*HP dv5z (1XXX series) Owners Lounge* **PUMA Goodness**

Also does AMD/ATI support the HD 3200 yet, i cant seem to find drivers on there site for it. Unless there calling it the "Crossfire Xpress 3200" cause i would like to update to the newest video drivers. Lets get all we can out of this 3200!

 

Ordered it the 9th and received it the 18th.

 

HP releases new BIOS updates every few months or so. But if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath that HP will somehow enable Hybrid CrossfireX. If it isn't supported now (it would have made this laptop more appealing had they actually made it a selling point), I don't see if coming.

ATI does not release drivers for mobility chipsets. They did for a short time for the X1xxx series, but that's it. You're at the mercy of HP to release ATI driver packages (which are rare-to-never).

The other option is to download Mobility Modder and the latest ATI Radeon drivers. Be warned, though, that Mobility Modder still has some bugs that need to be worked out.

 

I don't suppose third parties release BIOS upgrades?
It's a real shame that I have I have this shiny new laptop but I can't use it's full potential...

 

Not as far as companies are concerned. Some individuals with a knowledge of BIOS editors have been known to modify BIOSes, but not that often.

 

Download the Catalyst drivers from the AMD Game website that brian linked to. The motherboard/IGP driver pack should install on the M780G/HD3200 without any issues...
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx

 

Hey everyone -- I just got my dv5z and so far I'm happy with it. Luckily I got in on my GF's dad's employee discount.

- AMD 2.2ghz proc
- 64-bit vista home premium
- 4 gigs ram
- 250gb hdd
- blu-ray
- bluetooth a/b/g/n receiver
- 1680x1050 brightview infinity screen
- Raedon 3450

$1300

Took a week and a half from ordering to delivery.

I'm glad to see everyone's going to in-depth about the possibilities of crossfire being enabled... almost every thought I had has been talked about so far... now we just need someone to rip one open and see if there's an MXM slot, and if so, if anything else could possibly fit in there.

I don't have the graphics requirements as high priority since I still use my desktop for most of my development and gaming, but it would be nice to have a better than 4.0 rating for graphics from Vista's system rater.

*crosses fingers that someone posts a tear-down link before I get the itch and rip mine apart*

 

HP doesnt use MXM(or proprietary port) on any of their consumer systems apart from the HDX. Heres the motherboard picture for the dv5z series. You can see the northbridge in between the cpu socket and the HD3450. The southbridge is located in the bottom of the cpu. Systems with HD3200 use a slightly different motherboard which wont have the HD3450...
http://h20181.www2.hp.com/plmconten...188&MEID=13DFEB40-2D60-4B67-AC2F-2582BA7D808F

 

Does anyone have a picture of the regular display, compared to the infinity?

 

The 8.7s went on flawlessly.

 

So does Crossfire work with the Catalyst 8.7 drivers?

 

I dunno - what sr.agent.riot says makes sense, especially when you take into account the few reviews of Hybrid Crossfire X, shows both display adapters showing up in System properties, under display adapters.

I mean - if you want anything to work in Windows, it must show up in the device manager - I don't know of ANY hardware device that we can use under windows, that does not show up in the device manager.

Just my $.02 - feel free to keep the change.

I'm holding out for something faster than the 3450 - something actually worth putting in a laptop, IMO. I know there's 3650's out there already, but I'm going to hold out for hoping something in the 38xx series comes out, and hopefully before I die of old age


T

 

Hi, I'm interested in buying this notebook.

Can anyone answer these questions?

1) Which screen is the best quality? Is the 1680x1050 screen just higher resolution, or is it also brighter, more evenly lit and better contrast than the 1280x800? I don't need higher res, but I do want the brightest, most vivid screen.

3) Is the extended warrantee worth it? I'm looking at the 2 year accident warrantee for a discount price of $117. Pretty cheap but is it important?

Thanks!

 

Hey there, I can help out ...

If you want the BRIGHTEST most VIVID screen, then you need to look for a laptop that supports an LED backlighting. The contrast and brightness is way better than standard CFL backlighting found in almost all notebooks.

Current examples for LED backlighting would be all the current MacBook Pros, both 15" and 17" ($2K+). Also I just noticed that Sony has some new laptops 13.1" screens that support LED backlighting (around $1.3K?). Those are the only ones I have seen as of today July 23/2008.

Personally I refuse to pay for any retailer extended warranties. If you really need the peace of mind or if you allow other people to use your laptop, maybe it's worth it rather than losing a friend when you force them to pay for breaking your laptop!!



Bill

 

I was looking at HP a couple days ago and the dv4t has led back lighting.

 

Bought my dv5-1008 on Sunday and will be returning it over the weekend. I was getting horrible battery life, contacted HP and they offered me a whole bunch of useless solutions. In the end I still get between 1.5 and 2 hours. Hoping to get something that provides a more workable time.

 

Is anyone else having trouble with the memory card reader on the dv5z?

 

I ordered my laptop 3 days ago and the build date is not until August 15th, the problem is i leave for college on then 17th and i am worried that i may not get it in time with normal shipping. I am wondering if the build date is like a latest possible or if i can expect it to arrive around that time.

 

I got that same date and called but they told me that it will "ship" by the 15th...it better...i got a confirmation number and name of my call so if i dont get it there'll be something said. I was on the phone with 3 different people who all said different things until a "supervisor" wold me it should ship by the 15th...

 

That's funny - I ordered mine 3 days ago and my date is 8/18. Guess I'll call, luckily my daughter's not leaving until 8/22. Actually the build date changed from 8/18 while ordering and when I look at the status it has a ship date of 8/18. Hoping that moves up so I can have more time to set it up.

 

Does anyone see it possible to add a dedicated memory chip to the 3200 like notebookcheck seems to say?? If so would it be hard or expensive?

 

Regarding your comments here Alexnor ...

I think that's part of the problem with Vista. If you switched to Windows XP (or perhaps Linux?) you could squeeze more battery life out of the system. I think Vista by default just has too much "junk" running in the background.

Bill

 

I have the extended life 6-cell. When the power went out last night, I turned mine on and popped in a blu-ray movie. Now, I believe that a cold boot will suck out more power then if the laptop was already running, but at the low power setting, I got about an hour and 10 minutes of video out of it before i had to shut down. I don't know what difference if any a normal DVD would make VS blu-ray, but I want to test both out and see how it does.

 

One of the more interesting things I have found is that I am getting a WPrime score of less than 39 seconds with the zm-80. That is with some processes running in the background.

The t8100 scores about 37-38 seconds according to HWbot.org, and costs a ton more.

 

Hey guys im about to receive my dv5z in the mail tomorrow! snd was wondering what precautions i should take and what install/uninstalls i should do to make sure it runs in optimal condition? Is a clean install hard (im very green with OS's)
or worth the while? any suggestion helps. THANKS

 

Best Buy now has a Dv5-1003nr which has a rm-70 processor and blu-ray player for $899.99 at full retail price. Expect it to go on sale at some point for $750-$799.

 

You ordered ram for the dv5z and i was going to do the same. I just wanted to know if you've had any problems or anything with the new ram

 

Quick question. I was about to order the DDR2-800 memory refrerenced earlier and when I finally found some specs for the DV5Z I noticed it's calling for DDR2-667. I think the DDR2-800 is $54 and the DDR2-667 is $46 right now. I know the DDR2-800 will work, but at the rated speed or should I just get the 667?

 

I purchased my dv5 about a week ago (dv5-1004nr). This unit is now only $850 on BestBuy's site. I do not see the dv5-1003nr online that someone was referring to earlier. Is it in select stores? The dv5-1002nr was listed though and it is only $700. $760 with cooling stand, cordless mouse, and notebook sleeve.

In response to someone's question about a clean install. I found this computer to have far less HP bloatware than past HP's that I have purchased. There were only a couple trial programs (Office 2007, Norton...) and some games that I had to uninstall before feeling satisfied. Do not attempt to clean install from the recovery partition. HP's add-ons are still included in that as some users have already found out the hard way.

Regarding the Infinity display: I think it is a nice feature beyond just appearance. I can't compare it directly with the normal display on the dv5, but comparing it to a very similar display on a one year old hp model it seems to be firmer and more rigid which will help protect the lcd screen which is important (my dv5220us got replaced by the dv5 after the screen developed lines then died under normal use due to a bad design and poor hinges). The flush black around the lit portion of the screen, although the same gloss as the lcd, is more pleasing to the eye than a normal raised matte frame because it doesn't have edges that produce distracting highlights and shadows. It is also closer to true black if you aren't in an environment where glare will be a major issue. The glossy finish of the screen reflects a fair amount more than the other HP models that I have around to compare it to. Indoors it's mainly an issue if you have a window or strong light directly behind you.

The chrome touchpad felt odd at first and produced "vibration" or resistance if you pushed down moderately hard while scrolling (as the ridges of your fingerprint go over it). However, after a little use the oil from my fingers actually made this touch pad very fluid and quite possibly the best I have used on an hp model. It is sensitive and well responsive to even very light touch. It is easy to move the cursor in single pixel increments (a plus for someone working with graphics). The buttons are very firm. I like them that way, but they are a bit more firm than I would prefer and a bit noisy (lower pitched noise though than typical "clicking"). The keyboard has a slight semigloss. The keys are very responsive and have a great feel, but are a bit noisier than previous hp laptops I have owned - particularly the spacebar and largest buttons. I could see them being a nuisance in a college setting where someone is typing while another individual is trying to sleep.

HDMI output works well for both viewing the screen and playing back DVD's. Only issue I encountered was when I accidentally hit the input button on my remote while it was playing a dvd and switched the tv off of HDMI input. When I switched back, the audio was gone. The IDT Audio software may be at fault. A restart or playing with the audio device management in the Control Panel should correct the problem if that happens though.

The volume slider seems a bit "difficult" at times, but I'm not certain if that is a software issue or the controls themselves. The only customization that I see for the buttons is a choice between three sounds. The default is a click or tap noise and much nicer than the default beeping noise on some older hp models.

It took me awhile to find the proper solution to get Adobe CS3 working, but that was a Vista issue.

Eric
----------
dv5-1004nr * ZM-80 * 4GB RAM * 250GB HD * 3200 Graphics * 1280x800 Infinity Display * Lightscribe, webcam, mic, 6-cell bat., 64-bit Vista

 

It will be in all stores... it just isnt on the website yet. It will probably be on Best Buy's website in a weeks time.

My store recieved our first shipment of the dv5-1003nr on Thursday.

 

You should use DDR2-800 though HP might have cheaped out and used DDR2-667 on some models. The Puma platform definitely supports DDR2-800.

 

Installed with no problems, and I have not had any problems with it since the install.

 

OKAY -- so I just got off the phone / chat support for about 6 hours now researching and trying to find a solution to enabling Crossfire on a dv5z laptop with a 3200 and 3450.

The HP tech supervisor stated that a specific Crossfire access point can be enabled on this laptop through Windows ... not through BIOS...

"Yes -- it definately can work on this laptop."

Here are some insights as to how to figure out how from the supervisor...

• Identify where the ATI drivers are within windows.
• Create access point
• Enable crossfire

Anyone with a solution to this please reply to this thread with a walkthrough on how to do it.

Appreciated, if answered, you will have answered the million dollar question.

PS- I spoke to over 30 diff. HP reps, or maybe just the same 2 people with ability to make multiple accents lol ... anyways they say that its not possible, and I finally get to supervisor, he says it is, so its going to take an Einstein to figure this out.

First person to do it will get a banana phone.

 

Sounds hopeful but I would not be surprised if the supervisor didn't just tell you that to get you off the phone after talking with them for 6 hours. Anyway, hopefully it will work.

 

This site seems like a start...

The guy said find where the ATI drivers are... The first step here is to find where the ATI drivers are. I'm wondering if you completely remove Catalyst from the computer and then redo it all from scratch as this walkthrough does... will it work?

http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html

" Crossfire - If you have two ATI graphics cards, with at least one being a Crossfire Edition graphics card, and they are installed in an appropriate Crossfire-supported motherboard (with both PCI-E Slots enabled in the BIOS), and you're using the correct connecting cable between the two cards, you should be able to see the Crossfire tab in the Catalyst Control Center. You can then tick the 'Enable Crossfire' box to enable Crossfire usage - it should be disabled for any games in which you notice performance problems or glitches. It is recommended that you then make sure Catalyst AI is enabled (See further above) so that the Catalyst drivers can automatically set the correct Crossfire mode for each game. Note that with Crossfire enabled, you will be able to access additional Crossfire Antialiasing modes under the Antialiasing section of the 3D options in the CCC - up to 14x Antialiasing." - page 8

 

Are both PCI-E slots enabled in BIOS, does anyone know...? Thats a start before you start I guess.

 

Anyone know if you can turn off the lights for the quick launch buttons on the DV5? I have a DV6000 now and think they are overly bright at times and would love to disable them.

Thanks

 

Does anyone know if a processor swap would be hard on the dv5z? I regret not getting the ZM-80, i got the QL-60, and my dad is going to order the same laptop just a little different config and im thinking of having him get the ZM-80 and i would just swap the 2 out, that should be fine right?

 

You could, technically, but it'd void the warranties on both notebooks and it'd be a lot easier to just swap HDs, take the new dv5z and give him your "old" dv5z.

 

Hes not getting the WSXGA+ screen though, yea it would void warranty but im alright with that. I was gonna put some AS5 on my CPU anyways.

 

Honestly, I would also suggest what Brian mentioned. You would have to completely dismantle both notebooks to access the cpu and HP hasnt exactly made it easy to disassemble these things. The ZM-80 wont be dramatically faster to be worth the effort IMO but its up to you.

 

I see, i will mow this over today. I have to remember that gaming wasn't my first priority for this laptop and that i have my desktop for that. I suppose its just the computer bug....bigger and faster, lol. You need to draw the line somewhere, my original goals for this laptop was internet and school stuff which it handles just fine.

*EDIT* This is a side note, do you have to have a certain post count for your signature to be visible?

 

Hi,
Got my DV5z on Monday. I would like to replace the hard disk with a WD 7200rpm from Newegg. Removing the bottom plate presents a couple questions on how to proceed. Has anyone else done this? I contacted HP TS who said the manual for this process is not available yet.

Also, I have 64bit Vista. I've not been able to find any benchmarks as to whether it's better to have the O/S optimized for the hardware (32bit apps running in an x86 emulator), or have the 32bit apps optimized for the O/S (32bit).

Also, cannot get Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 running on 64bit Vista. Couldn't find any info the net. Anyone get this running?

Cheers - GA

 

Any word on Crossfire? Anyone figure out how to do it with drivers logically?

 

For Photoshop Elements or CS3 on Vista, see this article and download the patch listed:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb403002&sliceId=1

I had to do a lot of digging to find this solution, but it worked for me with CS3.

 

If anyone comes across a disassembly guide let me know. I tried taking out all the screws i could see on the bottom but the plastic still wouldnt come off, maybe im missing something. I would like to swap out the stock TIM with some AS5 i have. Also my CPU got up to 80c under load today, that seems pretty hot, what do you think? Ive tried the undervolting guide but the latest build of RM clock doesn't support these CPU's yet.

 

If I get the dv5z with the 3200 IGP can I still get a dedicated GPU on this laptop later on? *this is assuming somewhere along the future someone gets CrossFire to work*

 

Well I was going to spend my vacation setting up the new DV5Z for my daughter but I am staring at the screen and the volume display is almost forever on the screen showing the volume going up and down one notch constantly. I see the speaker symbol in the tray looking like there's sound coming out. Sometimes it goes away then comes back. It's freakin' possessed. Any ideas? Not to mention the hard drive light just spins and spins...haven't removed anything yet so maybe bloatware though when I checked seemed like windows defender was going crazy...

Edited to add - Hmmmm, I swear I searched on the volume control problem before posting, but when I tried the search again this popped right up.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=279756

I'm going to try this. I was on a support chat last night and they had me try this but it didn't seem to work, will try it again...

 

AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core-processor för Notebook PC QL-60

How "bad" is this processor? It's the one you get in the cheapest version in Sweden. Can I say, watch 720p videos, edit photos with Lightroom 2, edit 720p videos (It has the 3450 video card) with this processor. Or should I just spend some more cash on a better processor?

 

I don't know how bad it is but I personally don't like it. I got the dv5z with the QL and I wish I'd gotten the Turion. It's not that great compared to the Turion and Intels processors definitely knock it flat.