Yeah but the one I am getting apparently is a T2250 1.73ghz. From other posts and what I was able to get while I am at work it looks like its a 533mhz.
My dv8000t was delivered about four hours ago. Right now I am busy migrating data and installing my applications.
I have taken some pictures of the laptop in the xb2000 Expansion Base and will upload them to my website later and link to them in a follow-on post. But I have a lot of setup to do yet and probably won't tinker around too much until later this evening.
I will give you all the early word though...so far I am delighted with both the notebook and expansion base. I will never own another desktop PC again. My desk has not been this clear of clutter in years. I can't tell you how liberated I feel.
My dv8000t was delivered about four hours ago. Right now I am busy migrating data and installing my applications.
I have taken some pictures of the laptop in the xb2000 Expansion Base and will upload them to my website later and link to them in a follow-on post. But I have a lot of setup to do yet and probably won't tinker around too much until later this evening.
I will give you all the early word though...so far I am delighted with both the notebook and expansion base. I will never own another desktop PC again. My desk has not been this clear of clutter in years. I can't tell you how liberated I feel.
--Jerome
looking forward to your pics. sounds like the expansion bay is nice so far!
My dv8000t was delivered about four hours ago. Right now I am busy migrating data and installing my applications.
--Jerome
Jerome,
In an earlier post you said that you ordered a unit with two HD's as well as a 250GB HD in the xb2000 expansion unit. So does the HD in the expansion unit show up as Drive E?
(I also have two HDs in my dv8000t, and an expansion unit without a HD. I'm thinking of placing a HD in it... like an idiot, I didn't order it with a HD.)
I'm at a good stopping point so I can take some time to give you impressions so far.
The notebook itself is really great. I know it comes in at about 8lbs but it isn't a chore to carry in the Targas leather case that I ordered with it. I still prefer my smaller notebook for field work, but I bought the dv8000t strictly as a desktop replacement with occasional road duty. So I don't expect to be hauling this all over the place.
That said, if I was travelling this would be a hoot to have in a hotel room to watch DVDs on or even HDTV recordings (I've have been recording high definition programming for years). The screen is large, bright, and contrasty. Very nice. It trouces the screen in my other laptop by several orders of magnitude.
I suspect that I am going to be a very happy camper with this computer.
Now onto the xb2000 Expansion Base. If you are buying one of these big honking notebooks as a desktop replacement then you really owe it to yourself to consider the xb2000 as an integral part of a desktop replacement solution. HP got it right with the ergonomics for the most part. The expansion base is heavy, weighing in at about 20lbs without a hard disk installed in it. The notebook tray tilts and locks in place, which makes it easy to adjust the height perfectly so the notebook's display is at eye-level. This helps to reduce fatigue.
The xb2000 hard disk works fine with NovaBackup 7.3. I have extermal USB 2.0 drives for music and high definition transport streams.
The speakers in the xb2000 sounded better than I was expecting. But they are still a long way away from meeting my needs. I'll make due with them until I can settle on an audio setup. Right now I am listening to John Coltrane playing Nature Boy from the John Coltrane Quartet Plays CD. It's an amazing performance, but these speakers and the computer's sound card really don't do it justice. But that's ok because I wasn't expecting audiophile quality sound from this setup. But having said that I think I would consider it to be barely adequate for casual listening. YMMV however depending on how serious you are about audio quality.
Here are front and back views of the xb2000
While the xb2000 documentation states that the expansion base is equipped with three USB ports, you will need to use one of them for the supplied wireless keyboard and mouse, since the base is USB only. This doesn't really bug me though.
If I have one complaint about the xb2000 it is the keyboard, which ironically does not share any of the ergonomic design properties of the xb2000 itself. It is very undistinguished. Being someone who has been spoiled by the outstanding split keyboard designs from Microsoft, I am finding this HP keyboard very cramped and I am making a lot of typing mistakes. I will give it more time before deciding on what to do about it, but it seems likely that a Microsoft Bluetooth Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard and Mouse will be in my future. If so that will set me back $100. I'm not really griping about it since everything else about the notebook and xb2000 has made it a very worthwhile purchase....witness my desk:
Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
I won't even post a picture of the cluttered mess my desk was with my old setup. Life so far with the dv8000t and xb2000 Expansion Base is very good indeed.
HP was selling the base for too much $$$. I'll get it from Costco or Ebay...
I hope the speakers are good enough to watch movies on... If not, I'll have to spend some more $$$.
I was planning to get some different keyboard/mouse combo since this one looks pretty bad. Bluetooth should be the way to go since it's built into the laptop but I haven't seen too many that work/look nice. I looked at the Logitech Di Novo or something like that but it had some terrible reviews!!! Microsoft is coming out with a new rechargeable keyboard/mouse combo but not sure if it's going to be bluetooth and the release date has not been announced.
HP was selling the base for too much $$$. I'll get it from Costco or Ebay...
Yeah, it's a bit pricey now at $249. I ordered mine when there was a $50 discount so I got it for $199 with free shipping.
I hope the speakers are good enough to watch movies on... If not, I'll have to spend some more $$$.
You may find them to your liking. I'm a pretty picky audiophile and if I wasn't happy with a SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZX and Klipsch THX 5.1 multimedia speakers you can be sure that these smallish Harmon Kardon speakers were not going to do it for me. That's why I said the expansion base speakers were just adequate for casual listening. I'm thinking seriously about buying an outboard USB DAC and headphone amp along with a pair of AKG K 701 reference headphones. This setup will cost about $1,000 but it's a true audiophile setup that no set of computer speakers can come close to. I really don't want to be using my notebook as a preamp for my home audio rig like I did with my desktop. That was partly responsible for all of the clutter on my desk and I had to get rid of it.
I was planning to get some different keyboard/mouse combo since this one looks pretty bad.
No argument there. After aboout four hours of fumbling around with that cheezy HP keyboard and mouse I was about to scream. So I ran out and bought a Microsoft Wireless Desktop keyboard and mouse setup. The wireless base is USB 2.0 and the keyboard is a split ergonomic design. I would have preferred Bluetooth but I could not find a setup that had a spit keyboard, and that is an absolute requirement in my book. The one I bought was $69 which isn't too expensive. The keyboard very closely resembles the wired Microsoft natural keyboard and optical mouse that I was using with my old desktop. So things are peachy again and I can type a few paragraphs without a mess of typos or strain on my fingers.
In an earlier post you said that you ordered a unit with two HD's as well as a 250GB HD in the xb2000 expansion unit. So does the HD in the expansion unit show up as Drive E?
(I also have two HDs in my dv8000t, and an expansion unit without a HD. I'm thinking of placing a HD in it... like an idiot, I didn't order it with a HD.)
Howard
On my system the E drive was setup from the factory as a recovery partition. I can't tell you much more than that because I haven't gone through all the documentation yet.
I installed the xb2000 hard disk option and then booted the notebook and mounted the disk in logical disk manager and formatted it as drive G: which is the next available drive letter.
I'm using Nova Backup and the software can do backup-to-disk with software compression and is working just fine with the xb2000 hard drive.
Lastly, it might have been a good thing that you waited. I ordered the xb2000 250GB hard disk a week after ordering the expansion base and the price of the drive dropped $40 from $249 to $209. It never hurts to get an unexpected financial windfall on this stuff, however small.
One thing I wish is that the internal wireless network was a 108Mbps instead of a 54Mbps. I use this machine to connect to the internet using the wireless D-link router I have in the house wich is a 108Mbps router. Would like the quicker speed, so looks like I am going to have to buy a seperate wireless card, which I may have to swap back and forth with my sound card as they use the same slot!
Well the wireless card along with the bluetooth card is upgradeable in these laptops... if you open the Ram bay the card sits right in there So if Intel offers a faster card you can upgrade it.
If I update my 7400 gpu at twarksrus that wont mess with the shared memory this uses to bring it up to 512 will it? thanks
I don't think so. Mine shows 128MB onboard and in the bios 384MB shared... in the DX tab it shows it using 256MB which is wierd... Bios says one thing but windows says another. Either which way thew tweaksrus drivers improved my gaming performance...
okay thanks for the info. will look into that. this didn't come with bluetooth, am I able to add that to this or not? Also you mentioned the video drivers at tweaksrus, which one do you use for the 7400 in this machine, and that won't take away the 512 of video ram will it? I remember earlier on about upgrading the drivers and some may take away the extra shared memory and put it back at 256 total?
Okay will look into that. Curious you have any good ideas on cleaning laptop screens? Gets dusty where I am and seems every 5 days screen is dirty, i had bought these wipe cloths that are damp at the pc store, said they are good for doing screens..but I get this film left on the screen, tried wiping away the dampness right after but still leaves film and smudges any ideas?
I have to say it was worth every penny, the thing attracks most of the dust and lint off my laptop every time I pull it off, I hardly ever have to wipe it down... It’s like a miracle product.
The coolest thing is once you dust the screen a few times feel free to beat the cover a bit to make it clean again.. kind of like a carpet It also helps if your not moving your PC and want to keep dust out of your keyboard when your not using it... just lay it over the leys and walla! no more dust. lol i sound like a commercial
Hehe...nice commercial, I'm sold! Thanks for the info, that is definately what I need here! BTW, which driver did you download for the 7400 gpu off of tweaks?
Lastly, it might have been a good thing that you waited. I ordered the xb2000 250GB hard disk a week after ordering the expansion base and the price of the drive dropped $40 from $249 to $209. It never hurts to get an unexpected financial windfall on this stuff, however small.
--Jerome
Thanks, Jerome, for the info. Whaddya know, I'm getting rewarded for procrastination! Thanks!
Comments
If I update my 7400 gpu at twarksrus that wont mess with the shared memory this uses to bring it up to 512 will it? thanks
I have taken some pictures of the laptop in the xb2000 Expansion Base and will upload them to my website later and link to them in a follow-on post. But I have a lot of setup to do yet and probably won't tinker around too much until later this evening.
I will give you all the early word though...so far I am delighted with both the notebook and expansion base. I will never own another desktop PC again. My desk has not been this clear of clutter in years. I can't tell you how liberated I feel.
--Jerome
looking forward to your pics. sounds like the expansion bay is nice so far!
In an earlier post you said that you ordered a unit with two HD's as well as a 250GB HD in the xb2000 expansion unit. So does the HD in the expansion unit show up as Drive E?
(I also have two HDs in my dv8000t, and an expansion unit without a HD. I'm thinking of placing a HD in it... like an idiot, I didn't order it with a HD.)
Howard
The notebook itself is really great. I know it comes in at about 8lbs but it isn't a chore to carry in the Targas leather case that I ordered with it. I still prefer my smaller notebook for field work, but I bought the dv8000t strictly as a desktop replacement with occasional road duty. So I don't expect to be hauling this all over the place.
That said, if I was travelling this would be a hoot to have in a hotel room to watch DVDs on or even HDTV recordings (I've have been recording high definition programming for years). The screen is large, bright, and contrasty. Very nice. It trouces the screen in my other laptop by several orders of magnitude.
I suspect that I am going to be a very happy camper with this computer.
Now onto the xb2000 Expansion Base. If you are buying one of these big honking notebooks as a desktop replacement then you really owe it to yourself to consider the xb2000 as an integral part of a desktop replacement solution. HP got it right with the ergonomics for the most part. The expansion base is heavy, weighing in at about 20lbs without a hard disk installed in it. The notebook tray tilts and locks in place, which makes it easy to adjust the height perfectly so the notebook's display is at eye-level. This helps to reduce fatigue.
The xb2000 hard disk works fine with NovaBackup 7.3. I have extermal USB 2.0 drives for music and high definition transport streams.
The speakers in the xb2000 sounded better than I was expecting. But they are still a long way away from meeting my needs. I'll make due with them until I can settle on an audio setup. Right now I am listening to John Coltrane playing Nature Boy from the John Coltrane Quartet Plays CD. It's an amazing performance, but these speakers and the computer's sound card really don't do it justice. But that's ok because I wasn't expecting audiophile quality sound from this setup. But having said that I think I would consider it to be barely adequate for casual listening. YMMV however depending on how serious you are about audio quality.
Here are front and back views of the xb2000
While the xb2000 documentation states that the expansion base is equipped with three USB ports, you will need to use one of them for the supplied wireless keyboard and mouse, since the base is USB only. This doesn't really bug me though.
If I have one complaint about the xb2000 it is the keyboard, which ironically does not share any of the ergonomic design properties of the xb2000 itself. It is very undistinguished. Being someone who has been spoiled by the outstanding split keyboard designs from Microsoft, I am finding this HP keyboard very cramped and I am making a lot of typing mistakes. I will give it more time before deciding on what to do about it, but it seems likely that a Microsoft Bluetooth Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard and Mouse will be in my future. If so that will set me back $100. I'm not really griping about it since everything else about the notebook and xb2000 has made it a very worthwhile purchase....witness my desk:
Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
I won't even post a picture of the cluttered mess my desk was with my old setup. Life so far with the dv8000t and xb2000 Expansion Base is very good indeed.
--Jerome
HP was selling the base for too much $$$. I'll get it from Costco or Ebay...
I hope the speakers are good enough to watch movies on... If not, I'll have to spend some more $$$.
I was planning to get some different keyboard/mouse combo since this one looks pretty bad. Bluetooth should be the way to go since it's built into the laptop but I haven't seen too many that work/look nice. I looked at the Logitech Di Novo or something like that but it had some terrible reviews!!! Microsoft is coming out with a new rechargeable keyboard/mouse combo but not sure if it's going to be bluetooth and the release date has not been announced.
Anyway, congrats on your new setup...
You may find them to your liking. I'm a pretty picky audiophile and if I wasn't happy with a SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZX and Klipsch THX 5.1 multimedia speakers you can be sure that these smallish Harmon Kardon speakers were not going to do it for me. That's why I said the expansion base speakers were just adequate for casual listening. I'm thinking seriously about buying an outboard USB DAC and headphone amp along with a pair of AKG K 701 reference headphones. This setup will cost about $1,000 but it's a true audiophile setup that no set of computer speakers can come close to. I really don't want to be using my notebook as a preamp for my home audio rig like I did with my desktop. That was partly responsible for all of the clutter on my desk and I had to get rid of it.
No argument there. After aboout four hours of fumbling around with that cheezy HP keyboard and mouse I was about to scream. So I ran out and bought a Microsoft Wireless Desktop keyboard and mouse setup. The wireless base is USB 2.0 and the keyboard is a split ergonomic design. I would have preferred Bluetooth but I could not find a setup that had a spit keyboard, and that is an absolute requirement in my book. The one I bought was $69 which isn't too expensive. The keyboard very closely resembles the wired Microsoft natural keyboard and optical mouse that I was using with my old desktop. So things are peachy again and I can type a few paragraphs without a mess of typos or strain on my fingers.
--Jerome
I installed the xb2000 hard disk option and then booted the notebook and mounted the disk in logical disk manager and formatted it as drive G: which is the next available drive letter.
I'm using Nova Backup and the software can do backup-to-disk with software compression and is working just fine with the xb2000 hard drive.
Lastly, it might have been a good thing that you waited. I ordered the xb2000 250GB hard disk a week after ordering the expansion base and the price of the drive dropped $40 from $249 to $209. It never hurts to get an unexpected financial windfall on this stuff, however small.
--Jerome
I don't think so. Mine shows 128MB onboard and in the bios 384MB shared... in the DX tab it shows it using 256MB which is wierd... Bios says one thing but windows says another. Either which way thew tweaksrus drivers improved my gaming performance...
To note: Cisco owns linksys
ShaggyMac
I have to say it was worth every penny, the thing attracks most of the dust and lint off my laptop every time I pull it off, I hardly ever have to wipe it down... It’s like a miracle product.
The coolest thing is once you dust the screen a few times feel free to beat the cover a bit to make it clean again.. kind of like a carpet
It's a Conexant CX20551HD HDA chip.