The Complete HDX18T Guide

I will be adding to this regularly - please message me with anything and everything you would think would be helpful for others

I created this thread to be a one stop source for all the helpful information we have collected in over 500 pages of the owners lounge. Hopefully, I can keep it to one main page.

The order is as follows.

1. Introduction
2. General Information & Hardware Options
3. Operating Systems - XP, Fresh Vista, Windows 7
4. Software
5. Accessories & Recommendations
6. Basic Modifications
7. Advanced Modifications
8. Photo Gallery
9. Misc

IF ANYONE HERE HELPS YOU, DON'T FORGET TO THANK THEM WITH A CLICK ON THE REPUTATION BUTTON (MIDDLE ICON ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THEIR POST)

 

General Information and Hardware Options

HP's HDX18 Product Page

Manuals listed by HP

The "official" HP HDX Forum

 

Operating System Guidance

XP & XP64


Vista Fresh Install - I refuse to make this, as it goes against my moral fiber. Please message me if someone else has.


Windows 7

 

Software ...........

 

accessories and recommendations

Cases - in no particular order

My words of advice, don't go too tightly, as the trim is very dainty plastic.
I had a standard Targus 17" case and without any dropping or hitting (that I honestly knew of, or that anyone would admit)-
my left side trim broke off from the ethernet port on back.


Mitigiant 20 - used by thesaltydog


Sony's 18.4" case


MobileEdge - used by Lancorp


Targus 17 XL Backpack
PROXUS (you know, that rascal who likes to brag about his enviable bandwidth) put up a nice pictorial of his Targus backpack.


Targus XS - used by .breath

 

Basic Modifications - for everyone

Remove Stickers -
Either just peel with fingernail and dab peeled sticker onto remaining adhesive to remove, or use hair dryer (NOT heat gun), to warm stickers, making an easy, residue free removal.

Recovery Discs VS A Fresh Install of Vista -
It is the opinion of many experienced users in the owners lounge that the HP installed Vista is way too overbloated, even unusable. It is highly recommended to install fresh on a formatted partition, using a windows bootable installation disc. Some users don't want to tinker with their machine at all, and would rather run all that HP stuff just as it is. Either way you should make a recovery backup (as you will be prompted to do when you start using your HDX- just follow the directions). Also, for those interested, you can order a copy of Vista Ultimate from HP for around 20.00 , HERE (thanks lancorp), if you do not have one, or do not have Ultimate.


Add 2nd Hard Drive - for those who originally bought an HDX with only 1 drive
You will need to purchase a caddy (an adapter to properly fit the drive into the slightly larger slot in the HDX) HD Caddy
NOTE This link also shows the caddy kit that allows you to remove the optical drive and provides a third hard drive option.

 

Advanced Modifications

Repair Manual

Overclocking GeForce Mobile

 

The Photo Gallery


The enviable backlit keyboard.


The sticker removal gone bad!

 

miscellaneous - for future use

 

Im using this backpack, if you want to add it to your list.

http://www.targus.com/uk/product_details.asp?sku=TCB006EU

It says 17" in the description but the internal space has a 44cm height ( the hdx 18t is 43cm) so it fits perfectly. The Targus 17 XL Backpack is hard to find in the EU so i tried this other bag and its ok, it seems a bit smaller too, something that i like.

(How did you destroy those buttons wth?).

 

thanks

not my buttons

 

What stickers were attempted to be removed, and what happened to that hdx18t???
I need a bagpack to fit the hdx18t with the sony neoprene sleeve, any candidates? the xs seems a better fit than the 17 xl. any thoughts? oh yeah, i need to carry stuff for school in the backpack too.

 

The melted keys happened because the gentleman used an industrial heat gun instead of a hairdryer to heat the stickers for peeling. Had to replace the keyboard.

I don't know about the sony sleeve, but if you want to carry school stuff, you will want a separate compartment for the laptop, yes? I don't know what to tell you, but the backpack on the first page seems to have plenty of room for "other things".

 

Thanks for all the HDx information. Its all very helpful. I am trying to add a 2nd hard drive to the second hard drive bay. I didnt read the compatibility chart in the manual stating that 500gig 7200 turning at 7200 rpms are not compatible.
I did already install it and it showed up in the task bar as properly installed but does not show up in the list of drives or in the device manager. Does something need to be changed in the bios or do I need to down grade to just 320 gig 5400rpm drive? Any help would be appreciated.

 

i would like to update my laptop cpu, video mem., and ram from 4gb to 8gb or more. the cpu is a intel t9600 @ 2.80 and would like to put a qx9300 @ 2.53, can i do this are will this chip not fit in my laptop? my video is geforce 9600m gt with 512 can i add mem? i hav 4gb of ram with only 2 slots, how much mem. will this motherbord tack?