*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

I got mine the slow boat from China as well but turns out I got my two day earlier than I was advised. I did sign up for email notification but never rec'd any emails, I just kept checking my order status and Fed-Ex. Funny thing was I was home sick and half a sleep and decided to check Fed-Ex only to see business was closed which is not is a residence and they would redeliver the following day. The Fed-Ex driver stopped back on his way back to the hub which was cool so I still manged to get the same day.

 

I can speak to the sound part..it rocks only issue is when I swipe my finger I get a distorted type bong sound but after that sound as good as you can get on laptop speakers no matter what you are listening to. If you want more sound out of your sub you need to raise it up or tilt to allow for the sound to travel but even on a flat surface and the bass and treble set med it sound awesome.

 

I played around with my tuner the other day using both the HP media and the MCE hooked up to cable direct no box and only on the digital scan only picked up 4 or 5 digital channels, yet when I hook up my Pinnacle Pro Stick USB I pick up every channel I get on my tv. I will have to play more in depth with it and then try the Pro Stick on my HP as I used it on a Dell when I last used it. The picture was clear and audio was good but I do not remember seeing the QAM set up like my Pro Stick when I scanned and for local analog and digital I live in the stick so not much reception. When I take it out of the house I will try the antenna. Also I do not recall the model of the tuner. I will check and let you know. Well I forgort to check the tuner type but I did look and the Dig QAM was there. I did not hook up the cable, but did do a set up and the internet tv was clear on both MCE and HP Media and the sound was great. I will have to hook up the antenna and see what I get now. It did up the channel guide and the channels so far so good. Just want to say thanks to all who have posted and help us out in becoming owners of this great laptop and the continued support we all get from each other on here. Have a good day all.

 

Seeing this post I will have to go back and mess with mine some more as I did not see the QAM setting. Great pic thanks for the post.

 

Thanks, sorry I have not been on in a while. I want to say it took about 5 days to be delivered on the east coast from the time it shipped.

 

BWAJHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA!!!!!

ROFLMAO @ HP putting the HP Mini 1000 as an 'option' when customizing an HDX18t.

I thought I was seeing things when they had a laptop as an option for the laptop! LOLOLOLOL

they might as well include a dv7t as an option for this thing. LMAO!

 

Well, technically, the 1000 is a netbook, not a laptop.

 

but since when did a 'netbook' become an accessory item for a laptop?

o, that's right, hp set the precedent.

the next time i buy a Hummer, I'm going to have them throw in a Honda Civic as an option/accessory.

 

Hi All,
On 12-22-2008 I posted that I've noticed heat coming from the "Caps Lock, A, S" area of the keyboard. The heat is noticable durning normal computer fuctions, such as web surfing, and gets quite hot when playing games, such as Left 4 Dead.

From my orignal post, it didn't seem like many people had this same issue, but I thought I would as again before contacting HP about it. So, has any one else noticed or had issues with heat from around the "Caps Lock, A, S" area of the keyboard? Any tips on working with HP to get this addessed if it's only my laptop?

Thanks for any info.

I have the following configuration,
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz)
Harddrive: One 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

 

HP isn't exactly "throwing in" a Mini 1000--it's $50 off normal price. So, when you go buy that Hummer, don't expect them to "throw in" a Civic, but do expect a small discount.

 

lancorp,

Just curious, what made you go for PC2-5300 memory instead of PC2-6400? Was it just price or were there other reasons?

 

LANCORP - i thought it was discounted too but it's not. It's the Mini 1010NR - 8.9" screen, xp, 8gb ssd. there is absolutely no discount on it - it's the same price as if you went to the hp site and selected the 'HP Mini 1000 XP edition' unit.

as for hummers, two is enough for me. for my next trick, i have my eyes set on the g500 mercedes. :-D

/off-topic

 

There are no 4GB DDR2-800 modules (at least that I found at the time) that didn't require a 2nd mortgage. Plus, most 667 memory is lower latency than 800 memory, so the speed difference is very minimal. (lower latency offsets higher clock frequency).

 

Oops...I saw that the retail was $299 on my previous post, but I wrongly remembered the "option price" as $249, hence I thought there were some savings.

Well, that just means that you can save more money getting a Civic with your G500 than you can a Mini 1000 with an HDX18t.

 

We all know that the GPU can be overclocked; but can the Q9100 CPU be overclocked as well? If so, how, and by how much?

 

That bong sound you are getting is currently what I have on my notebook and it is something that messes with the drivers. I spent hours and hours with tech support and there solution is a system recovery (start over). I however can not live with that noise, cause it also affects my SIP phone. I can't use it as its distorted also - but my music and movies are fine.

I install the new drivers on the HP site, do the reboot and its fine. I shut down and start back up and its back. Something keeps knocking them out.

You are not alone!

 

Quick Question for those out there.

I do the following:
- Play Games (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Crysis)
- Work with Adobe Suite CS4 as a Web Developer

Would I notice a difference between the T9600 chip or the Q9100 chip? I would be getting the 4gb of ddr3 memory with the system.

 

For those looking for a protective sleeve for the HDX18 (or other computer, for that matter), I HIGHLY recommend checking out WaterField Designs. They make a custom sleeve that you can further customize with features like flap, strap, etc. I am a picky consumer, and these sleeves are the best I have seen in terms of build and quality. Perhaps a little on the pricey side, but well worth a look. I am not currently an HDX owner, but looking to make the jump soon and was searching for a well-made case/sleeve.

 

I will have to update the drives and see what it does for mine. I get that sound from the speakers but after that no other distortion. My Studio was way worse than this one and it only last for a second. My Studio crackled hiss and they blames the speakers, the sound card and then the mother board. Back to Dell it went. I have played a few games, listen to some music but have not watch a movie yet to see if it effects those or not. I did have the tv tuner on and watch tv for a few mins and did not hear any distortion. I will check into it.

 

I checked out the site, they do have a lot of stuff and a few thing are not to pricey. Here is a link to the page that shows the sleeve for the HDX18.
http://www.sfbags.com/products/sleevecases/sizingpages/35-22.htm

 

Hi All,

For those asking about difference between 1gb & 512mb 9600m Gt.
Don't bother with the 1GB, as the memory interface is only 128bit there's no way it will address the full 1gb with any degree of speed, basically this means that the card will more than likely perform slower as it will take longer for the GPU to get hold of the stored data. You may see a SLIGHT increase in GPU dependent apps like Adobe but certainly not in games. you're better off letting the apps cache data over the 512MB range in "texture memory" (System RAM)

For those asking about O/C'ing their CPU, don't hold your breath. I've tried several overclocking apps and none of them can identify the clock generator correctly. I did some trial and error and could get close but not enough to guarantee that it wouldn't do damage to the chipset/cpu.

For the Crysis gamers out there. I've been spending quite a lot of time tinkering with settings with my card overclocked and it seems that expecting full frames with shaders on High is asking a bit much.
Best bet is to fun most everything but post processing and shaders on high and leave those 2 on Medium. Best performance is achieved running in DirectX9 mode (add -dx9 to the end of your Crysis shortcut)

jm1425: Currently the best bet would be the higher speed dual-core. As there aren't many apps out right now that can address 4 cores correctly it's kind of a waste of money. Windows 7 promises better quad-core performance so it might end up being worth it. just depends if you want to take the risk for that much $$

Cheers,

Valen

 

Ahh if only it had a zipper. Doesnt make much sense for me to get a bag that I couldnt take out if it was raining.

 

Finally, someone with some updated news on OC'ing my QX9300. Thanks dude for any updates.

 

I had this problem too but I figured out how to fix it. It appears it is something with the IDT Audio that is messing up some sounds. To fix it follow these steps: Click Start>Control Panel. Search for "sound". Click "Change sound card settings". Click "Speakers and Dual Headphones" and then click "Properties". Click "Enhancements" tab and check "Disable all enhancements" then click "OK". Repeat this for "Independent Dual Headphones" and "NVIDIA HDMI Output".

After doing this no effects for sound that are done in the IDT Audio Settings will matter. It will simply play back the audio using without touching it with effects.

----------------
Currently Listening to: Rihanna/Timbaland - Rehab (Timbaland Remix) in iTunes
via FoxyTunes

 

DON'T MEAN TO YELL BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

I second that, thanks a ton! I was sort of dreading having this problem as I wait for mine to be delivered, but I feel a lot better knowing that there is a fix!

A separate and perhaps silly question: does anyone know for sure if the 18T is compatible with Windows 7? I will want to upgrade when it comes out (classic early adopter syndrome) and would love to know for sure that it will work.

Thanks!

 

The HDX does run windows 7, I am running it in a dual boot setup on my unit. I have not installed some programs to see how they work, but I wil shortly. As far as the operating system goes, runs well, ie faster.

 

Hey,

I don't know if anyone is interested, but like to carry my HDX in a laptop bag I can role. Heavy business use. So, I tried my HDX in the laptop bag I used for my Dell Inspiron 9300. Fit just right. Here it is

http://www.ebags.com/mcklein_usa/r_...rnight/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=57800

 

Hmm interesting. Though the only reason I'm hesistating getting the 512mb version is because it's DDR2 instead of DDR3 and from I read in various boards DDR3 performance's better in gaming.

 

Both the 512MB & 1GB GPUs are DDR2. Only the system memory (RAM) changes from DDR2 (with the 512MB GPU) to DDR3 (with the 1GB GPU).

 

Exactly, and from what I have read its the VRAM being DDR3 that really makes a difference in gaming - not the system RAM, so you will see little to no gaming improvement with the upgrade.

 

Oh yeah you're the man...I will have to go home tonight and change the setting and no more bonggggg noise. Sweet.

 

The reality is, though, that the GPU is not that great anyways...a 9600M GT. I don't consider the HDX18t much of a gaming system, and the additional cost of the DDR3 upgrade (and 1GB) seems a waste.

 

Glad I could help you out rageman

 

Thanks Dnorrell,
Fantastic bags! So many configs/choices/colors will make for a difficult decision but as soon as I decide on the laptop (currently torn between the 18t and the Vaio AW290 Premium) I'll definitely buy a Waterfield bag + sleeve.

 

What is holding you back on the 18t? I narrowed it down to those two also, but I just could not justify a 100% price premium for the Vaio (when using one of the 30% coupons from HP)

 

Wow. I am not sure if this is a fix but it definitely is a temporary fix! I wish I knew more about what causes this.. By disabling all those Enhancements what else do we loose from Vista experience?

But yes, THANK YOU! It is so nice to be able to use my SIP Phone again! I had to disable it cause all the ringing and when I use it to speak was all distorted!

I am just getting ready to order another HDX and return this T9400. I think I am going to go with the Q9100 instead of the T9600. I know most applications aren't Quad Compatible but the Adobe CS4 suite from my understanding is and I use that a lot.. So I should notice a difference when working.


I do have 1 question though... Say you have a Quad Core and it has 12 MB of L2 Cache which the Q9100 does. If you are using a program that does NOT use all 4 cores, how much Cache is available to it? If the program only uses 2 cores, will it still have all 12MB Of cache available to it, or just 6MBof cache?

 

Werd! The 9600GT is still a 9600GT regardless of CPU power or RAM type. The HDX18 is a multimedia powerhouse NOT a gaming machine and it amuses me when people talk about Crysis and gaming benchmarks on this laptop.

My order is still in production and I went with the HP mainly cos of the larger screen (wanted something little bigger than 17" and still under $1300 shipped) as I'm looking for a REAL desktop replacement.

And I already have a 720p DLP projector+120" screen+XBox360+PS3 so 95% of my gaming needs are already met

 

Glad I could help! As I said, I have several of their products and will vouch for them 150%. Much better than Booq, Timbuk2 (which I still love), etc.

 

Has anyone found parts for the secondary hard drive? I know that HP charges a fortune for the second caddy, blue cushions and sata wiring, but if anyone can help for any of the parts it would really be appreciated.

 

Ah I see I ask this question earlier on about the DDR2/DDR3 and someone said the 1GB version was DDR3 looks like he was wrong. Then I'll be getting the 512mb version. I'll upgrade the system ram to DDR3 later on.

And about playing the recent released games well I plan on playing them on low resolutions as long I can get decent fps I'll be cool with it. Already seen youtube videos of people playing games like Crysis, GT4 and COD4/5 and it looks good running them in this graphics card.

 

You will NOT be able to Upgrade the system RAM to DDR3 later as the two types of memory have a different number of connectors. HP is really just ripping off everyone who wants to have DDR3 system memory by forcing them to buy the video memory upgrade!

 

You cant upgrade from DDR2 to DDR3. Thats motherboard stuff. Once you have one, youre stuck.

BTW COD4 and 5 run fine on the HDX with medium-high settings. Crysis and GT4 youll have problems if you attempt anything but low-medium.

 

Ah crap. :|

 

If your systems main memory is DDR2 you can NOT upgrade it to DDR3. The sockets are physically different. I tried and failed.

 

Sounds like Zodd just ordered the unit he didn't want - call and cancel - reorder - no big deal

 

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!

Has anyone found parts for the secondary hard drive? I know that HP charges a fortune for the second caddy, blue cushions and sata wiring, but if anyone can help for any of the parts it would really be appreciated.

 

This is the only third party option that anyone here knows about so far.

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=213

It's about $40; and is out of stock quite often. Some people here have bought it; and besides it being a bit of a tight fit, they say it works great!

 

No problem guys. I was wondering myself if anyone had this problem or if it was just me, but its good to know that I could help.

To answer what is in bold, the only thing you will lose is audio "enhancements" such as the IDT Audio Settings. I (along with most people) prefer it this way because it makes sure the audio is purely decoded or bitstreamed to your surround sound receiver.

 

I do have 1 question though... Say you have a Quad Core and it has 12 MB of L2 Cache which the Q9100 does. If you are using a program that does NOT use all 4 cores, how much Cache is available to it? If the program only uses 2 cores, will it still have all 12MB Of cache available to it, or just 6MBof cache?
[/QUOTE]

the cache is split up equally for each core, single threaded apps = 1/4 of your total cache, dual threaded apps = 1/2 etc.

unless you fully intend to frequently utilize apps that are able to address multiple cores i wouldn't bother spending that much extra $$ on the quad.


Also read someone asking about Linux earlier...

I'm running Ubuntu 8.10 x64 on my HDX. runs like a phreakin' dream!
my only issue with it was running Compiz. as it's constantly utilizing your GPU, powermizer makes it quite painful with how it keep downclocking the GPU after your animations stop playing for a few secs.. makes it quite jerky.

Have a look at ubuntuforums.org and search for "powermizer disable" you'll find a gold little script to turn the annoying thing off so your compiz animations are smooth.

I've also got ultimate ubuntu running inside a VM in my vista host and it runs perfectly!