*HP EliteBook 8730w Owners Lounge*

thanks simone i saw your thread .if it will be so costly maybe it will be not worth because after 1 or 2 years quad cores will be generic.
Thats the way of tecnology .I think i will stuck with my T9600
Best regards
chris

 

I've just purchased an EliteBook 8730w and the display seems a bit off.

There is a 'darkness' or haze about the display as if it is lacking power or luminosity, particually at the corners. It is very hard on the eyes.

I upgraded the video card driver (NVidia Quadro 2700M) yet the issue remains.

I was wondering if anyone else had this issue or perhaps I just got a bad screen?

 

Small update:
I installed OpenSUSE11.1 64 bit. Installation went very smooth, no issues at all. Most of the stuff works out of the box, that is: network, wireless, bluetooth, the "strip" buttons (volume, mute, calculator), webcam, touchpad. Even the fingerstrip gets recognized but I don't know if it can be actually used.
Problems so far: to make the graphic card work I needed to manually install the nVidia beta driver 180.16 (which has support for my Quadro 2700 but so far not for the 3700 it seems). Got it here: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122606 Once I did that it works great, tried Houdini on it and it runs beautifully.
Sound "kind of" works. I need to manually restart the sound server each time I boot to make it work. There is info on the net for fixes, I just hadn't have time for that. Anyway, once started the sound works, so the drivers are OK but some configuration is not OK. Seems to be a routing issue (for example when docked and with audio monitors plugged in the dock, it still plays back on the embedded speakers. Or sound gets played back when I plug headphones but not without them etc.)
Cards inserted in the card reader are not mounted, so for now I consider the card reader as "not working". Will check for a solution.
All in all, a pretty solid Linux workstation, but with some issues remaining to be solved.

Dragos

 

Hi there,

Is this the normal or Dreamcolour screen?

 

The screen is a regular 17" screen

The device manager defines it as 'WUXGA wide viewing angle'

 

Can someone answer this question ? I have heard that the motherboard does not support DDR3 .Has anyone the real answer of supporting DDR 3 or not?

 

As it was mentioned countless times in various threads and articles, it doesn't support DDR3.

Dragos

 

Fair enough.. But does anyone have any idea of real world speeds between DDR2 and DDR3? Will it make a difference or is it just market hype?

Regards,
Simon

 

There seems to be a very small performance gain for DDR3 (5-10% I think) but it might consume less. The price is higher however.
As for why did they only went with DDR2, I can say I have no problem with that. There is a wider selection of modules and the prices are lower, while the performance lost is negligible. It is already expensive to put 8GB in this computer as DDR2, just imagine how would that be as DDR3.
Of course, one year from now the situation might be different.

Dragos

 

Hi,
Anyone know the 3dmark for the laptop with a 3700m GPU?
Cheers,
Nick

 

AMT?
Hi, does your 8730w has an AMT-Option in the BIOS (F.08) like the manual says?
Can you install the iAMT-Drivers? Maybe you habe to try it manually by extracting the files from SP40118 and run the Setups in \MEI and \LMSSOL.
I get a message that my nb does not meet the requierements ?!?
My NB (FU472) has Vista Ultimate 64 but I also tried Vista Business 32.

Also I noticed, that if I try to copy large files (> 9 GB) from an external USB-HDD the copy-process "hangs up". It doesn't matter if i copy with the explorer or by using xcopy in a dosbox. Can somebody check this on his 8730w? Thanks

 

I made a new thread. If you want answer please do it unter the new thread.
Thanks

 

I have to say the Dell M6400 is looking more and more like the laptop I'm going to go with. You might not have a problem but the way I see it, HP has lost out in both areas. They don't allow the speed increase of DDR3 (and 5-10% to me is quite a bit). And they also don't allow the cheap 2GB modules to get to 8GB - the m6400 has 4 memory slots. DDR3 might be more expense at 4GB but cost up 4 x 2GB DDR3 vs 2 x 4GB DDR2.
Win Win for the Dell.

 

Of course Dell M6400 has much more capabilities but you have to pay for it more than with hp . I think you need 20 % more money to get the same specs
such as hp and on the other side if you concern about the 10 % more of DDR3 then go with the extreme processor .One thing is for sure that the hp quality is far more superior than Dell . But this is only my opinion .

 

I've done a direct costing with the Dell and the Hp and for an 8GB machine the Dell came out way cheaper.

In terms of the quality between the two why is the Hp better? Have you seen both together? I'm just asking as I haven't seen either. Just getting my info from reviews, etc. So far, apart from a few driver issues, there doesn't seem to be much talk in forums, etc, about a lack of quality on the dell?

Regards,
Simon

 

You should buy whatever suits you, so if it's the Dell, then go for it. But that is a subject for a different thread than one named "8730w owners lounge". As for why would HP be better built: I didn't see the Dell so I can't comment from a direct comparison perspective. I *do* trust HP more as a brand, but that is very subjective.
I studied very closely all the pictures of the M6400 that I found on this site and others and for me lots of details don't look good enough for a machine in this class. The HP is very close in terms of looks and build quality to what I expected from the pictures, and that build quality is good. Their included software is OK and seems reliable. The machine itself *is* reliable (at least mine is). Ergonomics are good. And yes, there is talk about lack of quality on the Dell, not only about drivers (keyboard flex, cheap cover of the speakers above the keyboard, sharp edge not ergonomic for the hands).There's also that huge 210W power brick (HP's big too, but not *that* big).
But there are also HP owners who are not exactly satisfied.
Also for some people it's *very* important that the Dell has a desktop chipset and as such it lacks features of the Montevina chipset (management etc). For others it doesn't matter at all. A direct result of that is the battery autonomy, which is better for the HP. Again, this might or might not matter.
Indeed the fact that I can have 8GB for cheap in the Dell was a strong factor in its favor (actually the only one for me). In the end I went for the HP and until now I don't regret. If I'd got the Dell, I'd probably be satisfied as well
BTW, if you configure the Dell with 2x4GB DIMMs it will be more expensive than the HP. But indeed, the nice thing is that you don't have too.
But again, I'm not sure we're in the right thread for discussing such things.

Dragos

 

Dragos spoke well . I have seen an 8730w but not an M6400.My favorite Laptop so far is my Dell M1210 and it is very well made but not scratch resistant .Because i have researched a lot i have found out that only the ATG model of Dell is perfectly made with very good build quality . All other models are far behind HP ELITEBOOKS regarding built quality .This is one point . The other point is battery life . With the 12 cell battery you can have 10 hours ( fx 2700 ) or 7 hours with ( fx 3700 ) with hp 8730 . On the other hand M6400 has only a couple of hours . Attention we are talking about portable workstations and this is a huge difference. Last is the Dreamcolor screen , if you decide to buy a 8730w go for the dreamcolor display or buy the M6400 with the RGB led display . There is no comparison with the Dreamcolor screen i have seen one and i am without words.
I hope that even mine will be so fantastic wenn my workstation will arrive in 3 weeks .
It's you choice as Dragos said.
Best regards

 

The DreamColor is very nice, that's true. However, I'm almost sure that the RGBLED in the M6400 is actually exactly the same panel (without the fancy branding) so probably no advantage here for either HP or Dell.

Dragos

 

Yes i meant that . My point was to tell him that if he get the 8730w to get the dreamcolor because , if not, to take the M6400 with RGB screen .
And thinking about the comparison i really don't have experience with hp warranty but only with DELL.On my dell machine i have 4 years on site NBD and so i have paid for the 8730w.Dell service here in Greece is perfect . I hope HP service will be too.

Chris

 

I think the screen of the 8730w is matte and the m6400 is glossy. Depends what you prefer here.

 

It is a workstation , so the solution is matte if you stay for hours in front of your laptop. Thats my experience .

Chris

 

You can get the DELL in both Matte and Glossy. Not sure if it's the same screen as the high end Hp one though.

It's such a shame you can't get to see these laptops in the flesh anywhere. I'd love to directly compare them. I've been jumping between the 2 for weeks now.
By the way... I Also have a Dell M1210- and Agree it's an amazing Laptop!

Regards,
Simon

 

Did you get any faulty pixels with your display. With dreamcolor do they have better quality controls?

 

Hello FoxWhere , I can not tell you because my Dreamcolor will be delivered in 3 weeks .I hope that there will be better quality controls because if i get a bad screen with dead pixel i intend to do everything i can to change the screen because for me it is out of question that a screen so advertised as the dreamcolor from HP will come with dead pixel . We all pay al lot for this screen and we all want the best screen with Dream - Colors . So i real don't know what i will do if my screen comes with dead pixels .
I have read that the dreamcolor screens are from LG and this means that it is very rare to find dead pixels . We will se how lucky i am or not .
Best regards
Chris

 

I downloaded 3DMark and took my 8730w for a spin

12628 in 3DMark 06 (SM 2: 5649, SM 3: 6081, CPU: 2828)

Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 @ 3.06 Ghz
Quadro FX 3700M + Dream Color!
4 GB DDR2 800 Mhz
320 GB 7200 RPM
...

Does anyway have any results for M6400 and W700?

 

WOW, was that on vista or xp? Would the version with the 2.8ghz cpu gte a similar score or is the score coming from the cpu?
Cheers

 

Thats on XP.

I think very much of the score comes from the powerful graphic card.

 

Would the score change from vista to xp?
Cheers

 

As i answered above, on XP. I think Vista will be a bit lower but maybe i will try that next week.

 

Sorry, it should have been change not can.
Nick

 

Re seis, peraste k apo edw gia na doume k emeis tis empeiries sas apo ayta ta laptop!!


Seasons Greetings!

 

My 8730w (2.8GHz) came with XP installed, so I ran 3dMark06 before getting rid of it:

3DMark Score: 7845
SM 2.0 Score: 3327
SM 3.0 Score: 3205
CPU Score: 2568

I will install 3DMark06 soon on my current Vista x64, and post the results.

/Magnus

 

Is it really worth to buy now an 8730w with fx2700? I mean you can buy a new 8710w (from an outlet for exmple) for less money with a faster fx3600 card (3dmark06 - 8200). At least if you could change to quad core later, but you cant, without changing the motherboard.
Im just asking.

 

Well, it depends on your requirements. For me, 2 things were deal breaking:
eSata and the possibility to expand beyond 4GB.
I work as a contracting software developer and runs a lot of VM instances. Can't work with less than 4GB of RAM, and eSata is faster than USB for my external HDD's. Graphics performance was not high on my requirement list. If it was, I would have gone for on of the 3700m equipped sibblings.

 

The 8710w supports up to 8GB too.

 

And you can get eSATA as an express card add on I think?

Regards,
Simon

 

Unfortunately, the 8710w does not have an ExpressCard slot, only PC Card.

 

Indeed it does, but does it support 800Mhz RAM also?

 

Yes it does, but then it will be clocked down to 667MHz.

 

I've been following this thread with interest, and I'm about to pull the trigger on an 8730. I do, however, have a few questions that I am hoping you guys can answer ...

For starters, would someone please explain the battery options to me. It is my understanding that the unit ships with an 8-cell (73 WHr) primary battery. I see that there is also an extended life 8-cell battery and an ultra-capacity 12-cell battery available. Are these batteries used in conjunction with the primary battery? If so, do they jut out or make the notebook any thicker?

There also appears to be two options when it comes to the power adapter. What is the difference between the 120 watt and the 150 watt version? Is it simply a matter of being able to charge the battery faster?

I'm also torn when it comes to choosing a video card. I'd love to get the NVIDEA Quadro FX 2700M, but it costs $525 more than the ATI Mobility FireGL V5725. I will not be doing any type of CAD work or intense video processing. I also won't be playing any games on this machine. Given these facts, is the ATI card with only 256MB of RAM good enough? Also, will there be any noticeable difference in battery life between the two cards?

Lastly, I'm debating between going with a 7200 RPM or 5400 RPM hard drive. I realize that the faster drive will perform better, but will I really notice that much of a difference. In this case, it's not about saving money. I'm more concerned that the faster drive will create more heat and eat up the battery faster. What are your thoughts on this?

 

It supports 800mhz ram at full speed. It will not be clocked down.

 

8710w use the Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset (Santa Rosa)

According to Intel specs

http://www.intel.com/products/notebook/chipsets/pm965/pm965-overview.htm

the maximum memory speed supported is 667MHz. 800MHz DDR2 RAM will run at 667MHz.

8730w use the Intel PM45 Express Chipset, according to Intel

http://www.intel.com/Products/Notebook/Chipsets/PM45/PM45-overview.htm

It supports according to technical specifications:

• 667 MHz and 800 MHz for DDR2
• 800 MHz and 1066 MHz for DDR3

I'm acutally surprised that HP chose DDR2 and not DDR3 since DDR3 as a better choice when it comes to performance and also pretty soon DDR3 will be cheaper.

 

Now i am really confiused . Digitallysane said and confirmed that it is not possible to put in DDR 3 Memory .You according to technical specifications say that we can put DDR 3 1066 MHZ .
Who is right ? It is very important to know before spending money to buy ddr 3 memory .
I think that 10% of velocity increase is good for everyone who can not afford the extreme editizion like me .
Please check out because it is very important this point of discussion .
Best regards and happy new year to all .
Chris

 

Santa Rosa (PM965) will only support DDR2 up to 667mhz

Series 4 (PM45) aka Montevina will support either DDR2 (up to 800mhz) or DDR3 (up to 1066mhz), but each maker can choose whether to make their system DDR2 or DDR3 for flexibility/pricing concerns.

DDR3 offers more bandwidth, but DDR2 offers better timings usually.

HP opted to go with a DDR2 memory subsystem with the 8730w, but since it uses the Series 4 Intel chipset, it supports DDR2 800mhz memory.

The 8710w is based on the previous generation PM965 (Santa Rosa), chipset and only supports DDR2 and only up to 667mhz memory. If you buy 800mhz memory, it will be downclocked to the max the chipset supports which is 667mhz.

 

While the chipset supports both DDR2 and DDR3, HP has chosen to use DDR2 in 8730w. The sockets of DDR2 and DDR3 are physically different and the manufacturers choose one type of memory when they design the laptop motherboard. I've never seen a laptop that supports both DDR2 and DDR3 at the same time and I'm not even sure the chipset allows it. 8730w does not support DDR3 1066MHz because the motherboard isn't designed for it and they will simply not fit.

 

FoxWhere now you where very clear and you confirmed Dragos .
SO NO DDR 3 MEMORY ON 8730w. Only DDR2 800 MHZ .
Hope to see ddr 2 memory prices to go down so we all can put in 8 gb.
Chris

 

If the motherboard supports ddr3 why cant it be installled?
Nick

 

Why not indeed... About the only reason I would go with the Dell M6400 is the difference in DDR3 memory. From the benchmarks I've seen this gives the Dell and 10% or so increase over the Hp 8730w.
If DDR3 could be used with the Hp I'd go for it.
Is there any way to test this? Does anyone out there with a 8730w have a spare DDR3 chip handy?

Maybe Hp used DDR2 just for cost reasons?

Regards,
Simon

 

Another question about the Hp 8730w if someone knows... I've read that the Optical bay can be used to house a second hard disk and then RAID enabled.
Does everything come with the Hp to do this? How do you use your DVD drive if you take it out?

Regards,
Simon

 

I would imagine that you would have to use an external optical drive.