*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

[PMorgan]

A couple of good forums for TV and AV are avforums.com and avsforum.com ...

I concur in the AVSforum and commend it to anyone who wants to learn a lot about HDTV among many other things. I've been active on the HDTV subforum "Local HDTV info and reception" on reception for about 5-6 years when stations here were phasing out analog and changing to digital and HD transmissions. Very interesting during the "1/2 power" period.

Regards,
- - Phil

[woods3336]

That's okay, Woods. It's still an HP product.
They don't sell it online? Seems strange....
Regards,
- - Phil

I guess it has been discontinued which is why HP has pulled it from the site. I saw several sites selling refurbished models as well. I guess it is about 2 or 3 years old, but certainly not lacking in current day features. I'll go as far as to say it is superior to every dock HP currently sells IMHO. That said, Peter may be better off exploring other brands offerings....

[woods3336]

I concur in the AVSforum and commend it to anyone who wants to learn a lot about HDTV among many other things.
Regards,
- - Phil

I agree as well! Great resource.

OT: They usually have threads over there for specific tv models and the enthusiasts there (some even certified professionals) list their optimized settings which can make a world of difference in setting up your new tv. It's not a professional calibration replacement, but for free, you can't beat it!

[PMorgan]

OT: They usually have threads over there for specific tv models and the enthusiasts there (some even certified professionals) list their optimized settings which can make a world of difference in setting up your new tv. It's not a professional calibration replacement, but for free, you can't beat it!

Yes, just search till you drill down to your make/model and someone has posted their tweaks for that one. Handy and worth checking every few months for updates and news of recalls. In my case, I found that Samsung had an unpublicized recall to replace the light tunnel on my 61-inch. I called and they had a local authorized tech come to my home and replace it (quite involved and took several hours to complete) at no charge. I'd never have known about it if it were not for folks posting on AVS.

Regards,
- - Phil

[mattmjb0188]

I was also a little disappointed to see this notebook get discontiuned. Even though I had mine nearly a year ago and had a few problems it was still an excellent multimedia machine. I don't believe HP offers a 18.4" notebook now? Glad to see HP finally updated the driver software

[PMorgan]

I was also a little disappointed to see this notebook get discontiuned. Even though I had mine nearly a year ago and had a few problems it was still an excellent multimedia machine. I don't believe HP offers a 18.4" notebook now? Glad to see HP finally updated the driver software

Definitely preachin' to the choir here! Glad you're enjoyed yours too. As far as I know, the largest HP is 17.5 inches now.

In general, driver software has been being updated ever since last October.

Regards,
- - Phil

[mattmjb0188]

Definitely preachin' to the choir here! Glad you're enjoyed yours too. As far as I know, the largest HP is 17.5 inches now.

In general, driver software has been being updated ever since last October.

Regards,
- - Phil

No, the video driver software was not updated on this notebook for several months. I believe the first new driver was in July of 2010. This only pertains to the video card. They did update the other drivers in October just not the video card.

[pae77]

IIRC, nVidia has been updating the video driver on an approximately monthly basis at least since I got my DV8, last March or April. and probably well before that. Most (or at least many) of us don't wait for HP to get around to reissuing the video (or other) updates with their name on it before applying available updates to our machines. One of the things I like about these HP's is that one can obtain and apply updates for almost all components directly from the manufacturer of the particular component (e.g., Intel, nVidia, J. Micron, Synaptics, IDT, etc., etc.), and that Justin here at NBR does the heavy lifting of gathering and posting them for us in one place (well actually two places these days), which makes it very easy tor those of us who like to keep everything running with the latest updates.

[PMorgan]

No, the video driver software was not updated on this notebook for several months. I believe the first new driver was in July of 2010. This only pertains to the video card. They did update the other drivers in October just not the video card.

I believe not; I had to update my October nVidia software to correct video crashing on my DV8 in February ... long before July.

Also, I said "in general" to distinguish and generalize my satisfaction to include drivers for the DV8 beyond those just for video.

Glad you're happy with the updates anyway.

Regards,
- - Phil

[PMorgan]

IIRC, nVidia has been updating the video driver on an approximately monthly basis at least since I got my DV8, last March or April. and probably well before that.

Exactly, Peter! The update HP posted in February to fix the video driver crashes I referred to was an HP softpaq, in fact.

Regards,
- - Phil