*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

Agree.

The ATI card already comes with the latest technology (40nm, DX11, GDDR5) and it has a significantly lower TDP.

The Fermi card is essentially playing catchup.
Perhaps once they switch to 28-32-nm chips we'll see more significant gains.

They had to cut back on the number of cores in the desktop versions due to the complications that arose from the new architecture.
I would imagine something similar will happen with the mobile versions.
Fermi is definitely not flexing all it's muscles yet.

 

Im trying to update the nvidia fx 3800m driver but the official drivers from nvidia website is not working... only a bit old from HP is ok. 197.16 cant be installed because the Nvidia setup program could not locate any compatibile drivers ?????????? 197.16 is supporting 3800m...

 

are you sure you have the correct driver package downloaded? I think they are different, depending if you need 64 BIT or 32 BIT and OS and so on

 

What you may do about this is extract the driver package then force the installation from the device manager.

On a different subject, I bought a 8740w last friday, and I should get it by the end of the week.
It's the WD936EA#UUZ model (as we can't buy CTO HPs in Switzerland), so 520M, M7820 and WSXGA+ (too bad there's no preconfigured models with M7820 and WUXGA screen).

 

I've used the nvidia system scan. I've tried manual as well... I dont know why HP web got only the old one.

 

weird but its telling me that I have " UP TO DATE driver.... " but its 18xxxxx one not 19xxxxx

 

HP is not very fast or uses the drivers as long as there are no complains


However, for gaming the latest drivers could be better but never change a running system...

Download it here for 64 BIT 7

NVIDIA DRIVERS 197.16 WHQL

or start here

Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

 

197.16_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_international_whql not working

 

Then you may want to try to uninstall the old drivers first before installing the new ones.

 

No, the same message

 

I see that quite a lot of people got the same message with lenovo etc etc laptops

 

then it could be a fault by NVIDIA, XP and 3700 are working on my 8730w with the 197.16 version

 

And that's why I'm not impressed with Nvidia lately, be it a 4-year-old tech or the new Fermi.

Xsrx, I suggest you keep using the older driver if it works fine and patiently wait till the next update.

 

No record at all --- every laptop becomes obsolete the moment you order it.

I have an older HP nw9440 (the precursor to the 17" elitebooks) and it arrived with random shutdowns that I eventually traced to an overheating nvidia Quadro FX1500. I RMA'd it and the new model was fine (except for some bad RAM for which HP sent out a replacement...).

In retrospect I think it was probably one of the defective nvidia cards --- it's hard to be sure though because nvidia has never come clean on the extent of the problem or which cards were really affected. That certainly affected my view of nvidia. Its interesting how well (I would say) ATI has done vs nvidia and how poorly AMD had done vs Intel.

While I always hate people who advise notebook buyers to buy a desktop, at some point notebooks just stop making sense --- something with the heat production of SLI GTX 280's is certainly beyond that point for me anyway. Seems like the mobile ATI cards are much closer to a good power/performance ratio than the nvidia's.

 

Well, after having both SLI GTX 280M and 4870 CF in the same system (M17X), - ATI cards run 10C warmer at idle and about same as NV. at load.
I prefer ATI cards for several reasons:
1) Currently, much better driver support,IMO.
2) Slightly less power hungry (60W vs 75W per card)
3) Temp sensors. ATI's have 3 sensors (Core/Shader/MEM) which is very important, as usually memory runs hotter than the core and requires different type of thermal medium (pads instead of paste), hence the maintenance, monitoring and troubleshooting can be more effective.

 

Bad news for all of us that ordered the DC2 panel..

Just received email from HP stating that the DC2 Panel is discontinued and they want my confirmation to replace it with the regular aniglare full HD panel.

Here is the text
=====================
"This is regarding your HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation.

We received information from the warehouse and the display that was chosen LCD 17.0 WUXGA+WVA DC2 f/CAM 8740w (VG322AV) was discontinued and we are offering:

VG321AV(17.0-inch WUXGA wideviewingangle, anti-glare)

Please confirm you agree in order to proceed with the change and complete the order.

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

Confused on whether to cancel my order or ????

 

That's very very not good. I already bought a docking station and removeable bay adapter for this HP...and bought it FOR the screen.

I've not received that email yet...but I haven't received any delay emails either...

 

Well thats disappointing! I wonder if they had manufacturing or config issues with it? I guess you can't get it without the camera either. I'm in the same boat as NecessaryEvil, I haven't received a single delay notice yet.

 

I have been following this thread for a while now...just havn't posted. I just got the same email about the screen being discontinued. I'm on the phone now with SMB to find out what the deal is. In the email they don't say anything about the price difference....or anything.

 

That's very bad indeed...
If you're into the best screen for work - I'd suggest switching to Dell M6500 RGB LED.
I'm still gonna wait, even though it's hopeless.
Will see if they can at least offer some upgrades for the price difference.

 

The lady on the phone said that the DC2 screen has been delayed until after June...that is why everyone is getting the email that ordered it. Guess they want to see how many people just accept the change so they can get the order out....oh well, I guess.

 

Will wait till after June, lol. Or cancel if something better is offered by other vendors.

 

+1 for me too, once the pending e-mail comes. Some of us don't have the luxury to wait. I'm lucky in that I can.

 

the reason why I want to update the drivers is very simple.. drivers available on HP website are toooooooo old for CUDA support. I've tested it by gpusniffer.exe added to the cs5 premiere pro. The program is telling me that my drivers are to old "CUDA driver to old: 2020"
Anybody knows where can I find drivers a bit older than the latest one ?

 

Well, that sucks.
But at least it'll only temporarily discontinued.
More reason for me to wait before ordering.

I may keep the 8730w I recently acquired for a bit longer.
I bought this puppy for $1100 and it came with T9800, 4GB RAM, 1920x1200 LCD, FX2700M, 250GB HD, 2MP webcam and fingerprint reader.
I also picked up an FX3700M and expansion bay.
Currently running 2 hitachi 500GB HDs in RAID0.

Total cost for laptop and additional upgrades: $1450.
If I sell the FX2700M I could probably get around $250-300. That would basically cover the upgrades I made. So my total cost...$1150-$1200.
Plus, I recovered $800 from the sale of my 8710w.
Total out of pocket: $350-$400.


I just checked the price from HP.
Same configuration directly from HP would be $4180 (tax included).

 

Ugh. So very disappointing. I was prepared to wait a while, but not all the way to June. Wonder what the problem is in Shenzen...

I haven't got the email yet; perhaps I ordered early enough. If not, well, the 8740w is still a compelling machine based on the remaining features. That said, I would need more information on the replacement display's specs -- and a considerable discount -- before agreeing to a change.

EDIT: If the brightness on the non-DC2 is really only 180 nits as published in the maintenance guide, then it's DC2 or goodbye for me.

 

weird... 197.15 is supprorting 3800m but I have the same message. The only driver I can install is that one from hp website. what is going on ?

 

Just got off the phone with SMB CSS regarding the DC2 fiasco. First they kept saying the statment about the discontinuation.. I kept on asking for a true answer and not read from some text displayed on the screen Finally, he spoke to someone and said it delayed till end of Jun.

I, insisted that i need what i ordered and no more no less. Looks like they are going to cancel the order and put a new one(if i opted to wait) and also give me some compensation ...Lets see what they come up with. Depending on that i will decide..

 

Wondering if the DC2 fiasco was to do with this report (If LG was the DC2 supplier).

Link

 

I just put a call in to my rep, waiting for a call back.

I will not wait 2 months...I've already waited 2 months (well, 1 for the HP, the other while my W510 was in the shop).

If he doesn't have some good info for me, I'll either be selling off my parts and sticking with my X201 and building a desktop (or buying an Asus G73), or he'll have to give me one hell of a deal on an 8540W.

Lenovo doesn't have the FHD. Dell doesn't have a DX11 part in a laptop with 4 DIMMs.

 

Dell sells their M6500 with 4 DIMM slots and ATI FirePro card. Also, several Lenovo Thinkpads have FHD...

 

The ATI FirePro in the Dell M6500 is the previous generation DX10 card

I wouldn't mind a TN panel but the low brightness of the non-DC panels is a non-starter. I haven't received the note yet but I expect it will be arriving shortly, particularly given that the estimated delivery date was today and it's still stuck in wave (or whatever the picking stage is).

Given that the M6500 just became available in the Dell outlet, I may have to suck it up and go that route (doh, maybe I shouldn't have advertised that and have to compete for inventory). There's something to be said for the next-day delivery of outlet notebooks from Dell

 

That Firepro is a 4800 card, not a 5800. So, no DX11.

And Lenovo's W510 doesn't have FHD at the moment (and haven't for over 2 months), which is why I placed the order for the 8740W.

The W701 has WUXGA, but no DX11 card.

I called in to check on my order status, they still think they'll get it out this week. I sure don't. If NotebookGrail ordered before I did and they're canceling him, I don't know how they could possibly ship mine.

 

Nah, I'll just wait till the end. It's my first HP and I'll be as patient as needed to give em a chance. But if they screw it - that's gonna be my last HP as well...

 

*sad trombone*

Got the email from HP:

Here is my response:

We'll see where this goes. Just wanted them to know that the world was watching.

 

Here is my postmortem report on my yet to receive 8740W

1. Initially the SMB CSS offered some option if i choose to wait till Jun/Jul. Then got a email saying that their warehouse is cancelling all PO's placed for 8740W with DC2 screen and has put a note to cancel all Orders/choose a different screen. No waiting option. But, they promised to do some better deal if i choose HP at a later time. So, i choose to cancel the order. Not yet pulled the plug though.

2. Returning my accessories that i got from HP
3. Returning my Intel X25-M 160GB SSD which i got for a nice deal:cry: (brand new Retail - not opened) in the next 2 days..If someone is interested PM me.
4. Goodbye to HP for now and my notebook quest continues...:cry:

Unless some miracle happens, i am going to pull the plug.

 

Sorry it turned out that way, NotebookGrail. Good luck, and let's hope for that miracle.

 

@SecretAsianMan, That's a nice response mail. Keep us posted on how that turns out. There is no free run for them after screwing us big time.
These folks just simply end up saying 'Sorry'.

 

For what it's worth:

I just called into my credit card to check on another issue, and my $5000 credit on this particular card shows 1971.01 free.

The only thing that's been charged to that card since January was the HP laptop.

So, they're putting the charge (or hold) on my card when it wasn't there last week, but they haven't sent me a cancellation notice.

I can't see how I could get it if those that ordered it before me are getting the message.


Once I do, I will not hold out for HP.

 

How about this:

Lenovo W701:
i7-720QM
17" WUXGA RGB LED W/Camera
NVIDIA Quadro FX 2800M
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
Ultranav + Number Pad + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor + WACOM Digitizer w/ Stylus
Wireless 6300
BT
9-Cell battery

2,300.00 CAD

 

Doesn't it look more outdated compared to HP? For that price u might get a 8740W without the DC2.

 

If I wasn't so spoiled by metal notebooks, would order one because it has the same RGB LED screen as M6500 and M17X (that's about 200-300$ extra), the digitizer (a nice tool to have, especially if you regularly need to sign plenty of documents ) and the rest of the components are similar (except for the ATI cards). Also, I'd get one of these under 14 days instead of waiting 2 months for something totally unclear.

 

HP's got bigger things to worry about. Like " HP and Palm: How To Waste a Billion Dollars" Man , I was so just hoping to get my 8740w in good working order and accurately built to my spec before the "fit started hitting the shan" over there.

 

I've just finished talking to a "HP support IT specialist" LOL regarding my problem of the latest nvidia drivers for my fx 3800m. Basicly we cant use nvidia drivers from the nvidia web because they have "OEM drivers".

----------------------
Operating System : Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit

Info Avail : Eu says while downloading the nvidia driver from nvidia website getting message "nvidia setup program could not locate any compatible driver".
Eu says he is not able to use adobe getting message "cuda is not supported by the driver"
Eu says the driver on hp website is too old and asks to update the driver.
Informed eu that only HP Drivers will work on hp units regardless of the os..only HP Drivers will work for the nvidia/ati video cards..and not from nvidia/ati website
Because these are considered OEM cards..
Eu wanted to know when could he find the latest drivers on hp website.
Eu has adobe cs5 premier pro.

Troubleshooting : N/A

Resolution : Informed eu to instal PDF Complete and sent an email reagarding the same.
Informed eu will wait for the reply and if he still requires the latest version then elevate the case to l2 support.

Part Number :

RESPONSE TIME :N/A

Service Notes Applicable : N/A

Engineer Name : Kalpana C
---------------------------------
That is just a big LOL as solutuon to my driver case they've send me a ling to PDF Complete they dont understand that ADOBE is not just a PDF program

 

You might want then to use drivers from laptopvideo2go.com. Those have modified INFs.
That's what I use for my Precision M90 and its FX2500M.

 

If i were you, would just wait for a while until HP clears the mess...I don't think HP will keep selling the 8740W for the rest of the year without the DC.
This lenovo is more plasticy. I know we are all tempted and need things ASAP..

 

Thanks. I've found one from 14.04.2010 18x.xx for quadro cards toda.. but anyway I'll try laptopvideo too.

 

just make sure you select the correct driver, the notebook drivers are different, the only one I have found for the 3800M is the 197.16 WHQL, no other beta or newer

FX 3800 is unequal to FX 3800M

Don't get me wrong, I guess you know it and did it alright I just want to make sure...

 

however, HP uses a different numbering? This is 189.53 from 26 Mar 2010

HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation- NVIDIA Graphics Driver for Microsoft Windows 7 - HP Business Support Center

 

Hell with it. I put in a cancellation request. I'm not going to spend the next week or two wondering if I'm somehow luckier than the people before me.

I don't know if I'm going to hold onto my stuff and wait for the proper 8740w to return, opt for an 8540w, or get rid of it all and look at a desktop.

Anyone interested in a new Advanced Docking Station and/or Upgrade bay hdd adapter? I won't be using them for the foreseeable future. May even have 8GB of PC3-10660 RAM from GSkill that I won't be using (may swap out 4GB for the PC3-8500 in my X201).

What a rotten situation.