*HP EliteBook 8560w Owners Lounge*

Awesome Hiddenuser!

Now we just have to wait for HP to ship out these damn 8560ws...it really is getting me anxious about buying one...

 

What hard drive size does the primary and secondary hd bay accept? 2.5" sata? Also, can the optical drive be replaced with a hd? 2.5"? Is some other tray necessary for mounting this third hd?

 

8560w does not have a second HDD bay. Yes, one can replace optical drive with another HDD. So maximum of 2 HDD in 8560w. (8760w can accommodate 3 HDDs.)

 

The 8760w (not sure about the 8560w, but I imagine it's the same) takes up to 12.7mm drives in both primary and secondary bays as well as in the Multi Bay according to the service manual. That means the new thicker 1tb 2.5" drives can be used.

 

Yes, it is. If you don't have any issues, you'll be happy. The problem is if you have any issue and the escalation rules don't work as expected, like in my case. You could find arrogant people and non-responsive support people. They even threatened me with order cancellation! (my case manager). At least, that was my (horrible) experience in Spain, my country.

But don't worry until you really need

 

Congratulations, HiddenUser! Both for your result and your stamina to insist on getting the product you deserve. Since we know we had identical experiences (though mine this time was only about delivery, not quality), and they were unpleasant, time consuming and at times downright threatening, I feel strongly that we of NBR should attempt to use our group strength and messaging power to let HP know we will not put up with this kind of abuse in the future. The hardest part for me was getting through to a person with authority and interest.

Any ideas, people? You new 8x60w owners, some of you, will soon know what HiddenUser and I went through, and you will desperately want a well placed executive who can be called upon to intervene. They won't do it for an individual, but collectively we represent the buying power of a fairly large enterprise (especially when you consider the viral word of mouth on other forums and non-electronically). But we have to have a way to reach the right person, and it may be the office of the CEO and the Board of Directors, because they have email addresses and assistants/interns who do read the mail and route it appropriately. I'm thinking maybe send some sample posts and indicate that we are a group of HP loyalists who, nonetheless, have deep concerns not for their products' ultimate performance, but for the miserable and at times humiliating process of getting the support we need. Then we have to convince them of the strength of our numbers and our viral messaging capability.

I am pretty much out of this game for now. I just can't bring myself to make another HP SMB purchase for a year or two because of my recent experiences. But you who are owners, imminent purchasers, opinion leaders have much to gain and little to lose from making this kind of effort. I do think that the kind of message I suggested above combined with characterizing the reach of NBR in terms of membership numbers would be enhanced by the largest possible list of "signers," by which I mean owners who would, at a minimum, allow their NBR handles and sig lines to be listed, better of course if you used your real names and contact info. I honestly believe those who made their contact info known to HP would not suffer reprisals, but would likely get an email from the office of the CEO or an Exec VP offering a direct line to an executive should you have support problems in the future. I also think they would likely offer a contact for everyone presently in the midst of cases that are not yet resolved. And I also think the largest number of "real" signers would have more impact since it is possible for any one of us to email to Apotheker at HP and state the number of members at NBR and paste some sample postings and say "all of NBR will be told of your response to this letter," but it doesn't carry the weight of real names, kind of like a petition, but it's a positive message that we like HP's products but we must have better support.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

I, as a seriously considering potential buyer but with reservations about proper service, would be willing to sign a petition *provided* it was cordially worded and backed up with factual evidence of the unpleasant experiences some have had.

In my view, this would be a win-win proposition: buyers would be assured of proper, cordial treatment, and HP would gain more buyers ... and a better reputation in the process.

And, of course, I'd be willing to give my actual name, etc.

 

HP finally changed the ship dates for the pre-config smartbuy systems.

Now it is 7/15 if ordered today, while yesterday it was still listed as 7/2.

Dang....

 

Yeesh. Well the reseller I'm looking at going through is still listing 6/28 as their expected arrival date. Here's to hoping, or it's a Lenovo W520 I'm a going.

 

I know which reseller your looking at

I am getting a M4600 with IPS next week. I'll play with that for a few weeks and if I don't like it I'll RMA it and order the 8560w.

Maybe by then stock will be up and wait times will return to normal.

 

Being again a bit off-topic, I think HP have learnt one's lesson: HP Fansite claims some laptops will rather being built in Japan than China. I think this is a smart move, because I think quality control in China is terrible, and traditionally japanese workers have done their job very well. If you don't believe chinese quality is poor, see this excellent post from Cook2, a person who has lived in China for 11 years and has worked (and still works) in quality assurance.

I'm willing to sign that petition too with my real name and address if necessary. Anyway, HP know my personal information for sure.

 

In the past I would agree.

However times have changed... A LOT!

Japanese products are indeed better quality. Most of Dell's laptops are made in China and they are very good as well (see any new Alienware lappy for example). Heck, Penang Malaysia is still pumping out qualty systems for Dell.

 

I would much rather have a machine built in Japan than China, but the cost of labor in Japan is about ten times that of China, so ....

And then there's this radiation thing going on there now.

 

Get real. An awful lot of electronics, whether from Dell, Apple, or Lenovo, are outsourced to China. Look on the bottom of your iPods, iPhones, and Macbooks, all of them have "assembled in China"

 

Well known fact. The question was one of "where would you prefer the product be made", and I stated my preference. It's real.

Have a good day!

 

What you pay is what you get. I heard the companies assembling one computer only earn 1USD, so do not expect too much from the 1USD.

Including Macbook, many or most of the notebooks are assembled in China. I heard some high end computers, e..g Macbook, Apple may pay more for it as premium, so the quality control is much better. So as to 8560w.

 

Really? $5300 for a laptop assembled in P.R.C.?

ALL notebooks from HP are made in China, including the most expensive ones (EliteBook line). And no, the quality control in the EliteBook line is not good as should be.

 

You know, almost every laptop out in the market is made from the PRC, even Dells, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, Clevo, and even Macs. Almost every single chassis part is manufactured by Foxconn.

 

configuration question:

should I get the DC display "for normal office purposes", meaning no graphics applications?

or is the normal FHD display good enough?

price difference is not that big, though

 

For normal use I would suggest the non-Dreamcolor, it's much cheaper.

The 8560w is now in stock here in Denmark.

I'm still waiting for the BSB portal to add it to the list.

 

Thanks for your response. I honestly had forgotten I made my post and haven't been back on this thread since. Given that yours was the only response, I sense it will take a great deal of organizing initiative to do something like I have proposed. Since I have "divested" myself of all but HP consumer notebooks, I no longer have "skin in the game," so it has to be someone else with a personal stake to do this.

I do agree entirely that it has to be communicated in a cordial, respectful way, and it would be best if some actual experiences were described.

Meanwhile, best of luck to 8x60 owners - they look like the best machines HP has ever produced - by far. (Just my luck I decide to boycott HP when they finally get their act together - though we'll have to see how the quality is when they start shipping.

 

Any news?? Has no one received their 8560w recently??

I have just been to the HP site and it's possible to get a nice set-up with DreamColor IPS, a 2720QM, a Quadro 1000, 8 GB RAM, and a 500 GB HDD for about $2640. Compares with a similar m4600 Precision.

I'm just wondering how the ati 5950 compares with the quadro 1000?? Also, what difference do the "cudas" make?

 

The 5950 is better than the 1000. It's about the same as the Quadro 2000.

 

Can you describe *how* the 5950 is better than the 1000??

 

The 5950 is the same chipset as the amd 6770 on the consumer side. The firmware and drivers for professional apps is what makes the 5950 different from the 6770. Hardware wise its the same. Games will likely perform better with the 6770 despite it being the same hardware because games apps have different optimizations.

The 5950 is much closer to the quadro 2000m not the 1000m. It should easily outperform the 1000m. "how" -- will mean faster/better frame rates ability to run certain games vs potentially not.

Note -- if you get either the 2000m (like 460m on the consumer side though gimped because of slower memory) or the 5950 with a 1920x1080 lcd -- they will both struggle to drive most modern games. So to get high with FPS -- you will have to downgrade the resolution to play.

 

I should order soon, but I'm still considering whether I need Dreamcolor or not? Main use is for webdesign, but since most people I design for does not have an IPS screen, why should I? The Dreamcolor screen is an extra cost of about 300 Euro, so it's a lot of money. I wonder if the normal FHD screen is good enough for my needs.

What you would you do?

 

Thanks for this. So, none of the three cards offered is really going to be a "gaming" card, which is fine w me because I don't really play games. Interesting that you say the 5950 is "closer to the 2000 than the 1000", yet is so much less expensive. Sounds like a no-brainer, then. Or, is there something else to consider?? Heat, power consumption, etc, of the ATI gpu much more than the nVidias??

 

I'm in a similar situation re the IPS vs. FHD. I guess the only way to decide is to see them side by side. Me, I'm leaning toward the IPS. 300 euro over 3 years is 33 cents a day. I'm using my son's new T410 w HD display and it is very poor compared with my old T60p FlexView IPS.

 

Yeah, i'm leaning towards the Dreamcolor as well, i'm so sick and tired of my current washed out, terrible viewing angles screen, that i really should just get the best and forget about the money...

 

I'm at the point where I say, "Life is too short for mediocrity".

 

I would not so far as saying its not a gamer card - it is -- just depends on the resolution you want to play at. At resolutions less than 1080p its quite good.

The Quadro 2000m is a 55watt TDP card (speeds core/shader/memory are 550/1100/900) with DDR 3.

The Firepro AMD is 25W (speeds are core/shader/memory 725/725/900) worth DDR5.

Overall different architectures but benchmarks show these ot be similar at notebookcheck.net.

Nvidia usually carries a premium -- the justifiable reasons are that they are certified with more professional apps and secondly they use CUDA cores which can do some types of processing the AMD cannot (they also have another feature called tesselation).

If the prof apps are not important, the AMD is the better choice. Nvidia can have better battery because of optimus (turns the discrete GPU off when not needed) -- note that the reported TDP for the 2000m is quite a bit higher though so it may be a wash even without optimus from AMD (note HP elitebooks do not support optimus for their machines as the poster mentions below but they can have a battery slice that the Dell's cannot).

 

Optimus isn't supported on the 8560w, so I imagine that the Firepro would get the best battery life because the Quadro 1000 is a 45 W card.

 

Thanks, again. Yes, I understand now that these video cards can support some/most games, just not the high-demand/high resolution situations.

I've also heard that Optimus is not supported on any machine with an IPS screen -- which is 10-bit; Optimus covering only up to 8-bit. But, this is only what I have read on this NBR forum.

With the AMD running at less than *half* the power consumption of the nVidia Q2000, I'd guess that considerably better battery life could be had with the AMD.

 

It's a $600 difference, and thats a lot. I figured I'd just get Dreamcolor, but now I'm reconsidering.

 

Does anyone here have this yet that could tell me about gaming performance, how the keyboard is (especially compared to Lenovo's), durability, and battery life?

Thanks.

 

Gaming depends on which GPU you choose. Look up whatever gpu you want on notebookcheck.net to see how it will perform. We wont know about the keyboard until people actually get the laptops, but judging from the reviews of the 8460w, it should be good, but probably not as good as Lenovo's. That really depends on how you feel about island style keyboards. Battery life is advertised as 6.5 hours but an educated guess would put it between 4-5. Which CPU, GPU, and screen you choose will have a significant impact on your battery life.

I put in my order at costcentral for the XU083UT. The DC was just too much for me to justify, and the 8460w just didn't seem as much fun as the 15. I know that's mostly a terrible reason, but I've never owned a laptop bigger than a 14' and I figured it was time for a change.

Does anyone have any recommendations for what backpack would be best for the 8560? I really need a better one for school, but I feel like most bags wont fit it because its so thick.

 

I plan on getting the Oakley Computer Bag 2.0.. it looks nice, is durable, has great reviews, and isn't to terribly expensive. I've never used a messenger bag for day to day commuting but it looks comfortable enough.. Plus I'll have room for a mouse, extra battery, notebook, etc.

Price: $105 (plus shipping)

And as a backpack I was also looking at this ThinkTank 'Shapeshifter' bag.. I'll still get it but probably not any time soon.

Shape Shifter? Backpack - Think Tank

 

-accidental double post-

 

Looks nice, but I'm an engineering student, and I doubt that will be big enough to fit all my (massive) books. I'll probably pick up a Swissgear/Wenger 17''

 

I can vouch for the Swissgear. I have the 'Maxxum' GA-7303-06. I don't think it will hold a 17" but it's great with my 14" from work and the 15" just fits.

I've had it for about 4 years and it made a trip to New Zealand with me and it shows almost no wear at all that I can see. I use it every day to take my work laptop back and forth.

The main compartment has a nice amount of room but you probably won't fit very many engineering textbooks in there along with a laptop. If it's possible to get e-textbooks and read them on the laptop that would seem to me like a great deal. I can't possibly count the times my back was stiff after a day of hauling 20 lbs of textbooks across miles worth of campus criss-crossing.

 

Do all the pre-configured models come with backlit keyboards, or is it just select configurations?

 

If I end up getting this laptop I'll be getting this build:
HP EliteBook Mobile Workstation 8560w (XU082UT#ABA) Extended Specs - Laptops / Notebooks

I've read that the AMD Firepro 5950 is a bit better than the 2000m, which would work for me. I can take the small hit going from the dual core I7 to an I5. However there aren't benchmarks for the 5950, so I was wondering if anyone had any actual experience with it.

I may go ahead and get this battery too, as it comes out about the same price as the Lenovo with the 2000m.

HP ST09 - Notebook battery ( extended life ) (QK639AA) - UPS & Power

 

No quad core? Just look for the AMD 6770 banchmarks, and figure its a bit slower than that.

 

Well, I ordered my XU086UT yesterday from a certain online reseller and it's currently on the FedEx truck for delivery.

With any luck, I should be able to post some pictures and initial thoughts within 24 hours. I'll be traveling both days this weekend and taking it with me to get an appropriate break-in.

Very anxious to check out the 1080p DreamColor screen. I wasn't planning on getting it (was going to get the XU083UT) but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get a machine at all before this trip so I forked over the extra $600. I hope I don't regret it!

 

I can't wait to see it. I decided to hold off at least until a first few reports trickle in. I've already waited this long..so what's another week or so to make sure I make the right choice?

 

can anyone confirm the max overclock ghz of the i7 2920

 

does anyone know if the 1600 ram will soon be available

 

Hello,

I live in Sweden, and received my HP 8560w yesterday.

It was the model with 8 GB RAM, 750GB HDD, Quadro 2000 and DreamColor display. I changed the HDD to a 600GB Intel SSD and upgraded the RAM to 16 GB.

Overall I'm very impressed by the system. I have a MacBook Pro 15" as my second laptop (hi-res, Thunderbolt, 8GB, 500 GB SSD) and the 8560w feels a bit like the steel-armored "combat" version of the MacBook Pro. The fan is a bit loud (even when set to "passive cooling") when compared to the near-silent MacBook Pro, however when working in Maya or Unity 3D the HP is more silent than the MacBook Pro when the CPUs are maxed out.

The screen is nice although if you are used to working on glossy MacBook Pro screens it will look a bit grainy (being "matte"). The display angle is nice though.

I was very impressed that HP shipped DVDs with Windows 7 and drivers which made it very easy to make a clean install of Windows 7 and only install the minimum amount of drivers with ease.

Cheers
Johan

 

Unfortunately I can't swing a quad core in my budget ($1300) otherwise I'd go for it.

 

Hi Johansan,

Is the 8560w much heavier than the MacBook pro when transporting it?
Can you post some pics?

Thanks and have fun!