*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

Exactly. I am planning on buying the accidental damage warranty from HP anyways- so if it goes past the 90 days with no Sale, I'll just keep it and buy the warranty thru HP Direct. Otherwise I'll add it on at the time of the sale (assuming there is one)

 

Whether you keep the Costco machine or get one from HP you can still buy the accidental and extended warranty coverage from Costco. They sell the HP package for less.

 

No way- really? Wow. I called CostCo to ask about the Warranty- they said what they do is give me a 800 number for HP (it's a backline to HP just for CostCo members) and we can buy it direct from HP. It didn't sound like it was a discounted price- is this the same way to do it tho? Or am I missing something?

 

Just look at Costco.com under computer or laptop accessories, I think, and you should be able to find the HP extended warranty package. I think it's ~$100.

 

Here's the link

 

This better not be true!!!!

 

Say it ain't so, Joe! I guess that HP knows their sales figures and they've decided that there aren't enough sales of Dv8 at present or future to justify making it. I wouldn't expect it to be their best seller but I figured they "were making their bones" on it.

Dropping it would be very strange IMO if it has significant sales volume as its sales of components (HHDs, wifi cards, BD-R, etc.), adds cost efficiencies to all the other Dvx series. I wonder how long 1000 units will last?

Regards,
- - Phil

 

....///......

 

Yeah, I was surprised when he told me that. I thought this was a HOT SELLER for them. Maybe they're just not making the profit spread they anticipated, or the costs of repairs/returns/support is too high? Who knows. Just what he told me. I still ordered mine today anyhow.

 

SWEET ON THE WARRANTY FROM COSTCO! I'll order that tonight! EXCELLENT!

 

Well hopefully he was just trying to sell you one making you think that next time you called they might not have them anymore.

The HDX18 line was HUGE!! I can't believe they would get ride of the "new" HDX18.

 

Yeah, could be right on that one. Hopefully that was the case. I guess we'll see! Did you guys get a Remote Control for the DVD/Windows Media Player with your DV8t?

 

I agree, Phil, but it was presaged bythe conspicuous absence of a new version of the 18" Pavillion notebook when every other size was launched with a new product. I imagine they waited to announce the retirement of the DV8 primarily to use existing inventory to sell off units at a decent price.

If this report is both true and made public, I suspect there will be some dv8's blown out towards the end at some amazing prices - I can see $699 for a Core i5, $799 for a Core i7-7XX. At that price, I might be inclined to buy one or two more, maybe use mine for spare parts, maybe even give one as a gift, or have it to sell the next person who asks me: What laptop do you recommend for $800?

Either way, our computers would become relative dinosaurs - even though the components are absolutely current and what isn't can be updated (wish we had switchable graphics, though), the appearance is "so 2009" and either a replacement with the new "metallic look" or the discontinuation by HP says: it's over - but in another way, this will actually increase our dv8s' resale value; there will be precious few 18.4" 1080p laptops left: Toshiba Qosmio, ??? The HDX-18 (dv8 chassis, screen with older components, backlit keyboard), then DV8, and the SONY VGN-AW (also discontinued and not replaced) were THE non-gaming, "Entertainment" multimedia DTR laptops, and now there are none, as far as I know.

Sad mostly for those looking for an awesome computer for steal.

Just for fun: what would you buy if you wanted a dv8 but there were no more of them?

 

Take it from one who has been nearly blissfully happy with his Dv8 since early last December, it's been a great product and, judging from issues reported on this forum, the vast majority of Dv8 owners are very happy with them. You've made a great choice and I hope, with all the guidance of others here, you got it at a great price!

As someone else noted, the HDX18 has been very popular and a large seller so dropping any of the 18" machines would probably be a foolish move on their part.

For that reason, if no other, it casts doubt on the accuracy of the statements made by that HP person. Sure, he could've been touting prospective scarcity for sales reasons or just hoping a buyer would "spread the word" to others who might be on the fence in the sense of, "if you want one of these, you better get one now!"

Just my two cents worth....

Regards,
- - Phil

 

They've been standard on dv8's as long as there've been dv8s! It should have been packed in with all the accessories and you slide it into the ExpressCard slot on the front right hand side of the computer, after taking out the "dummy" plastic piece that they ship it with to cover the slot.

It's probably a good idea for all of us to order a spare or two, as they will soon no longer be used in any current model. Personally, I find it very useful at times, when I can't find the larger one that came with the TV tuner.

 

Then why did they intro a CPU addition (i5) to the Dv8 line only a couple of weeks ago, Jeff? That doesn't sound like the strategy for a way to let the Dv8 just run quietly out of stock, does it?

Now, if the premise is fulfilled, you have definitely got the right idea! I would certainly buy a "spare" if the rumored discontinuance of Dv8's is confirmed and a fire sale ensues. IMO, the "fire sale" is unlikely to happen, tho'. I think the prices on new ones will hover around current levels if the "event" were to occur in the next few weeks.

Good thoughts, Jeff. That's why I said what I did above ... there are upward forces on perception of value and downward forces - I read them to average out to a draw!

I guess I'd look closely at a Toshiba ... Had very good results with them; their pricing and availability are good. The only reason I chose a Dv8 to begin with, was because of its screen, its dual drive bays, and fast CPU.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Ooops! I believe you meant to say that the ExpressCard slot was on the front of the left side of the Dv8t.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

sooooooooooooooooooooo

is mine the only dv8 that rattles when the volume is turned up all the way?

seems to be coming from the triple bass reflex speaker

but no amount of pressure to the case seems to cure the rattling

 

Perhaps the DV8 is canabalizing sales away from their more expensive 17 inch Envy model.

The reason I bought the DV8 was because it was the least expensive machine that had a decent FHD display, and it had all the ports and power I require. There are very few laptops available with decent FHD (1080p) screens, regardless of size and those that exist tend to be very expensive, making the DV8 a real bargain.

If prices on the DV8 got very low, I might buy another for parts, but it would have to be very low because within a few years all the current units will be somewhat obsolete (although probably still perfectly functional) anyway.

 

Hi,
I bought this gorgeous DV8t quad core i7 720qm on january.
the thing is, I didn't mind, the fan always runs, runs fast! the ambient temperature is currently 75F,
and on idle, while writing this, the CPU is 150F
the GPU is 105F, which is awesome temp. wise.

I wonder if there is something wrong with it, I am using F24 bios, everything turned off, and it is still too high to me, as idle.
When I run stress test, prime 95, it goes way up to 93C, does not move much from there,
I elevated the back,

my question is should I send it for repair, I am wondering, probably, it does not have good heat sink contact...
But, its been like this for a long time.

thanks

 

Yes. It is one of the small ones that fit into the express card slot. If you ordered the tv tuner you will get an additional one that is larger as well...

Edit: Didn't see Lovelaptops response at first...x2 on his statement.

 

Have had mine for 9 months and never a rattle even at full volume and bass. If you are in the return window, get a new one; if not, and it didn't do it before, something got loose enough to rattle and you have to find it! Good luck.

 

I was facing it from the back (I just wanted to see if anyone was reading )

 

As for the issuance of the i5 units, you have a good point, Phil. I had an alternate theory that they were testing the market to see if the dv8 might have appeal as a bargain basement alternative in i5, possibly even i3 form, as the rest of the parts have got to be really cheap to make by now. Decided to bag that theory and neglected to account for the i5 redesign. Definitely casts doubt on the veracity of the demise and/or suggests HP has been of two minds on the issue.

As for prices, HP does get awfully aggressive at the end of a model run. The TM2t-1xxx was discounted by almost 50% in advance of it's replacement by the 2xxx series, which was largely just a cpu upgrade from C2D to Core i. Maybe wishful thinking on my part.

Just as I was about to purchase my HDX-18 last November and it suddenly disappeared from the HP order site, soon to be replaced by the DV8, I found that a couple of enterprising souls apparently bought out most of the last HDX's to sell on eBay; amazingly, there were a few "new in box" HDXs still for sale there as recently as 2 months ago, at prices nearly equal to their former retail selling prices. (I actually considered sending the DV8 back shortly after getting mine, just to get the backlit keyboard; glad I chose the Core i7 and a Mighty-Brite booklight instead.

 

I think the DV8, plugged in on a desk, will remain unbeatable at, say, $800 for the base model, for at least a year, maybe 2. For we who own (and love!) one now, if an expensive part - display, motherboard - were to fail in a year or so, I for one would rather pull a new one out of a box than to pay to repair the old one, or get whatever my hypothetical $800 would buy me then...or NOT, because some very helpful person (pae77!) posted this awesome deal link on an extended warranty from Costco, so I've already purchased the replacement for $100. (Thank you, Peter!)

 

I was just getting ready to say- wouldn't it be cheaper/easier to just buy an extended warranty instead of a 2nd unit for parts?

 

IN the bios you can set it do the fan does not run continuously.... it shouldn't run unless your actively working the computer hard.

If you find it still runs after setting it to idle when not needed, then my hunch is you have software conflicting with each other causing the cpu to be busy all the time.

You'll have to investigate to see whats tying up all the cpu time.

If the heat sink "or similar was bad" it would run hot even when your cpu showed it was 98% + idle all the time.

This is the main reason I did a fresh install to get rid of all the bloatware crap.

However, many folks feel with with Win7, you can do a good registry clean and uninstall of the bloatware yourself and end up with as good a platform.

If your not sure what to remove " pc crap de fier" is excellent and describing what your looking at to help determine if you want to toss it.

ccleaner is very concise and excellent at cleaning the registry.

There are other tools that are a bit more aggressive, but those are totally safe.

Do that, and see if your still running hot.

Also investigate what Antiviral program your running, while some work good, they are very bloated and inefficient when it comes to using the computers resources.

I personally like NOD32 64bit version "if your running win7 64 bit"

 

. . . . . . . . .

 

How's THAT been working out for ya?

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Always a possibility that two parts of HP have been pulling in different directions.

Past is prologue isn't it, Jeff? I won't be terribly upset when such a time comes if I can "snarf up" a spare Dv8 for myself at a bargain price. I just don't think that time is now or very close. The Dv8 embodies a lot of advanced stuff, for which there is nothing much better - e.g., quad-core I7, Win 7 64-bit, etc. - so I doubt it's likely to be going away soon. Why would HP drop their flagship and then replace it with????? nothing?

Regards,
- - Phil

 

I think so, too, Alan! There's at least two ways to get there and one is much easier than the other. I'm one who has done it both ways and, IMO, the removal of bloatware and teaseware and unnecessary HPware IS much easier and far less risky/frustrating than a clean install.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

While the DV8 stands at the top of the Pavilion notebook line, I suspect HP regards its Envy series as their flagship consumer line. Although they don't seem to be such great values to me, especially compared to the DV8.

 

They may and can. Does that make the postulate that says HP is about to discontinue its Dv8 make more sense? I think not!

They still must announce something superior to the Dv8 before it makes any sense.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

I still think the most likely explanation for the discontinuance of the DV8 model (if, in fact it is even true) is that the 18.4" FHD displays (which all seem to have been manufactured in 2008, if one can believe what Everest and SIW report), are possibly no longer available to HP in sufficient quantity or at a low enough cost, or both.

 

I agree with your view (or is that your view?) that the discontinuance of the Dv8 is not likely, Peter.

It certainly is possible that the displays are no longer available at a good price (or at all), but that certainly doesn't account for why HP would expand the Dv8 line a couple of weeks ago by offering cheaper I-5 processors? Hence, that suggests the rumor is bogus and there may be no shortage of anything for the Dv8 at the present.

That is why I say that the discontinuance of the Dv8 is not imminent. Most likely, the rumor was an effort by an individual HP telsell person to increase sales of Dv8's by forecasting a shortage due to a rumor of their discontinuance.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Fwimbw, I agree.

 

How do you guys like the fingerprint reader? I know it's more of a 'vanity feature' than anything- and I've already seen a number of videos on how to get around the, easily (one person even used their big toe to trick it). Does it work well? Do you guys like it? Do you think it's something that will break/die after about a year? Just curious to hear from users who've used it for a while now, what your impressions of that feature are now.
Thanks!

 

Re the fingerprint reader:

I would have a hard time living without it now that I have gotten used to having one.

 

Really- wow. Is it accurate most of the time? Does it scan easily, or do you find yourself having to re-scan every once in a while? Just curious as to its performance.

 

That's always worth a lot, Peter.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

When it's set up right and you scan carefully, it seems towork every time. If I am sloppy or not paying attention, it may occasionally miss and require re-scanning.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

sweet! I'm excited to get it. Hopefully CostCo will ship it out soon!

 

I set mine on max sensitivity and Full power "Under the advanced tab" and it works virtually every time.

If you drop your fingerprint reader down a notch on power, it sometimes sleeps and it takes a second swipe to wake it up... since I"m rarely on battery, who cares?.. I run mine on full power and it couldn't be better.

 

Hey, all. I followed this thread in the past but couldn't keep up with all the latest developments (and posts). I know the topic's been discussed before (perhaps ad nauseum), but I was hoping to get some timely feedback... especially now that StarCraft II has been released for all.

So my questions for you today:

1) Is there any consensus on the best notebook cooler(s) to keep the dv8 out of the boiling range temperature-wise? I fiddled with higher graphics settings during the SC II beta, but fear an overheating mess if I experiment too much with the retail product now.

SpeedFan currently tells me my temps are usually in the 50s-60s range with moderate use and well into the high 70s with 3D gaming. I've hiked my desktop replacement up on a few quarters and offset it a bit on my laptop stand for better heat removal via fan, but I really oughtta find a better solution to address this issue.

2) Still playing with my supposedly stable firmware for its time, from back in April, 8.17.11.9744 (197.44). The driver thread seems to point towards 8.17.12.5896 (258.96) as the current release. Can anyone with personal experience strongly recommend that update or the immediately preceding ones as good 'n' stable for StarCraft (and our precious Pavilions)?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...v6-gen-2-dv7-gen-3-dv8-hdx16-hdx18-intel.html

Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give!

--Dan

 

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think it actually ships from HP (in China) anyway, even though you are purchasing through Costco.

 

I think the latest nvidia driver works best and also helps the GPU run slightly cooler. I'm talking about forceware v. 258.96. I've used all the previous releases and I think 258.96 is the best one yet.

Also, the GPU temps you are seeing while gaming are perfectly normal, imo, and shouldn't hurt anything. As long as it's not going over ~90C while gaming you should be fine. Mine usually runs in the high 70's (sometimes gets into the low 80's) while gaming (different game however). When I'm not gaming, i.e., the rest of the time, my GPU is usually running between 50 and 70 C, spending most of its time between 50 and 60 C mostly in the low 50's, depending on what I'm doing, of course.

I use a notebook cooler but I don't think they are essential. I think a notebook cooler may help keep the internal fan from running as often as it otherwise might. The one I use is the Zalman NC2000. Very solid and quiet but a little pricey. I also like the way the cooler elevates the laptop and puts the keyboard at a comfortable slanted angle.

 

Good point, Alan. While the question related to a feature of the Dv8 that the OP hadn't tried, it's a good idea to post the optimum settings so he will get the best results if he ever gets a Dv8 with the fingerprint reader. The settings you gave match mine and my results are nearly perfect.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Exactly. Thank you for that. I wouldn't have even KNOWN there was additional settings just for the reader! Thanks again- sounds like a great idea!

 

Am I correct in presuming that you don't currently have a fingerprint reader on your laptop and were wondering about its utility and effectiveness as implemented on the Dv8?

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Exactly- don't have one (yet) - but I just ordered a DV8 a couple days ago. I was just curious about the functionality of it, how well/effective it worked, etc. Especially after seeing the youtube videos about how to bypass it...