HP Pavilion HDX Review

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by Jerry Jackson

The eagerly awaited HP Pavilion HDX (code named &quot;The Dragon&quot is a 20.1&quot; widescreen entertainment notebook that uses the Intel Santa Rosa platform. Equipped with an available dedicated ATI HD2600 XT graphics card, HD DVD optical drive, integrated HDTV tuner, and integrated web-camera, this massive beast redefines the term &quot;notebook.&quot; The following is a quick first take on a pre-production HP Pavilion HDX.

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Build and Design

The HDX shares several design elements with the rest of the HP Pavilion line, but more than size and weight separate the HDX from its siblings. First, HP has improved their glossy black and silver &quot;Imprint&quot; finish with a new high-impact version called &quot;Dragon.&quot; While we didn't test the high-impact finish by dropping it repeatedly in our office, I can say the finish looks quite durable ... though fingerprints show up quickly on the glossy finish.

A close-up view of the new &quot;Dragon&quot; high-impact Imprint finish. (view large image)

The real stand out design feature on the HDX is the dual-hinge display. Rather than opening with a single large hinge at the back of the notebook, the 20.1&quot; display swings open with a center-mounted rear hinge and is further adjustable with a second hinge at the back of the display allowing you to position the screen for the perfect viewing angle.

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Although the HDX's weight of 15.5 pounds might sound excessive, keep in mind that other 20&quot; notebook configurations such as the Dell XPS M2010 are closer to 20 pounds. That said, the HDX would have been more portable if HP had included a built-in carrying handle.

Of course, the design of the HDX wouldn't matter if it wasn't loaded with the right features. Below are the specs for our HP Pavilion HDX as configured:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.4GHz)
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT (256MB)
• Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)
• 20.1” WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 pixels) HP Ultra Brightview display
• Integrated HP HDTV Tuner w/4 Altec Lansing speakers + 1 subwoofer
• PowerPack Software – Roxio, Muvee and Serif
• Dual 100GB 7200RPM Hard Drives (200GB total)
• HD DVD-ROM w/ Super Multi DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
• 4GB DDR2 system memory
• Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
• Intel Pro/Wireless 4945a/g/n network with Bluetooth
• HP Imprint &quot;Dragon&quot; finish + Fingerprint reader + webcam
• High capacity 9-cell battery
• Dimensions: 18.7&quot; (L) x 13.4&quot; (W) x 2.3&quot; (H)
• Price as configured: $4,459.99

Keep in mind that since our review unit is a pre-production model available configurations may change once HP begins accepting orders for the HDX.

Below is a video (hosted by our own Andrew Baxter) highlighting the features of the HDX. No, we didn't shrink Andrew for this video. The HDX is just so huge it makes our 30-year-old Andrew look like he is the size of a 12-year-old boy:

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Screen and Webcam

The 20.1&quot; WSXGA+ display on the HDX is quite impressive to say the least. Both horizontal and vertical viewing angles are excellent, backlighting is even across the entire surface, there is virtually zero light leakage aroung the edges, and high definition video simply looks stunning on this display. The glossy surface may create some strong reflections from time to time, but thanks to the dual hinge you shouldn't have any problems positioning the display to avoid reflections.

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The built-in webcam is not the typical high-resolution 1.3-megapixel webcam commonly seen on other notebooks. HP listened to customer feedback and realized that people need integrated webcams to do two things: take good video in low light, and have fast enough frame rates for quality video conferencing. HP engineers discovered they could improve the webcam's low-light performance and boost frame rates at the same time by using a physically larger image sensor that produced a lower-resolution image.

Bottom line, although you won't want to print a wall-sized photo from the HDX's webcam, the camera produces excellent video quality ... among the best we've seen in an integrated webcam to date.

The integrated webcam above the display. (view large image)

Speakers

One word sums up the audio experience with the HDX, &quot;WOW.&quot;

I can honestly say that I have never been 100 percent satisfied with the performance of the built-in speakers on any notebook, but the four Altec Lansing speakers and subwoofer built-in to the body of the HDX put out some serious sound. The only reason you would need to connect external speakers to this system is if you want a true surround sound experience. If that is the case then the HDX will keep you happy thanks to a wide selection of audio out ports.

This truly is an all-in-one HD home entertainment center.

Keyboard, Touchpad, Media Buttons and Remote

HP included a full size keyboard and dedicated number pad on the HDX thanks to the generous amount of space available on a system supporting a 20.1&quot; display. There is no noticeable keyboard flex (even above the optical drive) and there are plenty of dedicated keys ... including touch-sensative media buttons located above the keyboard. No one should need an external keyboard with this machine.

The palm rests are solid and feel nice thanks to the Imprint finish, but we did notice the left palm rest started to heat up after prolonged use. We wouldn't call the palmrest temperature &quot;hot&quot; but it might not be comfortable for hours of typing for people who are sensative to heat.

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To the left of the keyboard is the media center remote included with the HDX. Like any media center remote it controls all the basic functions in Windows Media Center, but the HDX's remote is particularly nice because you can still use it even while it's docked in the cradle next to the keyboard. The cradle contains a second IR port so you can change channels, fast forward, rewind, etc. without removing the remote from the notebook.

A closer look at the touchpad and media center remote. (view large image)

The touchpad is responsive and the scroll funtion works quite well. Both touchpad buttons have solid feedback without noisy clicks and, like other HP and Compaq notebooks, the touchpad can be disabled via a small button located directly above the touchpad in case you prefer to use an external mouse.

The backlit touch-sensative media buttons. (view large image)

The center-mounted fingerprint reader. (view large image)

Ports and Features

As expected with a notebook of this size, the HDX comes with an impressive selction of ports. Since this system is being marketed by HP as an &quot;entertainment notebook&quot; it only makes sense that HP included every port you can imagine that would be needed for a home entertainment center. Whether you're looking for an all-in-one solution for your apartment/condo or the system that will make you the most popular person in your college dorm, the HDX has all the input and output ports you'll need.

The list of ports includes:

• 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
• 2 Headphone out
• 1 microphone-in
• 1 HDMI
• 1 VGA (15-pin)
• 1 eSATA
• 1 TV-Out (S-video)
• 1 RJ-45 (LAN)
• 1 Expansion Port 3
• 1 Firewire (4-pin)
• 1 IR (Remote Receiver)
• SPDIF, Rear, Center/Sub, Front
• Integrated HP HDTV Hybrid TV Tuner: NTSC/ATSC (with F-Jack adaptor) input, S-Video Input, Blaster (IR emitter), Stereo Audio Input
• 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
• 5-in-1 Digital Media Reader (SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD)

Front view: Dual headphone out, microphone in, and IR ports. (view large image)

Left side view: Two USB, Ethernet, Expansion Port 3, VGA, HDMI, eSATA, Firewire, 5-in-1 card reader, and ExpressCard slot. (view large image)

Right side view: Two USB, optical drive, and security lock slot. (view large image)

Rear view: Blaster IR emitter, S-video out, NTSC/ATSC input, SPDIF, Rear, Center/Sub, and Front audio ports. (view large image)

The bottom view of the HDX shows plenty of vents, the 9-cell battery, and the built-in subwoofer. (view large image)

Performance

The HP Pavilion HDX comes in multiple build-to-order configurations based around the Intel Santa Rosa Core 2 Duo platform, base price starting at $3,000.

Since our sample HDX was a pre-production unit our benchmarks should be taken with a grain of salt (your mileage may vary). In fact, we were unable to get some of our standard benchmarks to run on this pre-production system. That said, HP was kind enough to allow us to publish the following benchmarks from our tests:

3DMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	3D Mark 05 Results
HP Pavilion HDX (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7700, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB)	9,033 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	3,116 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6510b (2.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, Intel X3100)	916 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1270)	871 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	2,013 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	1,791 3DMarks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,236 3DMarks
Alienware Aurora M-7700(AMD Dual Core FX-60, ATI X1600 256MB)	7,078 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,092 3DMarks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI x700 128 MB)	2,530 3DMarks
Fujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,273 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)	2,090 3DMarks

3DMark06 comparison results:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
HP Pavilion HDX (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7700, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB)	4,205 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	794 3DMarks
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 and ATI 1250M chipset / GPU)	476 3DMarks

Overall our first impressions of the overwhelmingly huge HP Pavilion HDX are overwhelmingly positive. Given the impressive feature set and performance of this entertainment notebook it's amazing that the system is as thin and light as it is. Sure, small people might need a Sherpa and an oxygen tank to haul this system up and down a flight of stairs, but it's worth it. The &quot;wow factor&quot; of the 20.1&quot; screen, Altec Lansing speakers and media center remote are enough to make the HDX the centerpiece of your entertainment system. Add the 64-bit version of Vista, a full 4GB of RAM and excellent ATI graphics and this system is a can't miss.

Bottom line, if you can justify the price the HDX is the best desktop replacement and home entertainment notebook on the market today.

 

Wow... that's nice.

 

Yes, it looks like quite a beast. Very expensive though..........

 

My goodness...this is a monster!

eSATA, HDMI...I like that indeed. Is it HDCP compatible (just in case 20" doesn't make me happy )

I like how they used the 20" of keyboard deck to actually do something a little more useful...full keyboard and a remote.

Also, I think these are probably the first benchmarks I've seen for the 2600XT that come from a trustworthy source. Has anyone had a chance to play a few games on it yet? Has anyone done a 2600XT/8600/8700 comparison yet?

 

That remote looks really nice! I like to use my Nokia as a bluetooth remote. This looks like it can be almost the same.

The HD2600xt looks very good too. Should get better with better drivers just like the 8600M series did. It looks to be faster then the 8700M GT.

 

Those scores are ıncredıble!. Everybody was sayıng that the HD2600XT would be worse then the 8600GT. Thıs ıs the prove that ATI ıs stıll ın busıness.

 

I just noticed that it can be had with an X7800 Core 2 Extreme processor for $725 on the HP CTO site.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ame=HDX_series&a1=Usage&v1=Extreme+Multimedia

 

Wow yeah! the HD2600XT is awesome.

 

Does anyone known if the ATI HD2600 XT graphics card is dx10 compatible? Will there be a 512MB version of this card? I do love the size of the monitor.

 

Awesome review, JerryJ!

20 pounds? My first portable was the old Tandy TRS 80 Model 4P ( http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/trs80-4p/index.html) . . . it was 25 pounds! Carried it back and forth to grad school and back and forth across the Atlantic!

At 25 pounds, it was called a "luggable" . . . At 20 pounds, a built in carrying handle would have been great for the HDX . . . not really a notebook anymore, but a true desktop replacement, but must be moved to the category of "luggable!" Far from a laptop, but what a portable machine!

Perhaps in the next incarnation, it will get a carrying handle. The handle saved me on the 4P.

I am glad I didn't wait, but got the dv9500t a few weeks ago . . . nearly 8 pounds for it is enough to carry around.

Looking for the same quality of review on a dv9500t as JerryJ's on the HDX . . . is there one here on the forum?

 

The benchmarks we're seeing suggest that the 2600XT is indeed a better performer than the 8700M GT. However, since we don't have two identical systems to test both the 2600XT and 8700M GT side-by-side I can't claim the ATI is the clear winner.

I'm sure the 3DMark scores were helped by the processor, 4GB of RAM, the dual 7200RPM hard drives, and "possibly" the 64-bit version of Vista.

On that note, this was the first chance I had to play with the 64-bit version of Vista and I was surprised how well the system ran. Keep in mind that our HDX is a pre-production system (full of bugs) but the HDX provided a smoother Vista experience than any pre-production or post-production system I've used.

32-bit applications run well in the 64-bit OS (you can actually see which applications are running in 32-bit or 64-bit mode in Task Manager) and the only applications we had trouble running were Notebook Hardware Control and PCMark05.

As for HDCP, I believe so but I'll check to make sure. HP made a big deal about the ability to watch full 1080p HDTV and video via the HDMI port on an HD display, so you should be set with the HDX.

 

Yes, it is a DX10 card (according to this HP popup) http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s....jsp?modelBase=RW031AV&category=GRAPHICS_CARD

 

Thanks, rhetor.

As for the dv9500t, we don't have an official review yet. HP promised we will be getting the dv9500t in for review sometime soon. It has taken a little longer than anyone expected.

Once we get the dv9500t in our office we will be sure to turn around the official review as quickly as possible.

 

Thanks, JerryJ . . . I hope you will be doing that review on the dv9500t when it comes in, because this one on the HDX is outstanding!

 

WOW!!! I have opened the HP website this morning and been really surprised to see this BEAST!!! Unbelievable performance! But why so much money? Hope price will go down very soon! Amazing!

 

On the HP's website there is only one option for this card, and it's 512MB

 

Wow, the 2600 xt is putting in incredible scores!! Any idea how it translates into real world game performance? Hopefully its not just a card that can score high in synthetic benchmarks.

 

The available configurations on the HP website are a little messed up at this point. As the configurator reads, it looks like you have only the option of either an optical drive, or dual 5400 rpm HDDs, but not both.

A sales rep from HP said that the configurator was wrong and that the options included both an optical and dual HDDs; however, he wouldn't say whether or not the HDX was available with 7200rpm HDDs, or just the 5400rpm HDDs that are currently shown on the configurator.

Bottom line, it remains to be seen exactly what HP is really going to be offering on this system.

Edit: the ATI card appears to have solid, if not sterling, performance; now if only HP would offer better graphics cards on the dv9500 - to my thinking, rushing the dv9500 out with a weak offering like the 8600M-GS did more harm than waiting until HP could offer the system with at least the 8600M-GT.

 

If you ask me, I say it needs more COWBELL!

Seriously though, how about 512mb of dedicated graphic memory?
Oh and Nvidia options.

What is it with HP and middle of the road graphics options?

 

Actually, the entry-level configuration isn't bad at all in terms of price.

The $2,825 entry-level version of the HDX features an Intel T7500 Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa dual core processor (2.2GHz), 2GB of RAM, Vista Home Premium 32-bit, two 120GB hard drives, and still has the 512MB version of the ATI HD 2600 XT.

Given the fact you're getting the excellent 20.1" display and all the other little extras like tons of ports, an HDTV tuner, four speakers and a subwoofer you are getting a great system for less than $3,000. That's almost $200 less than the Dell XPS M2010 ... for about twice the system.

 

We haven't had a chance to play a ton of games, but we played a few graphics intense games and a few mid-range games like Guild Wars and Sims 2. Guild Wars set on the highest possible settings ran perfectly smooth like we were watching a movie and looked better than I've ever seen Guild Wars.

Sims 2 looked as good on the HDX as it does at home on my XP desktop with dual nVidia 8500 GT 256MB cards (SLI).

I don't think you'll have any problems running any game currently on the market with this system.

 

wow! $2,825? I paid almost 2K for my full specced dv9000t. have u checked the heat and noise and not to mention battery life? the fan/s in this look rather small or is it that this thing is just so big!?

 

This thing is a monster for sure.

The 3DMark05 scores of the HD 2600XT are indeed impressive but I caution anyone from judging this card too soon. As we have seen with the Nvidia 8M series, 3DMark scores with the new DirectX 10 cards are greatly exaggerated and do not equate to real world gaming performance. Even though the HD 2600XT scores like a a Go7900GTX I can guarantee you that its gaming performance won't match up to it. The HD 2600XT may struggle at higher resolutions, especially with AA added, because it only has a 128-bit memory bus.

 

yeah that is true, higher resolutions and added performance/visual settings cant be adequately measured by one single test. and yeah a 128bit bus is a seriously limiting factor in a high performance card.

 

Heat is almost a non-issue with this system and fan noise is very low ... even when we stressed the system while benchmarking and playing games.

Battery life is about 3 hours if you're watching a DVD. Honestly, you're not going to take this system with you to watch movies on a plane or the bus. The HDX is just too stinking HUGE to be anything other than a desktop replacement ... in which case you'll have it plugged into a power outlet.

If you actually used this thing as a "laptop" you would lose all feeling in your legs after about 10 minutes.

 

Wow, actually that is not so shabby considering the size & equipment. What is the AC adapter rated at?

 

yeesh, maybe it's just me, but from the desktop side of things, the 2600XT seems pretty crappy compared to the 8600GTS. Maybe HP should have thrown in a 8700M into this bad boy?

 

The AC adapter is rated at 180W.

 

Whoa! That must be one huge brick...........

 

It's 6.5" x 3" x 1.5" ... not bad at all compared to gaming notebooks like the 280W AC adapter for the Sager NP9260.

 

Yeah, I guess that would put it close in size to the 90W adapter on my R4000. Never realized the high-end gaming notebooks had such powerful bricks, but I guess that should have been a given. lol

 

So we cannot use the HP 90W AC adapters that work with the other Pavilion notebooks (dv1xxx/2xxx/4xxx/5xxx/6xxx/8xxx/9xxx, tx1000, various ze series, and various Compaq Presario v#xxx series)?

I just bought a few extra HP power adapters (including auto/airplane ones) which were expensive, but they're all 90W

Also, when do you think the 1920x1200 WUXGA screen option will be offered (which HP had said will be coming)?

 

No word yet on a higher resolution option for the HDX. I wouldn't be surprised to see a higher resolution option down the road, but there's no official word at this time.

So, if you must have true 1080p resolution right now then you'll either have to connect an external HDTV or look elsewhere ... although the Dell XPS M2010 only offers SXGA+.

 

This is a monster! We will have to stop calling the 17" machines "desktop replacements".

It should have built-in wheels and a handle for moving it around.

John

 

haha wow, what a goliath. awsome looking tho..

 

hmmm so how many fans does this thing have? and the hard drive temperature is my major concern. my main drive on my dv9000t gets extremely hot even in idle so i would be surprised how they managed to solve this issue in this? perhaps more vents, better fans or the drive space allows for better heat dissipation.

 

At this size and weight it fails to qualify as a notebook anymore; it's more like a textbook! At 20.1" I would hope they have a WUXGA+ screen option. The built in remote is good, better would be a dual functional device that serves as your cell or VOIP phone too!

 

HDTune (which isn't always reliable) reports the HDX hard drive temperatures at around 37 degrees Celsius. Not bad at all if it's accurate.

 

Undoubtedly!

 

i disagree jujube, im sure notebooks were just as thick and heavy in their early days. what is the desktop now couldve been considered a notebook years ago. if ya had a girl sit on ur lap for a long trip and survived then i doubt this will be a problem

 

That thing is a beast.

 

wow. this thing is huge! i'm surprised about the battery life. being able to get about 3 hours watching a dvd on a beast like this.. even though it uses a laptop processor and not a desktop processor, that's still great for a laptop this size w/dual hard drives and whatnot

 

Could you download & try Everest Home Edition? It usually can read at least the SATA drive temps and CPU temps without an issue...

 

I'm really surprised by how cheap this PC is. I'm basically fighting over getting the Sager 9260 or the HDX. I wanted Blu-Ray but I can upgrade that later when it's much lower in price so its between this and the 9260. BTW guys this doesn't tell me the standard HDD space this laptop or desktop hybrid comes with it just lists the DVD drive and other dual HDD configurations.

 

http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/24971.htm

 

I will be doing a review of this beast when it arrives hopefully.

2-3 Months from now or less there will be a small update to the HDX line which will include options for both a WUXGA screen for true 1080p resolution, and Nvidia graphics. I've also heard there will be an option for HD-DVD/RW.

 

i was wondering wen this would be open for buy... damn its nice, but you cant fit Dual GPus in it, making one that can still better for gaming... plus is the x7800 betta than the x6800? it dont seem to be

 

Well, looking at the benchmarks, the HDX should perform quite well as is and Vista still can't support SLI at this time so dual GPUs is out of the question ... unless HP offers an XP and DirectX9 configuration.

 

Awesome, and proof that the HD2600XT is more powerful than the 8600M GT.
Really cool video, I would be tempted by that notebook if I didn't mind lugging a small child on my back every day. Keep up the good work guys!

 

This proves nothing in terms of which is a better GPU
I didn't think it was possible but the desktop 2600xt was worse than the 8600gts. Pretty disappointing from both sides considering how good their high-end dx10 desktop cards were.