*HP EliteBook 8540w Owners Lounge!*

yea like the guy said you can get them 90w chargers for lower speced 8540w but id happily take the higher charger. more power imo controls heat/throttling when your machine is in full power better.

 

There is a new review of HP ProBook 6540b WD690EA (Notebookcheck). The display is 1600x900 and I think it is possible to be the same as Elitebook one. They rated it as a very good one.

Is there any official review ( like these on Notebookcheck ) of Elitebook 8540w ?

 

No, most reviewers are still waiting for their 8540w...

 

Hi,

First, a thank you to the previous posters; this thread helped a lot in making the decision to order an 8540W. Looks like a fabulous machine.

But.....I stupidly ordered it from HP. I need a machine by 4/26, and I thought a pre-configured model would arrive sooner than a build to order. I know, I know...

Here's a buyer-beware story for anyone else considering the same:

When I called HP sales last week and asked about ship dates, they suggested that the lead time wasn't too bad, that they were catching up on the backlog, and offered to throw in the docking station, shipping, etc. The original estimated ship date was 4/14, and I was assured that they would only bill my CC when the order shipped. I went for it. :-(

On Friday, I received an email that my order had shipped , including the laptop. My CC showed a charge for the whole order. Wow that was fast! When I checked the tracking info, I realized that the package was way too light.

Talked to customer service this morning, and here's what happened:
they shipped the docking station, and because it was part of a bundle they billed me the entire cost. As of now, they have no idea when my 8540w is going to be built, or when I will receive it.

IT'S BEING BUILT TO ORDER!!!!

Anyone buying this "pre-configured" model with the free docking station will effectively be pre-billed for the computer while it waits in the build queue.

My fault for trusting HP, but this is a pretty slimy way to do business.

Caveat emptor, as always

Peter

 

Thanks, Gigante, for the precise answer, this really helped me! As I travel a lot without a car, I will order the Version with the 620M w/ FX880M and not the FX1800. I do not really need the graphics power, and I will sacrifice the mobile data modem (UMTS) and the GPS if this allows me to use the 90W power supply instead of the 120W brick.

 

..and my last hope for a proper review also just vanished. Keith Combs shippedhis review unit back, because it was not quad-core, quote:

"Sorry Tomas but you'll have to look elsewhere for a review. HP shipped me a dual core unit and as busy as I am right now I shipped it immediately back. If it had been the Quad core it would have been a different story."

LINK to his statement

 

I do not know how important the spin down/park upon fall in reality really is, but if I wanted to use the DVD/BlueRay drive at some point, I suppose the System Disk SSD in the primary slot would make more sense (pulling out your "junk drive" from the bay and still use the computer).

 

This is just great. I was checking his blog every day waiting for his 8540w review...

 

.. same for me. Just now I saw the new comments in his older thread where he talked about the upcoming review... sad...

 

The render of the 1600x900 and the 1920x1080 looks exactly the same, as if they were the same panel but at a different resolution. However I can't be sure about viewing angles which seemed to be identical, but there was too much ambient light to be 100% sure. Sorry.
The black stays blacks (and has a very good level for a laptop btw) when viewed from above.
Both panels are really great (a *lot* better than average on PC notebooks), but they are not the best you will ever find. So if I were you I would invest in the resolution that fits you the most, and don't put too much money in hoping to have the perfect screen; you may be disappointed by the angles of visions which are a bit weak (the colors don't change much, but starting at 30° the brightness decreases quickier than usual panels). Also I think the backlight uniformity could be better (but it's still to par with "good" CCFL-based panels and has no mura).

 

Hello

@aldoaldo

Can you run 3dmark06


much thanks


LOLO_90

 

No, there are 2 DisplayPort and 2 DVI ports on the docking station. I just use one of each to connect the monitors. I believe each set of DP + DVI constitutes 1 input. That is, if you use a DP jack you can't use its matching DVI port at the same time, and vice versa. At least the labeling on the ports makes me think that's how they work.

 

HP really needs a BIOS fix for the sleep fan issue. It can be quite annoying to have the fan on 100% coming back from sleep. When you unplug the power, it turns off. Plug the power back in, and the fan goes back on. Not a huge deal, but obviously unnecessary.

 

I'll try to do that this evening aka in 12 hours

 

There is something very strange about the ~2800 3DMark Vantage score of the 1800M.
The 1800M is based on the 335M but with GDDR5 instead of GDDR3. According to Notebookcheck the 335M scored ~3200 in one Benchmark and ~2700 in another (probably DDR3 instead of GDDR3, the 335M supports both). How can the 1800M with GDDR5 score lower then 3200?
You should update your driver before doing any other benchmarks any maybe redo the 3DMark Vantage test since your GPU-Z says Forceware 188, which is very old.

 

The 335M scores you are referring to are overall (i.e. not the GPU-only) scores. The 3D Mark Vantage GPU-scores of the 335M on Notebookcheck are 2592 and 2651, which are lower than 2809. These can be found on the following German site (which I am not allowed to link to): notebookcheck.com/Mobile-Grafikkarten-Benchmarkliste.735.0.html

The overall score of the 8540w linked to by aldoaldo is 3428, which is higher than the 3191 (edit: scored by a laptop with a 335M on Notebookcheck) I assume you are referring to.

 

You are right, thank you for the explanation.

 

Got the 8540w yesterday afternoon from Tigerdirect (6 days from order - not bad) and the first thing I did was pop in the win7 64 bit disc and installed it. The base install was pretty painless.

I was half way through downloading the individual updates on the link from MentatYP when I saw the HP SoftPaq Download Manager. I installed that first and lo and behold it lists all available updates (and maybe even a few more than what was on the link) and you can just check which one you want and it will download and install them with one click. It was pretty painless and took only a couple of hours.

So, for all those getting the FN95UT model and want to upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit, I would recommend using the SoftPaq Download manager to minimize the hassle. You will need to make sure Ethernet is up first (mine wasn't). I downloaded the Intel Gigabit Ethernet driver on another machine and installed it via USB and it started working.

After a few hours of playing, I've been very happy with it. Looks very nice with the brushed metal, stays cool, and is quiet. Feels solid and the keys have a nice responsive feel. I like them even better than the ones on my ancient Thinkpad A31p, which has a pretty nice keyboard. I am running into the same problem with the fan staying on after waking up from sleep like the others, so will try some of the suggested workarounds until HP decides fix it - not holding my breath.

 

The HP Performance Advisor also provides driver and software updates assistance and other interesting features.

 

7424 3DMarks06

 

I was playing around a bit and I noticed that the fan going to 100% issue does not happen waking up from hibernate, the problem only occurs after it sleeps. So, I've now configured mine to hibernate when I close the lid or hit the power button instead of sleep/standby. It takes only slightly longer and I don't run into the fan stuck at 100% problem! See if it works for you.

 

praise to the scores finally. what resolution was this done on?

 

Great idea, thanks.

 

I dont know my screen is set on FHD 1920x1080
But i think it's done @1280x1024

Something is strange when i run 3dmark 06 or vantage and it loads, it loads a 32bit version of c++ 2005??? and i'm running seven 64bit???

 

It needs to load the version of the runtime/library it has been coded for, nothing to worry about. It might not use the full potential of your CPU on some instructions, but since all other tests on other machines are done this way too it stays fair.

 

@aldoaldo

THX


When you're using your notebook for internet or office is the fan loud and always on?


THX from mexico

 

Then it really is a good score. just as what i predicted way back. similar to quaro 2700m or 9700m gts but it will handle newer games better cos its newer.

 

This laptop does a great job of staying cool during normal load (internet, photoshop, powerpoint, excel, etc). The fan is pretty much never on. The palmrest doesn't even get warm after hours of use. Under heavy load the fans will turn on, but it really isn't loud. You will notice it in a quiet place, but it's not annoying. When I'm somewhere like Starbucks, I can't even tell when it's on or not.

 

I do confirm that!

I dont have any problem with the fan nor heat!

 

so in the review this site did for the 8540p, it said that the fan noise was loud compared to other notebooks. did the 8540w improve or was the review just a bit strict?
thanks.

 

I don't now?

But my fan is very quiet i don't hear it if there isn't full silence in the room!

 

Installed XP on one of my 8540w's and it seems to run slow sometimes.... if i right click "my computer" and look at properties it will show CPU at 1.17 other times if its running multiple apps it will show running full CPU. i dont get it. Thought the i7 processor was supposed to run the base speed 2.66 and throttle higher not lower. anyone else have these issues?

 

320 GB 7200 rpm HDD makes some noise.

Fan speed with sleep / hibernate makes some weird things. It should be fixed with un update.

My 8510p looks significantly more robust. The screen in the 8540p (arrived 1 week ago here to Spain) flexes too much for my taste.
I love the keyboard, and performance and balance is fine, with just 90W...

 

It isn't stressed it downclocks itself to save power. Also if you run on battery mode it is always downclocked to a certain degree, even under heavy load.
Quote from HP Fansite:

 

well i'm glad that's the case. and it seems that a lot of others agree to that too from previous posts.
btw how is the monitor brightness and general picture quality? i saw the specs listing it as 220 nits for the FHD and 200 nits for the other 2, but in actual usage, how would you all compare it to, say, a macbook pro, since that seems to be a pretty good benchmark for comparison?

edit: well reading through the forums again brunni commented on the exact thing i was asking, likening it to the macbook pro. with that said however, i would still like some input from other users regarding the screen.
thanks in advance.

 

Weird. When I got my laptop I installed Windows 7 Professional x64 using the 32 bit key provided. Now I am getting a pop-up from Microsoft saying that my key is invalid and that I need to call automated activation. Guess I'll do that soon and see what the issue is.

 

Does anyone know what are the HP Elitebook HD+ and Full HD display pannels ? Are one of them LG "LP156WD1-TLD3" ?

This could be easily seen using SIW program ( Hardware | Video | Monitor | Model ) . Would You please check this and post the results ?

NOTE: Here is a review of Elitebook 8540p model - quite similar to 8540w ( same chassis, components and display - video adapter is similar )

Here is a review of Thinkpad with similar FullHD display (B156HW01 V4) and NVidia 880M video adapter.

 

Monitor Moniteur Plug-and-Play générique
Model B156HW01 V3
Monitor ID AUO13ED
Manufacturer (Types d’écrans standard)
Manufacturing Date 2008, Week 1
Input Digital
Display Size 15.3" (34 cm x 19 cm)
Brightness 72%
Current Resolution 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
Supported Resolution 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz - Aspect Ratio 16:9
Supported Resolution 1920 x 1080 @ 40Hz - Aspect Ratio 16:9
EDID Version 1 revision 3

 

I never really understood those rip-off sites that just copy the content of others. (the review is the actual original NBR review http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=453289.

It seems that the link you gave is a doppelganger to NBR's review...
(anyway info is still good )

 

hello guys. i've read through the majority of the thread cause i'm on the verge of ordering one of those fancy machines you're all talking about. i've got a few remaining questions (hope none of those have been asked/cleared before)

1) is there any way to run OPTIMUS with either the quadro fx 880m or the quadro fx 1800m on an arrandale machine that has gfx integrated into the cpu-core? there's a german site (notebookcheck.com/NVIDIA-Quadro-FX-1800M.26543.0.html) that says that both chips can basically do this, it's just a matter of implementation. and as far as i know optimus is purely a software technology. so my guess is, it should be possible with a firmwire/driver update maybe. anyone knows more about this?

2) are there versions with and without ultrabay? or can you mount a caddy with an extra ssd into all optical-drive-bays? anyone would want to buy a bluray drive from me then?

3) do you think it would be possible to run a notebook spec'ed with 1800 gfx and dualcore with a 90W adapter, although it is NOT meant to be according to the specs PDF (h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13529_ca/13529_ca.PDF) i would use this 90W adapter on the road only and use the 120W one at home. can any damage occur from this?

4) how much exactly does your elitebook weigh with the battery?

thanks alot! (sorry, wasn't allowed to add links)

 

Which core is it? (duo or quad?) iknow that a base speed is the maximum if needed but it has its normal speed setting. like the 720m is 1.6ghz and then goes to 2.8ghz when needed. that said though its not really optimized for xp really is it.
When i 1st had this laptop it had xp on it. and it was only running on one core and over heating cos xp is not opimized for cors duos and better. but went on to vista and windows 7 and all is fine.
maybe if u can force urself to go to win 7 or vista u may not get these issues.

 

So a quick question about a clean install. If I were to go win 7 64, would the key on the bottom of the laptop be compatible with any version, pro or ultimate?

 

I think the key is compatible with your version only but in both 64 or 32 bit.
so if you have pro, you can use the same key for 64 or 32, but you can't install Ultimate with.

Hope i got that right.

 

I had the same problem as Gigante when I tried the key on the bottom of the laptop after installing Win 7 pro 64 bit. I tried the phone activation and that didn't work either. My company has licenses, so I just end up using one up, but I believe others have had success. I just didn't feel like trying to figure it out.

 

I just got my 8540w and I'm installing some drivers at the moment.
I noticed that the 150W AC Power Adapter makes strange noises, it sounds like something is frying inside. Sometimes it's louder, then quieter and the frequency changes as well. Is this "normal"?

Also, how do I enable the FN-Keys? I go mine without an OS and installed a fresh Win7 64bit but I can't change the display brightness since the FN-Keys don't work out of the box.

 

Frying noises are normal for switcher power adapterd. You hear switching frequency. How loud are sounds?

I think FN-keys will work if you install "HP Quick Launch Buttons" driver.

 

Right now my old notebook is still in use and the 8540w has a temporary setup while I prepare it, which means that the power adapter is right next to my head and I hear it rather loud, definitely much louder then my Dell XPS m1330's power adapter.

 

I've received my 8540 p with i7-620m, NVS 5100M, 1600x900 screen, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, and it's an amazing machine, but unfortunately it has a few notable issues.

First, the good stuff: it's beautiful, very elegant. I'm really pleased with the build quality and the amount of heat and noise it produces.

The CPU is really fast! If you are on battery power, Turbo Boost is disabled but it can still work at its normal clock speed, which is quite high for the Arrandales. Make sure you install the Intel Graphics driver, because it also contains the Intel Turbo Boost Technology Driver! Surprisingly, it really makes a difference. CINEBENCH R10 64-bit (x CPU) score: about 8800 vs. 9500!

As expected, the NVS 5100M is basically identical to the FX 880M. I get the same 3DMark06 scores as MentatYP.

The screen is very nice. It's an AU Optronics panel. It's bright, the contrast and the viewing angles are quite good. I'm also very happy with the resolution. I use Visual Studio a lot and it looks great. Probably its most significant weakness is its slightly narrower than average gamut, compared to CCFL backlit screens (this is my first LED backlit one). Also, it may a bit too grainy for some, but I think it's OK since it reduces glare.

And now, the not so good stuff... Unfortunately, I can confirm the "fan at max speed on AC after sleep", virtualization and middle mouse button problems. But today, I've discovered something even weirder. To be honest, it truly freaked me out at first. Some very strange things happen if you use a USB mouse and you are not in Windows/Linux. Run some memory testing tools! I've tried Windows 7's own diagnostic and the latest memtest86+ (4.0). If you move the USB mouse, the program almost immediately shows memory errors or it simply freezes and you have turn off the system! Unplug it or leave it alone and everything will be OK, no errors. I've tried this with two different mouses (Genius and A4Tech). You can plug the mouse into any USB 2.0 or 3.0 port, it doesn't matter which one. The USB legacy option in the BIOS also doesn't change anything.

I'm really curious whether any of you can confirm this...abnormal behavior. I hope you can It seems to me that we are HP's unofficial beta testers...

EDIT: Originally, I thought that USB keyboards also cause problems but I was wrong.

 

I did a Resident Evil 5 gaming benchmark on my 1800M/720qm model. Average framerate at everything high or on with 4xAA at 720p was 38 fps. While watching the benchmark it only got lower then 30fps two or three times. Impressive for a business notebook.

Will do some Crysis and GTA4 benchmarks tomorrow.

 

Have any of you guys ever used this 2nd hard drive caddy

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=216

If so, how is the quality?

Does the color match the laptop?