*HP EliteBook 8540w Owners Lounge!*

Well I didn't see one of these around and I don't know how swell it wil be considering the business notebooks seems to be well made and have few issues but I decided to start this up and I will post links to things that are helpful, whether its benchmarks, on site reviews, etc. I'll even post your stuff

HP Elitebook 8540w Specifications Sheet
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmisc/vac/us/product_pdfs/HP_Elitebook_8540w_Datasheet.pdf

HP Elitebook 8540w Resource Page
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...eId=321957&prodSeriesId=4096175&lang=en&cc=us
includes drivers, manuals, and parts information

Benchmark Comparisons of the i7-720QM and i7-820QM and some i7-620M
i7-720QM/i7-820QM ( CPU Intensive applications will see a big boost otherwise there is no difference.)
i7-720QM/i7-820QM
i7-620M

I'll keep updating as things come in. Let me know of anything you think should be on here and I'll add it.

 

*reserved* (probably use for reviews and howtos)

 

*reserved2* (probably use for FAQs)

 

Thanks! Can't wait for you to receive yours and give us some input. The 8540w is a very nice piece of ware and I'm so close to purchasing one!

 

Estimated shipping date is feb 12th I'm hoping its shipped before then so I can adjust things and test stuff over the weekend otherwise it will be here on the 17th...so keep your eyes peeled lol

 

my estimated ship date is the 12th as well. anxious to try it out as i was unable to test out ahead of time (obviously).

will post a hands on review when i receive.

rick..

 

im glad u got the 1800m cos im thinking of one with this in and i wud love to know how it performs in gaming in terms of frames. and maybe a 3d 06 score although we know it doesnt reflect on actual real life gaming.

 

Yeah me too actually. I've been putting the ATI 8530 through its paces and so far I can play Farcry, Crysis Warhead, Bioshock, and Assassin's Creed I, all with maxed out settings at 1920x1080 on my external monitor with the laptop monitor still going. Essentially for gaming the 1800M will have to live up to that. I have yet to render any beefy movies or images in autocad or anything, I'll do that this weekend I think and compare that to the 1800M. For me, gaming isn't essential but its definitely the best bragging rights. No one gives a hoot (except my nerdy friends) how fast I can render things, but everyone can appreciate crysis maxed out at 1080p

 

What did your final price come out to be for your config?

Would really like to see these 2 duke it out. GL based GFx are notoriously under tuned for games but should be great for CAD/design. Since the nVidia parts don't support DX11 nor openGL 3.0 yet its hard to compare feature for feature.

 

$2600ish shipped. nvidia's page says the 1800m supports opengl 3.2
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_1800_m_us.html

 

How did you netogiate 2600 shipped? No tax?

 

nah there was tax, about $150

 

How did you get the $2600 Price with the options that is in your Sig I was not able to configure as such? Did you have a coupon?

Its a decent price.

 

How did you get the 1800m for $2600 ?? Eur perhaps?? Im impressed.

 

I chatted up the sales rep and got the phone and online discounts just being friendly, its USD too. I figured it reasonable for all it offers i know people complain bc they can't get a spec'd out 8540 for $1500 or whatever but I dont think this laptop if for those types of people anyway.

 

I wonder what I could get the FN095UT for. I guess I could just keep calling back repeatedly until I find out all the coupon codes. lol. I'll keep yall posted.

 

The sales rep I worked with said he couldn't do that kind of price, however if you shared your order number he would be able to match it. If you don't mind posting that it would be much appreciated!

 

What were the specs you asked for? On top of whats listed in my sig I got the 3yr long life battery and the 3yr ADP nextday onsite and the warranty added another $93 to my price for the laptop. I'm just curious as to whether or not you'll be locked into buying the exact same stuff I bought. If you don't mind me asking whats the price hes offering you now with the specs you picked out?

 

Quote Number: 3881440
Customer Number: 4179379

Summary
Quantity
Unit price
discount
sales price




Configurable - HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation Quad Core
(ENERGY STAR)
VD444AV
HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation - Quad Core
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
MS Windows 7 Logo Label ** doesn't apply to Win 7/XPP downgrade OS AV's
Intel® CoreT i7-820QM Processor (1.73 GHz, 8 MB L3 cache, 1333 MHz RAM - turbo boost up to 3.06GHZ)
Intel Core i7 vPro Label
Mobile Intel QM57 Chipset
Estar Label
Intel® vPro Technology (Only available with Intel WLAN)
15.6-inch diagonal LED-backlit FHD (1920 x 1080) Antiglare w/Camera
Webcam Integrated 2.0MP Only Available with and required selection for Display w/Camera
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M with 1GB GDDR5 video memory
8GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4D)- Only available with 64bit OS
250GB 7200RPM SATA 2.5 Hard Drive
500GB 7200RPM SATA 2.5 Hard Drive
Full- sized keyboard with numeric keypad and dual pointing devices (touchpad and pointstick) with scroll zone
HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth® 2.1 Wireless Technology
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3)
56K v.92 high speed modem
Integrated Smart Card Reader
150W Hardware Kit 8540w
8 Cell 73Whr 8540w Battery ( 1 year warranty)
Limited 3 year standard parts and labor warranty (3/3/3)
Additional accessories added from categories below will ship and invoice separately.
1
$3,923.00
$1,098.44
$2,824.56






Subtotal: $2,824.561

 

hot damn.

Web Order Number: 3878597

*990002 536369-999 1 2,602.50 2,602.50
KMAT Versace 1.x 8540w CTO
1231926 VD444AV 1 .00 .00
BU IDS Quad 8540w
1231936 VL441AV#ABA 1 .00 .00
LOC FreeDOS 8540w US
2937170 VD477AV 1 .00 .00
CPU QC i7 820QM 8540w
2872696 WC303AV 1 .00 .00
LBL Core i7
2678821 FM666AV 1 .00 .00
Misc NO vPro AMT supported
1231950 VD458AV 1 .00 .00
LCD 15.6 FHD f/Camera 8540w
1231946 VD479AV 1 .00 .00
WEBCAM w/HP Skyroom 2.0MP 8540w
1231930 VF218AV 1 .00 .00
GFX NVIDIA N10P-GLM4 1GB 8540w
1231951 NU492AV 1 .00 .00
RAM 2G 1333DDR3 1DM 8540w
1231960 NU490AV 1 .00 .00
HDD 500G 7200RPM SATA 2.5 8540w
1231964 NU503AV 1 .00 .00
DVDRW UB LS 8540w
1231968 VL463AV#ABA 1 .00 .00
KB DP 8540w US
1231970 NU501AV 1 .00 .00
WPAN BT 2.1+ 8540w
1231969 NU500AV#ABA 1 .00 .00
WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n I3 8540w US
1231974 VD480AV 1 .00 .00
MODEM v92 MDC 8540w
1231975 VX676AV 1 .00 .00
SEC FPR 15.6 8540w
1231978 VL467AV#ABA 1 .00 .00
HWKIT 150W 8540w US
1231980 WE483AV 1 .00 .00
BATT 8C 68Whr Long Life 8540w
1231982 VF237AV#ABA 1 .00 .00
WARR 3/3/3 8540w US
*353096 UF631E 1 93.06 93.06
HP 3y Nbd Onsite with ADP NB Only SVC


Sub Total: 2,695.56
Freight: .00

I just realized I'm only getting my system with 2gb and FreeDOS. That probably has a lot to do with it. I already have windows, and 8GB RAM sitting here waiting for the machine.

 

That would explain it since they want a very pretty penny for their RAM. If i dropped the RAM to 2gb I'm sure I could get that config for under 2600.

I appreciate your help. I'm getting tired of waiting for the macbook pros so I'll probably pull the trigger on this today.

 

good plan FWIW you can get 8GB of kingston hyperX ram for 2x$120(2x2GB packs) shipped off newegg. Its way better than any ram they have I'm sure.


Edit: From what I gather within the literature the QM57 chipset (I believe) allows the ram to run at quad channel specs. I'm not sure if thats dual channel times 2 or if its essentially 1 channel x4, but if its the latter the hyperx ram will be running at 2668mhz which is pretty decent.

 

That was exactly my plan. I'm not sure about the 1800 for $285 however since this laptop won't be used for games outside of the random WoW while on the road, which isn't very demanding in the first place...

Any reason why I should get it over the 880?

 

I went with the 1800m because I use autocad and pro/e (amongst other things) and I suspect the GDDR5 will be a huge bonus but if I were looking for a quality laptop and not using any programs of the like, or at least not the 3D portions of them, I would have gotten the 880M.

Also I just called HP's support line, they're expecting delays on these laptops shipping out of 2-3 weeks, might be worth it for you to wait? For me, its no big deal, I want this laptop and don't need one at the moment, but 2-3 week delay is pretty stupid especially when they suspect its going to happen and not giving any warning beyond saying "thats an estimated shipping date"

 

You are mean my friend, so now I'm back to waiting between a MBP and a 5840w.... haha just my luck. So the fact the site says they ship on the 17th is actually into March?

 

well mine was supposed to ship this friday and I asked the guy and he said "ooh yeahhh yours doesn't look like it'll make it" Maybe if we bought them last week, at $4k a pop we'd have them now...I dunno.

What is interesting as my online order states est shipping as the 12th but when I click the "printable version" button it states it as the 9th of march. I gotta ship the envy back next week....sigh...looks like i'll be using the cellphone for all web related activities for a week or two again..

 

Harsh, but worth it. I just spoke to my sales rep and he said he would waive priority shipping, so be sure you get the same offer.

 

what do you mean waive priority shipping?? as of now I am UPS ground

 

That he will give me free 2 day shipping. I'll forward you the email if you toss me an email address so you can reference it when you call.

 

ehh...my lady said it doesnt matter they all get shipped via ground.

 

well if want more power in gaming then have it. the 880m is more than enough if the the game isnt fps demanding. You will just have a really hot laptop using more generating needless heat.
However i would have the 1800m cos i like gaming hard plus i only like business notebooks....as you have seen in my past collection otherwise i might go for the nice sager 8690 alternatively.

 

did they indicate that all 8540w's will be delayed 2-3 weeks or just certain configurations? that has me a little concerned. i ordered 3 that were to be shipped out tomorrow for my company. i'm not sure i can wait that long for them.

we purchased the promo version that had lesser specs (620M) but were sufficient for our use (software development).

thanks, rick..

 

The rep implied it was mine and any that were ordered this week. I would call up 1800-888-5858 option 5 and ask. Just have your order number ready.

Edit: I ordered mine on 2/5/2010 btw

 

I would definitely pretend to place a new order and see if they give you a BS delivery date that's sooner than 3 weeks for the same thing that you've ordered. I like testing the scruples of companies.

 

lol not a bad idea!

What got me curious was the fact that I actually set up the online order up until I had to enter my CC info then I called it in, the entire time it mentioned the 17th as the delivery date, then when I called in the order I was told it would ship the 12th then when I opened the online order page it said it would be delivered on the 17th then when I opened print preview it said delivery would be on the 9th of march.

As far as I'm concerned thats shady business practices there. It tells me they know shipments will be delayed by 2 weeks (probably bc of chinese new year) yet they don't inform people. For me, I don't mind, and having time off is no reason for me to get my panties in a bunch, but having anyone just not being honest about an aspect of the deal is just bad. Hell even if I were told it wouldn't ship out for 2 weeks because of the Chinese New Year, I still wouldve ordered but I would not have been left in limbo. I've resigned myself to a March 9th delivery regardless, hopefully they'll do what they did with the envy and throw a $50 coupon my way again. I could use some paper.



Does anyone know if we can RAID the drives? I'm considering getting SSD 2.5" in a year or two and putting the optical drive in an external enclosure, and I would love to run RAID0 with two 500GB SSD.

 

I'd be very interested if anyone monitoring this list has received their laptop on-time. Please shout out if you have!
I ordered a pre-configured 8540W with free 230W advanced docking station the day they became available for order (Feb 1 or 2). When I did, the estimated ship date was Feb 8th.
It was exciting when they sent me a notice that they had shipped my order on the Feb 3rd. I was disappointed when the package arrived on Feb 5th, and it was only the docking station. I called immediately and asked about the laptop itself. What I was told was that there were part shortages and Chinese new year and that the ship date was likely going to be in early March. They refunded 10% and the cost of shipping in order to placate me somewhat.
For days after that, I checked the website to see what their 'estimated' ship dates were going to be. I kept seeing the current date + 1 week. I'm not sure what it was today.
Anyway, I've kept the order with them because I still think, based on the specs, that the 8450W is the best laptop out there for the money with the Core i7, but I'm very upset with HP about what I think was an intentional "bait-and-switch."

 

Quoted for truth. They knew about the Chinese new year no doubt. I will be calling them up on the 17th after I don't receive my laptop simply on this premise.

 

Im happy to be sitting on the sidelines right now watching you guys see when the real shipping dates distill... and even more importantly, waiting to see what the actual specs are of the graphics cards, and the actual reports of the keyboard ergonomics. I look forward to seeing reviews of these systems prior to becoming their petri dish. There are some great elements brought to concert in this unit but until a single unbiased report can be found I still have reservations of the unknown. My old HP ran extremely hot. This unit could have a lot of flex. Again.. happy to be on the side lines while they use customers money to float their avg. daily balance sheets..

 

The CTO prices are terrible but the pre-config + free dock is a great deal. Getting 10% + free shipping on that sounds great to me. Note that Lenovo is bumping back shipment dates on their W510. Not sure if that helps, but it seems HP isn't the only one with shipment issues right now.

 

double post. sorry.

 

my shipment has been delayed as well. was originally supposed to arrive today. now, they are saying the 19th. the docking station has arrived, but no laptop. again, i am doing the pre config with free docking station deal.

rick..

 

HP is not responsible for delays outside of our immediate control, including delays related to order processing or unexpected increase in demand. Typically only orders paid for by credit card receive credit approval on the same day the order is placed. Orders delayed due to order processing will default to an Estimated Ship Date 30 days from the date credit is processed and the order is released. Estimated Ship Dates are based on any known extended lead times.

FYI, this is the case on my invoice.

 

Does anyone know how the battery life is on either of the pre configured models (i7 620m and i5)? I currently have an 8530w. I'm considering upgrading, but battery life will be a dealbreaker.

 

Well on my i7-820QM model the sales rep quoted me 4 hours, which I know is a crock, but I wouldn't doubt that on those models. Definitely wait for reviews to come in if its a deal breaker, you can't really trust anything HP says about battery life.

 

I've seen this statement quite a few times and paid it some mind when my order was delayed. In my opinion, this legally protects HP but doesn't condone the way that they are stating estimated ship dates as 1 week out from the date of order, but absolutely know that the order will not ship at that time but perhaps even a month later. My point is, HP is giving out absolutely bogus estimated ship dates on their website. They should not stand on this disclaimer to protect them from customer rage. Actually, I think they were reasonable with the 10% discount in my case, but it doesn't excuse the continuing deception.

I paid for my unit with a credit card, and HP has already charged it, so in effect they are getting a float from me to the tune of $1700. I.e free use of the money for 30+ days. Anyway, the "order processing delay" statement doesn't apply.

 

I agree and there is no clout considering they can't deny the Chinese New Year, which is why I will be calling them up the day after my estimated delivery date and ask why I was lied to and I will be asking for a refund of some portion of my money. 10%-15% would be sufficient.

 

FYI, I just asked an online HP rep when we would be able to configure an 8540w with the DreamColor 2 display. He said that, although he doesn't know the exact date, he expects it will be in the next week or so. Good news (assuming it's correct).

 

whats the price premium on the dream color?

 

I don't know what the premium will be for DreamColor 2 on the 8540w, but the DreamColor display is a $300 premium over the WUXGA display on the 8730w.

 

lol doh. I told myself I wouldn't return it for a dream color if it was over $200 but if what you say is true, $200 premium seems reasonable for the 8540w...ugh, lol I don't even need a dream color display for my work, it just seems like a worthwhile investment for eye comfort and such.

Heck I am on the envy 15 right now which is apparently 60% AdobeRGB gamut and its the most beautiful screen i've seen and I can really only compare it to the iMac screen from memory. I couldn't imagine what a 95% gamut would be like....but I would definitely return and reorder for $200 or less. Of course I'll only do this if the dream color is released within 21 days of getting my 8540w...otherwise i might see about installing myself (or having the warranty guy) install one in the future, though, that sounds ridiculous to me.