sleeper hit rig HP Compaq nx9420 on HP Small Biz Web site

My HP Pavilion dv8000t CTO (Custom to Order) that shipped from China April 7th, 2006 has 667 spec'd ram.

 

On reclaiming disc space, DELETE the recovery partition, then use a program like Partition Magic or such to RESIZE the partition the OS is on.

NOTE: Before you DELETE the recovery partition you might want to CHECK the recovery discs you made to be sure they WORK. I'd burn them on (-) and (+) discs...

On the Memory, my dv8000t CTO shipped with 667 spec'd ram. I almost went with the OCZ ram, but I'm going to wait (I e-mailed OCZ and they do NOT have any 667 ram that has been certified yet)


Read this site for GHOSTING info...: http://radified.com/Articles/laptop.htm

(You may want to make a PDF of that site. lots of good info, it goes it the issues that arise on a machine that uses SATA drives, and the best way to back-up, Ghost the drive.)

On GHOSTING the hard drive.... It appears the last stable /good version of Ghost was Ghost 2003, also known as Ghost 8.3..... Ghost 2003 has USB and Firewire support.... and most importantly you Ghost from a true DOS format, from a fresh "boot".... None of that stuff done in Windows...

On doing low level stuff in windows...
(Partitioning, Ghosting)

While it may be "easier", or have a prettier GUI, shiney front end if done from Windows, there is a chance that something may screw up if the program is run from Windows, instead of being done from a fresh boot, directly into Dos, or some version of a stripped down version of Linux..

Once again I refer you to, you may want to doing some reading and see if that pretty GUI is worth the risk: http://radified.com/Articles/laptop.htm


***

On a related subject:

I'm looking at various external hard drive enclosures right now, since I have several brand new 250 gig hard drives just laying around.... If anyone knows of a good, alumium USB and Firewire enclosure I'm all ears... Here's some info about external enclosures, what to "look" for: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=28&threadid=496281

 

Thanks WeAreNotAlone - great info. The NX9420s, at least for now don't appear to be customizable. If the specs on HPs site are right - I probably have 533 RAM. Of course, I could just open it up and look at it, which is probably a heck of a smarter than asking on this forum . I will do that and let you guys know.

And thanks for the tips on the partition reclamation and ghosting. Looks like I have my night's reading...

 

You can use acronis 9.1 which is working fine for taking images in my nx9420, far better than ghost.

About memory, we installed two kingston 1GB 533 today and it seems to work fine until now, the other dimm that we had tried in combination with the 667 dimm may had problems as it didn't work with another kingston too.

 

Huge laptop, handled it for the first time last night (Tuesday) ..

 

OK folks, here we go again with this stinking bluetooth. Anyone with this unit tried the Motorola HT820 headphones? We have, and they work for a wooping 2 secs. WTF.....we have come to the conclusion that the Widcomm driver has a buffering issue (somewhere in the neighborhood of 4k) which also causes the mouse to drop off occasionally. And forget about running to bluetooth devices at the same time, it ain't happening. And we have 3 of these units all doing the same thing.

Anyone have any creative suggestions? We would really like to use these headphones.

 

tr horn: Use CPU-Z to check RAM speed.

 

Hi guys..
I have a NX8220 and since it hasn't been working properly I got the right to send it back for a refund... That's quite cool from HP and that's why I'm going to stick with them. Anyway, I fancy quite a bit this NX9420 but got some doubts about it...

First of all the screen quality. My NX8220 comes with a wsxga+, very cool resolution indeed not at all harmfull for the eye (at least for mines) but it really is dim comparing to others... I mean when working with it alone in the dark it is very good. But when I am in a room avaragely lit, I have some pbs with th lcd... And when I go working on another laptop and then get back to mine, lol I have a hardtime getting use to it again.. And from what I see, the TFT of this nx9420 did not got better... even worse from what the quickspecs sheet on the HP site mention: It says "180 nit" for mine (8220) and "170 nit" for the 9420... Can any body comment on that? I also find that tuning brightness through catalyst not at all the same thing as having a brighter screen... your just altering colors..

I also would like to know if someone has had the chance to compare this model with some other in the 8200 class in terms of sound quality, build quality, tft quality (would be cool for me) and cooling pbs.. Oh, also, is portability an issue with nx9420?

That's all for know. Hope anybody has time to answer this
Big thx to all!
Cheers

 

Good news on the bluetooth front. We have actually moved far enough up the ladder to be a test facility for the nx9420. We will be able to test drivers and apps before they are released and give our input, not just for the bluetooth, but anything related to the 9420. Once we have established ourselves as a testor, I will request that we be listed as testers for the other models also. I will post updates as we go along.

 

delete: problems solved

 

Hi all, I have a question on the power adapter.

I have been using the M700 and nx7000 for the last seven years. Both of them use the same charger. As a result I have accumulated an investment of chargers that are in every place that I am likely to use my computer: office 1, office 2, sitting room, bed room, car, etc. As a result I have never had the need to carry the charger except for out of town trips. It's like 18.5V DC is a new electricity standard at the places that I frequent. (It's the same for my phone. I use Nokia, so I am sure to find a Nokia charger from someone whereever I go.)

I am thinking of upgrading to the nx9420 now. But I inspected the power connector on the notebook and it is larger than normal. May I know whether putting a physical size convertor to my existing M700/nx7000 chargers would work AND not harm the 9420 battery.

Thanks.

 

Remember that it's not about getting the right connector and the right Voltage. I'm not sure that the older chargers can give enough power (W).
My guess is that your chargers are 65 W models while this one have a 90 W model.

 

Thank you all for putting so much valuable information here!

I am ready to buy an nx9420 - HP keeps upgrading new models of this to have the most current chips available (Core Duo 2), and this laptop seems to have the best features I can find. My biggest concern is the screen - I've seen a couple of posts saying that it isn't very bright.

Here's my question - does anyone know of a way to see one of these machines in or around Denver, Colorado? I'd really like to have a look at the screen before committing to one of these.

Thanks!

 

ok so the start of this thread is kind of old months ago but is it still a good laptop.

not really looking for 17'" anymore though i was in the beginning till friend told me it will be too bulky for taking anywhere and even big for on lap on sofa and in bed at home etc

anyway i'm looking for a 15 or 15.5'' laptop,

I really like Asus particularly the w3j and v6j but neither are perfect. great thing is i found a good merchant who can upgrade the processor on these models to core 2 and upgrade the ram and hdd, you get the choice. this really helps make them compete

but problem is my wife is really pushing the DEll or the HP and its tought for me to make my Asus compete when the Dell and hp are higher powered/more featured and for less money.

i dont really like dells but do admit the hps looks have gotten better and are now in fact considered one of the better lookers in laptops currently especially with the imprint finish.

is there maybe a a 15.4 business HP i should consider. already looked at the d6000t and seems good and i loaded it up and still its less then Asus but i'd still reather get Asus

but better hp then dell which i think is actually the cheapest

 

Hmmm...

HP nc8430 (9420's little brother)
HP DV6000t
Asus s96j or z96j

 

eff dell, the inspiron 6400 is supposed to be kind of crappy despite being one of the most owned laptops.

I liked the HP d6000t but configured this on the busines site:

Smart Buy- HP Compaq nx7400 Notebook PC EN354UT#ABA
$276 instant savings!
HP Compaq nx7400 Notebook PC
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T5600 (1.83-GHz, 667-MHz FSB, 2-MB L2 Cache)
1024MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
120GB hard drive (5400 rpm)
15.4-inch WSXGA+ WVA display
DVD+/-RW SuperMulti with Double Layer (Fixed)
56K modem
Broadcom 10/100 Ethernet Controller
6 cell Li-Ion battery
Integrated Intel® Pro Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g), Bluetooth
1 Year Worldwide Limited Warranty

p $1,169.00



4-port USB 2.0 Hub
p $25.00


HP Extended Life Battery - SmartBuy Promotional Sku-
p $129.00


90W Smart Auto/Truck Adapter
p $79.00

 

**** that may be the best deal yet. better then the dell business deal on the 6400.

how does nx7400 look? i guess 15.4' version of the nx9420 or whatever but it just looked kidna plain. that is prob the one bad thing that you cant' get the imprint finish of the home users notebooks and its plainer looking.