Digital Trends

HP Pavilion HDX September 17th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Setup and Use:

Setting up the Pavilion HDX requires a little time and a healthy dose of patience. It's not that the HDX is very complex, which it's not. There are just so many functions, features and accessories to deal with. Of course, to get the HDX running in its most basic mode - straight computing - the setup is no more difficult than with most "notebook" computers.

As mentioned above, the HDX weighs roughly 15.5lbs, so be careful when lifting it from the packaging and placing it on a desk or table. You'll also want to make sure that the surface you'll be using is sturdy and won't wobble or buckle under the weight of the HDX.

Unpack the HDX from its packaging. Pop the battery into the battery bay, connect the power brick and cord to the back of the HDX, then plug it into a wall outlet. Open the mondo-huge display by lifting the front lip with either one hand dead-center, or with two hands on the left and right corners of the display.

You'll notice that the display is on a hinge. When opened fully, the bottom of the LCD releases itself from the rear arm. This allows you to pivot the LCD forward and back, giving you the best possible viewing angle based on your preferences. This feature is one that will generate lots of ooh's and aah's.

Remove the remote control from its bay and insert the two flat batteries. Return the remote to its bay or keep it available on your desk.

Finally, turn on the computer using the rectangular power button on the top left of the keyboard. Windows Vista will be pre-installed on your HDX, so follow any setup instructions you may be presented with. All-in-all, this is the easiest part of setting up the HDX.

Once Vista has run though its setup steps, you'll be ready to start taking advantage of the 20.1" LCD on the HDX. In our tests, we found that videos looked awesome, sprawling spreadsheets could be displayed with much less scrolling, and games played perfectly. Displaying home movies and digital photos is one of the most enjoyable features, thanks to the Brightview glossy screen. Colors pop and photos look really, really good - so good, that even mundane photos are interesting to look at again.

Standard programs like Microsoft Word and Excel, Picasa, Photoshop and Quickbooks all open extremely fast, some in less than 1 second. Even complex Photoshop effects render in mere seconds, if not instantly. There's little to nothing that runs slowly on the HDX computer, save for the unfortunately long Vista boot time (roughly 145 seconds). I can boot and reboot my 15" MacBook Pro four or five times in the amount of time it takes Vista to boot on the HDX. It (almost) goes without saying that HDX boot-up times would be significantly improved with 4GB of RAM or if XP Pro was the OS of choice. Otherwise, the HDX is a speed machine. 

Windows Vista Experience Index

Surprisingly, the HDX gets a 4.8 on the Windows Vista Experience Index, Microsoft Vista's automated rating system that profiles and rates the hardware and expected performance levels. The scores range from 1.0 (crap that belongs in a garage sale) to 5.9 (hardcore awesome).

The HDX has two low-score items that prevent it from entering the near-perfect range. The first is the hard drive index. 5,400 RPM drives just don't have the same potential data transfer rate ats 7,200 RPM drives, and therefore garner a weak 4.9. Of course, 4.9 is not terrible in the 1.0-5.9 scale. The other score killer is the 2GB RAM compliment in the test system. That got a 4.8. If this HDX had 4GB RAM, the score probably would have risen to at least a 5.3.

Despite the 4.8 grade, the overall performance is quite impressive, especially for a "portable" system. Maxing RAM and swapping the hard drives out for 7,200 RPM drives would make the HDX flat-out amazing.

Movies and TV

If you want to use the HDX for TV or movies, you'll need to refer to the user manual for setup steps. In short, connect the IR extender if needed (if you'll be distant from the HDX when using the remote) and connect the TV tuner antenna if you want to receive HD and/or analog broadcast signals. Otherwise, simply connect the HDX to any coax cable outlet in your home or office to the HDX's built-in TV tuner. Most coax cables have a male end with threaded screw tip. The HDX uses a slightly different input, so be sure to connect the little coax adapter to your coax cable before attempting to plug it into the back of the HDX. 

Conclusion:

The HP Pavilion HDX is a widely impressive notebook computer. Its sheer size is enough to make people gasp and stare. The 20.1" LCD screen is beautiful and allows for a ton of work to be done - huge spreadsheets, larger-scale photo editing in Photoshop, graphic design and multi-window web browsing. Hook the HDX up to an external monitor or TV and get even more useable screen space.

The HDX is not easily transported and it's not cheap, therefore it becomes a bit of a niche market. That said, there are plenty of architects, city planners and other similar professionals out there who would find the HDX an indispensable asset in their every day work. It'd also make for a shock-inducing gaming rig. Most importantly though, the HDX has style and attitude; we love the paint job and innovative design. If you want your friends and/or enemies to wet their pants when they see the monstrous and powerful system you're toting, the HDX is a great option.


Pros:

• Awe inspiring design
• 20.1" LCD is gorgeous
• Built-in webcam and stereo mics
• Excellent components inside - super fast
• Tons of expansion ports
• Built-in TV tuner and dockable remote control
• Touch-sensitive controls
• HD DVD capable, awesome for movies and TV

Cons:

• Hard to transport
• 15.5lbs without case or massive power brick
• Slow Vista boot times with 2GB RAM
• Blu-Ray is not an option