zx5000 questions and concerns

hey everyone, new to the forum and even newer to laptops (this is my first). i juss had a couple of questions and concerns to throw out there since everyone here seems to be so knowledgeable and helpful. i got my zx5000 a week ago and pretty much juss spent the time breaking it in and configuring to my settings. i noticed a couple of things that are causin concern (or juss paranoia).

my first concern is a heating issue. i've noticed that the right side of my keyboard gets much hotter then the left side where the hard drive is. i'm guessin that either the processor or the video card is on the right side. neither the bottom or the right side fan is hot, but only the top where the keyboard is. if anyone knows any program to monitor temperature and/or video card temps please let me know. wondering if anyone else is experiencin this.

my second concern is the hard drive. it seems to keep ... stalling or something. while browsing the internet or the typing or doin other simple tasks, the notebook will sometimes stop and hang and i hear the hard drive spinning up again. this is in the middle of taskin, not before, like loadin programs or something. wondering if anyone has an explanation for this or if anyone is experiencing the same problem.

i've run only on the ac power for the week, and i thought that the heating might be because of that, but it doesn't explain my harddrive behavior. other then these two small quirks that i've noticed, i'm loving the zx5000. i got it to last though, and if these are signs of wear and tear, i'd be very dissappointed.

i would write a full review, but it seems you already have enough reviews on the zx5000, but if anyone wants my opinion, i'd be glad to write one out.

my specs are as below :

- Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 3.00 GHz w/HT Technology
- Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition
- 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen(1280x800)
- 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) 9600
- 512MB DDR SDRAM (2x256MB)
- 60 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
- FREE Upgrade from DVD to DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive!!
- 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
- Microsoft(R) Works/Money
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

Be sure that the second fan on the right side is powering on. It's set to come on automatically when a certain temp thresh hold is reached. Mine wouldn't when I bought it and I had to contacgt HP for a new BIOS version. Fan started working after update and heat hasn't been much of an issue for me since. Also what power management settings are you using? I know one of mine called for the HD to sleep after 3 minutes of inactivity. This might have something to do with your problem. I would check the settings in the profiles to see if this might help you out. Good luck!

 

Jiindok,
I have the same problems and concerns with my new zx5000 !!!!
Read the topic “what is the MobilMeter normal parameters"? And we are talking the same issues. Also read the topic about BIOS update.
Hope this helps

 

Jiindok,
Do me a favor. If you can, please use your notebook with battery charged 100% and do the simple tasks, such as email, online surfing, MS Word, MS XL, and tell me the your battery life?
My battery really bad, I can get only 2hrs. I updated my BIOS but so far no help. Soon I’ll call HP tech and ask them a replacement battery. My notebook only 10 days old, I don't want to pass 30 days in case I have to return.
Thank you

 

the right side of my Zx5000 heats up too, but only when im gaming if im surfing the net it stays cold. i get about 2 to almost 2 and ahalf hours, and sometimes 3 depending on how im using it at the moment.

 

My right side heats up also. Not really the keyboard but mostly the right side panel and the bottom of the laptop heats up. I'm not too concerned though since I was expecting some sort of heat issue. Also the hard drive stalling sounds like a problem. Mine hasn't stalled yet. I played several DVD's while online and no stalling took place. Did you install any programs other then the standard software that came with your notebook? If so I would re-flash your system. And if you still have the same problem contact HP.

 

a good defrag helps also, once a week should be enough.

 

i have teh HD stalling thing too, however it only seems to do it when im just browsing the web or something...it hasnt done it at all through games, benchmarks, or movies so it doesnt really seem like a big deal for me but i would like to know why it does that b/c ive never seen any laptop that does that. and my power settings are "always on" so it never turns off the hard disks

 

Yeah I've been gettin 2.5-3 hours of life out of mine. Depending on what I'm doing of course. I kinda figured that it would be along those lines so I was prepared for it when I bought it. Sorry to hear that you guys are having issues. I hope that you get them resolved soon.