*HP EliteBook 8540w Owners Lounge!*

I spoke with HP sales support, who told me that DriveGuard does *not* protect the upgrade bay. Obviously a drive may have built in fall protection (some do), and that would work, but the system-based drive protection only protects the primary drive bay, they told me. Didn't surprise me, as Lenovo has been promoting that they have recently begun extending their drive protection to the upgrade bay. So it isn't something that automatically comes.

 

@a_afra:

1. moving a mouse plugged into a USB 3.0 port => tool reports memory problems
2. moving a mouse plugged into a USB 2.0 port => progress bar freezes for 3 seconds, but dianostic does not report any memory problems

 

hm i don't like the sound of this issue
so does this mean usb2 devices are incompatible for use with usb3 ports at the hardware level or something? i have no idea if that even made any sense.

 

Was the boot speed much better with UEFI?

 

Thanks for trying this out! My USB devices work without any problems under Windows, so this is probably a USB legacy support problem. A BIOS update should be able to fix this.

About the toucpad/styk middle mouse button issue: the middle button DOES work for me, but I cannot select the "real" middle mouse button action in the Synaptics app.

I want to report these issues to HP, but on their e-mail support page only 4 EliteBooks are listed... ( http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Nav?...0645&h_client=test&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&cc=us) I've sent a message to the webmaster but I haven't got any reply and nothing has changed. What should I do?

 

have you tried calling them? although i too would feel more comfortable having records of written correspondence rather than verbal. i'm sure the support page should be updated soon. whatever the case we need to have a good number of people reporting these things so hp will take a serious look at them.

 

I haven't called them yet. It's funny that the even newer 8740w is already listed on the e-mail support page, but the 8*30w/p series is completely missing.

 

Thank you for the information.
And not I'm not alone I think it has to do with a specific version of the synaptics touchpad.
Please, can you confirm that the following dialog (synaptics touchpad properties) lists "Left click button", "Middle click button" and "Right click button"?


Here you can see respectively "Scroll up button", "Left click button" and "Right click button", and that's obviously wrong.

 

Yes, my properties list "left button", "middle button" and "right button" so there is definitely something wrong on your unit.

 

Here some pics of the inside and in comparison with the Lenovo T510 and T500:

 

Is it Samsung memory? Could you/somebody make a hd photo of it, please?

Thank you

 

Is that true that DDR3 works only at 1066Mhz with Core i5 520M? What's the point to install 1333MHz in lower versions, like FN094UT?

Sorry for my English.

 

Yes, only the i7 quad cores (720qm and upwards) handle 1333MHz.
What's the point? No idea.

 

definitely yes!
too bad about problems with intel's wifi.

 

Yes the memory is from Samsung:

 

Marketing - you can charge more money for faster memory (though in real life it makes no difference even if you could run it at the higher clock)

 

Is there any connection between ATI FirePro Vxxxx and ATI FirePro Mxxxx series of videocards ?

I'm asking this because we already know a lot about ATI FirePro V5800 ( specs and review from yesterday ). So if there is a connection between them then we should assume the specs of upcoming ATI FirePro M5800.

 

Don't own an Elitebook but I know the answer to your question. The MXXXX is used in notebooks and the M stands for Mobility (like in my Envy 15 the GPU is called the Mobility Radeon HD 5830). The VXXXX series is used in desktops like how desktop Radeons don't have the Mobility moniker.

Hardware-wise, the mobility versions are significantly different from their desktop variants. In fact all mobility versions are 30-50% weaker than their desktop variant and often rivals with the lower to mid-end desktop variants. So your M5800 is significantly weaker than the V5800 (V5800 has GDDR 5 VRAM clocked over 256-bit BUS AND @ 800 Shaders. The M5800 only has 400 Shaders and a 128-bit BUS on ether GDDR 3 or GDDR 5), instead, it is equivalent to a HD Mobility Radeon 5650-5730, which in turn is equivalent to either a V4800 or a V3800, depending on HP using GDDR 3 or GDDR 5 VRAM with the M5800.

 

That's why Lenovo uses 1066MHz memory in their 1333MHz capable workstations!?

 

Intoxicate, thank you!

 

StrikeSaber47> Thank you for the precision, I didn't know that ^^
About the middle click issue, I finally discovered that it is NOT hardware-related. In fact the 32-bit drivers will work ok, but the 64-bit ones will detect it as a 'scroll up button'.
We'll have to get HP to update the 64 bit driver (which is significantly older than its 32-bit counterpart on HP's site).

 

Anyone got any comparison info on cooling performance and battery life of 8540w compared to Lenovo W510?

 

As far as it helps: I have a T510 (i5 NVS 5100) and a 8540w (i7 F 1800) they both cool very well. I get almost the same temps under idle and load. I think the W510 will perfom similar.

 

Price drop on the configurable VD444AV...about $350 less than what I last saw...this plus the 24% off still available is now making this more appealing...

 

Hi,
HP has released new NVIDIA graphic driver, and touchPad driver (fixes some issues including middle click button not being programable).
Hope they soon fix fan issue

 

so it seems that the 8440p/w also has the same wake-from-standby fan problem, as a poster in their owner's lounge has noted. and has been brought to HP's attention in their forums as well. so i guess it's not just a 8540 problem, which is kind of comforting in that this problem will most likely definitely be fixed in the near (?) future.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6191305-post32.html

 

Have posted fan issue on HP business support forums, hope it will caught HP attention.

 

Everyone who will buy second drive caddy from NewmodeUS: You can use code "FB072808" for 5% discount.

 

Absolutely right, It works,
Discount Coupon: FB072808 : -$2.10
on my order for 2nd Hard Drive Caddy for HP Upgrade Bay - SATA (compare AK868AA)

 

On the official driver page there is still the old one: 189.18 (15 Mar 2010)

I check this page every day, because I have critical problems with the nvidia card. It crashes many times an hour. Here is one sample from the Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc)

Code:

Ebene	Datum und Uhrzeit	Quelle	Ereignis-ID	Aufgabenkategorie
Warnung	25.04.2010 14:00:03	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 10:54:20	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 10:54:27	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 10:54:31	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 10:54:39	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 10:54:51	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 20:20:39	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	26.04.2010 21:09:47	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 09:52:27	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 09:52:31	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 20:44:42	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 20:44:47	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 20:44:53	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 23:43:06	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 23:44:30	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	27.04.2010 23:48:38	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:36:56	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:37:22	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:38:02	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:40:30	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:40:58	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:53:34	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt."
Warnung	28.04.2010 12:54:50	Display	4101	Keine	"Der Anzeigetreiber ""nvlddmkm"" reagiert nicht mehr und wurde wiederhergestellt.

I already tried to switch from the 189.18 driver (provided by HP) to the 197.16 (nvidia site) and 197.45 (windows update). No luck until now.

Is anyone else having same problems?

 

I have the FX 1800 too and don't have such problems. Did you do a clean install and forget something important to install or did you use the HP install?

Do you have 4 ram slots or 2? I thought the i7-620-models don't have 4 slots and only use 1066MHz memory.

 

He obviously has two slots filled with 4GB each. The i7-620 can use 1333MHz memory but only at 1066MHz. The difference according to benchmarks is small though.

 

FYI

In addition to the $350 price drop. The M5800 is available as an option now! Drops the price $400 (compared to the 1800) if you choose it.

 

According to where i order mine, the 620M version should have 4 slots and support max. 16G ram.

OK1

 

This information is false. Look in the service manual of the 8540w/p (or QuickSpecs), only the quadcore models have 4 slots.

 

Could this be different in Europe/Germany? On hp's german elitebook page there are no 8540w quads at all (the quad cores are just listed in specs)

Without the 16G option i would probably cancel..

EDIT: The QuickSpecs are a bit different here too.

 

From a performance stanpoint tho, the 1800 is above the M5800, yes?

 

That certainly seems to be the general consensus. Though, for games, the jury is still out (since the M5800 has DX11 support).

 

No, the hardware is worldwide identically, just different keyboards for different countries, sorry.
Btw. Lenovo also has the 4 slots only with their quad-core models.

 

That's a little misleading. Lenovo ONLY has quad cores in the workstation class and therefore you cannot get a Lenovo workstation with only 2 slots. What's frustrating about HP is that the motherboard supports 4 slots (16 GB) but they went out of their way to produce 2 sets, one with 2 slots (for dual core) and one with 4 slots (for quad core). That is only slightly annoying, the bigger annoyance is that they charge a huge premium for CTO which is required to get a quad core.

 

HP uses a new kind of Trackstyk which can be used with a Thinkpad cap (!)



After replacing the cap the Trackstyk reacts just as good as a Thinkpad Trackpoint!

 

Ha, that's cool. I actually like the splashes of red on the Thinkpads. Now if you just paint the left and right click with a red stripe at the top, you'll have the world's first EliteThinkBookPad.

 

I thought that my 8540w i7 620 had four slots as well. The Tiger direct site listed 2 dimms filled 2 available. I took my covers off and to my surprise there are only 2 slots. so for confirmation, there are only two slots in the i7 620 8540w

 

thanks, YAY, useful and hands-on information, as always..-)))

 

So, I though the touch pad was multi-touch, but when going into the drivers i see two finger scrolling, zoom with two fingers...etc but they are grayed out with a check mark...I cannot enable or disable them. Any ideas????

 

Mine looks to be the same.

Here are some benches
intel 80gb g2
3dmark06 stock settings.

 

I seriously doubt it. M5800 should be better in all synthetic tests. There is a lot of info available, look here for instance, positions 40 and 48.

 

On Notebook Review I just see a whole lot of blanks. There's nothing there.

There has been a lot of speculation that the FirePro M5800 would be based on the Radeon HD 5870 (position 7), and that the Quadro FX 1800M should perform like a GeForce GT 335M, but there's no confirmation that that is the case. The $400 price difference makes it hard to believe that the M5800 could really be faster than the 1800M.

I'd really like some facts here too, as I'm about to order a 8540w.

My sales rep told me the 24% off coupon expires on the 30th, but I don't know if anything else like it will be coming after. Anyone hear anything?

 

I asked ATI about M5800 specs and the answer is:

-------------------------
Detailed specifications should be available to you thru Notebook manufacturer.

General specification is:
VRAM 1GB
Mem Type DDR3
OpenGL OpenGL 4.0 ready
Microsoft DirectX 11
-------------------------

May be now I should also ask HP ?