I Think I'm Going For The HP Compaq nx9420 Owners PLEASE Give Me Tips Tricks Before I

After 3 solid days of web surfing and forum finding, ratings chasing and review reading I've made a decision. I'm going for the PC World rated 87 Very Good, rated higher than others I was seriously considering, HP Compaq nx9420. Before I order I'd love to hear of your experience with this model. Any regrets? What features do you like\hate. What features are a must have? What accessories should I buy. Do you have a favorite laptop carrying bag? What else...

THANKS!!! For any all responses!

 

I've had mine for a bit over a month. Mine has the 1680x1050 non-glare screen, T2500, 2GB 667 DDR2, 80GB 7200RPM HDD, 8X DL DVD-R, Intel wireless and Bluetooth. It came standard with 1GB 533 DDR2 and it was much less expensive to buy new memory elsewhere than to get it from HP. I'd say the big must have is upgrading the drive from 5400RPM to 7200RPM.

I can't say enough good things about this model. It's definately the best bang for the buck of any notebook on the market. The battery life is decent and the carrying weight is less than my 15". I love the full-size keyboard. I'm ecstatic that I have a non-glare screen. The glossy screens look beautiful if you have perfect lighting conditions, otherwise the reflections are horrible. The fingerprint reader, TPM module, etc are interesting features. I haven't explored them fully, but I plan to in the near future.

The only minor regret is that I don't have a lightscribe burner. I can't say that there is anything I hate. I'm slightly annoyed that HP underclocked the video card. It does not appear to be a heat issue. I notice that the included power supply is 90W and it occurs to me that upgrading to the 135W power supply may allow the video card to run at full speed, although it may require using ATI Tool to change the clock speed.

As far as accessories, I'm partial to using a wireless mouse, and I have several of my old desktop drives in USB enclosures for additional storage.

I looked for a case for a few weeks. I'm a reservist, so the case needs to be able to take a beating, but not look too out of place on business trips. I ended up buying the Fuerte SE-710 with foam instead of the laptop tray. The tray isn't quite wide enough for this model. It ended up being $135 w/ shipping. If I needed to put it in a bag for some reason, I'd go with a Blackhawk X-3. Your needs are probably very different from mine.

Regards,

Dave Hunt

 

I don't think you can go wrong with a nx9420, it would of been my choice had it not been for getting a nc 8430.

Also it's my understanding the 135w power supply should only be used with a docking station.

 

I can't find anything that says to only use the 135W with a docking station. The 135W actually ships with some configurations.

 

Maybe it's model specfic but my 135w adapter that came with the docking station clearly states to be used with docking station only.

 

The 135W adaptor listed on HP's website is product number ED519AA. The actual power supply is part number 397803-001. HP says it can be used on all business notebooks and docking stations.

You might have a different 135W adaptor.

 

I just upgraded the hard drive to 160GB. This is a very good box. Has a real keyboard that is not junk like the Dells!

 

Hugs and Kisses to All )

Thanks for all the tips. I'm glad to know all those sleepless nights I spent web surfing to make sure I found the right notebook paid off! Yee Haw!

Keep 'em coming.

So what cases do you like? What about a case that stays on while you use the notebook?

THANKS!!!

 

Which Brand of hard drive did you use, i found a Hitachi 5400 160gb that had excellent reviews

my NX9420 will arrive on Wed 12/27 but I wont be home until 01-04 so i have some time to research upgrades

 

After the nightmare I have experiened with HP, along with many others and the DV8000t/DV5000. I can say that this NX9420 I have now is nothing short of awesome. Built like a tank, keyboard that actually works!!! and very very fast.

I am going to finish my official review and submit it next week, the initial scores from the tests were, shall we say, very good. you'll definitly enjoy it!

 

I am very interested in your Quadro NVS 510M review. It seems I still can't pull the trigger on the rb529ut, maybe you can help sway me either way.

OpenGL benches welcome, thanks!

 

Here's some initial scores from my pending review:

3dMark 06 with factory XP Pro SP2 Default os = 4106

3dMark 05 with factory XP Pro SP2 Default os = 7299

PC Mark 05 with factory XP Pro SP2 Default os = 5504

Super PI = 1M 23 seconds
2M 57 seconds

This is the results of the above tests, I will have hd tune and cpuz and everest results and so forth in the review. If there's something special You'd like to see, let me know, and I'll see if I can accomodate it.

Jason

 

those look great, especially considering the price and the package it comes in.

have you looked at the clock rates of graphics core & memory?

FYI - anandtech just did a review of some laptops which should make you feel pretty good about your purchase http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2899

 

jka/v -

One more thing. I saw you posted in the linux forum, so if you have any impressions on how the binary nvidia drivers work, that would be great as well.

thanks again

 

I got the NX9420 2.0 , 100gb setup. I like it BUT had issue's with a 2.0 device. Plus if it wasn't for the excellent re-install guide http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=73377
I would of shot a laptop. This SATA thing was new to me.
Another link to my problem (self induced)
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread182707.html and
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=83718&page=3
Then I had issues with the ATI mobility x1600 video card. Seems pipes arn't measured the same anymore. Is has 4 pipes but its really 4 pixel shaders per pipe. It was explained better by http://www.notebookforums.com/thread182309.html


But I'm curious about how you got a score on 3d Mark 06 of 4106. I got barely 1700 and another review showed the same. Am I missing something here?
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3176&review=Compaq+nx9420

3DMark06 Comparison Results:

3DMark06 tests the graphics capabilities of a system, it is more demanding than 3DMark05.

Notebook 3DMark 06 Results

HP Compaq nx9420 (1.83 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)
1,662 3DMarks
Apple MacBook Pro (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB) 1,528 3DMarks

Dell Precison M90 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia Quadro FX 1500M)
3,926 3DMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60 Nvidia GeForce Go7800GTX) 4,085 3DMarks

Compal HEL80 (2.0GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7600 256MB)
1,654 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1710 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia 7900 GTX 512MB) 4,744 3DMarks

 

Hagar, what you are missing is jka/v has a nx9420 with an Nvidia quadro NVS 510m not an x1600 (check his signature)

I believe the model number is rb529ut

 

Shiggs is right, I have a RB529UT, and those were my Xp Pro SP2 Default runs of testing. I also tested a clean MCE2005 install with the same, came within a point or 2 different from the other tests, with the faster going to XP Pro SP2 over MCE2005.

From what I've read about the Quadro NVS 510M chip, it's closer in performance and specs to the Nvidia 7900 series, which is why this laptop puts up scores similar to that Dell XPS M1710 with the 7900GTX

Jason

 

the NW9440 and NX9420 share the same components... except the video card...

YEP ... you guessed it... THE VIDEO CARD ON THE NX9420 IS EXCHANGEABLE...

nw9440 has A FASTER quadro fx 1500m/NVS510M - kinda like a workstation version of fx 7900
nx9420 has ati x1600

BUT there's a catch...

nw9440 comes WITH the 135 watt adapter (due to the higher power demands of the nvidia chip) and a different heat sink for the fx1500m

nx9420 comes with a 90 watt power adapter and a slightly lighter smaller cooling heatsink

(you can verify this on hp's parts list and service manual right here -> http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual&lang=en&cc=us&docIndexId=179111&taskId=101&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=1839153)

i've had mine for over a month... SUPER COOL ( as in does not even get warm... it's dead cold... ok maybe a little but it's NOTHING compared to my old zd8000) and SUPERB build quality... SUPERB driver support... and EXCELENT PERFORMANCE... i have the T7400 2.16 ghz version ...

P.S. IF YOU GET LOW SCORES ON X1600... use ati's generic drivers from here http://www.ati.com/online/mobilecatalyst/
AND KEEP POWERPLAY ENABLED AND ON PERFORMANCE.... otherwise it'll default to LOWER CLOCK speeds....

have fun

 

Mine runs incredibly cool as well. At times, I have to check to see if it's on. My DV8000t was DRAMATICALLY warmer than my NX9420. btw, my powersupply is a monster, rated at 135W, and the secondary adapter they sent me (I had 2 with my DV8000t so they replaced my 2), is also a 135w monster. I mean, if I were mugged in an ally, I could whip this thing out and beat someone down with it, pain to carry, but charges the laptop quickly!

Jason

 

well the 90 watt one is small, coming from the 180 watt one on the zd8000....
but i guess the extra speed on the quadro is worth it...

 

Well am I bad. I assumed jka/v's NX9420 came with a ATI card. I jumped at the X1600 256 from a x600 in my previous notebook and thought it would run circles and it doesn't.

Am I to understand according to samov the cards are interchangeable? I could pull this ATI card out and viola, insert something better?

And samov, where did you find reference mobility driver 6-12? On ATI/AMD's web site, HP isn't listed as one that is supported.

I was using HDmod to make the ATI reference drivers work thinking they were more up to date and be better then Omega drivers which posted a lower score then my HP ATI drivers. AMD/ATI just referenced me to my notebook manufacture for updated drivers.

Sounds like I should of gone with the Nvidia quadro NVS 510m. Looks like you got a good one.

Thanks and Happy New Year
Dave

 

The nx9420 (and nw9440) use an mxm (or mxm like) graphics card interface, see this thread for more info.

Swapping the card out would, IMHO, not be a trivial matter. You would also likely void your warranty, but don't quote me on that. And since you would probably have to use an HP card, you have to find one and it likely wont be cheap. Although if you are going that route you could use a FX1500 as well. As mentioned above beefier PSU would be a good idea as well.

Since I am not aware of anyone actually trying this it might not work at all, you've been warned. But, if you do go any further be sure let us all know how it worked out.

-ds

 

plus the new card has a new cooler part number too... to change the gpu you have to change the psu, gpu cooler, AND the gpu itself....

use this link to download the ati reference driver http://www.ati.com/online/mobilecatalyst/

it will always forward you directly to the latest version do check on it periodically

 

Okay I finally got around to running 3dmark and here's what I got.

3dMark 05 with factory XP Pro SP2 Default os = 3875

3dMark 06 with factory XP Pro SP2 Default os = 1777

I'm astonished that the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 510M graphics controller wtih 256 MB of dedicated video memory over the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics controller with 256 MB of dedicated video memory woudl make sucha dramatic difference!
I tried Omega drivers and it was slower. HP reference drivers and using DHmod to install ATI reference drivers gave me the highest score. This is a clean install. Go figure.

Way to go Jason,
So what am I missing?