Can you disable the light up buttons on the HP HDX series laptops?

Question

I'm intrested in buying a laptop from the HP HDX series, but I have one concern.

As you can see below, they have touch sensitive buttons above the keyboard which are lit up. I cant help but think how distracting they would be if you were watching a film on it.

Does anyone know if its possible to turn these lights off?

To any owners of this laptop, do you find it distracting?

Answer 1

I have exactly the laptop from the picture.

Yes, they are distracting. Not a huge problem for me, but sometimes when I'm watching a movie in the dark it gets annoying.

I do have a bigger problem with them though. And not just I, but also many other people.

From time to time, these controls start randomly activating and deactivating themselves, the volume turning up and down, and especially the wi-fi control (so it turns off both my internet and my mouse because the mouse is bluetooth). I have to keep pressing them to activate them, but that doesn't help for long really, because then they start again.

Sometimes it is okay for weeks, but then some days it gets unbearable. While typing this post my internet went off 8 times already (I had to turn it back on).

As far as I understand, this is caused by over sensitivity to static. Restarting doesn't help. I tried customer service and they are useless. I can't send the comp. for repair because I need it for work every day, plus they say they don't guarantee that my data would be safe if I send it in for repair.

I have looked online for months to find ways to solve this problem, and although I see many other people complaining about it, I haven't yet seen a solution.

So my advice is STAY AWAY FROM TOUCH SENSITIVE CONTROLS.

Answer 2

Don't have this type of laptop, but the problem you are describing with static would depend on how humid the air is. Static isn't a problem in very humid climates, but is in very dry ones. If the location/s your laptop is used in is in a climate controlled building or room, it would depend on the type of climate control being used.