Hewlett Packard HDX18 Woes

I'm hesitant to post a whiny blog as the first of 2010, but I've been putting off writing and figure you have to start somewhere...and my fellow geeks will agree that when your computer is having problems it's at the forefront of your mind.

Last year I purchased a HP HDX18 laptop. I did a lot of research, considered building my own, but in the end decided that the 40% off coupon that HP runs every few months made it too good of a deal to pass up. Looking back I might have reconsidered if I had known the problems that were hidden behind that sleek exterior.

The first major problem I had was when I would arrive at work or class only to realize that my laptop had come out of sleep mode in my bag. It seemed that when the screen opens the laptop automatically wakes up and I couldn't find any way of disabling this functionality. Unfortunately it happened on a trip while the laptop was in it's bag inside the trunk. Apparently that was the last straw as it wouldn't boot once I got to my destination. HP support had to replace the motherboard, but didn't have a solution for it waking up so I resolved to shut it down completely before putting it in a bag.

Soon after I noticed my volume would spontaneously turn up, down or mute and my wireless would disable itself, sometimes repeatedly. This was extremely annoying and I tried everything I could including reinstalling the operating system and updating drivers/software. Even after spending over an hour on the phone with support I couldn't find a solution, so I just lived with it.

I also began noticing that my headphone jacks were temperamental. It was difficult to get the headphones to properly connect and the USB port right next to the audio jacks didn't seem to work reliably.

All of this I was willing to ignore because the core functionality of the laptop worked and I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the phone with someone telling me to update drivers and reinstall the operating system.

This weekend I noticed that my laptop seemed to running very hot. I have a plastic ventilated tray for when I am not at a table, but even with that buffer the bottom of the laptop was uncomfortably hot. Last night it started dying. I don't mean crashing, locking up or blue screening. I would hear a pop and instantly the laptop was off as if it had completely lost power. I was able to boot it back up and use it for a while before it did the same thing again. I realized I was running some fairly intense software and checked out the temperatures only to realize that even under light load they were hovering around 170F at the GPU and 140F at the CPU.

Long story short, I spent some time in online chat with a support tech from India who, while very polite, was no help whatsoever. Even though he seemed to understand my issues his only suggestions were to perform updates or reinstall. I called phone support and managed to get someone in North America who identified that the issues I was having with my volume and wireless could be caused by the heat affecting the touch panel that controls those functions and authorized it for repair. Even after he decided the problem warranted repair he still had difficulty getting it through the system. At one point he explained, "They design these systems so it's as difficult as possible to authorize service."

I guess the moral of this rambling blog is, you get what you pay for, and Hewlett Packard has proven once again that they care more about their bottom line and giving the customer the runaround than providing a quality product/service. If it weren't for one abnormally helpful rep I probably would still be living with a flaky laptop rather than running their service maze.

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Definition: con-crash

Main Entry: con·crash
Pronunciation:\ˈkän-krash\
Function: noun
Date: 2009

1 : The physical, financial and/or mental low experienced after return from a convention.
2 : Depression resulting from a return to reality after a surreal convention experience.

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Bing me!

I'm not gay, but Google is hot! I mean, IMHO, they pretty much rule the roost when it comes to email and discussion groups. I never questioned making them my primary search engine over Yahoo! and Live Search...but then came Bing. We've all seen those annoying commercials and, I promise, they did nothing to encourage me to give it a shot. It wasn't until a DevLink attendee mentioned Blind Search that started to think maybe my search engine allegiance might waver. Blind Search is like the old Pepsi/Coke taste test, but instead we're comparing search results. I entered a few test searches and, to my surprise, I ended up picking Bing nearly every time.

I must admit it will be hard getting used to saying that I "binged" instead of "googling", but I'll give it a shot. :)

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Adding mp3 audio books to your Zune

There's nothing better to pass the time on a long drive than a good book. If you don't want to get sick from reading in the car or happen to be the driver, audio books are a great choice. Having just bought my first Zune, one of my tasks was to load some audio books for my upcoming trip. I expected this to be a simple matter of syncing, but since my audio books did not come from Audible or Overdrive it's not.

The Tools:
ZuneWaxCreator2 - Prepares your folder of mp3s for Overdrive
Overdrive Media Console - Copies the prepared mp3s to your Zune

Preparation:
- The specific naming scheme for your mp3s doesn't seem to matter as they will be renamed automatically. Just be sure they are in order alphabetically. If you have your files neatly organized I suggest using a copy of the folder so your original files stay untouched.
- If you want cover art, place a jpg file in the folder with your mp3s.
- Your Zune must be plugged in via USB with no applications accessing it. If your Zune software is running, close it.

Execution:
1. Run ZuneWaxCreator. It will prompt you to select a folder.
2. Navigate to the folder containing the audio book's mp3s and jpg (optional) and click OK.
3. Enter the Author's Name.
4. Enter the Title.
5. Click OK.

At this point there are some optional steps. If you're like me and want the titles of your books to be neat and tidy then follow these steps. Otherwise, proceed to step 6.
5a. Click Cancel.
5b. Open the folder containing your mp3s.
5c. Rename the .wax file to your book title (ie. "Pride and Prejudice.wax")
5d. Open the Overdrive folder (ie. "C:\Program Files\OverDrive Media Console")
5e. Drag the .wax file onto TransferWizard.exe

6. Click Next.
7. Click Next.

The mp3 files should now be copying to your Zune. Once the process is complete click Finish. You should now have an Audiobooks menu item on your Zune.

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HPHDX.net Launch

I've been shopping for a notebook computer since the end of February when my last contract ended. I couldn't justify dropping several thousand on a new computer, but I'm a bit spoiled and couldn't see settling for a mid-range machine. I lucked upon a deal on a Hewlett Packard HDX18t. I've been a loyal Dell customer ever since college and never owned an HP, but the specs are excellent for the price and the reviews are generally glowing.

As the ship date drew near for my new laptop I began looking for a bag that this monster would fit in. This led me to the HDX18 owner's thread at NotebookReview.com where I spent several hours sifting through the three hundred page discussion. I was amazed at the amount of useful information buried where nobody would ever find it and decided this was yet another job for DotNetNuke. By the end of the evening I had launched the HP HDX Owners Club at HPHDX.net. I wanted to make the site useful to the largest audience possible so I branded the site for the entire HDX line rather than a single model.

It hasn't even been 24 hours since the site launched, but it's already beginning to look like a valuable resource. Now if my computer will just arrive. :)

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Browser gaming with Travian

The world is becoming more browser based every day. We check our email on Gmail or Hotmail, catch up with friends and family using Facebook, share news and thoughts over Twitter and even create and view documents online. The world of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) is no exception to this trend.

Travian is a real-time strategy (RTS) game where empires are built and wars are waged. Players farm resources in order to build their nation’s infrastructure, defenses, and armies. Sound familiar? There have been a number of successful RTS titles over the years, but few of them allowed you to play online with thousands of other people using only your browser. We’re not throwing sheep here. Players can choose to form alliances or attack their neighbors to expand their empire. Armed forces can be made up of numerous types of units, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

One of the wonderful aspects of this game is the built in time management. I spent countless hours on end playing WoW when I should have been doing something else, because there’s always one more quest to complete or item to find. This lack of self control is not an issue with Travian as it takes time to farm resources and build an infrastructure. Players are shown an amount of time it will take until they can afford to start a new task. In the beginning this can be as little as a few minutes while a resource is being extended, however soon these waits stretch to hours or even days. This means no matter how addicted you are to the game, you wont progress any faster by spending hours on end in front of the computer.

Of course, just because you have to wait for your resources to build up doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself logging on during spare moments with your cell phone. Travian does not load correctly in Pocket Internet Explorer, but it is compatible with Opera on Windows Mobile phones or Safari on the iPhone. I’m sure there have been more than a few battles waged during church and cities built while waiting in the doctor’s office.

Browser based gaming does have its pitfalls. Where as most MMOs employ sophisticated cheat detection techniques in their software, websites have limited access to the user machine and can’t detect illegal applications or scripts which may give an unfair advantage. Many players use the Greasemonkey addon for Firefox to tweak their interface, making information more accessible and increasing their efficiency. Others go so far as to employ scripts which allow them to schedule actions, something that is not available in the unmodified game. Though the temptation to improve the interface and gain an advantage is strong, players should be aware that these sorts of enhancements are illegal and efforts have been made in the past to identify abusive players resulting in bans.

There’s no monthly fee to play Travian, so grab your netbook and fire up Travian.

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