*HP dm3 (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

Yeah, Intel`s weak GPU`s are their major weakness and AMD`s strength, and the reason a lot of buyer buy AMD over INTEL

I am surprised that INTEL has not bought Nvidia to match AMD`s purchase of ATI, especially as Nvidia shares must be cheaper after the faulty GPU farce.

 

You shouldn't benchmark on 'HP recommended' either. That mode does not run the CPU at max frequency all the time. It hovers around 70%, 'Power Saver' hovers around 50% (check using the Windows 7 performance monitor...watch the blue line and note how it changes between power modes). Only 'High Performance' mode keeps the cpu at max frequency all the time, making it a true test of the cpu's performance. I just ran Passmark again and I got 978 on my L335 while running all HP's 'bloatware.'

 

EDITED: I am sorry to those who have noticed how often i have changed this post...i am just trying to be accurate.

Basically I have noticed that my DM3 temporarily 'FREEZES' if it sits idle for a while. This has something to do with it trying to sleep after sitting idle, which it sometimes does successflly and sometimes doesn't. I set it to sleep after 1 minute to test it. The first few times i tried it would not go to sleep, the screen just shut off and the computer stayed running...i let it sit for a while and when i would 'wake it', it would hang for about 15 seconds.

This doesn't happen all the time; i just tried it again and it successfully went to sleep after sitting idle for a minute and woke-up fine...so i don't get it.

If anyone has had a similar issue and knows what's going please let me know.

 

Staples will have the DM3-1030US on sale for $499.99 again next week if anyone is looking for a deal

 

just ran passmarks battery benchmark program under the following conditions

DM3T SU7300, Nvidia 105m, Intel X25-M 160gb SSD

Screen @ 50%
IE8 with 3 tabs open: Youtube (idle), ESPN with Gamecast auto refresh, and CNN w/ auto refresh and flash content.

Itunes w/ 1 mp3 (local) looped and playing (muted)

Notebook was set to hibernate @ 10% and HDD spin down @ 15mins.

I got 6hs and 44mins

I will be testing video playback tongiht. HD content first and then some divix stuff

 

I admit I'd choose the Intel/Nvidia combo if the money wasn't an issue, but I need to be thrifty for the time being.

The cost-cutting measures made for the AMD chipset does not surprise me. A 512kb cache is pathetic. Memory Speed limited to 666 mhz is another boon. It could be better, and the L625 with the dedicated 4330 is a step in the right direction. But the intergrated solution should have been an HD 4200, and AMD needs to catch up with DDR3 support. I know the Atom supports DDR2 as well (and only 2GB at that), but the Neo is more like a CULV competitor, and CULV supports DDR3. DDR3 runs at a lower voltage for more battery life, and the faster 1066 mhz FSB paired with DDR3 serves the 4500 MHD an extra helping of bandwith, nipping at the heels of the bandwith-starved HD 3200.

But a las, I won't get too snobby. The price can not be beat when you consider the strong design of the dm3, and standard 7200 RPM HDD. I'm happy enough with the performance of the L335 and HD 3200. Even HDMI works well at 1080p, although I use 720p because the print is so dang small on my 32" LCD from the couch

 

Subscribed. I was gonna get a dv3t before they discontinued it...

This thing is super sexy though. And powerful. I'm getting the SP9300/G105M combo. Might spring for the SSD too.

If anyone has the dm3 and a zeroshock III 13.3" case how tight is the fit? HP lists the dm3 as being 12.83" wide while the ZSIII lists the interior as 12.4". I imagine it will still fit, I just don't want it to be overly tight.

Thanks!

I'll post my system when I get it. Still not sure on specs other than the cpu. I wish HP made it with the SP9300 but without the G105 though. I do no gaming other than emulators for older systems.

 

^I have one, and it fits fine. No particular leeway or scrunching. I just looked and there's a SD card sitting ejected in the slot, and no tightness still. The pocket in front is a tad useless though; can't fit the ac adapter or a regular mouse. I might have to pick up a more compact mouse.

 

Fusion is pushed up till the end of 2010. It will use ddr 3 1600 and will have a igp built into the cpu of a radeon hd 5650 level . So full dx 11 and should have a power range of 15watts

I'm waiting till the end of 2011 when fusion really comes into form with its second gen verison

 

Awesome, thanks!
How is the hinge on the dm3? In all the videos I've seen it looks very sturdy with no wobbling.

 

regarding the heat issue with the AMD version, the only area that was really hot was under the touchpad, where the ram is at. And by hot I meant REALLY HOT! With the exception of that specific area, the laptop is relatively cool. Is there a way to make the ram run cooler?

 

you can try better ram or those with heat spreaders or get some heat spreaders

 

I'm not sure if it's the ram itself that is hot; I've touched it directly after turning the laptop off. It's the fact that the chipsets are mostly there, and the design has the fan at the other side, with not enough vents where it gets hottest. They really should have thought about it more carefully. Or at least let us set temperature thresholds as to when the fan kicks in.

If you disabled fan "always on" in the bios, turn it back on. It helps a lot, although you may sacrifice some battery life. Other than that, undervolting is your best option. I've undervolted mine, and turned the fans off, and theres no longer much of a heat issue for me.

 

has anyone ever experienced random shutdowns? My dad's dm3 randomly shutdown after a few hours. Strange.

 

The only time my dm3z gets hot is when sitting on a blanket or with a vent blocked and sitting on a blanket. If that is not happening, it should NOT be getting ultra hot.

 

So I as at walmart today shopping and saw that they have the dm3z on display. It is definitely smaller and sexier than videos and photos make it out to be. I love how thin and light it is

Everything about it screamed quality. It was cool to the touch, no flexing, snappy in performance and the screen looks great. I'm officially in love. I do kind of miss the optical drive (I'll be getting an external anyway), but in all honesty I've used the dvd drive on my Inspiron 1525 maybe 8 times total this past year, and that was just to burn a couple of iso's and install some programs. Definitely not a necessity.

The keyboard felt great. I thought I wouldn't like the up and down being so small but it's a non-issue.

I'm going for the SP9300/G105M combo. Unless by january HP decides to offer it without the G105M and just the SP9300 by itself. I don't need the graphics but I want that processor. If I can pull 5 hours of runtime out of the SP9300/G105M combo I'll have a joker smile for the next 2 years. I haven't been this impressed by a machine in a while.

The MBP 13" is nice but I'm not crazy about a non changeable battery or edge to edge display. I loved the dv3t but HP discontinued it. The only other one that comes close is the ASUS ul30vt. That's a super sexy and powerful machine too but a glossy palm rest is a definite turn off for me. Maybe if it was silver instead of black the glossiness wouldn't be much of a problem for me.

I didn't have any issues with the touchpad. I really don't see why others bash it so much. I guess it's a love it or hate it kind of thing. I don't mind it and don't care for it any more than my Inspiron 1525's touchpad. I use a mouse 95% of the time anyway.

So that's my impressions after playing with the dm3 for about 20 minutes. I got plans for this baby.

 

sounds good man, but i dont think you will get 5+ hrs with the SP9300

I could be wrong, someone with one could do some testing, but with my SU7300 which uses 1/2 the energy it gets 6+ hrs of real use. web surfing with flash content and listening to music and screen around 50%.

i would be surprised if the SP9300 got 5+ hrs of actual use.

i too wish the "up" and "down" keys were larger and or dedicated pgup and pgdwn buttons would be nice. the ul80vt has a better keyboard layout, but that comes with the extra space of a 14" LCD

the ul30vt is nice but would be even better with a SP9300 CPU option and a metal case and not metal top with plastic everything else.

the DM3's all metal design is really sturdy and nice

 

He will get 5 hours with light usage. One member got 4.5 hours while watching videos....

Don't forget, the CPU is dynamic and it changes it's frequency and it's power consumption, so unless it's running at 100% load the entire time, it's not using double the energy...

Put it in Power Saver mode with the max CPU state at 50%, and you basically got yourself a more powerful SU7300 chip....

 

Yeah I remember reading about that. 5 hours shouldn't be a problem. I won't watch many videos on it. Mostly web browsing, office, occasional youtube video, occasional photoshop (another reason I want the SP9300). I may just grab the second battery to be safe. It's a decent price when you buy it with the laptop. I'm still on the fence about SSD. I might wait for the technology to mature a bit longer and TRIM comes without FW upgrades. I have to do some more research on SSD's.

I've been researching it a bit and to me it seems like the SP9300 is just the P9300 in a smaller form factor. Identical specs (unless I'm wrong) otherwise. If that is in fact the case according to passmark the P9300 outperforms my T8300 (1538 vs 1473). Not much difference but it's nice to know I'll have an angry little beast in my bag.

Planned accessories (so far)
Zeroshock III case, Anywhere Mouse MX (or maybe the VX Nano), probably a swiss gear backpack. I'm really excited about this notebook.

 

Have been reading about this zeroshock III case, why is it preferred over other cases? Can you use the laptop without removing the case? Or is it just the excellent foam protection?

Speaking of accessories, I just hate how little choice I have with bluetooth mice over here in Singapore... I think microsoft's got 1 model, and logitech 2... Of course, the reason for my getting a bt mice is to overcome the hassle of plugging in either a wireless receiver or the mouse directly everytime.

Any thoughts? Any other accessories u guys are getting?

 

hi. I'm new here, and this is my first post on notebookreview.
I ordered a dm3z the day after Black Friday while HP still had their black friday week deals going on.
Fedex says, "On FedEx vehicle for delivery", so I should be getting it today!
Really excited for this machine.
Hopefully it won't have any of those problems (speakers, heating, etc.), and I won't have to return it..

 

Yeah, me too, I'm home waiting, so annoying, God forbid I step out for 2 mins, I might miss the delivery and would have to wait to who knows when, since I have to physically be at work from tues-friday.

I also hope I have no issues. Since my last lappy was a HP, and after it fried itself about 1 month after warranty, I swore off HP forever, but after checking out the DM3, with its balance in price and specs, i had to have it. Plus its one sweet looking machine.

 

Waiting for my customized-dm3t!

Look at this FedEx journey (from the end):
Dec 5, 2009 20:04 In transit ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 6, 2009 00:11 Int'l shipment release ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 5, 2009 13:04 Arrived at FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 5, 2009 22:34 In transit SHANGHAI CN
Dec 5, 2009 21:30 In transit SHANGHAI CN
Dec 5, 2009 03:22 Picked up SHANGHAI CN Package received after FedEx cutoff

It's the 7th 12am eastern and still no further update (for almost 48 hours now). Wondering where the machine is.
Notice that the custom release was scanned on the 6th but was actually already updated on the 5th before the last "in transit" update (weird...).
Have no clue what's going on and why nothing is moving.
Currently the estimated delivery is scheduled for the 10th (hoped it will arrive before obviously).
What do you think will its routing be (I live in Florida)?

Anyone else experienced the same long-lasting "Anchorage - in transit" status?

Thanks

 

MY DM3's FEDEX Journy: (Times in their respected Timezones)
Dec 7, 2009 7:45 AM On FedEx vehicle for delivery MOUNT VERNON, NY
Dec 7, 2009 7:38 AM At local FedEx facility MOUNT VERNON, NY
Dec 7, 2009 5:28 AM Departed FedEx location NEWARK, NJ
Dec 6, 2009 5:09 AM Arrived at FedEx location NEWARK, NJ
Dec 5, 2009 6:44 PM Departed FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 5, 2009 8:20 PM Int'l shipment release ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 4, 2009 5:03 PM In transit ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 4, 2009 11:34 PM Arrived at FedEx location ANCHORAGE, AK
Dec 4, 2009 10:13 PM In transit SHANGHAI CN
Dec 4, 2009 8:36 PM In transit SHANGHAI CN
Dec 4, 2009 4:52 PM Picked up SHANGHAI CN

End Destination: Bronx, NY

 

There's a few threads on it here. Most users are very happy with it. For me, it's the simple design and protection that sold me on them.

There's not a lot of BT mice floating around but I've been using the Logitech V470 since June and I've had no issues. Logitech makes a few mice with nano receivers which are tiny and wouldn't be a problem if you left them in your notebook. That being said, I think I'm going to pick up the Logitech Anywhere MX which has a nano unifying receiver and the ability to work on any surface.

Backpack, sleeve, mouse, maybe an external hard drive sleeve or 2, maybe an extra battery, external dvd drive (not sure if I want the HP or a different one), extended warranty for sure.

 

Nice! Did you take the expedited delivery?

 

i was thinking of getting the apple magic mouse to use with my dm3t as it is bluetooth and nice and skinny

i already have a WD 500gb passport external and i got 2 batteries.

 

No. The regular free shipping.

 

Can somebody who bought the 160Gb SSD upgrade confirm the model? According to HP tech support it suppose to be G2 (with TRIM support). But somebody earlier in this thread mentioned that they receive G1.

P.S. You can find out the generation by model number: SSDSA2M080 G2R5

 

mine is a G1 and all that have posted have had the same.... if you get a G2 you are lucky. the G1 is fast just will need to be formated every 2-3 months to keep top performance

 

Looks like mine is on the same "boat".

It has been sitting in the same container for the last few days. I am hoping it will be delivered tomorrow.

 

my DM3 just got delivered...right now in the process of removing bloatware

 

There really wasn't much bloatware with this HP. Norton, the HP stuff, and Cyberlink. I bought an HDX16 a year ago and remember that being much worse. The difference here is only one program could really diminish performance, and that's Norton. Most consumers would probably be happy with the performance from the get-go (without norton...)

 

That's disappointing. I guess I'll be going for whatever happens to be free at the time I buy it and upgrade later on. I'm not crazy about reformatting every 3 months...

 

Mine only stayed in "Anchorage - in transit" status for a day.

 

Doing the same thing as of this moment!

Really though. A HP toolbar in IE?! really, hp?
(not that I use the cancer-causing IE)

 

Hey, has anyone noticed that the dm3 top casing is actually two pieces of aluminum? it's really hard to make out where the two plates join though.

 

Regarding the Intel SSDs... I must be missing something.

IMO, I would rather have a G1 over a G2. The degradation seen in the G1s was all but eliminated with the updated firmware that introduced "garbage collection" in them. What I took out of the Anandtech review of the G2 is that the Intel "GC" did a better job than TRIM. I don't see why you need to format it at all, let alone every 2-3 months. Now, had they not released the firmware with "GC," I would agree wholeheartedly. But as it stands, in my eyes anyways, I find the Intel based solution to the degradation issue to be superior than the Windows based solution.

Man, heck, if I remember correctly, after a few complete write runs on the G1s and allowing "GC" to kick in, the scores actually went up (>100%) while in the same situation with the G2s, after running trim it was about 98% of the original performance and was deemed great.

Either there is a bunch of TRIM kool-aid going around or I'm on crack.

 

I'm very interested in the laptop, it's so sexy.

I just want to know, if the 1030US will have any issues running dreamweaver and photoshop? At times, I visit clients and have to present something, which sometimes mean last minute revision on the fly....I really design on my desktop, but my make an edit or too on my laptop

I want something that is light and portable, but won't choke on dreamweaver and photoshop loading....

Thanks!

 

I am not sure about the GC the anadtech review of the G2 said it did a better job of limiting degredation of performance..... and many at hardforum seem to think the same. SO there is a firmware on the G1 that has a garbage collection? any link?

 

FWIW the laptop we have that has a T6400 (2.0 ghz, 800mhz FSB) with 3 gigs of ddr2 opens photoshop in 3-5 seconds. even heavy tasks and working with large files in PS doesn't stress it really. We're running PSCS3 extended. To me it seems like it would work. If I can get it to work with the SU7300 I'll probably pick that over the SP9300 for battery life.

Not sure about DW.

The G1 ssd has me interested now.

 

i use PS CS4 on my SU7300 and with the SSD it loads really quickly, no issues at all. Applying filters in lightroom over 100+ pics is where the CPU gets pushed to its limits. but thats where my X4 rig comes in

 

There you go....

It was PC Perspective, not Anandtech... my bad.

Anywho.

Basically it destroys all the fragmentation while needing nothing from the OS... IMO, that's better.

Again, I still don't understand why Intel switched to TRIM when it seems that their in-house solution is superior. I guess, well, judging by the reactions around the net, TRIM has a reputation as a must-have feature, even if there is something better than it, so they didn't want to push any people away.... I dunno.

 

What's the over/under of NBR reviewing the DM3 before the world ends in 2012?

 

Hey that's wonderful news. Do you know what day?

 

Well that's pretty interesting. Will the G1 drives that we receive with our DM3's already have the firmware update or will we have to do it manually?

 

I was wondering the same thing. I will look at the firmware version later today and then update it.

 

I finally got my customized dm3t only to discover that it is really vibrating on the palm area and really annoying!
I saw the posts on that issue here, and got the idea that the problem exists only on the Best Buy model, but obviously it's not!
I have no idea what's the reason for the vibrations (probably the HD...)
Anybody has a different idea or solution?

Now I have to decide if to send it back...

 

Am I correct in assuming my memory is rated only 333 mhz because the 1GB + 2GB config runs in single channel, not dual channel? So if I pick up a 2GB stick, I should be good for 666mhz right...?

 

I do not think it will scale higher. I think the chipset limits the ram speed....

2 DIMs should run at the rated speed even in single channel