Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hp

hp expresscard problem

sgt.serenity — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 11:42:28 -0800

Is there any program that works with a hp expresscard tv tuner that isnt windows media centre ? I know its naive of me, buying a tv tuner card for a hp pavillion notebook and actually expecting to watch tv on it. Im in the uk and have tried for years to get this to work without success. is there no program out there that can use the tuner apart from the woeful windows one, which doesnt work ?

To buy or not to buy?

timdicator — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:15:00 -0800

Is this laptop a good buy for the money? Does anyone have any personal experience with it? Office Max is offering an HP Paviollion for $379.99 tomorrow. Since I don't have time to do a lot of test driving, help me figure out if it's a good buy.

Can I still restore my laptop after Windows 7 Upgrade?

octothorpe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:59:59 -0800

I'm planning on upgrading my HP laptop to Windows 7 and want to know if the internal Vista restore image will still be available after I do that. I have a HP DV6915 Pavilion Laptop that came with Vista pre-installed and came with a Vista restore image on a separate partition on the harddrive. I've used that image to restore the machine to the factory settings twice now without any problem. Now, I just bought the Windows 7 upgrade disk but haven't had the courage to apply it yet. What I want to know is if that upgrade will kill off that restore image or if I will still be able to use it revert back to Vista if the 7 upgrade goes flooey.

I need a new computer

cashman — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:52:42 -0800

I need help with trying to buy a new computer online. I've narrowed it down but have questions. I'm looking for something high-performance for internet use and that can support 2 monitors. Here are the specs I'm trying to get.

Just HP/Compaq
Supports dual monitors (need not be included)
CD/DVD Rom & Burner
Fast - able to run 4 or 5 programs + browsing without slowing to a crawl
$1000ish (or less)
Configured for multiple program & internet use
Should I get Windows 7?
Get mega ram with purchase, or buy later & DIY?

I'm not sure what kind of processor or RAM I should aim for without canceling things out. By that I mean having the processor not even be capable of making more ram even matter. I know how to buy ram and install it, but I don't know how much to buy based on processor speeds. I also don't know how to tell, when purchasing online, if it supports dual monitors. Other times I see what looks like a good deal, but then I see someone mention how some processor or part is completely outdated. I'd talk to the HP/Compaq folks, but I don't necessarily trust them to tell me the truth or really even be all that knowledgeable.

Help! The old computer is compromised, shuts down when it is having a bad day, runs slower than dirt and has one port in the grave. I'll be buying the computer online.

I can not believe I am posting in the shopping category - photo paper question...

jessamyn — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:51:57 -0800

Do I care, in the slightest, that the photo paper I ordered is not what I received and seems to be older and thinner? I have an hp photosmart 375 and I use it for making prints of photos usually to send as postcards, nothing fancy. I bought some new paper recently from here, this paper. I had done some research and knew I was looking for the Q1990A paper and not the Q1989A paper because I guess it's newer and better? I don't know why I was looking for it, but that's what people were all asking the ebay sellers about who were selling photo paper.

I get the paper today and three things are weird.

1. instead of getting one pack of 100 sheets, I get two packs of 60. Hey that's 20 extra sheets!
2. instead of getting Q1990A like the listing said, I got Q1989A which they also sell.
3. the paper I get is 9 mil. thickness not the 10 mil. advertised (for either type of paper)

So, I know I can get an RMA and go through the back and forth and say "you sent me the wrong stuff!" but I'm wondering, from people who know something about photo paper, do I care a lot about this? What is likely to be the difference between what I have and thicker, newer paper? Is it the sort of thing only fancy photographers will care about, or would I notice the difference? I did a little bit of Googling but had a hard time sifting through the shopping sites and I figured someone here might just know. I'm inclined to just keep this paper unless there's a compelling reason not to. Thanks!

Is there a way I can jerry-rig an Hp Photosmart 3310 so I can use just the scanner?

romakimmy — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:45:51 -0800

Fairly Urgent: Can I get this HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One to scan sans ink cartridges? I just sent off a 45 page fax that didn't go through because the receiving party is having fax issues for the past 2 days. I need to get these docs sent via email now ASAP.

I have an old HP Photosmart 3310 that was lying around collecting dust since it was a bit of a lemon (bad rollers). We had a second one that worked better, and at some point we purloined the cartridges from the lemon. The second one is now at the ex's new place, along with any replacement cartridges that were lying around.

Pulled the lemon down, plugged it in and it promptly reminded me that there are no cartridges. Manual is useless vis-a-vis just using the scanner, as is the HP support site, and frantic Google searching. Pushed all the buttons on it to no avail.

Am I shit out of luck or is there a way I can jerry-rig this sucker so I can use just the scanner? Am handy and familiar with building a PC, so I don't mind cracking open the sucker if necessary.

Do slower transfer speeds reduce the total amount of data transfered?

oddman — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:15:01 -0800

Do I really need firewire for mini-DV to computer transfers? I have a mini-DV camera and I am horrible at making movies on my computer at home. They all come out blocky with indistinct lines. That's not what this question is about (although if you know of good tutorials feel free to give them a shout-out).

I am thinking of buying an HP dv4t notebook computer, but I noticed that it has no firewire ports. Here is my question: do I need a firewire port to make good quality digital movies?

I know that firewire is just a technology for transferring data (relatively) quickly from camera to computer and it seems to me that using USB shouldn't affect anything other than the data transfer speeds.

However, I've heard that having what is essentially a "smaller pipe" will lead to transferring less data from camera to computer and thus to lower resolution movies. (i.e. the camera/computer detect that you are using a slower transfer method and compensate by providing less data for the transfer.) Is this true? Common sense says "no" that USB will just make it take longer to transfer the data, but computers can do funny things. So, I'm not certain.

New laptop - help me choose!

aimeel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:53:39 -0800

New laptop choices - Fujitsu? Sony? Dell? HP? I know what I want in a notebook, but trying to figure out which maker will best meet my needs. I'm an English and Theatre teacher soon to move to Norway and I don't think my old laptop will last much longer. Looking for a Core 2 Duo and up, a 4-500 gig hard drive, Nividia or ATI graphics, a decent amount of RAM about a 16" screen. As a teacher, I have about 60 gigs right now of documents and photos, another 60 of music, and I do a lot with music, photographs, and not a lot of gaming. (That could change she suggests unrealistically). I do a lot of work on the internet and usually don't travel around much with the laptop. If I weren't headed to Norway I'd probably get a desktop, but there it is. It would be nice to be able to help my students with editing short films on my laptop, but not vital. And oh yes, can it be a dependable machine?

Big note- I am an old school typist. I like to feel definable keys under my fingertips. And I hate the whale-snot, smear magnet surfaces of most of the laptops I saw when I went to Frys. I did like the texture of the keyboards/touchpad on Sony and Fujitsu. I know it's cosmetic, but I like a clean deck. Suggestions? And am I better off buying through Frys, Best Buy, online through ?? or manufacturer? I'll have to live with it for a long time so I want to make a good choice. And I thank the hive mind in advance - you guys are the best.

My printer won't turn on after leaving it unplugged for 2 weeks. Why, and how can I fix it?

Beep — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:59:06 -0800

My printer, an HP PSC 1410 All-in-One, will not turn on after leaving it unplugged for two weeks (I was out of town and always unplug everything to save on electrical costs). It's connected through a power module, and I have tried unplugging the power cord from the power module and the power module from the printer, and reconnecting them all again. I have tried different outlets, and it will simply not turn on. I have also tried disconnecting the USB cable that runs from the printer to the computer, just in case it was interfering in some way. Does anyone know how this could have happened, and what I can do to fix it?

When I say draft I mean draft!

DiscourseMarker — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:51:14 -0800

How can I get my HP printer to work correctly with my MacBook Pro? I have a new, HP Photosmart C4580 all-in-one printer connected to a wireless network. In the room I have an Intel iMac and a MacBook Pro, both running 10.5.6. I added the new printer to both computers, choosing the same driver from the list (C4400 series, as there was no C4500 series choice).

Here is my problem: I can change the settings on the iMac with no difficulty, and when I set it to draft, the printer actually prints in draft mode. However, nothing I do on my laptop seems to get the printer to print on draft. Even when I change the settings on the printer menu to draft, the printer is not printing draft (and is therefore wasting precious ink) when printing from the MacBook Pro. I also cannot get the printer menu to save any of my settings on the laptop - for example, it always defaults to HP Premium Photo paper instead of plain paper.

I have completely uninstalled all HP software from the MacBook Pro and installed the Apple HP drivers direct from the Apple website.

This is driving me absolutely insane. Help!!!

Looking for something similar to HP Web Smart Clipbook

GilloD — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:37:43 -0800

HP used to have a piece of software called "Smart Web Printing" or something. It essentially allowed you to yank multiple pieces of text and media from different websites and put them all on a single page for easy printing. However, it stopped working when Firefox 3 came out and there's no indication of continued development. Is there a similar extension available? I miss my clip book!

ATI Mobility Radeon 4530 driver for XP?

MattScully — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:33:18 -0800

Down (up) grading a new HP DV7T-2000 to XP. The video card is an ATI Mobility Radeon 4530. I have had no luck in finding an XP driver. Does anyone have any experience with this card and have any ideas about a possible driver or workaround?

Rich black is sending me to the funny farm.

Foam Pants — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:35:01 -0800

I have been having a pervasive printing error that I, as a professional should know how to avoid/solve but I can't seem to stop cutout images from printing richer than the surrounding color. Let me explain... OK, so say you have a hat photographed on black velvet in a way that it is pretty much black as black can be. You want to make a flyer where the entire thing is black. So you take it into Indesign and make a black square, then place the hat graphic (.psd) on top of it.

When it prints, however, you break out into tears. The borders of image is evident because it printed in rich black and the black square is just plain ol' black ink. You take it back into photoshop and erase the black background so now you just have a hat. But, lo and behold, the damn thing still prints rich black where the borders of the image are.

You decide to go with the hat on a yellow background. The yellow under the image prints out a slightly different shade of yellow.

So, am I supposed to make a clipping path around every single item I place on a colored background? Some of these images I use are of historic fur artifacts that wouldn't take well to a clipping path to eliminate rich black.

More details:

1. I am printing on an HP Laserjet 5550dtn PS
2. I am outputting all blacks as rich black. Doesn't seem to be working
3. The blacks are registration
4. I have run a test page with the same image as a CMYK with black background, CMYK without, RGB without, greyscale without, and a CMYK with clipping path. The only one without a rich black square around it was the clipped one.
5. There are no text effects
6. I read This post but it did not help me.

I think my options are:
1. reinstall print drivers. Maybe it was set up wrong.
2. Do something obvious in InDesign or Photoshop that my idiot brain can't figure out
3. switch careers
4. kill myself
5. switch careers, then kill myself
6. win the lottery

Bring a Little Color to My Life

magnetsphere — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:19:52 -0800

My HP Color LaserJet 5550dn has decided that when printing on 11x17 paper it will only print in black & white. How do I make it see that I really do want a colorful 11x17 print out? The document I'm trying to print is out of MS Publisher 2007. Every setting I can find in the printer options before I actually press "Print" indicates it will be printing in color. I tried printing to a PDF first and the PDF was in color but sending the PDF to the printer gets a black & white print out.

I tried printing the same pdf scaled down to 8.5x11 and it comes out in color so it really just seems to not like color printing on big paper.

Maybe it just doesn't print in color on large sheet? That seems ridiculous though right? We bought this printer with the express purpose of printing on 11x17 (although it took about a year for us to actually get around to doing it) so I'm really hoping that isn't the case.

help my sister surf

crapples — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:23:16 -0800

My sister just reformatted her hard drive replacing Vista with XP, but now she can't get online. HP was no help because they said they can't support her changing operating systems. How can I help her get online? Model and other details follow: She has an HP Pavilion a1700n Desktop PC. On the HP website they carry no network drivers for XP for this model. It has to be possible to get her online, though, right? Please help... Thanks.

Tired of being dictated to by printers

arniec — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:41:29 -0800

Inkjet Printer filter: My wife and I both have HP All in One Inkjet devices, me the 3310, her the 7280. Ink is a PITA. I'm looking to upgrade anyway, what should I get? My 3310 scanner glass is dirty and almost impossible to clean, plus I need a document feeder. So I was going to get a 7280 like my wife's BUT...I believe honestly that HP is bending me over on ink. Sure, all inkjet ink is overpriced, but it seems that these are ALWAYS short on ink of one color or another. Worse, unlike old ink carts which you could run dry, these actually stop you from printing ANYTHING if the printer determines one is too low of ink. I can't even choose to print in black-only mode of one of the two shades of purple is out.

I love the HP for their photo-printing capabilities, the prints really do look like photo prints, but I think I'm being taken on this whole ink thing.

Is there any better product that can scan to OCR with document feeder, mac compatible, and NOT an ink terrorist?

cracked LCD screen on laptop

matt755811 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:10:24 -0800

I own an hp pavilion 6400 notebook and last month woke up to find a cracked lcd screen. i am posting this in hopes that someone can provide 1) an estimate on how much money i should be able to sell this for (everything else about the computer is in perfect working condiiton) and 2) what my best options are. i am planning to list it on ebay as a no reserve auction but i am weary to do this. i paid over $1000 for this laptop last year and now hp will not fix it because it is out of warranty. any advice is much appreciated. thanks, matt

Windows Vista Doesn't Work with VGA to HDMI Converter Box

ao4047 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:46:02 -0800

We have an HP Slimline machine running video with an Nvidia Geforce 6150 SE graphics card. We are wanting to use a VGA->HDMI box to convert the video output of the desktop and connect it to our television: 1) We know the VGA->HDMI box works correctly.

We tested with an Asus EEE Laptop running Windows XP and the video successfully outputs to the TV.

We tested with a Macbook Pro laptop and the video successfully outputs to the TV.

2) We know the HP Slimline desktop works sometimes.

When we boot up the desktop the 'HP INVENT' splash screen shows on the tv.

Then, the green status bar with 'Microsoft Corporation' displays.

Then, something happens to the video and the signal stops. I'm guessing that once the boot begins and then Vista settles in something is interfering with the signal being sent to the the VGA->HDMI box.

Any ideas? Thanks!

I found this previous thread but I think we're a bit further along in our testing.

One cheap laptop with everything, please.

lunasol — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:10:34 -0800

Cheap, lightweight(ish) PC laptop with an optical drive? Or should I just spring for a MacBook? Yes, this is another cheap laptop question. And it might be that what I'm looking for is unreasonable. But here goes:

I need a new laptop. A small one. I don't want to spend more than $600. Normally I would just buy a MacBook, because I prefer OSX to Windows, but the budget is pretty tight and so I'm exploring my other options.

I was all set to buy a netbook (an eee PC 1000 or Samsung NC10), until I realized that they don't have optical drives, which is important to me (I like to watch DVDs on my laptop). Boo.

Other than that, I'm your standard Word/Excel/internet/mp3 computer user. Nothing fancy.

So here's what I'm looking for:

- Under 6 lbs
- Screen under 14"
- Optical drive
- at least: 120 GB Hard drive
- Under $600 (under $500 would be even better - I really don't want to go any higher unless it's a Mac)
- Long battery life would be nice but is not essential.
- No Dells, unless I can be persuaded their machines and support have improved drastically since 2004, when I had a disastrous Dell experience.

I've been stalking fatwallet, slickdeals, etc etc and I have found lots of computers with some of these things under this price point: Netbooks that are small and light but have no optical drive, larger notebooks with all the bells and whistles but weighing closer to 10 lbs. The closest thing I've found (from this question) is this HP dv5t, but it's a bit big for my purposes.

If it turns out it's impossible to find a small, light, fully-functional notebook for under $600, I will just suck it up and buy the MacBook, but if it's possible to save some money, that would be great!

And if you want to say, "it sounds like you really want a Mac," you're right, but $1000 is pretty steep on my current budget.

Video causes my HP dv6000 (dv6810us) to restart after watching fro 30-45 minutes, motherboard or video card dying?

unclezeb — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:26:19 -0800

HP laptop video card issues filter: Video problem with my HP dv6000 (dv6810us) - artifacts appear then increase while watching Hulu, after 30-45 minutes the computer freezes then restarts. Pausing the video then letting the computer sleep for a couple minutes resolves the issue for another 20 minutes of video watching, then it repeats ... bad integrated video? Bad VRAM? Evil monkey? I got my HP dv6810us on ebay about 5 weeks ago, no problems, in great condition ... until yesterday. While watching a video on Hulu (using Firefox with IE tab extension, but same problem with using Internet explorer independently) the video slowly beings to show artifacts, eventually becoming fuzzy and with bizarre patterns on the screen. If I keep the video playing the computer freezes then restarts and reports a hardware error in the error log.

I have tried using k-lite mega codec, Vista Codec Package.

I have tried using IE rather than Firefox with the IE Tab extension.

I have tried replacing the video drivers with old HP versions, generic nvidia 7150 drivers, the laptop2go.com drivers (current), and rolling back to those originally installed.

I have tried watching while observing the GPU temperature ... it gets quite hot (55 degrees C).

Is it possible to expose the thermal compound / gell / grease /paste to replace it with a more efficient type/brand (i.e., Artic Silver, etc)?

If so, would I need a grease/compound or paste?

Any other suggestions beyond "replace the motherboard because the integrated video card is dying"?

Finally, any ideas on where to call or look on-line to determine if my computer is still covered by the warranty? (~5 months old, I have the original receipt though I'm not the original purchaser)

Laptop running Windows Vista with all updates, 3gb ram, not overclocked. Google desktop running in background, AVG anti-virus (cleansed of Norton), essentially all OEM specs and parts.

Thanks again mefites!

HP LCD gone pinko; love it or leave it?

xz — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:38:28 -0800

I like pink, but not when it's all over my LCD. I like pink, but only when the other option is black. Help me confirm my novice diagnosis, please, concerning my screwed HP Pavilion dv5220us laptop. Doing lots of internet searching (and scrolling through older MeFi questions), i'm pretty sure what's wrong with my laptop is either a blown backlight or a busted inverter board or less likely, a loose cable. What I could use some help with is figuring out whether it's clearly one or the other. That will help me decide whether I get a pro to fix it, try to do it myself, or just save up to buy a new machine.

For a week, when I booted the machine up or woke it from napping (HP Pavilion dv5220us, 2.5 years old), the LCD would be pink for a bit (c.30 sec) then "warm up" and be fine. An external monitor showed no problems at all. Then, after a week of that, suddenly it went black. You could still see an image on the screen, but it was very faint. I rebooted the machine, and again, it was pink for a minute, then fine for a minute, then poof: back to black. Now, after a few days, I don't even get the pink, just the black (with ghost image). An external monitor still is 100% fine.

Repair estimates cost $75 here in Melbourne AU. I've been told "if it's the LCD backlight, we'll need to replace the whole LCD, and that's $700." (MLN Laptop Repair) No dice. The machine isn't worth that much! I found the repair guide online, so I think I could manage to replace the inverter board myself. I'm not super handy, but I've done some hardware stuff. If I need more than a screwdriver, I should probably leave it alone.

I'm just wondering if those symptoms clearly suggest one problem vs. another to one of you extra-smart people. Or, if not, if the likelihood it's just the cabling or the inverter board means I should roll the dice with a pro shop.

There are so many laptops out there!

majikstreet — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:24:03 -0800

Laptop recommendations for a ~600 USD budget Yep, another laptop question.

I have a ~600 USD budget. I mostly surf the web, email, type, that type of thing. No gaming, but I do occasionally edit photos/videos.

I'm planning to put some distribution of linux on it (probably Arch).

I'm not really sure about what brand even to look at, as I haven't bought a laptop for a while, and I had been looking at netbooks because I thought my budget would be a lot smaller. I'm still open to them, but I think I'd be better suited to a regular notebook. (I think I'd get a Samsung NC10, though, because it seems to be the best of the current netbooks.)

I did have an older, used IBM Thinkpad that was very good, until it broke. It did, however, survive at least three drops to the floor from at least waist height.

I'm slightly wary of Dell because I've dealt with their support before, but I may be able to be swayed..

Right now I'm looking at a Toshiba , a Lenovo, and an HP.

I definitely want a new laptop (not used!). I have seen the past few questions about laptops.

In the name of all that is holy, please let there be print-outs!

miss lynnster — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:37:15 -0800

I installed a new hard drive in my G5, reinstalled all my software, and now I can't print to my HP color laserjet 3550. I've called HP, I've done everything I know how to do. HELLLLPPPPP!!!!! I'm using OS X 10.4.11. According to HP, they eliminated the need to download a printer driver and made it "automatic" in Tiger... but it's not connecting/printing no matter what I do. This printer worked fine with this computer for 3 years, and I don't remember how I got it working back then but I *know* it wasn't this difficult.

I'm getting really desperate... I need printouts asap!!! Helllp! I'm getting really whiny as my frustration mounts.

Great big doorstop. FAIL.

CwgrlUp — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:58:51 -0800

Backing up an HP laptop for the ignorant. Halp? My wife's laptop recently bit the big one and to replace it we bought an HP dv6700. We didn't even think about it until days after purchase that it was strange that the power jack is located on the right side of the laptop rather than the back like the old one. In our current setup, the power outlet is to the left of the laptop, so the power cable has to come around the cpu and make a sharp turn to plug in.

Needless to say, in less than 3 months this has ruined the jack. Now just sitting still it cycles back and forth from charging to battery power at random. You can wiggle the plug slightly and see the charging light flash on and off. I got on the HP website yesterday and chatted with a 'specialist' (eye-roll) and she told me they would fix the jack under warranty. But of course I have to mail it to them and we'll be without cpu for a good solid week. Do I have much other recourse when this is such an OBVIOUS design flaw? Despite the 'specialist's' assurances, I know this problem will repeat itself. (unless of course I make drastic changes to my setup which will be a major inconvenience)

Next, we have the newest version of Word on the laptop. She bought it online, downloaded it and the code to make it work. Now she's used the code too many times (due to all these cpu problems within the last few months) and she had to go through hell just to get it on the new laptop. If we send the laptop to HP repair, I just know they'll reformat it. Can Word be backed up somehow? For that matter, can all the programs be backed up, settings and all? We went through a lot of blood, sweat, tears and arguments to get this thing set like we want it and the idea of doing it again makes me nauseous. Halp? Thanks ya'll.

Oh, I was savvy enough to create a shared folder between the laptop and our desktop if that helps.

Does anyone have experience with using PlayOn! with an HP MediaSmart Server running Windows Home Server?

anotherpanacea — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:28:47 -0800

Does anyone have experience with using PlayOn! with an HP MediaSmart Server running Windows Home Server? I see how it works with a regular media center PC, but I'm not quite sure how it'd work in a Home Server OS environment.