HP Pavillion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC (Penryn)

Unleaded

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I read the review for this new notebook from Laptop Magazine's website:

http://www.laptopmag.com/Review/HP-Pavillion-HDX-Entertainment-Notebook-PC-Penryn.htm?Page=0

This sounds like a fantastic notebook. However, I have a few questions concerning it.

1.) Anyone know when this is coming out? I called HP and they said its their new flagship laptop but they said they're not sure when its coming out. Maybe later this month they said.

2.) How are the HDX notebooks of the past? The new one in the review will be featuring an Nvidia DirectX-10 compatible video card (though no idea if they'll be using SLI or only single card). Have they held up in the past as good quality notebooks?

3.) I've got a budget of about $5,000 to buy a new laptop. I travel quite a bit and I also game A LOT. Thus the need for a powerhouse laptop. Some might say it's not worth spending that much on a laptop when you can have a better desktop but my desktop (from Alienware) will put any laptop on the market right now to shame. So I know the arguments but I still want a laptop that can handle Crysis and the like. I've looked at Falcon NW and Voodoo but they are so extremely overpriced that I can't justify it. Hypersonic is cheaper but I know very little about them.

So, basically, my question is first about this new HDX laptop and second, whether I should go with that or look to a different company to get the most bang for my buck. I would think $5,000 would be plenty to pay for an extremely powerful laptop that can not only play the games I want at good quality but to also function well and not fall apart on me within a few months.

The new penryn Intel looks great and that might be the reason for the delay because as far as I know, no notebooks have this model processor in it.

Any feedback you could give to my queries here would be greatly appreciated.

Unleaded
 
Using a Sager right now. Build quality is excellent. Haven't had to call customer support yet. Sager/Clevo is actually the company that makes laptops for companies like WidowPC and XoticPC who just rebrand them with their names.
 

Unleaded

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Thanks for all the info.

Only thing I do now before I buy the Sager is ask if I should wait for the 2.5-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300. That's the penryn model and it doesn't seem like Sager offers it. Do you know how much better is than the Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (which I've heard is actually better than the Quad core models that are available at the moment).

Unleaded
 
For the most part, mobile processors really can't touch the desktop versions. The E6750 should beat the Penryns, but I can't say for certain.

If you want to check them out, look at www.killernotebooks.com. They offer Sager models, with some home made modifications. Their prices are a little steeper, but just ask theWorminator, it's worth it.
 

Unleaded

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I'm looking through the killernotebooks.com options and they don't seem to have as many options as xoticpc has (i.e. an HD optical drive, SLI only available through the Turion X2 duo model, etc...)

What types of home made modifications am I missing here?

Unleaded
 
He offers SLI in the Odachi, but you need to select it I believe (doesn't have the 8800's up as an option yet). He does modifications to the cooling system to improve heat dissipation. Add onto that the fact that he will put just about any graphic on the back of the notebook that you can think of. If you ask him to put an HD-DVD or Bluray into it, I'm sure he'd do it.
http://www.killernotebooks.com/executioner_sr/executioner_sr_heatsink_mod.html
http://www.killernotebooks.com/customization.html

I'm not necessarily saying K|N is the best option, just another one to consider.
 
arent killer notebooks more expensive than sager ones lostandwandering?(i wish i knew your name, cuz i have i to write your username and it takes some time :D )

also i agree with u about the MOBILE CPUs, desktop CPUs perform better but they run hotter.
Even for some CPUs like E6750 and T7800 that have the same speed, the E6750 performs better because it has more FSB
 

theworminator

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Yeah, Killer Notebooks is more expensive than Sager, but it has it's advantages. Customization, heat sink mods (to add more surface area -> more heat dissipation) along with the fact that you deal with the owner personally. Very good customer service. It's got all the pros and cons of working with a small company: it's much more personal and customized but it might take longer to build and it'll cost more.

If you're interested in contacting the owner (Mark), I can PM you his email. I'd rather not post it up on the forums, doing things like that tends to attract spambots.
 

matthew4295

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If your trying to choose between the Hp HDX and the Sager np9262.........if you want good speed and huge 20.1 inch screen get the Hp HDX (good gaming).........if you want REALLY good speed and a large 17 inch it has been told to be the fastest on the market it has a quad core...... THE BIG THING IS THE BATTERY LIFETIME.....SAGER IS 30 TO 60 MINUTES......HP HDX IS ABOUT 2.5 TO 3.5 HOURS.......... well equiped.....sager 3750 from "http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9262-ultimate-custom-laptop-built-clevo-d900c-d901c-p-2273.html?wconfigure=yes"...................HP HDX greatly equiped.........3600.....truthfully I would go for the HP HDX....it has a longer battery life.......by far.......bigger screen and more hook ups.....but like i said was LOOK AT THE BATTERY LIFE......60 TO 30 MINUTES............COMPARED TO 2.5 TO 3.5 HOURS......i am still choosing my laptop plus last ting is hp has a much better support......so i will most likly be choosing the HP HDX.....Thank You for reading this
 

Quantumstate

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I travel quite a bit...

Why are you guys encouraging the HDX? It simply does not travel well, lugging this big delicate thing around, and won't fit on an airplane tray. Even a 17" is too big.

I am anticipating the Asus M70, but no one has any hands-on info about build quality, nor an availability date.
 
Clevo is supposed to be releasing a 15.4'' notebook to compete with the Alienware m15x. Supposed to be a powerhouse in a portable form. If anything, I would wait for that now.

Quantum: The OP was the one who brought the HDX up in the first place. That would indicate that he knows the downsides to such a large system. And besides a select few 15.4'' systems, most are not suitable for a lot of gaming, which the OP stated he does.
 

matthew4295

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Alright but I want to get great gaming but also not have it pluged in 24/7..... with the sager np9262 you get great gaming but only 30 to 60 minutes.....now that sucks!!!!! with the Hp HDX you get a bigger screen and the battery lifetime is 2.5 to 3.5......now thats not great but it is much better then 30 to 60 minutes........and asers are the worst of them all.......I have at least 10 friends with great acers and paid some good money for them...they all broke down in 6 to 12 months.......now a hp or sager will last a great amount of time.....and i now it's just luck.......but the laptop with my configuration......hp has 1 year everything.......sager has a 3 year everything and both have 24/7 lifetime........so try betting that with an acer (plus acers are not the best for gaming) P.S. don't buy a gateway........they are closing down fast!!!!.....Just a warning
 

TheGreatGrapeApe

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No chance you're gaming on the HDX for 2-3.5 hours unless it's minesweeper.

It's still just a 9 cell battery not a nuclear fuel cell.

It's a nice laptop, almost got one myself, but it need juice just like all the other large LCD, fact processor laptops out there.
 
HDX main good features are :
20" With 1920x1200 resolution + Tv tuner
500GB HDD
4GB RAM
8800M GTS 512
Core2Duo CPU

Its truely a desktop replacemant, i may get one soon, The batter life is good for a 20" Laptop IMO
 

matthew4295

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alright it wont last 2.5 to 3.5 hours on gaming but that also means that the sager with a normal 30 to 60 minutes would be about 15 to 30 minutes........but still on the hdx you will get a good 1.75 to 2 hours of game play............plus I was really think they have not gotten the the quad core for laptops yet.......would you guys say that.....I am just really trying to decide between the HP HDX and the Sager NP9262.....what would you guys go for........sager has more stuff but the hp is a hp.......it is the best brand and I have not heard of the sager until a week or 2 ago......so what would you do..........HP or Sager??????????????????????