*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

Just received notification that my laptop is due for delivery today!! Man, I am stoked!! Not bad at all for a laptop that wasn't supposed to be built until March 1!! Whoo Hooo!!!

 

I tried to install that driver but it said it was for the dv6 and dv6's 130M graphics cards.

 

Did u download it 4rm the link provided to me by hp? I encountered no difficulties with the installation. To date I've not seen the driver time out issue since installing it.

 

Looking forward to your review...

 

I was on the HP support forum just now. The dv8t video card driver issue has it's own thread http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Displa...tops-responding-and-periodic-BSOD/td-p/186410

It appears that u r not the only dv8 user unable to install the 87.66 driver, i have no clue y.

Also, some1 posted that the benchmarks result using the 87.66 drivers are lower than the original and also the 195.62 but others who install it have nonetheless reported that they r not experiencing the display driver time out error anymore. So on the one hand u've got a driver that seemingly solves the problem but it might be doing so at the expense of performance. talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. HP really needs to just link up Nvidia and have them modify the 195.62 driver so that it is compatible with the dv8's video card. Y should we have to compromise and be asked to choose between stability or graphics quality? That's just crazy.

 

I'm starting to wonder if they'll ever release a new video driver for the Gt 230m? At this point I'm probably going to say NO. They have updated pretty much nothing for the dv8 except the quick launch buttons. Makes no sense. Gee I wonder why they took off the bios? I would say HP is more interested in updating the drivers for the more popular machine like the ENVY.

 

Have a quick break from class....For starters, this beast is fast!!! I have not experienced any flexing of the keyboard, yet i do see how quickly the keyboard picks up the natural oil in the fingers.

I need to find a solution to remove the boatload of crap that was pre installed...

Intergrated tv tuner works well.

Need more time to learn the Hp MediaSmart software.....

Would love to do a clean install to reduce the 71 processes running, but my budget wouldn't allow for me to purchase a copy of windows 7 home premium...

Pretty much pleased with the performance of the laptop so far!

 

You can create a Windows 7 disk by clicking the first link then load it on and activate it by doing a backup and restore of your product key. Worked for me.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=428068
http://directedge.us/content/abr-activation-backup-and-restore

 

I did a clean install from a downloaded file and re-used my key. All it cost me was a little time.

 

Hey guys,
according to CPU-Z I have PC3-10700 speed RAM. However, I don't see DD3 RAM with speeds of 10700. What type of RAM would I buy if I were to upgrade this? 10666, 10600, 10660, which one?

 

10600, 10660, 10666, 10700 are all the same.

 

Really, Are you serious? Which one do you think would be suited best for the dv8? (I want to definitely make sure that it is compatible and works.)

 

they are the SAME ram, exactly. manufacturers name them differently based on preference, etc. I wrote about it in one of my previous posts.

There is no difference

 

Well, I've had my dv8t for 5 days now, and I must say that I am very pleased with this product! It came with Bios Version 15, and I am glad to say that there are no issues to report!

I quickly reduced that 500GB drive to 300, Stream video wirelessly, surf, the web, play with the webcam, all without missing a beat! That quad core sure came in handy, LOLOLOLOL!!!!

 

I was checking for the latest drives , I see that the BIOS now is version F.06
I guess HP removed 12 & 15 .

 

Hi!
has anyone tried to flash from F.05 to F.06 ??

thanks

 

I think I've had my first bad experience with my dv8t quad.
I got my first BSOD today... about 5 minutes ago saying BAD_POOL_CALLER. DO you guys know what this means? Could it possibly be because I installed the graphics card driver 187.66?
Any ideas?

 

My machine freezes up once in a while and it gets quite annoying. The only thing I can do is a hard shutdown. Off course mine is a clean install of windows 7 ultimate. Using 8.17.11.9562 driver from Nvidia's site.

 

Those of you experiencing LOCKUPS or blue screens, you need to contact HP and complain. You payed for a high end computer. One that should not do that. Windows 7 has yet to give me an issue on my Dell or 2 year old Pavilion desktop. HP needs to start updating the drivers for this laptop already. They also need to put out new bios that are actually stable and will resolve the lockups.

People kept complaining at Dell to fix the throttling and Dell is now aware of it and has attempted to fix the majority of it. My point? Ya gotta speak up or nothing will never get fixed.

Best of Luck to all the people with the dv8.

 

dv8 owners: we have a problem having a forum and a voice. Have you noticed almost nobody posts to this forum anymore? I think the reason is obvious, after Christmas, HP took all the price incentives off the dv8 and left them on the dv7 Quad and the Envy 15. Both are now a much more compelling price/value equation. I fear that HP is looking to "orphan" the dv8. But many of us own and love the machine, but having no active forum is a real buzz kill. I suggested to an NBR forum leader that we combine the dv7 Qyad and dv8 forums, similar to others in NBR, the logic being that the dv8 forum is now all but dead, but the two machines (dv7quad and dv8) are virtually the same machine and the dv7 forum is still reasonably active. With the exception of the displays, there are no issues experienced by dv7 owners that would not be experienced by dv8 owners and vice-versa. Thoughts welcomed.

 

By that logic, you may as well lump the DV6t into the lot. Fact is, this is a specific forum for the DV8--nothing else. There are already other threads that incorporate the DV8 and similar systems (the drivers thread in particular). Combining the threads makes things WAY too confusing. It ain't going to happen--don't bother asking. By the way... fingerprint reader and BR drive don't typically come standard on the DV7t

Most people don't even know about the HP coupons for these systems--the same goes for the bing cashback incentives (there was 20% on the site just the other day). It's the regular and sale pricing that attract people. The DV8 is the top of HPs pavilion quad line, and it SHOULD be a niche market. I don't want everyone and their brother having my system

What they SHOULD do is combine this with that zombie DV8t owners thread. It's redundant, and has been around for at least 3 months without mods bothering to do anything about it...

 

You know, your response is exactly what the NBR forum leader said and you are right, of his own accord he would not make any changes if his life depended on it. (At a minimum, would you lobby him to combine the dv8 forums?)

With all respect, I think you are both acting against your own and NBR's interests: If you feel like you are "elite" because you own the top of the line Pavillion notebook, and are happy if that makes you alone in a forum, where you will not get many, if any, responses to your posts for days, nor learn info from others who are dealing with real issues with their machines and with HP daily, suit yourself. I will vote with my feet and my wallet - sell the dv8 and buy a computer that has popular support despite the self-defeating logic of some of the members - like the Dell SXPS-1647 or SONY F-series, which have some 100+ posts per day and owners always get immediate feedback and help for their problems. The Sony is new, but the Dell has been around longer than the HP dv8, and it is a vibrant, well-trafficked site. We have a major problem with BIOS, but there's nobody even responding. That's why Mattmjb0188, bless him, who no longer even owns a dv8, is our only source of info to encourage us to rally and get help from HP, as the Dell XPS 1647 owners did and were *solely* responsible for getting a BIOS fix and new PSU to correct a throttling issue.

Oh, and, finally, I am not suggesting combining the dv6 quad edition because that is a very substantially different computer, form factor, component options, etc. That is only similar in that it is an HP Pavillion and has similar processor offerings. The dv8 and dv7 Quad are, from my reading in the forums, almost always configured nearly identically and, frankly, this is a matter of "life and death" for dv8 owners, and I notice the dv7 Quad forum traffic going way down as well. You merge entities that can't make it on their own, but are big enough to be viable together - it's why mergers happen.

Does anyone share (or even understand) my logic?

 

I would love to complain to HP, but since I loaded my own OS on the machine, I probably don't have much credibility.

 

I understand the logic behind it. I could even understand taking that approach from the very beginning (ie before they were separately created). The real problem with your suggestion is... how to readers wrap their heads around it? You're going to have two threads with timestamps merged, and it will be a jumble of craziness. The topic will be on one track for dv7-related business, and then all of a sudden a single DV8 post comes in, then shifts back to DV7. The worst part of this scenario is that you won't know which posts are dv7-related and dv8-related!!

Not a bad idea--simply a logistics nightmare to make it readable to readers who frequent both threads.

It's MUCH too late to consider merging the threads. No one says you can't frequent and post in the DV7 boards if you want... Shifting topic a bit, aren't most of the parts in the DV6t carried over to the DV7 and DV8 quads? If I'm not mistaken, the motherboards in the DV7t and DV8t aren't identical... neither are the drive bay brackets. The screens and chassis also don't match... when it comes down to it, is the dv6t any more dissimilar from the dv7t as the dv7t is from the dv8t? If anything, they're closer, as the dv6/dv7 retain the basic -fingerprintreader -BRplayer builds. The DV6t/DV7t also has the moonlight chassis option (WITH matching keyboards), whereas the DV8t has a single chassis option.

 

Some good points - though I should think the logistics could be worked out - but I have a great solution: instead of merging, create a new forum: the HP dv7/dv8 quad (core i7) owners forum for all with issues common to both. I have seen countless 'spinoffs' of forums in other makes - Dell has at least 3 different ones for the different generations and combinations of the XPS series, the newest one being the XPS-1647, which combines models with fairly dramatically different configurations but common problems. Start a new forum. Actually, this has been done 3-4 times for the HP Envy as well. Otherwise, both the dv7 Quad and dv8 owners will have no useful forum and will be "orphaned" by NBR, the dominant notebook computer owners' forum. Would be sad. Don't know why this is so obvious and needed to me, but not hearing much support, though bear in mind, nobody comes to these forums anymore, so your response is pretty much the only comment on the forum for the last 48 hrs. Get the point?

thanks,

 

It's pretty much a given that people only stop by when stuff goes wrong. When new drivers come out, that's when people stop by to talk hash. People don't stop by to chat when everything is hunky dory. When a new system is released, people check in like crazy--as it gets older (and no changes occur), people don't bother to post.

The fact that no one's posting doesn't necessarily mean no one is reading--you simply can't prove that. I stop in pretty much every day and you don't see me posting all the time. If I don't see anything worth replying to, I head elsewhere--there are other forums to frequent

Beyond that, all I can say is that this thread is still very lively. Even getting 1-2 posts a day is pretty darn good by any standards--especially for a system that's been out for nearly 6 months now!!! I've kept watch on plenty of threads that only get new posts every few weeks--and I don't consider those dead.

 

^ This is true, however there are posts just a few pages back with people who have no issues, myself included. I'll be the one to give HP some praise.

I've had mine for 9 days now (which I know isn't really long enough to experience some issues others are having) but I have had ZERO problems with anything on mine. Someone even quoted me out and said "oh you will have problems" or something to that tune.

I have BIOS F.15 and the plain jane nvidia driver/fingerprint reader driver from HP - nothing going on at all - and I have even tried to replicate the issues others are having. I simply can't. There is no slowdown, no lockups, no bluescreen. Nothing. I don't tread lightly either - My battery is removed, it stays powered on 24/7 just like my last laptop. I run lots of intensive programs at once, no signs of overheating, etc.


Dare I say that after 6 months the dv8t quad has been out perhaps HP has listened?

 

I've been a regular follower of the dv8 owners lounge since the machine's inception. I ordered one (1100 CTO) with the 820 processor 8gb and two 500GB HDD's before reading all the negative posts about the nvidia driver issues. At first I was kind of scared, thinking I may have rushed into the purchase, fearing the worst. When I received mine, I did experience the nvidia driver failing here and there. I followed the posted instructions and loaded the 195.62 drivers successfully, and the f.15E bios. I have not had a problem with it since.

I originally bought the machine to use as mobile blu-ray player (lots of late nights at the job etc.....) but I also regularly hook it up to my plasma and I've played all the way through Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 (at 720p, with all other detail levels maxxed out). And I've been more then suprised that the GT230 was able to allow this!

My desktop PC with gtx285 has been getting no love lately!!

I understand that in a forum that most of the posts are going to be from people having problems, that is just the nature of forums, but I figure I should at least be one of the few people that post of nothing but good times with my dv8 once I upgraded the video driver.

Add one more completely happy dv8t-1100 user to the list!!!


Steve

 

I totally agree with you!!
I received my dv8t quad almost a month ago.. And I still check this forum every single day- To see if anythings new. Although I only post whenever there is something relevant to say. If we had a counter of some sort then we'd know if this forum is still active.
HP is quite popular and during the time when there were lots of coupons, many people bought this laptop. I'm sure that this forum is definitely still active.

 

Its not just being active in the forums. We need to let HP know that they better start updating the drivers for a machine of this caliber. A laptop worth $1000 should be getting driver updates every few months and yet HP hasn't released a single stable update ever since this thing got released.

I too have had few problems with my DV8t and I've owned it since the christmas coupons. It's true that people only post on forums when they need help.

 

Thanks, Zapster, I think you put it the way I have been thinking. We need more than lurkers to make this forum useful. We need activists. Now, I have made several calls to HP over time and gotten them to respond to common complaints : eg, the keyboard "wipeout" problem, the disappearance of any BIOS from their support site, etc. But it takes *numbers* to both share the load of contacting HP (hopefully getting a rep to join the forum like "Dell Bill" on the Dell SXPS 1647 forum. Someone got his attention and now he frequents the forum and goes back internally and researches issues and gets company policy to shift in support of owners.

I'm off my high horse about creating a new dv7 quad/dv8 forum, just because of all you nay-sayers thinking we dv8 owners should have our own "elite" forum, special to owners of the top of the line, and those who feel it is just too confusing to have posts that may or may not pertain to you (hint: read the signature to see what model the poster owns if you are confused), when even within the dv8 someone may post something about the BD drive when all dv8s don't have one.

Well, let's focus instead on getting more proactive and sharing the load with getting HP to update drivers and cure problems. Right now my machine is running very well and I only have intermittent problems with the phantom tone controls on the screen. I have not dared to upgrade the bios but did re-flash f.06 (at HP tech rep's suggeston) and all the little gremlins seem to have gone back underground. I am about to install my replacement keyboard (so there will be visible paint on all of the keys again!) and we'll see if it is durable. A few weeks ago, there were multiple posts in response to mine saying their paint was vanishing from their keyboards as well, but I haven't heard anything since.

Oh, one new thing, and I am going to try to remedy it with new keyboard install: we all know the Num pad has always had lots of flex. Lately my alpha keypad has more an more flex and makes "clattering" sound when I type. It seems that the substrate below it is bowing or weakening. Anyone else? It's a quality issue - even if this machine is working fine today, I have real concerns that my $1,000 investment (much less the $1,500-$2,000 others are now paying) will be dead inside of 2 yrs.

Whew! Sorry to make you read so much. Passion does that, lol!

 

Uh yeah, keep fighting the machine guys Unless some of you decide to start sending HP letters, organize petitions, or start class action suits, you're really accomplishing nothing by coming here and saying "we need to band together and prod HP... as long as I'm not the one to do anything about it". Sorry, but that's the way I see it--lots of people take this tone, but do they ever say they've called HP or taken any active steps to achieve their goals? Usually not.

I've owned a lot of laptops in my day, and the lack of new drivers/software isn't that unusual. These machines really aren't that unstable. Besides the intermittent graphics driver restart... I'm pleased. I've owned MUCH worse systems than this in the same price ballpark.

 

FWIW I personally called HP about 2 separate issues (disappearing keyboard letters and phantom tone control appearances and they put a policy in place to take care of the former and, well, so far nothing on the latter - can anyone say: "new driver, please?"

You are right, talking on the forum does no good but if each person with the problem also calls HP, chances are decent that the company eventually responds. These machines are not exactly top quality and it's hard to imagine that as they age a bit more a number of new problems won't crop up due to cumulative heat, the effects of moving them around (if you're strong, lol).

So yeah, I agree that just moaning on the forum is not in itself a way to get results, but sometimes it just feels good to have kindred spirits to talk to, sometimes it turns out that someone else has dealt with the issue successfully and they provide the solution - as I have done numerous times for noobs.

You sound a little defensive, moko. There's no need. These machines are ok, but they have their share of problems and HP has done little to keep them humming with new drivers. Check out the Dell SXPS 1647 thread if you want to see what kind of response you can get.

 

Hi, all! My first post, though I've been lurking for a short time. I thought it was time to go ahead and jump in as I just got first Fedex tracking info on my freshly ordered dv8t yesterday, which gave 03/10 as projected delivery date. Which is nice since when I ordered it that was the projected build date. I hope that's a good omen for the rest of the dv8t experience.

I'd been looking at the Dell Studio XPS16 until they told me how long it was going to take to get one, then read up on its problems. My brother has had no problems at all with his little Dell, bought two years ago. But I was put off. A co-worker has an older DV6700, and he graciously let me play around with it for several days. He praised its reliability. I was impressed with its quality for a consumer level machine. But its keyboard and screen are too small, and its performance medium. So I went looking online for bigger and faster and ended up here.

My dv8t will do some traveling, some light gaming, and otherwise general internet and multimedia use. I ordered the I-7 1.6ghz proc, 8gb, 1-500gb drive (may add drive later), and the regular dvd burner, no bluray (may add that later). I'll wait to see how the machine works out before spending any more money on it.

I was a bit reluctant to get such a large machine, but in the end it will be plugged in when traveling anyway, mostly, so what the heck?

I'll post when it arrives with bios and driver versions and initial impressions. I appreciate all the good information and those who contribute here. You have sure helped so far.

 

Congratulations Kloker! And welcome to the forum.

 

Ditto that. Nice to have new blood. Allow us to save you time and trouble with issues we have overcome. You got a great machine.

 

It has been two weeks since I received my laptop, and I am happy to report that i haven't had any issues!

I am very satisfied with my purchase, and I have been both showing off the laptop and reccomending this laptop to all my friends and classmates.

 

Right here, lovelaptops.

 

Thanks. Either i was losing my mind, or it disappeared temporarily - or both, lol!

 

Okay, my machine arrived yesterday 03/09, another day shaved off the total as Fedex tracking said it was due today. Interestingly, the original build date from my order on 02/25 was supposed to be today. So, adding all that up I got it in 12 days, much more quicklier than I thought I would, which is a good thing since I was about to get overly excited!

And in fact I didn't end up getting much sleep after it got here. This is, by the way, my first laptop, so it'll be a learning experience for me. So far it seems to run flawlessly. More soon, but for now I think I need a nap. Later!

 

<acronym title="Based on 14 benchmark(s):2821, 3704, 2231, 3388, 3751, 3721, 3658, 2995, 2952, 3588, 3441, 3757, 3069, 2987">Has anyone run Cinebench R10 rendering benchmarks on your Core i7-720? I was just checking my machine for grins and I got scores of 2757 (single) and 7580 (multi) and then I looked up the scores for the same processor in Notebookcheck.net and found their published scores for the processor were 3290 (single) and 9236 (multi).

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html?&benchmark_values=&deskornote=0&month=&or=0&search=&sort=dhrystone</acronym><acronym title="Based on 14 benchmark(s):2821, 3704, 2231, 3388, 3751, 3721, 3658, 2995, 2952, 3588, 3441, 3757, 3069, 2987">

I really don't know much about how they run their tests vs. the "real world" version I ran on mine, but it's hard not to feel discouraged that my dv8t is severely underperforming - by over 20%. I had all processor settings I knew of on high, but might I have forgotten to set any? You can see the rest of my specs in my signature.

Do I have a problem? Thanks for any input.
</acronym><acronym title="Based on 15 benchmark(s):7745, 10229, 9430, 9959, 10249, 10192, 9697, 7796, 8404, 10237, 10311, 10398, 9626, 7791, 7820"></acronym><acronym title="Based on 15 benchmark(s):7745, 10229, 9430, 9959, 10249, 10192, 9697, 7796, 8404, 10237, 10311, 10398, 9626, 7791, 7820"></acronym>

 

I think that you're fussing too much =D Just enjoy your lovely laptop. LOL
Anwyays, is your Power Plan set to High Performance?

 

Point taken; it's just in my nature, truly a curse!

I know I ran the test with my Power Plan set to High, because my most recent previous obsession o) was that my turbo boost and multipliers were flatlining and I discovered all on my own <pride> that the cause of that was very low power plan settings I had been using, even on AC current. I had been convinced I needed the always-malfunctioning "Intel Turbo Boost Technology Driver" to install and work properly but, guess what? Turns out that "driver" doesn't really do anything (begs the question, why does it exist?) and Turbo Boost is part of the basic cpu drivers, and performs perfectly so long as you feed it enough power.

BTW, I believe in retrospect that I had several programs running when I ran the Cinebench R10 test, possibly lowering the scores, but in honor of your most appropriate advice, I will not re-run the test, but will instead spend the time enjoying my wonderful computer - even if it does have the rendering power of a P8400 C2D cpu!

 

I did a quick video of my dv8t running call of Duty Modern War 2. there is one place with some lag when I break a window, but I believe that was because I was on wireless. Also.....don't judge me to harshly because even though I love to game, that doesn't make me a good player! LOL! Anyway....here's the link. I plan on doing a Fallout 3 demo and a Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

http://s850.photobucket.com/albums/ab66/stugstalker/?action=view&current=P1030841.flv

 

wow.... you were right LoveLaptops lol
No one has posted here for a while.
But this also means one thing: everyone who had a dv8t-quad are happy campers =D

 

I was thinking about buying a DV8T customized but I have heard horrible reviews on them. I was reading the HP Support forums and they keep saying it turns off randomly and that there are tons of driver problems with the Nvidia, along with BIOS problems and BSOD issues. Since this is an owner lounge I am wondering if everyones laptops are running fine. I was considering getting a Toshiba P500 customized but I would rather have the dv8t.

 

Thanks for that, Stiker! I do think you are generally correct. People who have owned it for a while and have no problems have no reason to write. I also think that they are selling very few comparatively since the price went up, and new prospective owners and new owners also keep the forum lively. Well, now we seem to have some new blood to have fun with lol (see newest post)

 

There were some recurring problems when the computer was new, circa November/December. Most of those problems have been largely or completely resolved. As recent posts here suggest, there is very little activity on this forum these days, as no one is having problems to report and seek help with. The nVidia driver issue is gone, just make sure you have the latest driver. The BIOS problem is gone too, so long as you stick with an old, but very reliable BIOS, f.06, presently the only one on the HP driver site. If you want to see people with problems, check the multitude of Dell Studio XPS 16 complaint sites and even the SONY F and CW series. Asus - fuggedaboutit, nothin but noise!

I think this is probably the most trouble free computer of its kind on the market. The core i7-720 eats battery power for breakfast, so don't expect more than 2 hours (less with gaming or video). The machine gets a little hot, so a cooler is a good idea, more to improve longevity than to deal with a heat problem, of which I have heard none. If you are a gamer I am told the nVidia 230 in this is nothing to get excited about, but I am a non-gamer, so don't care.

The screen on this is nothing short of remarkable. Others are as good, but none better, many worse. If you can live with the girth of an 18.4" screen DTR machine, get one. The problem with the Toshibas, except expensive and barkin ugly "Qosimos" is very low resolution screens. The Sony F series is probably the one to beat here. Better graphics card, slightly better battery life, backlit keyboard. But the screen is only 16" and there are weird noises on that machine.

Hope this helps. We dv8 owners are a pretty happy lot, not particularly jealous of other owners and rarely needing to post problem issues for well over a month.

Let us know what you decide.

BTW, you can usually negotiate a better price than what is shown on the HP.com site. Sometimes you have to order and call to cancel and they will offer you $100 or more not to.

 

Thanks for the info lovelaptops. I am still contemplating on which laptop to get. I am not a gamer, but I will be using it for work and school. A side from my desktops I have a Sony Vaio - VGN290, which was working fine for certain parts of my work but as of late the cpu has been running around 90-100% while I am working and then randomly decides to turn off and stall me time and money. I was going to buy the dv8 today but I found all those negative reviews and I am hesitant. The dv8 would be with the i7, 2 - 320 hdd, and 8gigs of ram. My other options that I am considering are the Satellite P500-ST6844, with similar specs for around $1784 and the Sony F-Series, also with similar specs.

Have you had any problems with you dv8? Any random shut downs, restarts or freezes?

 

is there a driver update for the treble/bass? i've had mine since it came out and this the first its acted up.