Elitebook configuration and price

Hi,

I am doubting between the 8540w and 8740w, whereas I like the high resolution of the latter, but like the portability of the former. Anyway, for the 8740w I came to the following configuration:

i7 640m (since I dont need quadcore and this saves energy, but please let me know if this is a stupid choice)
2GB internal (I will expand this myself, as that will be cheaper)
250GB hdd (same story)
1920x1200 dreamcolour screen (obviously) + int cam
FirePro M7820
Regular keyboard as the backlit doesn't seem to be good

This will set me back USD 3027 + around 10% sales tax - 18% discount = USD 2730.

1. Judging from what I've read here so far, I should be able to get some more discount when I talk to a rep? Should I be able to get it around 2500-2600?
2. It says it will ship 27 December. Does that mean I should have it within a couple of days from that date, or is it coming all the way from Asia and do I need to wait a few weeks? Very relevant, as I don't live in the USA and I want a friend to take it to me. She needs to have it on the 6th of Jan. I don't think it is possible to get HP to ship it to SGP (and we don't have COT models here).
3. Anything I am overlooking on the configuration? Any bad decisions?
4. I think it comes with standard 3 yr international warranty right?
5. Are there a lot of cases of defective/stuck pixels? If so, how is HP's return policy on that? Don't want to splash so much cash on a dreamcolour screen and then have to live with dead pixels.
6. Is the brushed alu casing the blackish or silverish kind?

Thanks!

 

Thanks, good!

Just got question 4 answered by a sales rep. International warranty costs an additional $224. Apparently I cannot expect such an expensive machine to have international warranty included :S

 

it shouldn't cost you anything.
My warranty in the uk has international status. I got a new power supply for my 8740w EA (UK) in hong kong under warranty. last time i looked HK wasn't in england anywhere....

 

I think your configuration looks good --- the dual core is a good choice, but the the only thing to be aware of (if you're not already) is it will come with two memory slots instead of four like a quad core cpu.

I assume the Dec 27 ship date is what's stated on the web site. I'd put very little faith in that estimate myself. Once it ships it should be pretty quick (at least mine was held up for only a day at US customs).

 

1) I'm pretty sure you can get a better discount. When I called in (Nov 30) they offered me a 24% discount right off the bat, I asked for 25% just because, and after a quick consultation with her manager, they accepted it. There are others that have gotten a full 28%, but I didn't feel a need to push.

2) The shipping date is invariably wrong. Average shipping time for most of us has been about 3 weeks, personally, mine ended up taking about 2. It appears you're ordering over the holidays, though, which may affect things, so your might stretch out to 4 weeks or so. Many of us also got an automated email stated that shipment would be delayed; this turned out to be untrue.

3) As stated just above, realize that the dual-cores only come with 2 memory slots; if you don't plan on using more than 8 GB (or maybe 16 in the near future when 8 GB SODIMMs hit general availability), then you should be fine.

4) I'm not sure, and I think the fact that you're buying for a US address and then using it in Singapore confuses things. You might try contacting HP's Singapore customer support directly; as they're the ones that would have to deal with any warranty issues you may have, they're more likely to know what sort of warranty you might need.

5) I haven't noticed any stuck/dead pixels on mine yet, admittedly I haven't spent the time to look for them as I probably should. >.> HP's official dead pixel policy (may be dated) is here.

 

As others noted, you should easily be able to get a better discount than 18% without even haggling. HP is currently offering a 24% off discount on its 8540w; just mention that and they'll knock off the same amount on your 8740w.

That said, I have almost the exact same configuration as you (save for the i5-560M CPU). You will only have two memory slots like most notebooks, just be aware of that. I also bought my 8740w with 2GB/250GB and then upgraded to 8GB of RAM and a fast WD 500GB 7200RPM drive aftermarket, it is quite easy to do.

The warranty on HP business notebooks is international so nothing to worry about there. I highly recommend adding accidental damage protection; it's only $109. Also consider getting the travel warranty for $40 if you travel a lot (HP will serve you wherever you are).

FYI I ordered the regular keyboard but mine came with the backlit anyway. I ended up having HP replace it for me a few days after the fact; they overnighted a new one.

 

Hi, Vanwel.

Did you end up getting this? I know your deadline date is now. If your friend wasn't able to wait or if you need an alternative, there are sites like shipito.com which give you a mailing address for you to give to stores (HP) and then forward the package onwards to your real address. That site seems to me to be the one that was cheapest for a one-time use.

The date I was given online was 2-3 weeks ahead of my order date, but when I called in to check for dates, they told me 3 business days, and they were correct. My unit actually shipped in 3 business days, and was over-nighted over to the US for free with Fedex. The phone support folk were able to give me the "real" date. Order was placed Dec 8, and delivery was made Dec 14. From some other posts, that sounds quick, but the phone rep who gave me the details said that is what they generally do, so not sure what to say there.

The (HP USA) sales rep I had informed me that he is authorized for 26% on an 8540W and 28% on an 8740W. I was able to put together a custom order and save the cart, then give him the cart details and he applied the discount. As mentioned, he also gave me free shipping.

As Thecla said - Quad cores are the ones with 4 RAM slots (and note that there is a DUAL core i7!), which is the main reason I went that route. I didn't need the extra cores, but I didn't need to worry about any extra drain on battery usage, so the choice wasn't an issue for me.

The HP warranty documentation states that the 3/3/3 warranty is available anywhere that HP operates.

Cheers.

 

Hi kgamadia,

Thanks for your reply. I didn't get it (yet). I thought it was too risky, timewise. I have considered going the shipito.com or similar route, but I don't want to do that with something like this. I want to ship it to a friend so my friend can unwrap it, check the whole thing, try it out for a couple of days. I would hate for the item to arrive here only then to find there is something wrong with the laptop.

Anyway, good to get another confirmation on the warranty (those chat reps are just not as well informed I guess) and of the discount. Decided to wait a bit now myself for the 8750 (praying it will still have 16:10 reso) and hoping for the euro to gain some ground on the dollar again! If not, I might go for the Sony F (totally different I know) route in the end. Sigh!!!

 

PS: Would be great if they come out with the Sandybridge soon. Looking at the performance and battery time, this is something I can manage to hold out for another couple of months.

 

I think you were wise not to risk it.

But not to rain on your hopes...

...I'll be pretty astonished if the 8750 doesn't go to 16:9, along with just about every other laptop in existence.

...and I waited something like 6 months for HP to come out with a core i7 8740w and then something like another 6 months to actually get one delivered with a DC2 screen (don't remember the actual delays anymore, but it certainly seemed like years). So I wouldn't hold your breath too long waiting for a Sandybridge 8750...

 

^^ True. Even though the new tech is here and HP is already working on 8750w, it will take a few solid months till release, then another couple of months to get the major issues ironed out. Not to mention that the new systems will most likely have a 1080p screen instead of the 1200p we have now, and also, there's no guarantee that the quality of the components and the looks will be better than what we have now.

 

Hmm, you think the DC panel manufacturer would produce a new panel after only a year of sales in one line of product? That might keep HP with the current panel choices for one more model rotation perhaps, to keep the DC2 option available and affordable?? Just a thought...

 

i think dc2 will stay at 1200p, as i am hoping HP doesn't jump on the 1080p bandwagon - i use 2 machines, one with 1200p and one with 1080p i still prefer my hps screen over the 1080p one.

that extra few rows of pixels helps alot in video editing/3d work.

Sio