*HP HDX18 Owners Lounge*

Just bought an 18t! Its in transit right now, cant wait! Anyone modify it to a SSD yet?

 

I have been considering this as well.

It could be a really expensive and painfully slow backup option. I believe it has a 2X burner for Blue-Ray and I can only imagine how long it would take to burn a 50GB Blue-Ray disc at that speed.

Plus, like Assistchief52 said, factor in the price of Blue-Ray discs. It looks like you can get a 25 pack anywhere from $70 to $100.

For me, I have pretty much decided to just get an external 1TB eSata drive for my backups. It'll be about the same price as the upgraded Blue-Ray burner, and I won't have to buy those expensive Blue-Ray discs.

 

the costs of the discs puts me off... i can't imagine paying that much for a couple pieces of plastic. and i guess the writing speed would be pretty slow at this point.

i think i'll just do the blu-ray reader. i have a 1tb hard drive, so i can do my backing up with that.

 

so i was wondering can anybody explain what is the purpose of having the blue ray burner what makes it different then regular burners if i may ask i been hearing so much about the blue ray disc it seems to be the new hot thing

i hope nobody laugh at my question though i just have a regular burner i dont understand why you would want to upgrade to the blueray burner is it better or something what are the benefits thanks a ton

 

Your benefits is the picture and sound which are to be perfect. You also can store more on a disc. But as mentioned in an earlier post it burns slow. If your a techy and want the best possible picture and sound on your disc the burner is a way to go but it you want good quality and sound that is tried and true stick with the blu-ray player and a regular burner.

 

'Regular' Burners =Read/Write standard DVD's only
'BR' Burners=Read/Write Standard DVDs PLUS BR media/movies

In case you've been living in a cave for the last year or so, BR won the Hi-Def war between Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony/Pioneers BR (other companies backing up BR as well but Sony/Pio were key) and all movies being released at this time are released on 2 formats only...standard DVD and BR.

BR is supposedly the next hi-def media of choice for HT and most adapters (like me) have already began our transition from regular movies to a collection of BR movies.

Having a BR burner simply enables one to make personal copies of such BR media (this IS legal btw as long as you purchased the original BR movie and not using the copied content for distribution).

Of course, if you are not worried about BR in the first place, then you don't need to give a rat's backside to the whole BR concept at all but going with a BR drive will make the laptop future-proof in the long run ....unless digital streaming wins over and BR becomes Beta-VHS

Right now, BR media is typically suited more for movies rather than data content as for regular PC data, I'd rather have my 320G WD External pocket HDD than try to burn data onto a BR disk with a sllloooww BR burner.

 

Some people have tried SSDs, but last I remember people had some issues with Vista. I think I was because Vista cant optimally make use of SSDs without some tweaking on your part.

 

I have a G.Skill Titan 256 in mine. I have done some of the tweaks but not all of them. Here's a HD Tune test of mine.



The drop on the graph at 65% is when it switches from the C:\ to the E:\ partition. I'm very happy with the performance of this drive.

 

I don't believe the drop at 65% is because of the change in partition. The reason is, I have the same drop at 65% with the Titan, and I have a 128GB model, and my C: is more than 65% of the total drive space (I'm not even sure at this moment that I have an E:...my C: may be 100% of the drive).

In any case, we both have that drop at 65%, you have 256GB, and I have 128GB. Not to mention, even if we had two partitions, why would there be a difference in data transfer rates? It's memory chips, not a physical location on a spinning disc....all parts of the memory chip should access at about the same rate...

I think there is some anomoly with the Titan.

 

Perhaps you're right, but here's another persons test of the Titan 256 with no drop at 65%. However this person is using Windows XP.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30886&d=1235182056

 

XP and what computer? Is it even an HDX18t?

 

Hi I am thinking of get this and was wondering if the accidental drop insurance they have is worth it.

 

It really depends on how hard you are on your computer. If you drop them alot - absolutely. For the average person, you are much better off sticking the money in your own pocket and saving it for your next computer. Also, make sure you read all the fine print, because there are usually limitations to fixing certain components, modifications you can make, times they will repair... Consumer reports, Bortz, and all those guys will always tell you its a rip off, but again maybe not if you are really hard on them. Though, you probably wont be carrying a computer this big around much anyway!

 

The fine print says it covers one major component per year... one motherboard, one screen, etc.. The rest of the repair cost is on you. For me personally, this particular HDX18 is going to suffer a fatal accident towards the end of my 3 year plan, and I'll work with the insurance company on replacing it with the future-current technology. I look at the cost of the plan as a downpayment on my next laptop.

 

I luv HP....no, seriously, I do!!

After the delay with my order, not only did they give me a $50 giftcard but I got a shipping e-mail today and when I looked up the status, it's actually out for delivery .

Appears HP bumped up my shipping from 3-5 day to 2nd day air with no extra charge .

+1 for HP.

I'll post my inital impressions+photos later, peeps.

 

No it's a Lenovo Thinkpad T400. So do you think it's a Vista problem or a hardware problem with the HDX18t ? The Titan obviously performs better in the Lenovo with XP. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of Windows 7 and give that a shot.

 

This is my first post to this thread although I've spent a few hours here searching for the info I'm hoping to get from some helpful person here.

HP is replacing a 4-year-old Compaq X6000 for me under warranty. It was a 17" so they originally gave me a dv7t, and then another dv7t, and then another dv7t, and then a fourth dv7t, all of which were either configured wrong or defective. (3-month process herehttp://forum.notebookreview.com/images/smilies/frown.gif )

Anyway, last night they agreed to give me an HDX18 for my troubles which the very helpful, (if a bit inept) case manager and I configured as below:

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz)
4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
FREE Upgrade to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display
Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
No TV Tuner w/remote control
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard
Primary battery 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity software No Productivity Software

Now, bear in mind this is a replacement for a 4-year-old 17", so I've no reason to be picky at all, but before I reply to the case manager's email and thus place an order for the above specs I was hoping the other people here could give me some advice as to my choices. I can basically make any selections I want on their site as long as I keep the cost where it is with the above configuration .

So, here goes. I was thinking about dropping the video card to the 512MB from the 1GB and instead getting Vista Ultimate 64 and the T9600 processor instead of the T9400. HP tells me that the video memory is GDDR3, not 2 on the 1GB and 512MB cards. They confirmed that they were not talking about the system memory when they said "3". But I am hesitant to do this. I've always heard that the larger the MB for the card, the faster the card, and I think that four years ago this was accurate.... Am I wrong?

How much better is Ultimate than Home Premium? If just encryption I can do that myself. And can you still order a cd with Ultimate for the 16 or 20 dollars after you have the serial number for your pc?

How about the T9400/1GB NVIDIA vs. the T9600/512MB NVIDIA for gaming applications? Any thoughts?

Any other thought on my situation/choices?

Thankshttp://forum.notebookreview.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Dropping the video card to the 512MB makes sense. You won’t see a difference in video performance on this system. This has been discussed many times on this forum. However, a different system board is used and the system memory would go from DDR3 to DDR2. I don’t think you would see much difference from this either, but if you decide to upgrade to 8GB of memory the DDR2 would probably be cheaper currently with DDR2. However, if you want to do that later on, DDR2 might not be available.

I like the T9600 processor for the difference in price. Not a large difference in performance though.

Vista Ultimate is not worth the extra money IMO. Some have installed Ultimate from the Recovery Disk.

I don’t do any gaming, but what I gather from those who do, the T9600 would be slightly better. The 1GB NVIDIA wouldn’t matter. The 512MB NVIDIA has been successfully overclocked on the 18t. How to do that can be found elsewhere on this forum also.

Hope this helps.

 

For your money and needs - absolutely no Vista Ultimate - essentially worthless for what you described. Get the T9600 and use the additional money to get 250gb 7200 X 2 hard drives. If nothing else this will give you the caddy and cords to swap it for an SSD as prices come down (major upgrade in speed).

I have not read any review yet that have said the 1GB is better than 512mb and many say it is slower. The gain from the system RAM being DDR3 is 5% if even that much. The Video ram on the graphics card is NOT DDR3 on the 512 or 1gb versions. I know this for a fact and me and some other guys have verified this with GPU-Z too. I have the 1gb and was under the impression the video ram was DDR3. The customer service people do not understand the difference. They are taught the RAM is DDR3 and multiple reps couldnt even look up the info on the VRAM and couldn't even tell me it was DDR2. Bottom line in game the DDR3 in video ram would be a bonus, but it is NOT offered on this system.

One side note - if you go with the 512 card and DDR2 for system ram, you cannot upgrade it to DDR3 later - some of the guys have already tried.

Bottom line get the faster CPU and then consider a bet hard drive config.

 

The only difference between what they are offering you and what I actually ordered is the processor... I went with a Q9100 quad proc to take advantage of both current image software and future applications. I play WoW on a very crowded server and still get 30+ FPS at the auction house in IF and Dalaran vs 15-20 on my old Dell XPS 700 desktop.

I'm not going to bother to debate 1GB vs 512GB... I wanted DDR3 and there was only one way to get it. will it be possible to get an upgraded nVidia card with DDR3 VRAM in the future? Anything is possible but the machine gets 5 stars as I configured it right now. Future options are only a bonus.

 

I doubt it. HP has put a whitelist in the bios for what wifi cards that can be used. I'll bet they do the same for the video cards too.

 

Hi everybody!

Somebody knows what is the music plays in a trailer of HDX18 noutbook?
http://h71016.www7.hp.com/html/inte...owLink=default&jumpid=undefined&usePopup=true

 

I am pulling the trigger Monday on a 18T and am contemplating buying a laptop from one of the retailers like amazon, fry's, staples, etc...

My wants are:
OS: 64 bit
Processor: Not an issue the 8400 would suffice
Memory: 4gb DDR2
Hard drive: Would like a 7200rpm drive but not a killer. nor is size
Video: 512
DVD: standard blueray with dvd burner
Wireless: with bluetooth
TV Tuner: Yes but not a must have

With the $400 coupon it comes to $1,487.34.
Do you think I can beat that?

 

I run the 9600 and the 512mb and this system does not skip a beat. As for Ultimate and Home Prem. I had Ultimate before getting my HDX18t and after reading several post on here the difference is small. As it was point out and after thinking about Home was the to go. I do not even miss the few things that are on Ulitmate vs home. i.e. A few games and the rest is buisness related which you do even see. The Home Prem will suite your needs. As for the DDR2 or 3 it comes down to cost and will you need it for what you do or are planning to do on the laptop and if you plan on upgrading at some point in the future. I went with the DDR2 as when it becomes time to upgrade the technology will be even further and I will look to buying a new laptop. The set up you mention about changing to works well. I have read some gamers have no problems playing various games on the laptop. But if you are not a hard core gamer than what you want to swap out and go for should do the job.

 

Yes that appears to be a good deal. They had a coupon being offered when I built mine on the HP home office site via company discount and save an addl. 250.00 off the company discount, Overall I think I saved just around 500.00. I have a faster processor and the tv card and 7200 250 x 2 gb (500gb)hard drive along with the 512mb vid card and I paid about 1700.00. So as long as the thing you mention are not a big deal...Pull the trigger. Also did you look on Tigerdirect.com or google cheaper prices. Sometimes it pays to look around. Good Luck

 

BADWOLF,

I noticed you have the 8GB PC2-6400 memory that I have ordered for my HDX18t. Can you tell me what differences you noticed after installing it?

Does it boot faster?
Does the battery last longer on a charge?

Any info you could give me would be appreciated. I don't game, but I do just about everything else including high definition video editing and large macro and script driven spreadsheet applications. My C: drive is an SSD (Intel 80GB) and the secondary drive is a 320GB 7200rpm mechanical drive which I intend to replace with a large capacity SSD later on. Thanks in advance for whatever info you can give me.

 

It's hard to say if it boots any faster. I was using a 4GB USB Flash dongle and Readyboost before I went to the 8GB's of RAM. I can tell you that with 8GB's of RAM and Readyboost your system will slow down. I did some before and after benchmarks on the memory. With the 8GB Crucial memory there was a slight improvement in the read, write, and copy times, and a slight decrease in the latency.

I havn't noticed any change in the on battery time.

 

If you get one of HP's %30 off coupons, absolutely you can beat it.

 

Such is true but the last 30 off coupon is not any good and I dont think I want to wait.

 

My understanding is that the speed ratings for different media (CD vs DVD vs BR) are not comparable. Doing some searching, it looks like a "1x" rating for a CD means 150KBPS, while "1x" for a DVD means 1.25MBPS, and "1x" for a BR means 4.5MBPS.

So a 2x BR burner is 9MBps, which is equal to about 7x DVD, which is equal to 60x CD.

 

I know many of you have been interested in a comparison between a quad and duo core processor. I was able to run a bunch of benchmarks on 2 HDX18T's with the same hardware. I also did some benchmarks after I overclocked the graphics card. I posted the results over in the Hardware section of the board becuase I thought it applied to more people than just us HDX18t users. Hope you guys like it!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4605695#post4605695

 

The video card is embedded into the motherboard. Its been mentioned before in this thread. A couple thousand posts back I believe.

 

Maybe they will start making Expresscard Video Cards.

 

haha XD that would suck. not sure what the max data transfer rate for the express card bay is though =O

 

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/03/04/amd_4830_and_4860/

It seems that, ASUS Notebook in 2nd second half of this year is the way to go.

 

Nah, I'll stick w/ Nvidia.

 

After hearing all those people who just bought the best new best-bang-for-the-buck laptops out there right now the ASUS W90 complaining about all the problems theyre having, ASUS is inching closer and closer to that list of manufacturers to never touch. I.e. Dell/Alienware. Although an ATI option would be great. Then again a non integrated nVidia 9600 would be ideal.

Anyway, does anyone know if this fits the HDX 18??

http://shop.samsonite.com/storefront/product-view.ep?pID=936945XX

Thanks.

 

THANKS HP! AND THANKS TO RYAN PRESLEY @ HP !

Well, finally getting to the happy resolution of my October 4th HDX18 order.

CHAPTER 1
In October, I ordered a quad-core HDX18. The quad-cores were a very cheap upgrade at that time (introduction of the HDX18 shipping). After several weeks waiting, I got an email stating that there was a technical problem on the quad-core, and I could switch to dual and save 50 bucks. I said no thanks, I'll wait. I then got an email that my order had been cancelled.

CHAPTER 2
So I called customer service and they said, okay, no problem, we'll reinstate ie place a new order. I confirmed verbally several times that it was a quad and was assured it was. But when the order appeared on the site, it was the dual-core. So I cancelled it.

CHAPTER 3
I had a few emails back and forth with HP's Ryan Presley, and he said okay, when they make the quads available again, he'll give me the same break on the price. But then it was December, holiday time, and I was too busy to set up a new computer.

CHAPTER 4
In January over the MLK weekend, the 30% coupon was back in effect, I started an order on Saturday but had a question so I waited until Tuesday to get it answered, and when I went to complete the order, the 30% coupon was gone (uses used up).

CHAPTER 5
So I wait patiently and then end of February, 30% coupon is back, I order the HP, and when it ships, Ryan gives me the original difference in quad-core price as a discount.

EPILOGUE
The HDX18 shipped Thursday out of Shanghai, cleared Achorage, and is now in Oakland.

Of course, this was a fully-loaded HDX (and I mean fully) so I got a good deal and HP still is getting several $K from me, so it's good all around.

Although this thread has slipped into the way-back pages of the forums, I wanted to acknowledge HP for making good when I was ready several months after the original issue. And special thanks to Ryan Presley as well.

 

REGARDING CASES:

My strategy has always been to use a regular backpack because it doesn't scream "steal my laptop" and because I bring my computer into a lot of non-corporate settings where the black-leather look is lame. (Of course, for flying I have a rolling corporate thing and I get 3 laptops into it!)

To protect the laptop a little, I have been using neoprene slipcases for more than 10 years from a little company called The Pouch (thepouchinc.com). Their website is 1998-style but they are reliable. Also, you can order custom slip cases of any size for anything. You can give them dimensions of a computer or device and they will make one that fits.

They have a straight-slipcase model and they have a bag with a strap and a side-pocket. Although I usually get one with a strap and side-pocket, I wouldn't recommend banging around town with a thin neoprene case alone. However, it's good inside of other protection like a rolling case or backpack.

This is not the protection equivalent of the "brain-cell" case mentioned a few pages back, which looks pretty interesting actually.

But it is thick enough to make sure your laptop doesn't get demolished by a simple thing like a pen floating around inside your backpack that gets smashed against the laptop case as you move around. I have had my backpack roll off the front seat of the car onto the carpeted floor during sudden stops many times and never gotten any laptop damage.

It's another option to consider...

 

REGARDING QUAD-CORE:

Just FYI, in Vista, you can set something called affinity for any program and that will cause it to run on a specific processor. So if you're running one of those real-time backup programs, or SQL Server on your laptop (I do), that's one way to take advantage of the quad cores.

 

Thanks for the link, I might pick one up for just bopping over to the local Starbucks.

I picked the Tom Bihn bag because I needed a hard-sided case for travelling. Having invested quite a bit on this personal laptop, I want something sturdy and the corrugated plastic covered in foam and nylon cloth not only protect against spilled drinks but also against over excited flight attendants trying to cram another bag in the overhead bin. I strongly recommend them for anyone travelling.

Thanks again for the link.

 

About The Pouch:
$110.95 for a strapped pouched? Ouch.
http://www.thepouch.com/pavilion-HDX.html

 

Case Logic has a case coming in April...$79.99

http://www.caselogic.com/case_logic/18_laptop_case/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=133254

 

That's a great feature.

 

Theres a freeware program called Process Lasso. (Google it) It lets you take control of the processes and set which processes and programs run on which core. Much better than manually setting which processes and programs run on which core.

 

This looks SWEET!

 

I just ordered the Dicota MultiGiant 20" case on sale at Dell for $35.69
http://www.dicota.ee/gallery/300dpi/MultiGiant.jpg

 

Just pulled the trigger....

* • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
* • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26 GHz)
* • 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) - For 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics
* • 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* • 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
* • 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
* • Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
* • Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Fluid)
* • Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card with Bluetooth
* • HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
* • HP Color Matching Keyboard
* • 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* • No Productivity Software
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

2-year HP Pick Up and Return Extended Service Plan

Total price after TTL $1671.35

DUDE it AINT a dell!!!!!

 

When you were in the store, did you happen to find out if the Brain Bag (backpack) will fit the HDX18t? It looks fairly awesome and he has lots of gadgety accessories for it too...

 

I'm hoping this is the right spot for this question.
HDX18t, wiped clean, drop Vista ultimate x64 sp1 with no issues, as soon as I install the NVIDIA drivers off of HP website, reboot, NASTY BSOD
0x00000003B - Has anyone seen this? Spoke to HP prior to my install and was told I should have no issues.
Thanks to Acronis, restoring Vista Home Premium
Help Anyone.........