Beastly HDX 18 no longer available from HP, dv8 to blame?
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 25th 2009 2:17AM
posted Oct 25th 2009 2:17AM
[Thanks, pyro92005]
posted Oct 25th 2009 2:17AM
Segment of single women who said their next computer purchase would be a laptop.
Of 1,000 single men and women polled, 47 percent of women said they'd buy a laptop, while 47 percent of men were looking for a desktop.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
I have an HDX18, while its certainly slick and all, it really is a pain to lug around.
I'd imagine the fans get pretty loud trying to keep the beast cool.
My 17" and I are past the honeymoon stage now- it just won't shut up anymore! :[
pinoy, stop whoring your site on every other post, no one's gonna click it.
I have the original HDX Dragon 20.1" laptop and while it may be heavy, it's an awesome desktop replacement that can STILL be lugged around on the rare occasions you wish for it. It's an entertainment all-in-one machine, great for gaming on a 20" 1080p screen and very comfortable to use. Not to mention it garners FAR more attention in Uni libraries than that white plastic one...
This post has me kinda sad, I was really hoping for even bigger and better DTR's in the future, 22", 24" maybe?? Not everyone wants an uber-lightweight machine for just e-mails. Oh well, people like me can just hope for a better market future for our needs/wants...
@danny
my hdx 18 is actually quiet as a mouse... when its closed i literally can't tell if it's on without looking at the light sometimes...
I love mine, but it has never left my desk. Partly because I can't find a bag big enough to hold it.
A more bigger laptop display doesn't mean its powerful. We don't disclose the possibility that it could be better for users but the portability and the size might be compromise with this one.
I kind of remember the first 2 laptops that was released by Dell's Alienware and Maingear (respectively). Both, has the power but the weight and size was a little too overweight.
World's greatest laptop battle: http://pinoytutorial.com/techtorial/the-maingear-ex-l-18/
Still, powerful indeed.
R.I.P.
That's a shame. I have the older, 20" dual-hinged HDX, and it's a beast. Blu-ray drive crapped out right after warranty though. Still reads DVD's.
I have an hdx18t, bought it mid july.. I love its gigantic screen and backlit keyboard but looking back, I probably would have gone with a 16". I dont need the blue ray burner it's a total waste (bdr's are WAY to expensive and unlikely to come down to match dvdr prices anytime soon). It's 10 lbs! YES! 10 lbs!.. and it's almost impossible to find a case for it let alone one you like.. then you're lucky (some are finally getting down to the 30ish range) if its less than 50$$ for a case!! So is it powerful? yes. It's faster than my vista 64 2.4ghz quad core desktop w 8 gb ram.. (its a 3.06 quad core w 4 gb ddr3 vs ddr2 ram but the laptops vid card just cant compete) on most things except video. I really wanted a massive HTPC but .. I bought something that lets me stream netflix in HD and that includes a BD player.. so yes.. a 16" much lighter pc with out as many unnecessary accessories would be sweet. I still love looking at how much bigger my 18.4 is next to the 16 though.. :)
I got a great case for it.. I mean, the thing is basically a suitcase, but it's a big laptop, need a big case. Normal 1-handed carrying handle, hide-away backpack-style straps, or extendable handle for wheeling the bad boy around.. I gotta agree with ya on the Blu-Ray though, rather pointless unless you have a blu-ray collection to begin with.
I forgot to mention it's a HUGE battery hog.. ;p... even on rtm w7..
I have one for editing HD video. It lasts about 45 minutes on battery. I'm not kidding.
I honestly don't think anyone bought with portable use was in mind. More like a more transportable iMac with a small battery inside ;)
how is a 9600 a gaming laptop? please don't make us laugh
My HDX has an 8800GT, which at the time was the best you could get in a laptop without spending $3000 on some alienware ridiculousness.
Both the HDX18 and HDX16 have been removed from HP Spain. The dv8 can be a good substitute for the HDX18, but I don't feel the same about the Envy 15 as a substitute for the HDX16...
The latest HDX 18t's (Sept and Oct flavors) came with the nvidia120m (1gb on-board) which would not operated 3D games such as WOW without severely crashing - abruptly and completely powering off. I tried everything under the sun before finally RMAing back for full refund. The last week of the HDX 18's life in October I noticed that HP only offered a previously stable card, the 9600, during the configuration process and then poof they discontinued it entirely. A bunch of us were desperately posting possible solutions but nothing worked. I am sure nvidia probably had a memory leak of some kind with this card and prolly would have posted a fix eventually.
My cats name is mittens
I bought one back in late August and I really like it alot. I have the Q9000 2.0GHz Core 2 Quad, the 1GB Nvidia GT 130M(upgraded 9600GT), Bluray reader and lighted keyboard. The quality is very good for a machine that costed $1550 with HP's usual $500 off coupon($250+250). Crapware wasn't all that bad like I remembered with the dv600t from 3 yrs ago but it really shouldn't have any considering this is suppose to be their "upper-end". It's definitely not a mobile machine but on trips up north to Minocqua or Rhinelander(that's in WI), it's ok. A very good backpack for it is from Dell and the backpack that is used for the XPS M1730. It's going for I think $90 right now but it's a HUGE backpack with very good cushion and lots of nooks and crannies for storage. I really wanted the original HDX that was called the Dragon, the 20inch monster with the revision that had the 8800m GTX and Core 2 Extreme 9000 chip but that went away around Sept 2008. The DV8 seems ok but I really expected styling that was more upscale along the brushed aluminum of the dm3 machines. Oh well, maybe on the next revision we'll see that.
Larger screens are nice and all, but with the POS TN panels on every laptop screen, things just look terrible. There was once a time when laptop screens were the cutting edge and would lead desktop screens a months. Now they all have terrible viewing angles where it matters most, when you are portable. While my laptops are all quite old, they all have terrific screens that i would not trade for the sake of "power."
I have an HDX18 and I love it.
I am actually contemplating not needing a new laptop like... ever!
Well, alright...not for at least a few years but this thing will last me awhile.
I can even mod xbox 360s on it.
I own an HDX18 and I believe there is an underlying reason as to why HP actually got rid of it. If you look up on separate forums, there has been a multitude of people reporting issues with the wireless button, as well as the entire row of buttons on the top of the keyboard. These buttons were a new design in the HDX18 that are a panel of touch sensitive buttons that controlled things like volume, bass, treble, and as I said previously, the wireless connection. The main issue with these buttons was that they would occasionally control themselves in certain peoples computers. For example, my wireless connection constantly gets dropped on some days because the wireless connection button turns itself on and off constantly, and my volume on select days also constantly goes up and down uncontrollably. HP recommends upgrading to the latest BIOS, but only some of the people facing these issues say that that has been helping them but the majority have still been facing the issue. HP does eventually offer a replacement HDX18 but I have yet to take them up on this offer due to the whole inconvenience of not having a laptop for over a week.
Moon is an awesome movie
HP's consumer laptops are ugly, cheap plastic garbage. I saw the Envy this weekend at Fry's What a joke. Hundreds of dollars more than a MacBook Pro and it's poorly made, flexy, and ugly. How anybody could compare that to unibody MacBook is beyond me. Whats really odd about this is HP's W series business laptops are some of the best I've seen, But their consumer division is garbage.
I personally don't care for most consumer laptops (like the Inspiron line) but the business-grade ones always seem more utilitarian and appealing. That's why I bought a Vostro.
I guess my netbook is 'consumer', but it is aluminum-encased, which is more business like anyway.
I guess my HDX 18t will have to carry on the name and tell the world, "We were here. And we were awesome."
And I thought my 15" lappy was big and heavy.
Gaming laptops don't appeal to me. A friend of mine had one; after about twenty minutes of playing a game, the fan output would begin to burn your leg. Badly.
i got used to the size real fast... it stays in my bed where i use it most comfortably (thats where i am right now actually)... im so used to it in fact, looking at it right now it seems... smaller than usual. creepy.......
Good thing, HP's quality has gone down the shitter in the past few years. So many of their laptops were affected by the NVIDIA recall yet only a small number of them were included in their "warranty enhancement"; otherwise you would have to fight with HP over the phone to get them to fix your laptop for free. The other manufacturers seemed to be able to handle this perfectly fine, but not HP. I've dealt with a bunch of these laptops including a few that weren't covered.
Most recently, some models of their Elite desktops were sold with defective motherboards and HP denied the problem until a few months later when they quietly discontinued those models.
Personally, I've spent many hours in online chat and on the phone with HP to get warranty replacement parts for a desktop. I needed both a new hard drive and a video card, and both of the ones they sent were defective.
Had HP handled these and other situations properly, taking the blame when appropriate and providing decent customer service, I wouldn't be so mad at them. Now, I will never buy an HP product and all of my customers, friends and family are being recommended to do the same. Why buy from a company that can't build a decent product to begin with and then won't stand behind it's quality?
Cat-sausage chorus:
Put a sausage and a cat together in a microwave.
I have the HDX 16t. Been an absolute pleasure to have, but with all the deals I've been seeing on the internet for the 18-version, it makes me just a tad sad. I paid near $1200 for mine earlier this year, and now I could have had a bigger screen and blu-ray for around $800. I'm not bitter though...
18" is too big for most people to carry around unless they want a desktop replacement. HPs makin some changes, but I have yet to see a dm3 unboxing. They claim that laptops "all metal" but in a picture from newegg you can see that the entire back is plastic, that just ruins it for me'. lol off topic
Marcus: would you do me a favor and fire up an intensive 3D game like WOW or something you like and let me know how the 130m behaves? I am still trying to help some friends solve their video issues. TIA
Hi Fitzm1, I don't have WoW but I play Unreal Tournament 3. The performance is excellent with all the eye candy turned up. The Nvidia GT 130M has been flawless running that game. I had FRAPS to measure the frame rate but unfortunately I'm not home right now...so I will post that number later. So far no issues with the HDX18t.:)
Quikstep: here is the link for the Dell XPS M1730 backpack that works great for the HDX18t:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=310-9526&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
18"? That's it?
Apple had 21"
Hmm... what are you trying to get at, eh?
Been polishing some screens, have you, eh? XD
Got mine to use while away from my desk as a remote desktop terminal, and it's worked pretty well. I basically just needed the largest display I could find with the cheapest laptop I could find glued to it, and the HDX fit the bill perfectly. The dv8 seems like a worthy replacement, but the HDX will be missed...
Yeah, it's big, bulky, completely unportable, and the battery life is a disaster - but I already had my ThinkPad x300 for that. This works great for the days when I have to set up shop somewhere other than my office and work for an entire day.
Wish they had not killed the DV2z one (dual core).
I have an HDX 18 and I love it, although I still haven't been able to find a proper bag for it. If anyone could post links for some decent options, I'd appreciate it.
Love the big screen. Use Maxthon2 browser for their 2 page full screen. its just LOVE :)
lmao.