*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

That's the problem, you end-up waiting longer, paying extra and in many cases can't customize your system's specs the way you really want.

 

In my case, I was able to customize a "top-notch" 8730w with all the specs I desired, including DreamColor screen and Quadro FX3700M card, except the Blu-ray writer, which is not sold in my country. And yes, this price is forbidden for the majority of us, but if you want it and have the enough money, you can in some countries (for me that setup cost 3901 euro, that is, more than $5200 USD) and the deadline for the computer was a month, as maximum.

 

Damn that's way too much money, always go for the new ATI graphics card, its going to be awesome, this is going to be my next true gaming machine, alienware seems to be way cartoony these days and way way too many problems. Business notebooks always seem to get the better end of support anyway.

 

@freedom16:

This is not a machine for gaming, but for serious work, specially for color-critical work (image professionals who need accurate color fidelity) or for engineers, architects, and so on. You can game on it ocassionally though, but this is not the intended use.

In my case, I'm a web designer and a software engineer, and I want a DC screen for my web projects, not for gaming, but I will be able to game a bit in my idle time. Buying this machine only for gaming is completely nonsense and a totally waste of money. See models of Toshiba (I've heard the Quosmio X505 is pretty good for gaming).

 

I had a Qosmio X505 way way to big, i like a professional notebook and before i had a alienware, i gamed on a Precision M6400! I also do professional work on my own, anything i am interested into. I like business notebooks, i have a latitude E6400 now, i need to change my signature.

 

Whoa! This is good news indeed! I have the 8710w atm and have been considering the 8740w as a potential upgrade ... many thanks to the OP for this thread! I will be keeping an eye on it....

 

Very funny. Even though the system will handle most current games at high/max it's not build for gaming (as stated by HiddenUser above), and in no way will compare to dual GPU (SLI/CF) systems. So alienware will rock anyway, hands down.

 

Well i am truly not into dual graphics cards though but it is cool to have a machine that can play at the max res of 1920x1200, i just feel that the M17x is way way to big though. I might have to go to clevo.... lol Believe me if a precision m6400 can handle my crazy gaming then so can this lol.

 

Though I understand that the intent of the DreamColor screen is for color accuracy for design, etc., I have to admit that I got the DreamColor 8730w mostly for the combination of screen size and brightness. 17" WUXGA and 300nits makes my work a lot more comfortable than my old 15.4" WUXGA and 200 nit nw8440 - even if 'all' I do is write (code and documents), do some web image stuff (that doesn't really need ultra-accurate colors).

If HP made another high-brightness screen, I'd probably opt to save the money and not get a DreamColor. But just wanted to point out that, for me anyway, the brightness of the DreamColor is very important.

- J -

P.S. If others know of other high-brightness screens, let me know. I think the MacBook Pro is close but don't know of many others.

 

@JEA152: I'm coming at this from the same angle. Nothing that I do requires a wide-gamut display. Still, there are good reasons why the DreamColor makes sense for me. The main on for me is brightness. My work requires me to stare at code all day, and I've done it on enough laptops to know what I like: I like it bright. Way bright. In fact, my MBP is the first laptop display for which I've been truly satisfied with the brightness. The experience resulted in a personal rule to never purchase a sub-300 nit display again.

Second, the panel is 8-bit. Those extra two bits allow the DC1 to display 64X the colors of a traditional 6-bit panel. As I understand it, even if the panel stays set to standard sRGB color space for its whole life (i.e. not fully using its native gamut), it still should perform better at sRGB than any 6-bit panel.

 

Plus the anti-glare, which is another must for me as even my RGB LED with its 300nit is killing my eyes with those reflections.

 

Yes the reflections are killing me too, its hard to read outside and the sunlight from the windows glares ways to much on the screen sometimes no matter how much i move the notebook lol. Having a pro screen is awesome, the LG panel i have now in the M6400 is awesome, it maybe edge to edge but its very very sleek the reflections are hardly and this is the way it should be with the M17x! So your keeping your M17x? Hmm, Why are you getting Lenovo W510 if you want a core i7 etc...

 

The 5000 series also have slow GPU's, and the fastest 5800 is probably too hot.

I still think it will be a 5700 or slower, which is faster than the 3800M anyway, and as I said before:
Have the cheapest card in any HP laptop ever been significantly faster than the more expensive options?

 

I meant 5870. Take it with a grain of salt, but if the card is stronger than M7740 -> it can't be based on 5700.
Here are some specs of the M7740. and given that 5870 is a bit (5-15%) stronger than 4870, - I have very few doubts

 

We just won't know for sure how strong the M7820 is until some benchmarks are available.

Personally, I'm almost certainly sure it will handle my mild gaming needs: occasional Company of Heroes matches with my son. My MBP handles that game acceptably well at medium-low settings, and I highly doubt the M7820 would be any worse. Plus, there is the added benefit of being able to drive several external displays. That was enough for me.

 

This being the owner's thread did anyone get the laptop? I did not see any reviews or pics.

Also don't you guys feel that it is limited with only 1 drive (since if you get an SSD it will have to be pretty small)? I know that you can replace the DVD with another drive. But then how do you use CD/DVDs plus just curious: will the interface that is used for the DVD as well have the same speed as the one dedicated to a drive? Perhaps a dumb question so I apologize in advance.

 

AFAIK, nobody in the thread has received an 8740w yet. I ordered on day one, and my current estimated delivery date is 4/19.

I opted for a 500GB hard drive in place of the optical drive. I would assume the interfaces for primary/secondary drives are both SATA2, but of course we don't have physical verification of that yet. It might be good to ask the few people who have received 8540w units what the interface of the DVD drive is.

I plan to buy an external optical drive later on, if the need arises -- either a USB3 or eSATA depending on whatever is available.

 

Today you can get a toshiba HDD 750GB. Plus, instead of switching the DVD-rom for another HDD, you can always use one of the USB 3 ports for connecting a huge external hard drive or any other media storage devices
I don't see a problem with just 1 HDD. Backup your data externally. Nowadays, it's a must.

 

So what do you do if say you need to reinstall Windows from DVD?

 

Aikimox it is not about storage.
First I work with SQL dbs so I do need a lot space for the dbs on an ongoing basis. Remember this is meant to be for work purposes.
Second, most high end adopters like us will go for SSDs and max you can get for 2 is 500GB in total (cost considerations aside). 1 regular 500GB drive (even 7200 RPM) will not come even close to an SSD.
I guess it is personal taste.
And sorry for asking: just that for a month I am looking to buy a high end laptop and there is absolutely no appealing choice:

Lenovo W701: release just got delayed again so we can imagine how delivery dates will be.
Dell M6500: the owner's thread is 300+ pages. I am still making my way through it but so far it does not sound too good.
HP 8740W: it sounded good and liked the screen and strong build. But this HDD limitation is just puzzling. Even personal level laptops have at least 2 so how is it that they could not add one more bay in a 5K laptop? I am not bashing HP. I just wished they did add more bays so I can finally buy a new laptop

 

it would be of course nice to have another HD and the optical drive but that would have made the notebook too big, like the Dell or Lenovo. So for me it is ok

How often do you use the optical drive anyway? However, the upgrade bay unit is still too expensive like it always was in the past for the older models

 

I see your point and dilemma.
Go with M6500. It has a very good screen (not IPS but still a 100% RGB LED), 2 HDDs and both the costs and the whistles are pretty similar.
W701 will be available after 7th of April but to actually get it, you'll have to wait for a long time (IMO).
I still think you could be fine with a fast (USB 3) external data storage. No benches yet, but if ver3.0 allows for more than 5X R/W rates,...

 

Install it from USB key instead. It's faster anyway.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx

 

Read this if you are still interested in this computer. You should know you are buying.

 

The HP is actually a little bigger than the Dell at 15.6" x 11.2" x 1.4" (397.5 mm x 285.5 mm x 36.5 mm) compared to the M6500's 15.4" x 11" x 1.35"-1.5" (393 mm x 280.5 mm x 34.5- 38.5 mm). It's probably lighter though at 7.8 lb (3.57 kg) base compared to the 8.5 lb (3.86 kg) base for the M6500.

 

Nah, not too convincing IMHO.
The older sound chip doesn't necessarily provide worse sound quality. It's not recommended not because it's bad, but because the newer ones need to be pushed forth
Regarding the FirePro, it's uncertain and until we have some in-depth reviews, it's all just a speculation.
I'll, however, stay on hold and wait till the first reviews.

 

I used to drag my M17X (6kg) to and from work on a daily basis, so I'm not swayed that easily by weight or size.
Good to know the specs though, thanks!

 

@Aikimox: Well I don't want frighten to anyone, but this is very weird. Bear in mind HP is using the new QM-57 chipset instead the old PM55 used in the M6500, and I can't understand why they have not refreshed the audio controller too.

If you are picky, you can always buy a SoundBlaster X-Fi Express/54 card LOL

 

That's the spirit! Whoa!
Actually, I'm much more happy to see that HP used the QM57 instead of the PM55. It gives us some chances of switchable graphics along the road, and as a result, a huge boost to battery life
The older sound chip might work longer and better (eg. lower audio lattency).
I'm very eager to see some reviews!

 

Hi Aikimox,

I agree with you on the W701 though I am sure in 3-4 months it may be a very good buy. But these days with the instant gratification ... I need to have it now !!!!
As for the USB 3 you are probably right from a functional perspective. But that will take the "lap" out of the laptop. Nothing like being in an airport or anywhere else but your home office desk and trying to lay out all the other stuff around your laptop.
Since I will be out of the country for 2 weeks at the end of April and given the delays I have seen on all the 3 options, I might just wait until May to pull the trigger and let the water settle. But for now the Dell M6500 seems the front runner (I never thought I would consider buying a Dell ).

 

some information from HP Fansite about the ATI in the 8740w

http://hpfansite.com/hp-elitebook/elitebook-8740ws-ati-firepro-m7820s-confirmed-relation-mobility-radeon-5870/

 

Good piece of info!
My biggest question is about the IPS panel and the DC when equipped with the FirePro. We need to see reviews!

 

if you dont want to play games on this gre5 machine then why are you getting the highest ati gpu for it? i dont care if its a business notebook, gaming will be done and i know you will play games on it. great fan site also.

 

also that gpu blows everything out of the water and a better alternative to the G73JH

 

I compiled the available benchmarks and added to the FAQ on page 1. For your convenience, here they are:

M7820: 13451 3DMark06 (Mobility 5870 on 820QM Clevo) source
M7820: 12249 3DMark06 (520M HP 8740w) source
2800M: no benchmarks available source
3800M: 13323 3DMark06 (920XM Dell M6500) source

Looks to me that the M7820 is indeed right up there with the 3800M, perhaps even beyond it. Win.

 

Yep, it's on par in benches, however the question remains regarding the pro tools like CAD.

Don't expect it to be much stronger than 5870, if at all. The 5870 is optimised for gaming.

 

Yes i know they are optimized for gaming, but there are few things with Asus, Alienware and Clevo i can't deal with. One the Alienware isn't as big as freaking heavy it is and the palm rest compared to my precision could of been way way better! Such crappy plastic gosh destroying alienware they are. Next is that i not only want something made of plastic but also metal and magnesium. I like clevos and i am a touch typist i do like having a backlit keyboard no matter what, its cause of the low lighting conditions where i live.... Most Asus screens are getting better, and the Clevo screens are a lot better than Asus, but way way too plasticly even though those are made of good plastic tough one though. Anyways, Asus have poor viewing Angles and they are all 16x9 and its hard to get used too. Of course there isn't a difference in terms of speed and power and of course, the higher the resolution goes the harder and stressful the gpu becomes when you play on professional graphics, but they usually have more shader units.

 

If you need a powerful gaming machine - 8740w is probably the wrong choice.

>You need SLI/CF configs to be more future proof (unless you replace your systems every 6 months)

>You don't know how hot will the HP get during 6-10hrs gaming sessions. This is the most important point - for the gaming rig you need absolutely the best cooling possible (AW/Clevo).

>The HP is expensive, more expensive than SLI/CF systems from AW/Clevo.

 

If you want a notebook exclusively for gaming, then yes, there are better choices than the 8740w.

Many of us need a powerful and durable machine for our work, but want one that can also game competently in the evenings. I think the 8740w is an excellent fit for that use case.

 

well i dont go to lan parties i play games the most for only 3-4 hours. i love having a great looking led screen and i dont know what to do anymore truly. i really like business laptops.

 

You should research a little more before jumping on a new rig.
Have you seen its heatsinks? How bad is the latency?
Yep, it's got all the bells and whistles and I'd really want to get this beast. But since it's a new product - nothing is certain. It might be worth your money or be a total disaster. Your choice.
I'll wait a few weeks till a few different reviews appear that shed some light on my key questions.

 

@Aikimox: I agree. Caution is advised, if you can handle the wait. Some of us can't.

 

I can't handle the wait! But have to justify the lack of funds somehow
In the end we all know what's right and yet always do what we feel

>>And I envy you! When you get it, have some mercy on the less fortunate, - show us some pics....

 

As I said before, I want this machine mainly for working (developing software & web pages, running VM's with Linux boxes, even for occasionally some video encoding), and it will replace my old desktop computer (7 years old). However, I'm on the same boat as SecretAsianMan: a bit of gaming won't do harm to me! I'm a very casual gamer, and I like mostly old games...

In my case, I can wait until May. This is the month the 8740w will probably offer a backlit keyboard as an option (and for me this is important because I'm going to work quite at night). I'm reconsidering getting a DC1 screen instead of the DC2 (and I will save money for sure). In addition, it seems the DC2 will be incompatible with the ATI solution and this info came from a reliable source at the HP Fansite mentioned by SecretAsianMan (believe me, Aikimox, if the HP Fansite claims this, it's 60-70% sure it's true).

Wish HP don't remove the version 1 of the DreamColor panel when the DC2 is released...

 

Even if it's currently unsupported doesn't necessarily mean there will be no fixes on the BIOS/Software level.
And BTW, how big is the difference with and without DC? Can you explain?

 

The DreamColor panel (v1) is an 8-bit TN panel with RGB LED backlighting and wide viewing angle. Despite of it's a TN panel, its viewing angle is much better than the average (almost as an IPS panel). Only the vertical viewing angle is its weak spot.

According to the service manual of the 8730w model (I don't remember the URL, sorry), it has a 800:1 typical contrast ratio and a brightness of 300 nits. These numbers make this screen much better than the "regular" screens even for regular use (not exclusively for graphics). Usually, standard screens have, at most, 200 nits of brightness. The "normal" screens HP will be using in the 8740w will have 400:1 contrast ratio and 200 nits of brightness (all of them, Full HD or not). These data are enclosed in the 8740w quick specs document I posted before. There is some people, like SecretAsianMan, which prefer the DreamColor screen for its extra brightness. So do I. And don't forget the 8-bit TN panel will produce 16.777.216 simultaneous colors, when 6-bit panels (99% of laptop screens) produce 262.144 from a 16.7M color palette. Both my NEC 20WGX2 and NEC 2490WUXi desktop monitors are 8-bit IPS panels, so I will not "downgrade" very much with the DC1 screen.

The DC2 screen will produce true 1 billion simultaneous colors and it will have a IPS panel like its big brother, the amazing (and expensive) HP LP2480zx desktop monitor (about $2000). If the DC2 panel and the ELECTRONICS are the SAME as the built-in the 2480zx, that means the DC2 screen will be able to emulate several color spaces with high precision, that is, NO more oversaturated greens and reds when working in non color managed environments (since all DC panels are wide-gamut). Its sRGB mode will be almost *perfect* (the DC1 panel and the Precision M6500's suffer this issue, it's common to wide-gamut screens), and this is only achieved by very high-end monitors from Eizo and a few other manufacturers.

My guess is the DC2 panel will not be supported by the M7820 due to the lack of a 10-bit per component color output in the video card. This is necessary in order to render with 30-bit color depth (both screen and video card must match in the color output precision).

 

Thank you for the explanation!
+1 Rep

How do we know though, that the M7820 is unable to provide 10-bit per c. color?

 

When the tech specs will be released, for now it's a secret. For sure, the M7820 is, at least, an 8-bit color card, because the DC1 panel is an 8-bit color panel. The Quadro FX3800M supports 10-bit color output, and for sure it will be compatible with all HP screens (normal, DC1 and DC2). According to the SPECS:

Ok, I will explain where do those numbers are from. There are 3 primary colors on any screen, Red, Green and Blue. Colors are produced by mixing them with different intensity. A 6 bit panel produces 262,144 colors, because each color component produce 2^6 intensities. Therefore, (2^6 for Red) * (2^6 for Green) * (2^6 for Blue) = 262,144 colors. Also exists a variant called FRC (Frame Rate Control), a technique which can produce virtually 16.7M of simultaneous colors on a 6-bit panel, but the quality is not the same as an 8-bit panel. For the 10-bit panel, here we go: you have 10 bit precision per component, hence (2^10)^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824 simultaneous colors. Do you understand now?

PS: Thanks for the rep!

 

Very nice explanation, HiddenUser.

I read most of the M6500 thread before deciding on the 8740w, and did some searching in the 8730w thread as well. The impression I got was that the display could be adjusted to emulate sRGB at the driver or OS level, mostly resolving the oversaturation issue for people who never use color-managed software. Configured that way, the full native gamut of the display would not be used, but the image would still be superior to that of 6-bit consumer panels. Am I wrong about this?

EDIT: Here is some relevant discussion from the M6500 thread:

 

You are right, but don't forget you won't see the colors in the same manner with a sRGB (non wide gamut) monitor. You can dim the oversaturation, but it may be the red will be brownish, for example. It's likely the DC2 screen will be stunning in this regard, i.e., emulating the RIGHT sRGB colors (the red is PURE red and the green too), if the screen is the same as its big brother, the LP2480zx.

However, I've read on many forums that ATI video cards manage the oversaturation better than the NVIDIAs. Unless you're a graphics professional and need accurate colors for sRGB images on non color-managed environments (that is, programs which don't support color management), you're lucky with your order

EDIT for clarification: Programs like Photoshop and Firefox 3 are color managed, also The Windows Photo Gallery. That is, on these programs you'll see sRGB and aRGB images as *really* are in a wide-gamut monitor. aRGB images (Adobe RGB color space) only will be displayed as are in a wide gamut monitor. On the other hand, the wide gamut issue is a true concern for playing video. At current date, only the Media Player Classic HomeCinema video player can emulate the sRGB color space in a wide gamut monitor, but a special configuration must be done in the program (it's not easy to get the right values for the viewing). As a result, in any other player the human skin could be reddish (non natural), for example, but again, the ATI Catalyst Control Center workarounds this issue ( you must dim the saturation at 85% level, according to several readings), but not solves the problem perfectly though.