Questions re: HDX

Hello all!

I've been thinking about purchasing the HDX soon however I have a few questions maybe some of you can answer.

1. 4GB RAM is an additional $300 on hp.com. Has anyone purchased additional RAM from a 3rd party like Kingston? I can get 4GB RAM from them for about $100. Is there something wrong with this picture or something I should know? I'm also planning to upgrade to Vista 64 so I can utilize the 4gb's

2. I was also planning on sticking with the 120x2 Hard drive (240gb) since I have 2 250gb hard drives I plan on throwing in which leads me to question 3.

3. I'm not familiar with Vista at all and was wondering if I install both hard drives and RAM, will I encounter activation issues since windows will not detect the original hardware? I plan on making recovery DVD before I install the new drives. The 2 original drives will be kept as is untouched locked up in my closet or someplace safe.

4. Is the dual lamp only on the 1920x1200 res? I'm planning to get this resolution and hope the screen is much better than the one I have now on my dv9000 notebook. I'm hoping I can view it better in different angles.

If you have any suggestions or advice I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

 

1) HP charges WAY too much for RAM. Check the RAM Deals thread for the best prices, which are actually fair. Just get PC5300 DDR2 200pin SODIMMs and you are fine.
2) I do not see a problem with this, as long as those two drives are 2.5" disks.
3) Make the recovery DVD and then installing the drives should not be a problem. Vista (and XP) tolerate a number of changes before requiring re-activation, and a simple HDD change is not going to be a problem. Especially since the HDX (and every other laptop) is offered with a lot of HDD options...they do not have different recovery disks for each individual configuration. (Actually, the activation thing is based in BIOS...so you should in theory never have a problem with OEM licenses.)
4) Not sure about the dual-lamp thing. Whatever the site says, take it literally. If 1920x1200 lists dual-lamp, and the other resolutions do not, assume the other resolutions do not have it.

Are you sure you want that 20" monster? Think it through before you buy it, because that will not be very portable. Of course, I do not know your needs so maybe this laptop is perfect for you and I do not know that.

 

Greg THANK YOU so much. I'll follow the advice with the RAM.

I'm on my 17inch HP 10-12 hours a day 5 days a week. In addition I commute with it 4 times a week to and from work. I know HDX will be much heavier but that doesn't bother me!! I plan on buying an additional power adapter so I can leave one at work. Believe it or not I credit my success in life and to the power of the internet. It literally has been the seed to all my businesses and ideas. Amazing what a tool computers have been and what it has done for me in the past 10 years. I figured I should treat myself to a good notebook since I'll spend most of my time on it.

Again, thank you and cheers

 

This system does look awesome. You can get it now with a Geforce 8800GTS-unfortunately not the GTX, but that still makes it one of the very best gaming laptops on the market.

You can also get it with a 2.5 or 2.6GHz Penryn...so this thing is pretty decked out, with a fairly decent price (though I don't know how good HP's warranty is).

I'm really tempted, but I'm not 100% sure if the weight would bother me and more importantly whether it would hold up to being hauled back and forth to work every day.

I can't believe HP actually beat Dell to the punch on 8800 series cards!

 

I'm hoping too that the HDX will hold up from the wear and tear of lugging it to work 4 times a week. I've had experience with 3 HP notebooks already. I tend to upgrade and get a new one once a year and so far I haven't had any problems with any of them. I'm hoping the HDX will be a solid build like the others able to withstand the concrete jungle of new york city.

Come to think of it, i even had a full glass of red wine spilled into the keyboard of my zd8000 17 inch notebook. I turned it upside down to let all the wine drip out. The notebook automatically turned off. I took apart the hard drive and RAM since it was drenched in wine. I thought it was over... I put 2 space heaters on the notebook and let it dry off for a few hours and then turned it back on and believe it or not it worked. I ended up donating it to my dad and to this day works like a charm.