*HP EliteBook 8730w Owners Lounge*

And who can confirm you that hp just put the 250gb/5400 in there and it is not firmly with the upgrade bay?
It is a risk for me . If someone can confirm that we can exchange the hard drive i will do so . I have a spare WD Black scorpio 320 gb /7200 rpm but is someone sure that we can change it ?
Chris

 

Looking at the photo of the upgrade bay, it seems pretty clear that the hard-disk is fixed to the bay in a similar way the internal one is: there's a cage on the hard-disk, with a screw at the end, similar to the internal one. I suppose one can actually take the internal cage with a disk and directly put it in the bay.

Dragos

 

The magic word you used is ( suppose ) . I have lost a little of my confidence to Hp about all the things are going on with the dreamcolor question and because hp is not selling an original upgradebay with 320gb hd and i will not risk other money until someone for sure has tried this out .
Hope you are right .

Dragos can you please look under you laptop and tell me from where it comes from ? Where are they manufactured ?

Best regards
Chris

 

Have you tried contacting Hp about this issue?
What did they say about the upgrade bay?

Regards,
Simon

 

I only asked if there was an option for 320 gb/7200 rpm upgrade bay and they said no for now . Maybe in the near future .
About the other question to buy the 250gb upgrade bay and then change the hd i did not asked anything because i did not thought about this option .

Regards
chris

 

I'll try emailiing my sales person and see what he says, might be worth giving yours a call also.

I would say 90% sure though that you'd be able to swap the disks in and out of this bay. I would make NO sense not to be able to do this.

It's still a shame that they don't offer an empty bay though.

Regards,
Simon

 

China, of course
According to info in this thread, it is manufactured by Inventec.

Dragos

 

It is very sad for me to get one of the best laptops ( on paper ) and to have it made in china . My dell laptop was made in Ireland ( perfect ) and my Toshiba is made in the EU ( perfect ) .
I have no words to say . I know that everyone is going to china because it is cheaper but i dont know if the quality is good .
My concern is for now only the dreamcolor issue . All other thing i think can be overide easily .
Thank you Drago for your quick replay

Regards
CHRIS

 

I will give them al call but not yet . First i will wait to see my dreamcolor screen after all this problems . This is my first concern . After that we will see all other things. I am sure you will agree with me . I have no mind for other right now . Only the screen .

Best regards
CHRIS

 

Is this effecting ALL dreamcolour screens then or just some? Are there any people out there with screens they DO like?

Regards,
Simon

 

I have it and I can confirm you that the HDD in the upgrade bay is exchangable with any other SATA II disk and has exacly the same housing like the the main HDD.

 

Perfect this is a great info . Now 2 are the possibilities .
Buy the upgrade bay with 250 gb /5400 rpm and exchange the hard disk and second trying to find an enclosure and put in directly a 320 gb /7200 rpm hard drive .
I will wait to see if i can find an enclosure because the price difference is too big.

Thanks again for the information devnl
Chris

 

Can you please post any comment about the screen ? How is the red shadow ? Is it a big area that occupies the left corner ? Apart the web cam if you had it would you keep the laptop with this red shadow or is it very annoying ?
I would appreciate any comment because i am very concerned about the screen issue and i can not wait until next week when i get the laptop .
Best regards
Chris

 

You could make some adjustments from the menu of the nVidia graphics card.. (nVidia Control Panel)

I suppose that it is also avalaible on quadro graphics card.

 

In the bottom left corner of the screen, imagine a rectangle of 1cmX1cm where the red shadow is more strong in the bottom left corner of this rectangle and is fading to the upper left corner of this 1cm2 area. When you are working with windows the start button is exacly on this area so it is impossible to notice it. The red shadow is not strong - something like a light red which is noticable when the area is white or light grey. In my honest opinion if you noticed this problem once it is impossible to forget it.

As I wrote my core business is color management and for me it is impossible to accept such kind of problem.

I think the problem is on a led that is on this area.

I have already contacted HP and they are going to change my notebook. The support and the reaction was extremly fast and good. Unfortunately it is going to take 20-30 days for the new one to arrive.

 

I am very happy for you that HP will change your notebook . I wish you e perfect one this time .Before you get your new one i will get mine so i will inform you and the other friends if i will be lucky or not .If everything will be ok i will do e mini review if not i will be in the same condition like you asking a replacement .
Best regards from Athens
Chris

 

Have you calibrated / profiled the display? What is your opinion on it's color reproduction capabilities.
Do you have any knowledge / recommendation of a software tool which could do what the Display Assistant is expected to do?

Dragos

 

This is what I'm using at the moment, but it's not a good way to do it.

Dragos

 

Drago

Another idea , It is called Huey PRO Calibration Application and is used by Lenovo W700 . I have read the txt file and it seems that this application is compatible with every laptop because it only calibrates the LCD Screen.
Take a look on Lenovo web site under drivers and download for W700.
What do you think about it ??

Hardware requirements:
- Must have a embedded or external color sensor
- Can be integrated or used with a USB color sensor device.

Do we have this on our 8730w ?


Another program that seems to be good for notebook LCD :

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_colorplus.php
It costs 100 $.

What do you think ?

Chris

 

I have the DreamCOlor display, and I don't see any red shadows. I set the TaskBar to auto hide, opened up NotePad and maximized it so the screen is nearly completely white. And I can't see any colored areas.
Am I the only one?

 

I calibrated and profiled the display only once and the result was not acceptable. It is going to need a lot of effort to bring it in a good status because the lack of RGB control could lead only to indirect ajustment of the panel which in most of the time is unaccurate and unstable.

Unfortunately I returned it back with DOA procedure and I would try again in a month with the new one.

I only use EyeOne Display 2 which is the most accurate tool for calibration and profiling.

I do not know any tool like the display assistant that could help us at the moment. Let's hope that the next ver of Mobile display assistant would have RGB control.

I saw to another post a reference about Huey. Be carefull because Huey is not so accurate in order to use it in a system like this one and to expect to get good results. It is an entry level calibrating device for entry level results.

 

I calibrate it with the EyeOne Display 2 hardware calibrator, using EyeOne Match software, which is better than the Huey. The result looks OK, but not as good as they could be.
The problem is that because we lack OSD-type adjustment options, the calibration is not as good as it could be.
I mean, when loading the sRGB profile in the Mobile Display Assistant, the adjustments it made are not possible to reproduce with the nVidia Control Panel. The Mobile Display Assistant is the only tool that seems to be able to correctly adjust the display with satisfactory results, but it doesn't offer controls.

Dragos

 

I just phoned up HP, and it looks like my notbook isn't going to ship until Jan. 23.

 

How much is the cost of Eyeone Display 2 calibration tool in Greece and where can i find it ? If you will be so kind send me a pm so i can be informed .
Thank you in advance and best regards
Chris

 

That's great news to hear about your Dreamcolor being fine! Hopefully it's just a few cases that have gone bad then.

How do you like the rest of the laptop? Happy? Any chance of a mini review?

Regards,
Simon

 

Check here:

http://www.developmentltd.gr/default.asp?page=products&cmd=2&LangId=238&MID=1&SID=2&pc=4

 

Thank you very much .

Best regards
Chris

 

Anyone have an opinion on what case / bag to buy?

Quick Review: I just received my 8730w. So far, I am very pleased! The screen looks great, but I haven't had time yet to do any in-depth inspection. With the inspection I have done so far, I do not see any obvious indications of LCD defects, including the red-ish area mentioned previously. Mine looks pretty good and so far clear of defects. But I must admit, I am not a color professional or graphic designer. I bought the dreamcolor because I wanted a vibrant display in a Matte finish (and LED backlighting will probably consume less energy than a CCFL - which should help with battery life).

The build quality is fairly good, probably better than alternatives. I really like the keyboard design which sits slightly lower than the palmrests. I haven't had a chance to benchmark anything yet, but the system seems pretty responsive. The battery life seems much shorter than I expected; making me suspicious of whether it is actually brand new. I love the system layout and features - very well thought-out design. Another plus, the system doesn't seem as heavy as I expected this beast to be - certainly a welcome relief.

When I opened the package and pulled the unit out of the plastic wrapping, it had a kind of oily residue on some of the computer's case - mostly on the lid at the back side. I wiped it off and haven't noticed any further appearance of residues. There is one blemish on the outside top of the lid, just right of center, sort of an inverted dimple. But it is not completely noticeable and I wouldn't risk sending the system back for it (you never know what other damage the repair center may cause).

The battery life is probably my biggest disappointment, but it really is not that bad, and very much about what I would have expected. You just should never believe advertised battery life. That being said, I plan to purchase the 12 cell extended battery.

Where can I get a good recommended (and free) benchmarking program?

Configuration: T9800, DreamColor, 4GB, 250GB 7200RPM, WinXP 32Bit.

I will use the system for software engineering and development, and business purposes. My software tools are better supported with WinXP 32 bit than Vista right now. But will likely upgrade the OS in the near future.

=============

I have always used Windows PC's for work and development purposes. But I must say, I love my MacBook Pro. Using Windows always reminds me how much I appreciate Mac OS X.

 

Actually RGB LED displays consume more power than their CCFL counterparts.

According to the HP service manual, The CCFL screens consume around 5W and the RGB LED 15W.

 

I bought the Booq Python XL for it. It's quite huge (which I need), there is actually space around the notebook in its compartment.
Another good option might be the Boa 3L.

Dragos

 

Thanks. I guess I overlooked that. I just assumed it would be less power consumption. I thought I read somewhere in marketing material, either at HP or Dell that LED backlighting saved power. -Devil in the details... I guess. Marketing material not always reliable.

 

Wow! that is quite a bag. Thanks for the link.

 

It's generally said that LED backlight consume less. Is this different for RGB LED?
I have the Service manual but I can't find consumption for the DreamColor, only for the CCFL displays. Where is it mentioned?

Dragos

 

If you reinstalled Vista you should either install the OS addons from the included DVD or download them from the support site (Vista 32 section here)
There is useful stuff in there, and the wallpapers are included in that installer as well.

Dragos

 

A LED screen will consume less. A RGB-LED consumed 3 times the power of a LED screen (due to the red, green, blue LEDs) which is more than a normal ccfl screen uses. On the Dell M6400 the ccfl screen uses 10W the RGB LED 17W...

 

I have urgent information to you. I've discovered that the battery is losing charge despite the laptop is off. I've found an option in the BIOS setup that wake on LAN is enabled by default and this is also default if you load the default settings. If you think that your battery is losing power, try to disable wake on LAN. If wake LAN is enabled the network part is always powered. Disabled it and maybe it becomes better.

EDIT: This is the case for BIOS ver F.0A. I don't know the default settings for other versions.

 

Hi all.. I just wanted to chime in and say that I've been using this laptop for the last 2 months, and am still really digging it.

Finding a good-quality laptop backpack that fit the laptop, but wasn't *too* bulky was a bit of a challenge (I want to be able to fit the bag underneath the seat when flying). Many 17" laptop bags seem to be sized to the 17" apple powerbook dimensions (which are a tad bit smaller than this laptop), despite the fact that the 8730w is probably the smallest 17" workstation laptop out there.

I ended up picking up the North Face "Surge", which is a perfect fit for the laptop, isn't too bulky, has plenty of storage/pockets, and appears to be built w/ good quality.

http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/...y?productId=58258&storeId=207&catalogId=10201

-yummer

8730w
Model: KS070UT
P8600 (Core2Duo @ 2.4GHz)
Quadro FX2700M (512MB)
non-dreamcolor 1680x1050
2GB 800MHz DDR2 RAM (1 DIMM)
Windows Vista Business (32-bit)

 

Thanks for the tip for power savings. I'll report back on results for my system.

 

Thanks for the link for the bag. Finding the right case/bag for the EliteBook is challenging. In most of my on-site visits with clients, I need to also carry another laptop with me. So a pair of laptop bags becomes interesting if not a good mix.

 

Has anyone setup VMWare Workstation on their 8730w? On my system, VMWare's Workstation caused lockups. I had to perform a system restore to a saved restore point that was prior to the VM Workstation install. I haven't had time yet to investigate the problem, but I suspect it is with the wireless networking or the fingerprint reader (which I am not using). I am surprised since I've never had difficulty with VMWare before on other systems. I will submit a support contact with VMWare, but thought I'd check here too to see if anyone else has had any similar experience on their 8730w.

I am running Windows XP 32 bit.
-DreamColor Display with Webcam
-FX2700
-Other standard 8730w equipment and drivers.

 

I assume you are only using the primary 8-cell battery. Exactly how much run time are you getting, and what is your brightness set at? Also, is this with the wireless turned on or off?

 

Yes, just the primary battery. Brightness is at the default setting, and wireless is on. I get about 1:45 hr on a full charge. According to the windows "gas gauge", the full charge starts to decline rapidly, then slows in the middle of the scale, but then speeds up again from about the 25% point. The last 25% only runs about 10 minutes. This really makes me wonder if the battery was actually new. It doesn't seem right.

 

I got an email saying my system shipped yesterday!

 

Congrats!
Please post back here if you have a sec and let us know what you think!
The more photo's the better!!!


Regards,
simon

 

A few posts back I was asking about VMWare Workstation. I had lockup problems in the O/S after installing Workstation, and had to do a system restore to a point prior to installation. I couldn't find any specific info in VMWare's knowledge base. Therefore, I submitted a request for support to get it installed on my 8730. Hopefully I will get a support ticket response soon.

Has anyone else on this thread installed VMWare Workstation on their 8730w? I would sure appreciate being able to compare notes.

Thanks,
K

 

I only tried VirtualBox. No issues but I spent little time with it.

Dragos

 

Hi.

I am running VMWare workstation v6.5.1 build 12630 on my 8730w, on both Windows Vista SP1 x64 and Windows 7 build 7000 x64 without issues.
Running mainly wireless.
Granted, I haven't installed the fingerprint reader software on either, but I have the actual driver installed.
/M

 

Does anyone know if you can overclock the cpu in the 8730w?
I wouldn't want to go crazy with it, but say saying a 2.8 to 3.1 or something like that?

Does the BIOS allow this?


Regards,
Simon

 

Simon it is not allowed . I checked this out because me too wanted to overclock it but it is not possible .The multiple is locked and you can not go further .Only extreme cpu's can be overclocked via bios .
My 8730w i ordered is 2.8 ( still waiting ) and when i found out that it is not possible i wanted to change to the extreme cpu x9100 , 3.06 , but it was too late to change order . Now i have to stay with 2.8 ghz . The only way is to change heat sink , and probably motherboard if i want to put in an extreme cpu .
Conclusion : You have to pay a lot from the beginning because after it is not wise .The cost is to high.
But after all 2.8 ghz is more than enough for almost every application .
With the extreme x9100 you gain a few seconds not e big deal .
If you where talking about Quad in this case it is worth the upgrade or the inizial buy but it is out of question for me and for most people .
It is to expensive . Maybe next year .

Best regards
Christos

 

Yeah, the problem with the Extreme CPU's is that you can't get them in Sydney.
I've asked Hp and they don't allow you to configure them over here in Australia for some stupid reason.

I heard the heat sync is different for the Extreme CPU but the motherboard?? I thought there were only 2 motherboards / one for dual cores and one for quads?

Maybe it's one for Extremes and Quads. If this is the case that really does suck.

I guess it would be hard to tell the difference between 2.8 and 3.06 though in most cases.

Regards,
Simon