Just picked-up a HP DV-9740us

Hey all,

I just exchanged HP DV-8309us of a new HP DV-9740us.


I was EXTREMLY pleased with the 8309, but after 2 DVD drives failing, and the extended service contract (Circuit City - CityAdvantage) plan nearing expiration, I pushed to get it replaced before I was out of the coverage window. So...goodbye to my XP Media Center Edition, and a 'stable' operating system... Welcome to your new home Windows Vista.



Anyway - I'm sitting here on one of my other laptops waiting for my recovery disks to burn so that I can start setting up my new box on my network.


What I am wondering is this:


- What can I expect when I hook this thing up to my Mitsubishi 65" HDTV via HDMI? I ordered the s-video to component dongle and had my wifes DV-8000 hooked up to the TV and all was cool...but are there any surprises I am going to find when I go direct HDMI?


- Any hints on setting up the HP Tuner card? I am not going to leave the DV-0740 connected to the TV full time, but will frequently have it connected in hopes of watching Blu-Ray DVD's...I would also like to use it as a PVR. I will have a cable coax input @ the TV just for the laptop, and also have a dedicated cable line in my office - so it will pretty much be connected to a tuning source 24/7.


- Has anyone used a network drive as a storage location for recorded shows? I have an old Compaq 7940 desktop that I am using as a 'server' for music and ripped DVD movies - this allows me to watch movies on any computer, or through my xBox 360 (dashboard & Media Center Extender). I wouldliek to just save PVR's directly to the network drive so that I can view the recorded show from anywhere in the house - All of the devices on my network are connected via a WIRED configuration except for my daughter's laptop, which is going wireless.


- Is the quality of the Blu-Ray video as good as it is on stand-alone Blu-Ray players/Playstation 3? I have the HD-DVD piggyback player for my xBox 360, and am very pleased with the picture quality (even through component cables). Will I be surprised by the Blu-Ray quality?


- Has anyone found a 'one-stop' source for the drivers necessary to have a fully functioning version of XP on the HP DV-97xx series yet? I have Vista on my wife's laptop, daughter's laptop, and now this new one... Vista seems to be a pain in the a$$ - wife's built-in webcam frequently stops or gives a device error and wired & wireless network connections drop intermittently. The 3 XP machines I have on the network NEVER drop connection


- Can the Slingbox be intagrated to work with the PVR feature? I have a Slingbox on teh network, but recording is not possible thru the Sling software... I like the tuner capability - but wish I could use it to record also.




Any feedback?

 

Hey all,


I did get the recovery DVD's created, and before I went to get the latest Window's updates, I tried making the HDMI connection to my Mitsubishi 65733 HDTV. When I went to the Nvidia Control Panel, the TV was listed in the menu as a display option - but when I selected it as the primary (in dual monitor mode - and when I selected it as a 'single' monitor - I got no video on the TV.

I have searched a few different threads, and saw that TV's similar to mine are working...so I'm wondering if I did something wrong. I mean, I don't think I could screw-up connecting a cable, but who knows.

Any help?

 

OK...

I'll try this once again. The lack of replies is somewhat disheartening.

All is now well with the new laptop. With one exception.


I picked-up the movie 'Con-Air' in Blu-Ray format today... When I insert the disc into the drive & try to play thru HP QuickPlay (per HP recomendations), I either get a 'cannot play file' error, or I will get the disc to start playing, and get only audio.

I downloaded drivers & the substitute .INF from www.laptopvideo2go.com, andf that fixed the 'scaling' issue - but that is all worthless if I can't paly video from a Blu-Ray.

I gotta say tho - it is knida nice to sit here on my couch and troubleshoot on my 65" in 1080p.

 

Give me a few minutes and I'll see what I can tell you!

 

I would sugest finding better software to play blu-rays in then quickplay! Mine freezes up most the time when I go into single monitor. My 4 gigs of ram go put on the wroing truck and now won't be here until Tuesday! GRRR... It was out for delivery and ended up in Orlando some 600 miles away from me. I have gotten it to work with both monitors on... I don't know why! More info to come

 

So I had virtual Hard drives that I uninstalled and quickplay stopped freezing up. I am still going to look for different software! Here is what I can tell you...

FIRST

Go here to change your video settings.

SECOND

This is where it should take you.

THIRD

Make your TV your main monitor. You must extend to it first.

FOURTH

Then uncheck the box for extending it on your laptops monitor.

FIFTH

Here is where you need to select the digital audio out. It will then travel via HDMI, but you cannot select this with a movie playing because you would have to restart the movie. All your regular audio should still work.

If this helps rep it!

 

Thanks for the reply Phifer...


I went to HP's site and downloaded an Nvidia driver that 'supposedly' fixes Blu-Ray & HD playback.

It did work, and I was able to view the blu-Ray disc.... So, as far as I can tell. The drivers from Laptopvideo2go work in correcting the scaling issues, and keep teh windows desktop from being larger than an HDTV screen...but will NOT work for Blu-Ray movie playback on either the laptop monitor OR a TV. And the HP/Nvidia drivers will allow the opposite to happen.


In the short time I had to work with this, I did notice that the Blu-Ray playback on my HDTV was very choppy. When I play through the laptop only, the picture is also stuttering - but not nearly as pronounced as on the external. I have 3Gig of RAM (will be upgrading to 4), you owuld thingk that it could handle video playback.

I'm not real impressed with this new laptop.

 

Well,

My 2 gigs of ram were holding up when I was checking this out to let you know step by step instructions. I just had to set up the monitors and already had the dvd in before starting the software. I still think it has a lot to do with the quckplay crap! I started a new thread in the software section asking opinions on blu-ray playback software! Hopefully someone with more experience will let us know!

 

Well...hopefully someone will give some feedback that helps.


I think I would have been OK if I had tried to play a Blu-Ray disc before I downloaded the 'custom' drivers... It would have been a lot easier to troubleshoot.

Just as an FYI - When on a Windows desktop, you can simply unplug the HDMI cable from the laptop & everything will revert normally back to the regular monitor. BUT - Is seems that if you disconnect the HDMI cable while a disc is playing thru QuickPlay u get to then spend 20-minutes booting into safe mode to re-initialize the laptop monitor....

So, try to avoid that....

 

Personally I have Cyberlink Ultra installed on my dv9700 cto with the BluRay and it works perfectly... I never could get quickplay to play Blu-Ray

 

hummm, mine worked fine right out of the box.....

 

phifer8390

how do you like the 1680x1050 screen res????

i was seriously thinking of upgrading my screen.

 

I like it, I was going to get the ultra brightview the dual lamp upgrade, but I like having more real estate on my desktop!

 

exactly what i was thinking, but i bought this thing pre configured. and it was missing bluetooth/1680X1050 screen/ and real cpu.

 

I think you actually have the "better" screen according to HP. I have the mid range. Your is supposed to have dual lamps making it brighter... Therefore charging another 100 dollars than my screen.. I custom ordered mine and still chose this screen after checking out other laptops in Best Buy and Circuit ****ty.

17.0" WXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)
17.0" WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1680 x 1050)
17.0" WXGA+ High-Definition Ultra HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)

 

think im gonna have to hunt around for that 1680 screen... cant see giving hp 1200 bucks for it

 

LOL!

Damn shame.

Just opened up my lcd display to see how hard it would be to switch it out for a 1680x1050..... and low and behold....it's not even an hp part number. LOL! screen is made by AU Optronics. upside of this is....i might be able to upgrade my res to a 1920x1200 for about 400 bucks. waiting to see if this is possible..... and if so....dell, eat your heart out...woohoo!!