*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

You'd think that, but it seems with some BT systems, after a clean install, there is NO SIGN of BT. Nothing in device manager missing, etc. It's so odd.

Installing the proper software, somehow, brings it out in the open and makes it work.

 

Well he could look at the card, usually located next to the ram cards.

 

C'mon guys, some piece of advice?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5710557&postcount=1712

1. Anyone knows what these HP tools are? Is it just the info/diagnostic tools at startup?
2. Is there any solution to the remote driver problem?
3. Is there a way to play blue ray discs without PowerDVD or WinDVD using K-Lite Mega Codec Pack ?
4. The digital persona software is compatible with other browsers (except IE) or applications like KeePass?

Anybody experienced any of these?
You're my last resort, any advice would be godsend.

thanx in advance

 

UUUGGGGHHH!!!!! Turned on this morning and it froze but I did have the mouse plugged in. Rebooted after I unplugged it and it was fine. We really need a BIOS TO FIX THE FREEZING ISSUES!!!

 

I read it like he typed it, he said "3)Fan isn't always on now". Which would imply that it was always on before he changed the setting. I did that before too and then the fan wouldn't be on all the time but it would fire up when I believed it was completely unnecessary and it would stay on for way too long. Your totally right about the heating up and fans should come on but after I did this it came on alot less frequent and not as loud.

Edit: And what I did was reset my BIOS to factory defaults.

 

I am really starting to get annoyed with this thing. It resumed from sleep today and then FROZE then I held the power button and it kept freezing. I really don't want to return this laptop but this freezing issue isn't going away. I am however going to install the latest BIOS.

Sometimes I think maybe it would been better to just go with a Core 2 Duo processor instead of this brand new full of bugs core i7 processor. IDK?

 

So I called HP about the sleep issues and lockups and I told them they need to address these issues in a New BIOS. They assured me they would put that in and to expect new BIOS in 7-10 days. I also mentioned they need to update the Nvidia graphics card driver. So hopefully something will occur. I'm just gonna use hibernate from now on when not using the computer long periods of time.

EDIT: One thing I am trying is rolling back to the original Nvidia drivers. This could also be causing the sleep issue. I was using the Nov. 2009 driver, now I'm using the original driver. I forge these drivers were all specifically written for the dv8t.

 

Like Toadtooler, I also installed my 160 GB Intel X25-M SSD drive this weekend and added a Seagate 500 GB hard drive in the 2nd slot. I did a fresh install from Win 7 disk. With football and other things going on this weekend, I didn't get a lot of chance to play with it.

These are the things I noticed:
Shutdown time about 7 seconds, boot time around 25 seconds.
Office and other programs open almost instanteously.
It went to sleep 3 or 4 times and each time awoke from sleep without any crashes.

As I start to use it more, I will report back on any issues or give more examples of its "peppiness".

Murray

 

I will get a SSD once prices come down and they increase the storage, I need at least 320gb.

 

do you have external hardware connected to the laptop while booting ? (mouse, external hd etc.)

i did see the freeze issue when i had my external hd connected during boot.

 

Just the mouse but when resuming from sleep I didn't have it plugged in and it did it. I hope by rolling back the Nvidia driver that is fixes it.

 

There was a $300 stackable DV8 coupon out there a couple of days ago. It was only good for 1,800 units and they went pretty quick. That coupon in conjunction with HP's $200 off was a nice deal.

 

I don't think that it included the dv8 series. Only the dv6t and dv7t quad. As well as the EnVys

 

Specifically said it did not include the Dv8

 

http://imgur.com/bffir.jpg

http://imgur.com/O2MUN.jpg

http://imgur.com/mLtOT.jpg

Acer/Hp side by side

must say that acer is one nice computer, but the horrid stories i hear about their cs doesn't make it THAT nice..

 

Acer...what?? Got a model number?

 

How do I know what the bluetooth looks like?

 

that Acer is probably the 8940

the 8942 is supposed to be coming out and quite the graphics monster

 

why can't HP update the video driver... its been 2 hours and I have already seen the "Nvidia driver has stopped working' thing twice now.

 

That's right, exactly what I was talking about. Everything was fine when it was brand new. Then the update occurred which fixed the treble/bass problem and started the Fan Constantly On issue. I went in, set the BIOS to default, saved/rebooted, set the Fan to Not Constantly On, saved/rebooted again, and it is not constantly on anymore.
Now the fan is a lot better, but it still seems to be firing up more than it did originally: louder/more noticable. Maybe it's just that I've been paying more attention to the fan since for a time it was on constantly, but I think it's more.

 

Are you using version 195.55 with the nvam.inf modification that is needed to get it to install?

 

My HDX18T is in for repair for that very fault (almost four weeks now) and I had the same thing on the dv8. I suspect it's an overheating GPU.

Do you thrash your graphics card re: games? I don't - but I do watch 1080p movies and they strain the card.

I don't know what the solution is - perhaps keep original factory drivers and never upgrade the graphics driver.

 

Hey Mattmjb,

There was a post here with some guy posting a workaround on getting newer Nvidia graphics drivers (from the Nvidia Site) to work. Just trying to update drivers via Nvidia just wouldn't install. If you haven't already, go back about 10 pages (i'm carrying a baby so I cant direct you now) and look for the workaround that requires a little inf editing.

I did it and it worked beautifully. ZERO crashes for over two weeks now AND the biggest kicker was ZERO overlay errors on my Bluray Movie player software.

And after about 3 back to back movies on Bluray, I felt no change in surface temp of the laptop so it didn't seem like it was overheating what so ever.

 

The only thing is with the latest NVIDIA driver it crashes when it resumes from Sleep. On the HP's nvidia driver it doesn't do that.

 

I just tested it again, when using the latest Nvidia driver after tweaking of course it is causing my system to lock up and freeze after resuming from sleep. So I let windows find the best driver after uninstalling everything Nvidia and so far its fine. I'll just use this unless i find another issue until HP gets their act together!!!

 

My HP dv8 laptop is still in the exchange process(damn keyboard was broken), so I didn't have a lot of time to play with this toy. What flaws are you experiencing in your notebook except the GPU Driver and Sleep issue?

 

Honestly? That's it. I'm just getting so frustrated with the video driver problem. Why HP can't update the driver I'll never know. But I love it other than that.

 

i updated nvidia to 195.62 and havent had any video driver issues since....

 

And this is the latest driver too correct?

Did you have to modify the file like it said a few pages back?

 

That's weird, do you use sleep mode a lot? Because my computer is fine with the updated driver except when I put it into sleep mode and it resumes, then it will lock up and the only way to fix it is hold down the power. I don't think mine is defective because with any the original driver the 7/23/09 one its fine just flashes the screen.

 

yeah I had to .....and yes its the latest driver

I do use sleep mode a lot.....and havent had issues with the laptop freezing up lately....

 

Then I wonder why mine freezes on the latest driver.

 

So we can summarise the problem as follows:

Original factory video driver causes GPU overheating and black-screens.

Latest Nvidia drivers (195) solves the above problem but causes freeze upon resuming from sleep.

 

yup well at least on mine it does

 

Hello everyone!!!! Loonnng time lurker, (Just finished reading all 179) pages!!!! (Whewwww)!

I too am contemplating purchasing the new HP DV8T, and am waiting for a sweet deal before pulling the trigger. Slappa has a nice silver and orange bag that is very nice that I am looking to purchase to carry this beast around in.

I have read many of the issues of the owners, and it seems that for some, problems did not begin until after they upgraded the Bios and drivers, and others had issues straight from the manufacturer....

I don't think that there is a better laptop that will compare price wise feature to feature, and I have to ask the owners a general question; barring all driver/bios issues, would you purchase this laptop again?

Why or why not?

Thanks!!

 

Most definitely. Only issues I've had this far were caused from the video driver that simply needs to be updated. HP will its just a matter of time. But I told myself where else am I going to get all of this for the price. Plus I used a $450 coupon off on Cyber Monday. Talk about a sweet deal. I would still highly recommend this laptop. Like every other one currently on the market its going to have issues. But I'm overall very satisfied. Myself and many others are patiently awaiting the new video driver. Fingers crossed

Just to add: I experienced no issues from updating the BIOS. The issues all were there prior to the update. Those were the lockups after resuming from sleep. I just set the bios to the default settings and I was good to go

 

Iv'e had my dv8 for 3 weeks. I have not had any of the common issues such as freezes, black screens, or problems coming out of sleep mode.
I have not updated the origional video driver, bios or done a clean install.
I'm wondering if the video issues are with the driver or if some of the video cards are defective. Could you describe your broken keyboard. I returned my origional dv8 for keyboard flex. other than that I had no other issues with that dv8 either.
Just another reminder to anyone having to many problems. If you bought your dv8 before christmas you have an extended deadline to return it until 1/15.
Still loving my dv8 and hoping everyone having problems finds a solution.

 

Yeah I thought about returning it but I said I don't want to return it only for a faulty driver than can so easily be resolved with an update from HP. Not to mention go through the headache of shopping around and having to wait for another one to get built. Other than my lockup issues I love this laptop.

 

I hear you. You almost had to pry my first one out of my hands. Then I had to go through 3 weeks of dv8 withdrawls. I wouldn't go through that again unless I absoulutly had to.

 

If I am not mistaken, a lot of owners purchased on Cyber Monday...with that being said, do you think there is a possibility that Shanghai has gotten wind of the issues and have resolved some of the previous issues on the newer shipped laptops?

Also, I plan on having Windows 7 Premium Home edition factory installed, but I can get Win 7 Ultimate 64 Bit for 99 Bucks (Luv that student discount!!), is it overkill? Plus and minuses of Win 7 Home vs Win 7 Ultimate?

Matt, I believe you have the Hybrid HDTV Tuner; is that correct? I was thinking of adding this also, but wanted to know if it is a port to connect a coax cable, or is it simply an attachable portable antenna that connects via USB port or some other means?

Thanks!

 

deleted post

 

Yep, I have the Hybrid Tuner. It does come with a connector to connect to a coax cable. Its like an adapter you plug into the laptop then the other end in to the cable. I haven't really messed that much with the tuner. I didn't plug in the tv cable line I just picked up HD channels with the antenna and it was fine.

 

Here is the link to the bag I was referring to:

http://www.slappa.com/aura-silver-l...3eTaxiPc3mTe34Pa38Ta38Lbxr0?sc=2&category=656

I know the bag is big, but so am I! You can't tell from my avatar, but I am 6'5 320; what else can I say but big toyz for big boyz!!!!

 

Honestly? NO. If you get it, yours will ship with the exact same drivers as mine did a month ago. But I wouldn't let that affect your decision on purchasing it. Its a great computer. HP will have updated drivers up soon.

That bag you linked is a nice one. I have the Targus 18" Deluxe bag. Bought directly from HP and I love it.

 

That's good to know! I don't want to crawl along the floors looking for cables! Is there an associated fee like for Direct Stream or is the 75 dollars the only cost?

Thanks again for all the responses to my questions!

 

I scored my dv8 for $999 with a coupon and I'm having no problems.
But I would recommend this laptop even if I was having all of bugs that are coming with the rollout of this unit. And if I couldn't find a coupon I would pay the full price for it. I agree with you about the value. Some other I7 units have a better video card but I don't they stack up against the total package of this one at this price.
As far as a bag for this goes more bags are starting to come out for the 18.4" laptops. I found one on the toshiba web site. They have 3 models. They are pricey but I found a coupon and I really like the one I got.
Put me down for a 5 recomendation!
P.S. I don't know if you can find a good coupon this time of year.
Just pull the trigger on this thing and in a few weeks you will be posting on this site about how much you love it.

 

Actually I am in the market for 2 computers....one desktop and one laptop....I am drooling for Apple's new 27inch iMac, but the wife has never used Mac and is intimidated; my other choice would be HP 23inch TouchSmart, but it lacks the i7 Core that I am looking for.

 

I would love to, but my wife and Dave Ramsey advocate will not agree until we can get a reasonably good deal....If 'momma' ain't happy, NOBODY's happy!!!

 

I have an i7 desktop and would highly recomend going that route for the performance. If you end up buying a dv8 don't forget to order the bluetooth upgrade on the networking card. It is only $25 but well worth it. Some have missed that option and regretted it.
Just a heads up the battery life will suck no matter which one you order. I am lucky to get 90 min. It's not a deal breaker for me because I usually plug it in and I'm very rarely going to lug this monster around with me.

 

I agree with you. Keep her happy and check the coupon sites daily. You never know when they will kick one out. They are not just a black monday thing. They had them for $400 -$500 off for a couple of weeks in November. Seems like they are due for some more coupons I just don't know if this is a dead part of the year for them.