*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

Yes, dl'd that one even though I didn't know what it was .

 

Hmmmm, you installed the fingerprint drivers right? Honestly I wouldn't sweat it. As long as everyone works right? But if it bothers you try downloading this.

http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

It will identify any unknown device.

 

Good stuff Matt. +1

 

Thanks hey how is your DV8 running? You did a clean install right? Any issues?

 

Hey there Matt,

No, I did not do a clean install. I didn't have the time to do it. No matters because my DV8 is a mean fighting macheeeeen. Bluray burning is great, updated vid drivers via that workaround that someone posted here, and I fortunately did NOT update BIOS. I have a Mac so I do all my iPhone/iPod syncing via that.

All in all its running fast as expected. I 'almost' picked up a SSD but figured I'll just run this laptop as it is and run it into the ground or give it to my son later.

Aloha from the middle of the Pacific

 

That's good to hear. If you ever decide you do want to update the BIOS, I have had no problems with F.12E bios. Just changed the settings to default. I did that because its nice to know that option is there for syncing my iPod later on if something ever were to happen to my desktop. Keep us posted PeaCe

 

Try to update the audio drivers or just to reinstall the IDT audio drivers.

If it dosn't work, try to check your audio setup. There is a lot of possibilities :

http://www.hphdx.net/Forum/tabid/55/forumid/8/threadid/2984/scope/posts/Default.aspx

 

Here is a quick guide to overclock the GPU

 

Although I bought a decent Dell Inspiron 1750 from Costco at the end of October, I made the mistake of checking Costco's website a few weeks later and came across the dv8t and decided this is the the laptop I should have bought.

I've been doing a ton of research on the dv8t and lurking on this forum every since. I kicked myself for not picking one up during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, but figured I could wait until after Christmas to pick one up, hopefully on another good sale. Unfortunately those "after-Christmas" deals never materialized and I'm very close to the end of the 90-day return period to take my Dell back.

What do you all think; do you see any chance that HP will offer another decent coupon on the dv8t this week, or am I risking the losing the current discounts by waiting any longer? Right now I can pick this laptop up for $1,538.16 with the following specs:

•Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
•Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
•$100 OFF! 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
•500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
•1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M
•18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
•Lightscribe Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
•Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Espresso Black)
•Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
•HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
•HP Color Matching Keyboard
•HP Long Life Notebook Battery with support for Extended Lifecycles
•Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
•HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope​

I would really like to add the 2nd HDD and Blu-ray burner, but I can't justify the additional $300, as I'm already $500+ over the cost of my Dell; so much for staying within my goal of spending less than $1,000! Now if only HP would offer another good discount on the dv8t, I'd spring for these two items as well.

I couldn't pass up the upgrade to 8GB of RAM for $200, as everywhere I looked in the aftermarket, it would run me at least $400 to upgrade later at today's prices.

Thanks for any advice you can offer! This forum is GREAT!

Josh

 

Believe me I know the feeling. It sucks having to wait for a good deal. I kept bothering logicbuy.com and asking them when they will put a good coupon on for the dv8t. They only seem to put ones on for the dv6 and dv7. It's annoying. The dv8t laptop is really nice but has some issues with Bios and video drivers, just keep that in mind. I know the Dell's have their issues too. Regardless, its still an awesome laptop. Here is my advice to you. Return your Dell ASAP then simply wait for a good deal. One will come you just have to be patient. I was patient and one came and I'm so glad I was. If you can go without a laptop for a few weeks then go for it. Email Logicbuy and ask them about upcoming offers. If you don't want to do that then look at it like this. You keep your Dell then 3 weeks from now a $500 coupon is available for the DV8t. You'll be kicking yourself trust me Patience is truly a virtue Best of luck

 

Is there anything I should know before trying to update to the newest bios driver?

What are the pros and cons for using nVidia scaling vs display scaling and nVidia settings vs video player settings?

Thanks for any help you might offer.

 

To you guys who bricked your laptops due to the messed up BIOS update:
when are your exchanged laptops expected to ship out?
Mine was exchanged due to a non-responsive keyboard and is expected to ship out on Feb 5th.

 

that sounds unacceptable

 

I guess you're getting a new one. Mine was past the return time I have to send mine in for a repair

I should have the return box tomorrow. It looks like they ship everything next day air.

 

yea... if it wasn't for the great Cyber Monday deal, I would have returned it already. My laptop was expected to ship out on January 26th, but HP messed up the shipping label which caused FedEX is lose my laptop.... So then the exchange got canceled and got further delayed.... HP's CS is terrible.

And yea... fortunately it was in HP's 21 days, so I get a new laptop. Hopefully there will be no defects this time.

Anyways, it seems that no one else on this forum had a keyboard defect... how unlucky I am... I gotta wait an entire month again (since I shipped my laptop back)

 

This makes me very hesitant to update my bios drivers. Was this a problem with an older update or what?

Thanks for your time.

 

The latest BIOS updated ok for me. See post #1932 on page 194 of this thread.
RT

 

can I ask how it differs from F.12.E?

 

LogicBuy emailed me a coupon regarding a deal for the DV6T and the Envy 15....they will keep me updated and will inform me when the deal for the DV8T is available.

On another note, I spoke to a tech support rep for Att Uverse regarding my 802.11g router....it seems that Att is waiting for Wireless N to become more of an industry standard before going back to have 2Wire develop a router that features wireless n.

This kind of bites because that means that I am doomed to connect at speeds of 54Mbps wirelessly, and 100Mbps hardwired to transfer my files. He did ask if the laptop was equipped with esata port, which I did confirm; according to the tech, if connect the laptop to an esata external hdd via esata cables, that the files will transfer @ speeds of 1Gigabit or more.....Is this correct, or was he talking gibberish???

 

That is correct; e-Sata or Sata can transfer data at theoretically 3gigabits/sec

 

Thanks for the repies.

So which drivers are good to update and which should be avoided?

So far I've just updated the nvidia drivers.

What about: What are the pros and cons for using nVidia scaling vs display scaling and nVidia settings vs video player settings?

 

What does he mean "files will transfer @ speeds of 1Gigabit or more"? Is he talking gb/s? If so, in theory that may be possible; but in reality, that isn't even close. I have two 7200 rpm, 32 mb cache eSATA external hard drives (750 mb and 1 TB). It depends if the drive is empty or almost full. My 4GB file will transfer just short of 100 mb/s when the drive is empty, and closer to 65 mb/s when almost full. It's the same with both external hard drives.

RT

 

Adding an external hard drive will do nothing to improve the speed of your wireless network connection...absolutely nothing! The router is the bottleneck and until the router is replaced, there's nothing you can to get more than 54mbps except using an ethernet cable.

Wireless n has been a draft standard since 2007. In Oct. of last year, thee WiFi Alliance came out with Version 2.0 of the draft standard. There aren't too many manufacturers today that aren't supporting Wireless n. AT&T is full of baloney.

Here's a suggestion for you. There is a website called uverseusers.com. Why don't you post a question over there about whether anyone knows of any wireless n routers that will work with Uverse. I'll bet someone on that site will be able to advise you.

 

You can update every driver without any problem... ...except the bios.

Does anyone read the release note before updating the bios? If you use an Ipod, update your bios to F.12, if not, keep the F.05 coming from factory.

If you use a dock and have problems with your speakers, take the risk to update to F15. If not, keep the F.05 coming from factory or the F.12.

To check your drivers :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5146163#post5146163

 

there was an issue with F.12 , when I did the update of F.12 the bios was updated , and then the machine shutdown with a over-temp warning .
with the new update the process involves and flashing a new bios and EC update , I guess EC update was not done correctly with F.12 .

now I notice the fan is quit and running at slow speed at all time , also when I power on the keyboard is working all the time . Before I had issues of no response from mouse/keyboard had to force shutdown .

checked temps with HWmonitor and all is well .

 

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp46501-47000/sp46954.html

 

Just wondering ---

Can you raid two identical drives (regular drives or SSDs) together on the dv8 for even better performance?

Thanks in advance.

 

When I flashed to F.12 I had the exact same error message about the over temp warning. Then I powered it back on and its been fine ever since. I fear putting F.15 on my computer based upon all the problems everyone has had so far. Like the bricking.

 

Any updates can be corrected by using Windows Backup or Acronis Backup before the update, or by doing a system recovery ... EXCEPT THE BIOS UPDATE. Once done, it's done.

One problem that was corrected for me with the F.12 BIOS update was everytime I'd reboot from a program that was run from a bootable DVD/CD I'd get the 'false overtemp display' that everyone mentioned seeing after the F.12 update. So I saw that 'false overtemp display' way before the F.12 update came out. No more.

Speaking of the BIOS update, someone said "based upon all the problems everyone has had so far". This is not true. Although some have had problems with the F.15 BIOS update, it worked OK for me. You usually don't hear about the good, only the bad. Unlike other updates, BIOS updates can be tricky and can brick your computer. Use precautions!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is many versions of bootable DVD/CD programs won't boot with the dv8t-1000. This includes Acronis Disk Director, BartPe, UBCD4WIN, and some versions of Acronis True Image, . This problem appears to be related to the lack of the necessary drivers for this motherboard that are required for these bootable programs.

RT

 

Hi Retired Technician,

After your F15E Bios update, have you noticed that your fan is running on low all the time? I reset my settings to default after the update and have found that my laptop runs cooler, which is a bonus as before the update the bottom would heat up.

Is the fan running all the time on low an issue? Or was this doing this prior to this update as well?

 

Has anyone had as issue with video freezing up when you view it full screen?

My video freezes, the audio continues but the video sticks on one frame.

I havent tried yet, but I would imagine this will cause fits while trying to edit video.

Any ideas on what this could be?

 

probably the faulty Nvidia driver. Try updating the video driver.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=404164

then go to page 161 on this thread for the fix. Hopefully that will resolve it. When using the Dec. 04 driver my computer locks up after resuming from sleep. The November driver works fine.

 

Does any one know if DV8T has ESATA with port multiplier functionality?

Thanks

 

Good question - I'd like to know this too. In other words, can you use a double dock with it?

 

Thanks to you guys, I just ordered my dv8t today configured as follows and it's suppose to be built on 2/4/10.

I didn't know there was a docking station available for the dv8t...couldn't find one on the HP site.....which one(s) will work with it?

dv8t quad edition
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
• $100 OFF! 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• FREE Upgrade to 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M
• 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)
• Lightscribe Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Espresso Black)
• Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
• HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner
• HP Color Matching Keyboard
• 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Thanks, dwjp90, I called on my recent dv8t unshipped order and HP cs refunded me the $100 difference. I'm $100 richer 'cause of your welcome tip. HP cs is the best I've ever dealt with. See my post bottom page 191.

 

I had a problem today that I hope someone here will be able to help me with. I wanted to see the road conditions at Tahoe on Cal Trans web http://www.video.dot.ca.gov/asx/d3-colfax-80.asx but I'm not able to with my dv8t. I can do this on my Vista laptop but not on this laptop.

 

Also, I can't seem to find windows media player. Does this laptop have it?

 

Wich version of Windows 7 you have installed on your DV8?

If you have a WIndows 7 N, that's mean that you don't have Windows Media Player installed.

If yur version isn't a N version, you should have Windows Media Player 12 installed. Maybe is damaged or hided. Try to check.

You can find a version of Windows Media Player for windows 7 N on microsoft website.

If you have windows media player 12 on your computer but it dosn't work, i think that you have to restore Windows or even reinstall it since Windows Media Player is part of the OS.

 

HP UK has done it again!
They've returned my laptop from repair twice and twice it's been unrepaired. It's the old graphics card freezing (driver failed to respond and has recovered) with white artefacts, BSODs, etc. It fails as soon as it's booted - it would take a novice 10 seconds to note something is wrong.

The laptop was untested and my notes were ignored. It must be costing HP a lot to keep picking it up and returning it via courier, but their repair department is incompetent beyond description. I put notes all over the laptop, and logged it with customer service when booking the repair - yet all this was all ignored.

Don't know what to do now - now it's third time lucky with repair. Should I ask for a replacement? Anyone had similar issues? Anyone know someone to speak to with HP UK?

 

How do I find out if I have Windows 7 N? I bought my DV8 online at Costco.

Greg

 

right click on my computer, go to properties, and it shows at the top of that page. I am guessing you have Windows 7 Home Premium. I think that's what most come with.

 

Just reading this pisses me off. Sorry man. I hope everything works out one way or another.

 

Just a heads up on the 12 cell battery. I just got one of these off ebay and wanted to let you guys know it does not fit flush into the laptop. Their is a small section under the battery that lifts the laptop up about 1/4-1/2". I guess that's how they get the extra 4 cells in it The part that's raised does have some little rubber feet to keep the laptop from sliding. I'm not sure if all the 12 cell battery's were like this, but wanted to let you guys know.

 

I have my eye on the 12 cell battery also. It is suppose to elevate it. This is really nice because it offers better ventilation. How's the performance for the 12 cell?

 

I'd like to learn more about the 12-cell as well. What's the brand, price point, longevity, etc?

 

When typing does anyone here a noise by the numeric pad? I notice if you open the drive it goes away. Seems like something is kinda loose? Could be a build defect?

 

id ask for a replacement. This isnt something new with hp nor other companies. I've had been reading stories like this for years, where people send in their laptops only to find out they did NOTHING, this was the same issue with the dv9000 and the faulty nvidia gpu.

 

So today I lug this thing to school and resume it from sleep and the damn thing freezes. So I tested it. Each time put in sleep mode freeze after resuming. Its fine for like 15 seconds but then just looses it. I don't know what to do. I know its the video driver. I am using 8.17.11.9555. I just want to know why others are using this driver and are not facing sleep issues but I am? However when I install the original Nvidia driver its fine.

 

Use 8.17.11.9562