have troubles getting this to work, let me know and I'll do my best to help you out.

Cheers,

Valen

Update:: Sucessfully increased clocks up to 667/1600/570 - 3dMark Score = 5506!

Note: Attempted to run at 700Mhz Core Clock, 575 Memory and system became unstable.
I'd suggest 667/1600/570 as safe maximum.

Still a massive increase though, 36% speed increase is certainly a massive effort for this card. Would be great to see some results from people running DDR3 Ram!

 

I seem to be getting frequent electrostatic shocks from the touchpad area on my HDX18. Anyone else notice this?

 

I just ordered that exact backpack to go with my hdx18. I went into best buy the other day and test fitted and it fit perfectly with a little room to spair. So go ahead and buy it, you shouldn't be disapointed.

 

Not on mine ... sounds like it's not grounded correctly.
I'd be calling up HP to get that one resolved before you short something out!

 

better off shorting it out or you'll have to send it back 3 times before they find anything. er maybe that's just me.

 

That is great news, I appreciate the help. Looking forward to picking up my new HDX18 on Saturday. With all the problems reported I certainly hope mine is OK. Being in Armenia returning it is going to be a little hard!

Brian

 

I just couldn't get it into the sleeve meant for the laptop to go in. But it did fit outside the sleeve but I didn't feel right putting the notebook there.

 

Anyone aware of any currently working good value HP coupons?

 

I had this happen to me also. Someone here suggested running the Smart Media update from HP, that seemed to work. I also had the sound controls go crazy after wiping it with a dry cloth. I suspect a static electrical charge on the quick launch bar caused it. After wiping it with a screen wipe it went away.

 

I keep my eye on www.techbargains.com everyday. They have a section just for HP coupons. http://www.techbargains.com/vendor_detail.cfm/296/HP-coupon-code

Saved $500 on my HDX18t last week using one. (30% off)

 

Did anyone notice HP just started offering System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit/31-bit) for $20?
Am I right or I just completely missed it because that "component" is next to last in a succession of useless blotware?

Please clarify this for me, I might gonna need one of those.

 

Thats awesome Valen, Thanks for the post! I've got the DDR3, but haven't overclocked the card yet. If I get up the nerve to do it myself, I'll let you know what I get.

Also, how bad did it hurt your battery life?

 

I've also found, if I close the lid (sending it to sleep) then reopen it is fine.

 

Anyone know if the T9600 is overclockable too? Any guides anywhere? I found some old stuff, but I'm not sure if it works on our HP's

 

Thats a good sign, putting it to sleep for me magnifies the problem. I had to uninstall all the smart button stuff. Still waiting for HP to "find the problem" and fix it. about to spend my 4th week in service.