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

[jka/v]

Flashram, just wanted to say thanks, in this thread you mentioned finding your drivers in swsetup folder. I totally blanked that's where hp drops them, I'm now reloading my dv8000t with xp pro on a clean install. Again, thanks!

[Mats]

ah ha! so it must connect to that exposed 'docking station' port?

No, but the battery connector next to it which does have a cover. See my link.

Du you actually need a FDD for the SATA driver? Can't you use a USB flash drive?

[isvara_pranidhana]

No, but the battery connector next to it which does have a cover. See my link.

Du you actually need a FDD for the SATA driver? Can't you use a USB flash drive?

bingo! thanks for that. i didn't scroll down enough on the mobilityguru page. i was wondering what that battery connection was for --- now it all becomes clear. why didn't they put the same type of slider over the docking station connection??? the devil is in the details...

[flashram]

Du you actually need a FDD for the SATA driver? Can't you use a USB flash drive?

You can't use a flash drive, a floppy is required.

[flashram]

The clean install is in progress. I went ahead and deleted the recovery partition to get back that 7 GB. I made the recovery dvds when I got the notebook so I should be ok if I need to go back to the factory state for some reason.

[unstoppable]

.....So far my only disappointment is the screen. It doesn't really look like a Brightview screen to me. I had a zd7000 previously and I have a v4000t at work and both of those screens are considerably brighter than the one on my nx9420. I have a Dell 700m and 2 desktop LCDs sitting next to my laptop right now and they all outshine the nx by a wide margin. I disabled the ambient light sensor thinking that would help, but no luck.

You mean it's not bright enough(?), most lcds are too bright for me, can you post some pictures of the screen? How is the contrast and the colour quality?

[bran]

bright screen, fast, sturdy, cheap, select any two

Acer 82xx: fast + cheap
HP nc9420: fast + sturdy(?)
Fujitsu n6410: bright screen + sturdy
LG P1: bright screen(?) + fast
Asus V6J: bright screen(?) + sturdy
Dell 1705: fast + cheap

[isvara_pranidhana]

i'd make sure to include service/support in your decision. i'm inclined towards HP (business class), Fujitsu (http://www.portableone.com) and Asus (http://www.proportable.com). not an acer or dell fan over here... not familiar with LG other than cell phones, but they get good reviews from what i've seen.

a good reseller and top notch customer service/support are worth a little bit more $ for the peace of mind. what if you have problems or want to return it??? make sure you know the return policy of anyone you purchase from...

my rig is rock-solid.

[flashram]

Just a quick update.

The clean install went well. The video glitch remains however once you install the ATI driver. It didn't do it until I installed the driver so it may very well be a software issue that can be addressed.

Now I know I have bashed the screen, but after tweaking it last night I am MUCH happier with it. I knew something was off but I couldn't put my finger on it. Turns out the screen was too "cool" or blue. I used Quickgamma to tweak the blue and the whites now come through much better than before making the LCD appear brighter as well. I am satisfied with it now.

For those interested in gaming, I played Oblivion on it for a few hours last night and it ran quite well. Supposedly it is a very demanding game so that's a good sign for us nx9420 gamers.

To give you an idea of just how portable the nx9420 is, here is a picture of the 17" nx9420 next to my 12" Dell 700m. They are pretty much the same thickness and the nx is about an inch deeper. The nx is of course wider. The weight is excellent on the nx and only about 2 lbs heavier than the 12" 700m.

[isvara_pranidhana]

yeah, i disabled the ATI background services (services.msc) and anything ATI in the startup (msconfig). i've not seen the 'glitch' since. although i'm still inclined towards it being the HP security stuff (credentials manager).