*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

Ok, so let say you order the HDX18t with Vista 32bit (ok, I did this!)...
as i really don't want any headaches with hardware...
so, in the future, i want to change to vista 64 bit. Can i purchase the software and just do a fresh install or do i need to purchase via HP to include their software bundle?
thanks!

 

My guess is, you could just order the HP Recovery DVD set for Vista 64 and install that. You will lose your data because you cannot upgrade from 32 to 64 bit, only a clean install.

I'm going to order a set of those Recovery DVD's just to see what is included, and I'll post back the findings.

 

Does anyone know the location of where these will be shipped from?

 

Kunshan, China

 

Thanks, where is that on their site? I may order one as well...

 

https://warp2.external.hp.com/driver/dr_country_select.asp?Product=508525-001&lang=en&cc=us

Vista Ultimate is at:

https://warp2.external.hp.com/driver/dr_country_select.asp?Product=508540-001&lang=en&cc=us

You need a serial number to buy so you have to wait for your HDX18t to arrive....

 

Thanks Lancorp!
So even though my model will have 32 bit, I will be able to order the 64 bit, right?
sorry if that is a dumb question, but just want to be clear and be prepared.

 

I just tried, using my HDX16t serial number (which came with Vista 64), to buy the HDX18t 32bit Recovery CD, and it took it fine. I didn't go all the way to confirming the order, but I got that far.

I can't guarantee 100% it will work, but it seems like it should from my trial...

 

again, thanks!
I will give it a shot once the hdx18 arrives. one last question (oh who am i kidding, there will be more to come!)...
I would need to purchase a license for the 64bit ultimate, right?

 

Only if you bought Home Premium with the computer. If you bought 32bit Ultimate, then the same product key works.

There is a 64bit Home Premium recovery kit, though...

 

No can do. HP wants me to cancel and re-order. No way I'm doing that. I guess I'll have to purchase the 64bit cd. One of you guys said it would wipe all data. Does that mean once my laptop arrives and I install the 64bit thingy from the cd, it'll wipe away all the pre-installed software on the hdx18 fresh from the factory?

 

From what I've read, yes. Microsoft states you cannot do an in-place upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit. It requires a reformat and reinstall. But, at least with the HP Recovery CD, it should have everything you need...I would guess that is what it is for!

 

This is really getting annoying that they still do not have the quad core back on the site yet. Has anyone called asking about an ETA?

I am sitting here waiting to spend my $2,400 on a laptop and I wont until they put the quad back up...

 

ok, just checked and it is with Vista Home Premium.
but as long as i can do the 64b Home Premium, i should be ok!
thanks for your help!

 

What if you go thru the app site, add the configured notebook into your cart. Then open a new browser, go thru the live cashback site onto the hp site, then just click checkout.....

 

I'm in the same boat here. I just ordered a 16t as backup.

I still want the 18t but not until they are offering the Quad Core processor and the 4G memory option is back up there. It would be nice to use a coupon along with that but even if it's not available I'll still buy it.

 

Anybody's HDX18t ship yet? If you were a "day one" purchaser, today is your estimated ship date! Log in to your account and see if it shows "Shipped". Sometimes, those shipment notification emails lag a day.

I had two ordered from day one, but cancelled them in order to use the live.com cashback. Now, I have to wait until the 17th! (Quad Cores, too...I can't wait!).

 

Mine is supposed to ship tomorrow. Really hope it gets here by Friday!

 

Mine was shuppose to ship today, 10/14. Status has not change.

 

Any word on the returns of the 4GB Ram and the Quad Core? How about an appearance by the 7200RPM HDs??

I'm starting to get a little impatient. It doesn't help that I can get an ugly 15 incher with 1920x1200 Res, 320 GB @ 7200rpm, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 3.06GHz X9000 Dual Core, and of course the 9800M GT 512MB DDR3 GPU for only $2700 at microworks. I blame society for making me so **** superficial.

Anyway, enough with the rant. Back to HDX18. Any tips on picking up the basic package with the T9600 processor, and souping the rest of her up with:

2 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822148336

and 1 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820145200

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

I've got those drives waiting to be put into my HDX, and from what I've experienced using one in an enclosure, they're fast and quiet.

The RAM, on the other hand... that's desktop DDR3... you want 200-pin DDR2.

 

could anyone post the new hp wallpaper that ships with this laptop?

 

Mines sent to be shipped out on the 23rd of October 2008....

 

Those sound like top of the line stuff. I'm saving them as bookmarks in case I decide to do the whole manual switching out thing.

Thanks. I'm gonna call HP today to see what's going on...

 

This has been asked like four times in this thread already. No one has their's yet, so it'd be a bit difficult to put up the wallpapers just yet. Be patient.

 

Still no tracking number as of this morning. The waiting is killing me. I got a 4GB DDR2 waitting to be swap.

 

Got mine 2 days ago. Will post wallpaper. Got the p8600 and 3Gb and bluetooth. Am disappointed with the reflectivity of the screen. Otherwise great machine. Fan is audible but not too bothersome. It is going back as the same config got $180 cheaper this week. Will turn out 1200 after live cb and printer rebate. Good deal. Does anyone know whether the aspire 8930 or vaio AW screens are much better?

 

Got mine 2 days ago. Will post wallpaper. Got the p8600 and 3Gb and bluetooth. Am disappointed with the reflectivity of the screen. Otherwise great machine. Fan is audible but not too bothersome. It is going back as the same config got $180 cheaper this week. Will turn out 1200 after live cb and printer rebate. Good deal. Does anyone know whether the aspire 8930 or vaio AW screens are much better?

 

You got yours already????? How can that be? To get it two days ago, it would have had to ship about 3 days before that, and the first ones ordered were slated to be shipped on 10/14...

Anyways, I'd just call HP and ask for a credit for the difference, because they hate taking things back.

How about posting a picture or two of the new unit?

 

This is even a better deal on RAM and includes a FREE USB 4GB thumb drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227251&Tpk=N82E16820227251

 

lancorp - just wondering - where did you get your 8gb upgrade for your hdx dragon? did you get the new egg upgrade?

thanks in advance,
- tsd

 

timesquaredesi-- Is your dv7t 320 gb hard drive dual 160's or one 320? Also, is it 7200 rpm?

I ask because I was originally going to get dual 320GB hard drives at 7200 rpm, but now HP offers one 320 gb 7200, which would cost considerably less. Do you think I would lose any performance for video editing/games if I went with the 320GB over the 640GB?

 

Yes, it's the G.SKILL stuff from Newegg. I got it when they were selling them singly, but now I see they sell them as an 8GB KIT.

I've got a couple more sets coming that I got from NCIX on ebay, with 30% cashback, the price was $105 for each 4GB module!! Woohoo!!!

 

lancorp thanks for the heads up. now i have to find $400 because i want this machine to be the sickest!@# lol .

I have a single 320gb drive. although the duals would definitely be faster, i dont see any reason that you would NOT be able to do video editing and play games on a machine with a single drive...

i play unreal 3 a lot on my machine and the graphics/processing power are more than enough to play this at high settings.

as for video editing, i have not done this so i can't really say but i am sure there are tons of people doing video editing on single hd setups.

if you need the space, go for the duals or just get an external usb/firewire/esata drive. when i got my machine, i also bought a 750gb western digital mybook which was on sale for $119 .

also keep in mind that if you go with a single drive, you can ALWAYS upgrade to a dual setup in the future. i am considering moving to dual 500gb's once the drive prices fall into a 'reasonable' range ;-D

 

Same here.

Come on HP! Send me my laptop!

 

Thanks, I'm just thinking it might not be worth the extra $400 just to have a second 320GB drive, so I think now that a single drive is available, I'll take the savings!

 

exactly, that's my plan too. take that savings for $400 and buy extra drives with it. i think the WD or hitachi 500gb drives are now around the $200 mark --BUT-- i am not sure if they would fit in the dv7t casing. some people say yes, some say no. i dont want to buy 1tb of drives for $400 then find out they dont fit =P

l0l. im going to wait until google tells me for sure.

 

Do you have another bracket? I keep hearing about how if you get a dv7t with a single drive, there is no second bracket to be able to put in another drive. Is this really the case?

 

yeah, there is no bracket. someone had posted a link in the dv7t forum to a place that sold the bracket - it was like $40 or $50 bucks.

ps, the 500gb WD's have come down in price considerably:

http://www.buy.com/prod/500gb-caviar-2-5-sata-ii-black-3-5/q/loc/101/209246493.html?dcaid=17937

when i looked at this drive like a month and a half ago, it was $190...

i told myself im buying two when the price gets to $130.... $147 is so close tho... and very tempting............

 

Alright, another scenario:

If you had a choice to either:

Go from 4GB ram to 8GB ram

or

Add another 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive

Which would you choose?

 

LOL. i personally would pick the ram because i dont really need more disk space ON my machine. my 750gb external is more than enough.

funny enough tho - i only use like 3gb ram max. i would simply go up to 8GB for the 'WOW' factor.

at this point in time, my machine is 'high end' or pretty high up there.... i want 1tb of disk space and 8gb ram to drop people's jaws.

that is, they would be in awe for at least for a week until the machine gets out-dated.

hahahaha

 

I hear you, it's like, we don't really neeed the extra upgrades, but it's just so nice knowing you have such a powerful computer! But, like you said, after purchasing it, I seriously wouldnt want to look at any new computers for a couple years, as I know they will have more options!

Funny thing is, when I read the specs to my wife, she has no clue what the difference is!

 

LOL, lets do some math....

two 500gb drives = ~$300 or $330 ($147 each times 2 + tax/shipping/etc)
8gb ram module from new egg = $329.99

so added that up you have a price between $630 and $660...

for that price, you can practically get another laptop... especially with the HP coupons (like $400 off any laptop over $1200, or 30% off a laptop, etc).... just another thing im throwing around in my head.

after getting my dv7t (which replaced a 4 year old emachine desktop i had as my main machine!), i have become addicted to buying crazy machines.... =(

 

lol too bad I didn't notice that... but... "High Performance Dual Channel Flash Drive"?? What a load of crap marketing-speak. That kind of stuff makes me mad.

I ran the G.Skill memory I got through memtest86 and it's fine, so I won't cry over not seeing the OCZ deal.

EDIT: For those considering the 8GB laptop memory, please pay attention to the difference from the 4GB sticks- currently, along with being more expensive, the 8GB sticks are PC2-5300 rather than PC2-6400. At least from everything I've seen so far.

 

pdx - yeah, i noticed the speed is slower. i think the faster 8gb upgrade WAS available thru crucial.com but for like a grand. LOLOL. so it comes as no surprise that it's no longer on their website. it's probably just better to wait for the 8gb upgrade (higher speed ram) to come down in price.

at least they didn't use the current 'high definition' buzz words - applicable or not. hahahaha...

ps, you have to see my new High Def carpet. its amazing.

 

Ok, so mine is being shipped 10/17 with the 250GB single drive...
I am assuming there would be an open space to add a second HD?
if I assume correctly, what is the max size I could add and does anyone have any good links to purchase?
THANKS!

 

LOL, I'm sure my High Definition CAT would love that carpet!

BTW I got my Logitech Z-5500 speakers set up and my QuickDock waiting for the HDX, so I'll let you know when I figure out the sound situation.

That system rocks! The first thing I did was play some Bass Outlaws... lol. It kicks almost as hard as my 500W JBLs

 

Could someone look to see if the hard drive requires a special bracket and pin adapter? My plan is to run two HDDs and I would like not to pay the high price hp wants for a second drive. (Especially, since I will replace both drives.) Also, if it does require a bracket, please post a picture of it and any numbers on the bracket. For my DV9700, the bracket was the same as many other hp laptops. I found a second bracket on ebay that worked even though the hp part number was different from the dv9700 one.

 

I guess this is where my confusion lays:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4610

it shows the bays for two hard drives.
however, i just "chatted" with HP customer service who states there is no bay for a 2nd HD.
can someone confirm? and i apologize if my answer is already in this forum, but i couldn't find it.
thanks!!

 

There are two places to put hard drives, but you only get one bracket if you buy it with one drive.