*HP dm3 (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I had the same thing when I ran a clean Win7 install. I formatted the big drive on partition 3 and installed there. I didn't know what the others were for so I just left them alone. I would have liked to axe them but I didn't want to delete something I shouldn't (and there wasn't clear advice anywhere on line that I could find).

Anyway, I'm now up with a clean win7 install and updated drivers where needed and things are running great. I'm honestly not sure if it's any faster or if the battery lasts any longer. Maybe a touch faster but it's certainly not anything dramatic. I just like not having all the extraneous crap on the system - it's nice and clean and streamlined. Now if it gets screwed up over time it will be my fault.

 

Hi All,

I just purchased the DM3 AMD 1039wm in the US and I'm findind the battery life is very poor. I'm averaging around 3 hours 45min on power saver setting. HP quote up to 6 hours but i'm stuggling to get anywhere near this number. Can anyone help?

 

nope
nothing you can do
AMD sucks when it comes to battery life.
I've done everything possible to save battery and can't get 4 hrs now, battery savings mode, wi-fi and BT off, minimum screen brightness.

guess you could try undervolting it

 

Have you done any further tests with the battery charge loss while in hibernate?
I did several, and it looks like about half the time the battery is losing charge at about 1% per hour.

 

I have SP9300 with 4G ram. With the clean Win7 installtion, the memory usage drop from 30% to 26% at startup.

For Hypotenuse, drive Recovery and HP tools are the recovery partitions from HP. Once you have burned your HP recovery disc in the windows (by using HP recovery manager), you can remove the these 2 drive by HP recovery manager as well (but you can only see 1 drive in windows). After doing all these, you can boot with win7 disc and you should able to delete/create any partition you want. One thing, after you have deleted all the partitions and create new one(s), wind7 will always create a 100MB system partition automatically for win7 boot and startup.

Hope this help.

 

Thanks, that helps.

I just exchanged my dm3 this morning (per recommendation from HP) due to my front trim gap issue, so I'll be doing the win7 load once again. I'll format/remove the recovery and hptools partitions after I burn the recovery disks. Can/should I format & remove the system partition as well or will Win7 know to reuse it?

 

Yes you can. Just delete all the partitions and let win7 create a new system partiton.

Just want to remind you 2 things:
1. once the recovery drives are deleted, you won't be able to restore your computer to HP factory default settings through boot options. You can only restore by your recovery disc (3 DVDs).

2. if you want to restore your computer with the recovery DVDs (even from recovery drive), the HP recovery manager will always choose the 2nd partition as the C:\........I bet HP recovery manager reconizes the 1st partition as win7 system partition by default. So don't save anything important in the 2nd partition.......

 

Well this exposes even more of my ignorance.... I thought the only way to do a system recovery was with the DVD's. If we can restage the system from the hptools & recovery HD partions with a boot option (I assume this means thru the menu that pops up by pressing ESC or F10 during bootup) why should we bother to burn the recovery DVD's - just to fully wipe the HD?

Thanks again BTW....

 

A big thanks to dgoth for his suggestion to shim the trackpad buttons. That made a big difference for me. Initially the buttons were so stiff that it was unpleasant to do any dragging and dropping. Now they have a nice light touch. It took a little experimenting to get the right thickness using a small piece of folded paper (hint: it doesn't take much, and you really have to screw everything back together again to judge the true effect of the shim). Honestly, the trickiest part of the job was getting the keyboard snapped back into place. There are four tabs in front that go in first, then two on the left side, one on right side, and three in the back. No matter what I did there was always one that wouldn't engage. I still have one on the left side (front) that wouldn't go. Barely noticeable, but it will still annoy me. If someone has a foolproof method to get the keyboard snapped back into place I might give it another try.

 

Because hard disc can be damaged! HP is so stingy now....they used to provided windows installation disc + drives disc separately with the purchase of laptops.....back to 5 or 6 years ago .

 

http://www.amd.com/

9.12 cats released. Might only work on the hd 3200 again. I haven't had time to test. Will check it out for those later tonight and try my hand at modding them to work on the 4330.

 

I'll be getting an exchange shortly.
Confirmed that bing cashback won't be voided by the exchange.
Hoping that the replacement won't have any problems..

 

Which 160GB SSD does hp put in their dm3t?
Is it an Intel G2?

 

I'm trying to install Windows XP Professional w/ SP3 and no hard drives show up. I'm assuming controller drivers are needed....has anyone had any luck finding SATA or controller drivers for the dm3-1030us or similiar?

 

check out this deal - $900 with SSD

http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/hp-pavilion-dm3-13-inch-intel-core-2-duo-laptop/14731.aspx

 

Wow, that's an amazing deal. Loaded for 900bux.
I'd totally get it if I wasn't a broke student.

 

Now THAT is the coupon I want to be around in january...

 

I am a broke student as well.

I have had my hp dv6000t for 2 years now. I thought about it and there is no reason why i should spend the money on a dm3. It is nice and all but if you already have a "decent" laptop, the smart choice is be happy with what you got:

intel core 2 duo T5300
Windows XP pro
nvidia go 7400
80GB hd
2 GB DDR2
15.6" screen

 

great post, i got mine that that is slightly different... SU7300, 4gb RAM N and bluetooth with 2 batteries.....

$1000 with tax, which is about what this will be....

great deal

 

Just ordered:


HP Pavilion dm3t customizable Notebook PC

* • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor SP9300 (2.26GHz, 6M Cache) with 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M
* • 50% OFF! 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* • 160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
* • 13.3" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
* • Webcam Only
* • Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
* • HP Color Matching Keyboard
* • 50% OFF!! Extra 6 Cell Polymer Battery
* • System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* • Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


$938 before tax and Bing Cashback

 

don't think you'll be getting bing cashback... it's void if any coupons are used
good price nonetheless. almost makes me want to buy another DM3 after i sell my current one. figure, it's basically like paying ~$500 for the DM3 w/ SP9300 & G 105M and extra battery + getting a 160gb Intel SSD for $400 (which is still a great deal on that SSD)

 

without reading all 15x pages of this thread, has anyone had a problem with video playback on itunes just sucking off a goat on the amd chipset? I can't get smooth playback at anything above 720P.

 

that is excatly how i saw it and justified buying my dm3

also i got CB and used a coupon also... a $200 off with 8% CB (i think)

 

Did you use the coupon? I don't think you can get the cashback from bing if you do.

 

The BCB is at 5%, which makes it $45 or something.
That's would be the icing on the cake, but is not crucial.

I prefer saving $500 over getting $45 back, eh?

 

i got both with a $250 off coupon last month and 8% CB

 

does anyone have an idea about what to do to stop the battery from leaking when the computer is hibernating?

 

So, I bought this dm3 (amd) online from office depot about a month ago but didn't open it till a few days ago because i wasn't in the country. anyway, the laptop looks great but i have to say the more i use it the more i seem to get frustrated with it. every laptop i've owned i can browse multiple windows and tabs in firefox with no issues, my previous one was an hp (intel) and everyday at a given time i would have 3 firefox windows open, each with at least 7-8 tabs open and no problems. but since i've installed firefox on this machine, i can barely have 3-4 tabs open in one window before the machine starts to delay every action i perform and that is just so annoying! any suggestions? even when im typing every couple of minutes it would just stop and process things before letting me to continue to type. do you know why it's acting so slow when i've barely installed anything on the machine yet? anyone else have these issues? do i need to remove the bloatware that came with the PC? thanks.

 

either remove bloatware or do a clean OS install....

I dont have a dm3z but my DM3T has no issues with 20 tabs

 

I have the base dm3z model and I can field like 30 tabs open with no issues. I use chrome, but still, it should not be an issue.


you may be getting the slowdowns from the ati graphics issue and sleep mode where the systems will lock up if you play certain flash video or other software that taps the gpu.

go to power options and change all sleep options to hibernate. Also make sure to disable all the multi touch gestures on the pad.

 

On the Dm3t, is it better to do a complete reinstall of win7 rather than just uninstalling bloatware? I bought one using the 500$ off coupon and am already planning my attack once I get it.

 

i should add that i'm not running any videos yet, just doing the basic everyday browsing, no flash videos or such. the only other thing i've installed on the computer so far is SAP front-end but im not even running that and it still stalls when i open multiple tabs in my browser. i'm fine if i have 2-3 tabs, but add another 6 to that and im screwed. suggestions? how would i remove the bloatware and what can i and cannot remove? would do a full re-install of win 7 but don't have that

 

I bought my dm3 the day it came out, and recently gave it to my grandfather as a holiday gift. It was an amazing machine for the price, but the touchpad issues and inconsistent build quality (some places amazing, others pretty bad) just made me want to switch.

 

Pleasant surprises with my second dm3:
* The on-screen display now works for the volume up/down buttons. They didn't show anything on my first dm3. Must be a late-breaking Quicktouch driver update that hit this second machine but not the first.
* The mouse does NOT freeze after waking from sleep/hibernate - even with the multitouch controls enabled. My first dm3 had the dreaded mouse freeze issue so I turned off multitouch but it appears I won't need to with my new machine.
* The front trim fits perfectly.
* The keyboard fits better and the edges flex less. (I didn't object to the issue on my first machine, but this second one is definately better).

The only thing that seems to be "worse" on my second machine is the battery fit. As others have mentioned, it is a tiny bit loose in the underside of the laptop and it jiggles a little when you move the machine around. Not a huge deal and I'll probably add a strip of two of tape to shim it out properly.

I've used Revo Uninstaller to remove most of the crapware and it seems to be working well. It's cool to see all the leftover registry entries and straggler files that it catches and removes after the uninstaller runs. On the first machine I did a clean Win7 install but Revo seems to be working well enough on the second machine so I may skip the Win7 restaging.

I'm extremely happy with dm3 V2.0 so far.

 

I was actually wondering the same thing. I'm going through uninstalling the random apps with Revo Uninstaller, and it's taking a while. Would it be easier to just do a clean install of Windows 7? What extra drivers would I need to update that the OS won't detect and install automatically?

I already created the recovery DVD's for the recovery partition and SwSetup so I'm planning on getting rid of those.

 

Looks like Revo fubar'ed something on my dm3. It removed all my crapware nicely but it seems to have also messed up a few unrelated utilities. My wifi isn't connecting properly now, my on-screen volume display isn't working, I can't get anything to come up when I do a properties on my computer, and a few other similar issues. I'm gonna try reverting back a few restore points, but it gives me enough worries that I may just do a clean win7 load. We'll see....

 

Yeh I'm leaning towards just doing a clean install and updated drivers rather than uninstalled the bloat.

 

great gift.....

the only thing that ever make me have some buyers remorse is the damn touchpad...

I love the speed of the SSD.

if i ever get rid of this baby, i will be holding on to my SSD

 

Firefox has a bad memory leak in its newest verison.

I can run IE with 5-7 tabs open (some with video) and have no problems.

 

There is a potential "fix" that will make the touchpad more tolerable for those who dislike it. Buy a touchpad skin that has texture and doesn't leave marks, like the ones made by SkinStyler, and increase the sensitivity and turn off the gestures (though you can leave those on if wanted). This was documented by a owner on a different forum.

 

yeah but a cheap piece of plastic is lame..... even if it makes it a little better...

I reason I like the dm3 over the Asus ul series is the looks.... otherwise i would have gone with the plastic Asus

 

Just wondered if the touchpad sleep/wake issue has been sorted yet?

I should be getting my replacement tomorrow, hopefully without the keyboard flex... but wasn’t sure if the touchpad issue is still one that remains.

Users on this forum http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Hardware/HP-DM3-Mouse-Freeze-s-up-when-the-computer-wakes-up-from-sleep/td-p/158425 have decided that all dm3’s have this problem... is that everyone’s experience here?

Has anyone tried using the driver for the Dv2 touchpad? I know there is no multi-touch, but would this work and provide on/off and up/down scroll?

I really wanted a good thin & light notebook to take to college since my dv9500 is too heavy and bulky for the long commute, and I always think net books are too small to do a full day’s work on, so thought the dm3 would be ideal.

However, I’m getting the feeling from reading this forum that I’m going to get a laptop with a touchpad that won’t work, is too hot to put on my lap, with silver trim that will fall off and then vibrate itself off the table! (yes, mine will have the 7,200 rpm hard disk)

Am I just being paranoid because this forum is where people discuss problems with the dm3?

Should I just return it and carry on with my dv9500?

 

Still waiting for my replacement, but my first dm3z didn't have the sleep/wake touchpad issue.

 

Well I was thinking... When I went to look at the dm3 in the shop, I closed the lid several times and it went to sleep, and when I woke it up the touchpad worked fine... not sure really if it is a universal problem, if it were I would imagine it would be discussed a lot more in this forum and gizmodian, you would have had the problem too. Why is your dm3z being replaced?

 

Minor hardware flaws, like the keyboard tray not fitting perfectly and the gap between the bottom chrome edge and the main body of the latop.

 

Hey guys, I think I read this somewhere on these forums but could not find it. Does anyone know how to get the on-screen volume control bar to show up again after reinstalling windows 7?

 

I have the same question as well. Been looking for it in my Swsetup folder from the factory install, but can't figure otu what it is

 

Hey, so I did a quick run-through of this thread again and here are some tips for people who do a clean install of Windows 7:

1. Unknown Device in Device Manager - It's the HP ProtectSmart drivers

2. Light doesn't come on for the Mute button - It's the IDT or HP Quicklaunch drivers

3. No Volume Bar display - No exact replica has been found yet, but it may be included with all of the HP MediaSmart software (which I am not going to reinstall). HP has another version of the volume bar, but it looks different. It's the HP Quicktouch software which is not included on the drivers page for the DM3, but you can still download it by searching for it on the HP website. It seems like it's made for 32 bit software, and it was removed from 64 bit OS's because of some conflicts, although there is a 64 bit version for Vista? Confusing. It was also stated somewhere that it would cause problems for people who adjusted their volume while playing a computer game, bringing them back to the desktop and crashing the game. Alternatively, there is other software, such as Microsoft Intellitype, that does the same thing. This thread contains a photo of Quicktouch and Intellitype. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=199394

 

thanks so much!

also, is there a way to change it so I don't have to press the fn key every time I want to use an F key? I play games sometimes so I prefer to have the use of my F keys without pressing any additional buttons.

 

you can switch it around in the BIOS, I came across it accidently the other day when I was messing around with the "fan always on" option