*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

It comes with a sleeve that covers the entire laptop.

 

it is a cheap sleeve though - imagine wrapping it once in a black t-shirt - that is the sleeve

 

So, where, exactly, do you put the AC charger? I don't think even the Kensington thin-and-light charger will fit anywhere in this bag. Nice looking bag (sleeve), but, minimally, I need a place to keep a charger!

 

Mine was scheduled to ship today....my current status shows still 'in production' with shipping date of today

I wonder if HP is getting backed on the recent coupon orders now.......

The waiting saga continues.................

PS: Rageman, I don't have the HDX right now but judging from the reviews and user impressions, the HDX has one of the best sounding laptop speakers+bass. There's not a single mention of audio disappointment in this thread so far so that speaks for itself, I feel.

 

That is good to know. Hopefully you'll get yours soon and you'll know first hand!

 

Hi Mike,
This may be what you're looking for. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. Targus also makes bags for 18 inchers. good luck - http://www.sfbags.com/index.htm
Ed F.

 

Actually, one side of this case has snaps and a very durable, but stretchy material that held the power brick and cord easily. You can see them here. That whole side below the two snaps is a very dense webbing.



Tom Bihn sells a messenger bag called the Super-Ego that will hold this case, and is currently designing a new travel bag called the tri-star that will also hold the horizontal Brain Cell pictured above.

Neither will be cheap, but then again, I'm not carrying some $400 netbook either. I bought the Brain Cell because the sleeve HP sent was a joke. I'll decide on a bag when the Tristar comes out or I might end up buying both.

 

Question about HDTV card...

I receive HD over ATSC (antenna) and QAM (comcast) via Media Smart TV
and ...
I receive HD via ATSC (antenna) via Media Center
but...
I can't get HD to show with QAM in Media Center.

Does anyone know what need to be changed (settings / drivers)
It is obvious issue with Media Center and HD via QAM but I just wonder if this is just a matter of proper provider selection (I have at least 10 different comcast locations listed - some DT some not) or maybe some settings / update in Media Center to allow HD via cable?

 

Just ordered my HDX18....can I get a woohoo?! I'm very excited...going from my HP ZD7000 for the last 5 years to this.
My question is, I'm a full time DJ using a program that runs under Windows XP.
Is reformatting the HDX18 and installing XP a bad Idea? I don't really watch movies, although I do play games now and again. Are drivers not available for XP on this?
If I do decide to install a copy of Vista Ultimate on this, are D/Ling the drivers a snap from HP? Thanks in advance and glad to be part of the HDX Brotherhood.

Hey...by the way, I ordered it with the base processor, 3gb ram and the 360GB 5400. Thats still plenty of power, correct? I'll still see a huge diff over my old 2.0, 1gb ZD7000 I'm guessing.

 

What DJ program do you use? Are you using external storage for your music?

 

HP is pathetic .

I called them for my order since it states on the website it should have been shipped today and the person told me that I'm interpreting that wrong . According to her, "shipping date" actually means "start build date" and the laptop has gone in build today. I was like Whew The Face ! Now she's pulling a date out of her backside and stating it should be shipped out sometime next week.

Obviously, this conversation was going nowhere so I hung up since I don't have any choice but to simply wait for HP to ship out my HDX18.

This is my first HP laptop and I can tell you, the initial CS hasn't been been heart-warming at all. I just pray that I don't have to deal with HP afterwards.

SS

PS: Did anyone order their HDX sometime last weekend and has got a shipping confirmation yet?

 

I use BPM Studio Pro with an internal drive (on the HDX).
They have a Vista version...just don't really feel like forking over another $250. after I paid $600. for the xp version of the program. Also...I have vista on one home system, really think XP is way more stable and intuitive, if not quite as pretty as Vista.

 

Just so you won't be surprised - if you paid for 2 day shipping (as I did) it will 3-4 days because of customs. They do not tell you that either - until they send the confirming email. Not very ethical in my book.

 

regular ground only takes 5 business days with customs anyway

 

Unless you are running a 64-bit version of Vista, I'd just install your current version of BPM and see how it goes. I have yet to have a problem installing WinXP programs from either downloaded .exe's or installation discs. That would be a simpler first option than nuking the site from orbit, no?

 

Hi there... Just found this forum!

I purchased an HDX18t last week and it's better then I ever expected.

Getting a case was a bit frustrating, but I found the Targus CPT401DUS
Platinum Blacktop 17” Standard Laptop Case fit perfectly!

Here is the link and if you search amazon you can get it for $50 !
http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=CPT401DUS

Just wanted to share this information.

A pic of my system in that case:

 

Yeah i'm certainly not gonna bother doing a complete clean install.. that's the main thing that's put me off chasing them down for a recovery disk. I'll eventually download a copy of vista x64 off technet as I've got a couple of spare licenses sitting there for it... just can't be stuffed. I do most of my work with VM's in ubuntu x64 anyway so apart from gaming there's not much incentive for me to totally rebuild this thing just for another 1gb of RAM.

Thanks heaps for the tip's guy's! perhaps one of these days i'll stumble upon a torrent for the x64 recovery disk and reconsider rebuilding LOL

 

I bought the CPT401DUS - which is the same except it has the Dome Protection. http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=CPT401DUS
I paid about $59 on NewEgg.com

 

You are correct... that is the one I purchased... did not realize there were 2 models of that case...

I have to say the dome protection feels like it will keep the screen quite safe!

 

As for installing XP on the HDX18t... One person, here, did it and reported that it was QUITE difficult as HP does NOT supply drivers for XP. He still hadn't gotten all the fancy touch sensitive buttons to work either as I remember.

Have you considered running XP Virtually under Vista? I do it at my office using the FREE Microsoft Virtual PC, and I swear XP runs faster on my PC than the "real" XP machines around the office! Weird, but nice!

Upgrading to Ultimate would require an Upgrade version of the OS or you would have to start from scratch (upgrade version is cheaper anywho). The Vista drivers are already on the hard drive in a folder called SWSETUP (I think I rememberd that correctly...)

 

That was me and a couple of others working on it. First of all I have to apologize to the community. It was my intent to work on a step by step walk through to install XP on the HDX18. I ended up moving from Tampa FL to Seattle and got caught up with the new job.

Using the program nLite you first have to slipstream the SATA/SSD drivers into the XP install disk. This will get you to the point of installing the OS onto the hard drive. I was able to install XP x86 SP3 and XP x64 SP2 this way.

From there it's a matter of tracking down all the other widgets and drivers. Sound and video weren't hard. I was having issue with the proprietary HP media gadgets and buttons. I also have a TV tuner that I wasn't able to dig to deep in finding drivers.

 

You're excused

 

FYI,

HP has just released an update for HP MediaSmart today. Here is the link:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2100&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3769214

Find it under Software - Multimedia dated 3-2009

 

Grats! I use the same case, I love it!

 

If you go to the update page for the 1100 CTO there is also an update for Webcam.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2093&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3837630

 

Now that the Vista SP2 RC has gone public, has anyone tried it out. I seem to have an issue with mediasmart not working only under SP2

 

Thanks for the heads up. Thats the update I've been waiting for. I can finally access all the multimedia I have on my NAS. All my music, pictures and video are now easily accessable. Kudos to HP for this update. One bad point about it though. I still can't get QAM for my TV tuner. All that needs to be done is change a few registry settings, but I don't know which ones to change.

 

Thanks ljcook! My apologies for not mentioning that the link I posted was for the 1000 CTO.

 

I got this in the e-mail today for my HDX18 that I ordered last week followed by a $50 giftcard coupon code (HP, I'm not mad anymore ;-))

_________
Dear Valued Customer,

Due to product constraints of one or more components in your custom PC,
we will be unable to ship your order on the original estimated ship
date. The revised estimated ship date for your order is 3/6/2009 or no later
than 7 business days from the original estimated ship date. If you
prefer not to wait you may cancel your order and receive a prompt refund
by either replying to this email message with your order number or
calling our toll-free customer service number at 866-217-6014 between
7:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M. (ET) Monday through Friday or on Saturday between
10:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. (ET).

If we do not hear from you before we ship your order, we will assume you
have agreed to this shipment delay and still want your custom PC order.
We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may have caused and thank
you for your patience. Following this email you will receive a HP Home &
Home Office Store $50 coupon due to the delay of your order.
______________________

Might pick up a printer with the giftcard while awaiting my lappie.

 

Heads Up: Be sure to use the coupon code ASAP because there will be an expiration date that is not stated in your email.

 

The holy grail has arrived...

...sort of. 1TB 2.5" SSDs have been announced. No word on pricing and availablity as of yet.

I've been looking at the laptop SSDs for a bit and was thinking the other day that SSD capacity is going to exceed the current crop of 500 GB HDD any day now. I mean the 500 GB 7200 RPM drives were just released last month to the masses.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Puresilicon-936099.html

Can't wait to drop 2 of these drives in my HDX-18. Of course, when the prices drops to mortal levels.

 

I think you meant 1TB SSD Thanx for the news!

 

hey guys, i'm thinking about getting one of these suckers.

do they rule? i was really impressed with it from the review on this site ( http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4610)

is the reflection really that much of a pain? is it back-breakingly heavy? give me your thoughts on everything HDX18-related!

 

I am going to get one too. I read through several hundred pages in this thread and learned a ton.

 

can any of you guys tell me what the difference between the regular blu-ray read-only drive and the "lightscribe" drive?

it's only a difference of $15... what's the story?

edit: disregard, i figured it out. sorry, dumb question!

 

What did you order spec wise? Mine is supposed to ship 3/6 so was curious if I may receive the same.

 

I've had two of these shipped to me, with standard shipping. In both cases, they shipped from the factory on Friday, and arrived at my door (in California) on Monday. Perhaps I'm just lucky.

 

Yes, it rules. I have a 1st gen, fully loaded (at the build date) Dell XPS 700 downstairs and I have not once used it since I got the HDX18. There is a hefty bit of reflection, but my solution has been to brighten the screen to compensate... thank God they provided the simple key combo to adjust that at will. Yes, it is heavy. When you add in the power brick, my hard-sided Bihn Braincell, and other cords, mice, etc. The whole package can exceed 10 pounds. But if light and easy is what you need, you wouldn't be looking at something this big anyway.

So, it's expensive, heavy, mirror-like in normal light, and OMG it RULES!!! Suck it up, get a good protective pack with a sturdy strap, and make all the "netbook nancies" jealous when you whip out a REAL computer.

 

Second all this whole heartedly! Great value too.

 

I pretty much had the standard config except the following:
T9400, 3G DDR2 RAM, 7200rpm HDD.

Don't really know what's causing the delay. Anyway, with that $50 giftcard coupon, I picked up a AIO printer last night for $ZERO so that was the highlight of this delay saga. My new shipping ETA is tomorrow so I'm not that worried anymore.....at least I got a free printer

 

Everyone should know that w/ any custom HDX you get a free printer as is. When you customize the HDX click ADD PRINTER then there is a printer that is $79 w/ $79 rebate.

I hope you saw that when you checked out SSingh1975!

 

Really? Crap.

 

Yeah, and there is no delay on the printer. It ships right away.

 

No need to rub it in

 

^ It's alright......for $1298 shipped for the HDX with a 'free printer', I really can't complain. Its just I was off from work tomorrow and monday so that would have given me more time to get accompanied with my new second wife but well.......

I'm currently using HP6910p (work laptop) so I can wait till next week when I'll finally receive the HDX.

PS: You were right about the printer..already got a shipping confirmation for the printer that I ordered last night

 

Wow man, looks like you got a hell of a deal. I am assuming you used a 30% off coupon.

I have to wait until April to get mine. I've been pricing out different options and am looking about about $1350 for mine (w/ the coupon).

Can't wait to hear about it when you get it!

 

the free printer looks like a sweet deal...

do you guys think i should go for it and get my HDX 18T with a Blu-Ray writer? i'm going to get the read drive either way, but I don't know if it's worth it to splurge... i guess it would prepare me for the future where we all have blu-ray drives in the sides of our heads...

 

The lightscribe allows to etch or burn labels, pics etc to the face of the disc lfor example you could have a vacation pics or vids and burn a picture of the landscape or the title to the disc instead of breaking out the magic marker.

 

That boils down to do you think you will really use it that much now as the furture is a ways off. If you are only into burning movies and music it maybe a bit over kill. Look at the cost of the drive the costs of the disc and see if you really need it or not. If you burn music you can run into problems trying to play it you car's cd or any other cd players and so on. So give it some thought.

 

At first it can be a pain in bright lighted areas as you see yourself which you are not used to seeing in a laptop unless you have had a glossy screen. You get used to it after a while. In a dark or dim setting it not a bother. I have had mine for just over two weeks and can't get enough of it. I use it and play around with every chance I get. I just moved my itunes/ipod lib over to and had that playing all day while I did things around the house. The sound is awesome, you would think you were listening to a a set of regular stereo speakers. As for the weight is a tad heavy but not overall back breaking. I did notice I picked up a laptop cooler with an adjustable base, thats where the weight came in at the low to mid setting it wanted to fall backwards off the cooler but on the high it was not too bad . You will have to keep the weight and size in mind when you look at things like that. Good Luck