*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

Negative Ghost Rider. I'm still in a holding pattern. In fact, my rep just gave me another 10% off for my patience. :wink:

He still hasn't given me a straight answer though...

 

You mean the sales rep?

 

Just moves me up in line...

 

I see there's no chance of getting ahead of you, m8... hehehe

 

I am here..I am here
No news from Greg yet. I did ask him a few more questions, no replies yet.

 

looks ok for me.. its even

 

You mean on the keyboard? Mine is fine.

 

@xsrx & AlbertRacoon: Thank you guys for your inputs.

@NotebookGrail: I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping Greg would take part on this thread Remind him that he, as a HP employee, can take part on these forums with a few restrictions. He just need to read the forum rules....

It would be nice a HP specialist would post on NBR forums. It could help a lot to many people and he could promote his products. Dell product manager havoctex do this on these forums.

 

Right. I keep playing dumb and asking for the reason for the delay. Has anyone's rep been straight with them? Its not that I put the blame on him, he simply placed an order for me for a system that was available. I have to think that someone is getting reamed for pulling the availability trigger too soon.

 

Some news/rumors! According to Knight427 8740w will get the backlit keyboard option starting from 24th of May.
Here.

 

I do not understand why it is not a normal feature and not all 8740w have that keyboard... only HP knows

 

No way from HP. I've just spoke to their head of enineers and he said that they dont read any coments on forums and never pay attention to that what users say online. He said that they dont have any service note about 8740w problems but their want my laptop for tests. The lap will be tested by one of their seniors (but they are not available now - will be in about 2 weeks).

BTW all te optional warranties on their web are useless and missleading - the offers are not related to the 8740w but to the accesories lol. So if you buy optional repair in your location you will just waste your money as they dont have such service at all.

Only one thing I've managed to get is that HP is coming to collect the laptop (they usually ask you to send it)

So basicly their service sux

 

Why isn't the warranty on the 8740w on-site? They give that standard on the 8540w and 8440w.

 

Hi Aikimox,

Everyone here wants a laptop for work purposes and they want the product that closest matches their needs with the least amount of known issues at present time (no one can see the future yet). Especially when you consider we are talking about a laptop that costs as much as an used car.
We do not owe anything to HP (we do not drink beers with them on the weekend to try to do them a favor). As for your passionate statement that HP business laptops rock, to quote an investement prospectus: "Past performance is not an indication of future results".
As you suggested the smartest thing is to give a manufacturer time to polish the product. By that stament the smartest choice today would be to buy the Dell M6500. It has been out since Dec 2009 and from its NBR forum you can see that the biggest issue has been calibrating the screen properly.
Out of the 3 "Dark Horses" (M6500, W701 and 8740w) I liked the marketing stuff about 8740w being rugged. But I still cannot understand how they can only fit 1 drive and DVD or 2 drives in this mamoth of a laptop when the competition can fit 2(3) + DVD. And don't get me started on their website.
None of this means that HP sucks. It simply means that today other options seem much better unless you have a powerfull HP bias and want to believe.
Personally, I want one of these 3 laptop because I want to option to go to 16GB RAM if I so choose (in my mind it is a way of future proofing).
Also personally, I have a Lenovo bias because my last laptops were Lenovo/IBM and they were very reliable. However now that I am in the market, I read the forums on latest Lenovo laptops and decided to open it up.

P.S. Good luck with your 8740w but rememeber one more thing: the people on these forums are enthusiasts that like to have the best and newest thing. Who else would pay so much money for a laptop? So if the laptop is not the best or cannot be had for 2-3 months then why not go somewhere else or get some more mainstream? Just cause HP rocks?

 

Well, eventually we all need computers to use. There's a limit to how long we can wait. Personally, I'd still like to buy an 8740w when the DC2 becomes available.

Hope this is true -- and that HP manages to keep the DuraKeys finish.

Seems like a pretty stupid move on HP's part. "We don't care what our customers want." Sounds like something from Apple's bag of tricks.

That conflicts with my and my colleagues' experience with onsite service from the various vendors. Just last week, for instance, a coworker called Lenovo support for some dead pixels on his W700ds. A service person came to the office the next day and installed a new RGBLED panel, no questions asked. If you paid for service onsite by next business day, and you're not getting it, then you need to demand a refund from HP and possibly talk to an attorney.

 

I'm willing to wait and give HP some more time because of a few important things:

DC2 screen (none of the competitors has it). If you're into business laptops, you should be able to appreciate that panel.

Full Metal Jacket read this review, it can tell you a few things about build quality of their business line systems.

Semi-Rugged - not a must, but a very nice bonus.
________________________________________

The issue with 3 and 4th slots of RAM is gonna be fixed.
Now M6500 is out for quite some time and I've been following it from the days of announcement. I remember the frustration when the first owners were getting random BSODs 10 times a day and it took Dell almost half a year to fix the problem. They still got some issues (with USB 3.0 micro boards, for example).

Bottom line, when I say "HP business notebooks rock", I mean the current systems and based on extensive and comprehensive (comparative) research. It's a big IMHO, of course. So take it or leave it.

 

I'll be placing my order through my rep on Monday when backlit keyboards become available. You can see my configuration in my signature. No DC2 for me, so hopefully it will be a reasonably short turnaround time. If I ordered today w/o the backlighting my quote claims it would ship by 5/27.

The problems with RAM slots 3 and 4 are concerning, but I'm confident the problem will be worked out by the time I wish to upgrade. DC2 sounds nice, but the cost is not worth it for me. Having an upgradable GPU sounds promising, though I'll have a lot to learn before I try that. I assume this voids the warranty, so I will consider what upgrades are possible after my 3 yr warranty expires. As always, I'll rely on braver souls around here to try it out before me.

Anyway, I'm very excited to finally be ordering a new laptop. I think the increased performance will be substantial...to put it lightly. Has anyone tried running modern benchmarks on a P4 laptop with integrated graphics? I thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side comparison of my old Sony vs the new HP...pointless...but fun.

 

I'm pretty sure of this. Do you remember the battery drain on the 8730w? HP found the cause, after several months and reports from numerous users, eventually they fixed it. Only DreamColor panels have this issue, because the real cause was a cable bad connected to the ambient light sensor (if I'm not wrong).

But yes, it's not good that a machine certified with "militar testing" like this, subjected to exhaustive tests for several months, it's released with these severe bugs (I consider the slot issue is a severe bug).

And it's GOOD the DC2 panel will took some time to appear. The same for the backlit keyboard (but more important is the testing for the DC2). You don't want color tints on corners, don't you? You don't want dithering on gray scales, don't you? Many DreamColor panels in the 8730w had color tints (blueish and reddish). Imagine if these parts would be released with very few testing... Yes, it's annoying to wait too much time to order that thing, but it would be worse to buy it and get all of these problems, don't you? And although the DC2 panel will be an IPS panel rather a TN panel ("new technology" said someone before), it still might have color tints. For example, the HP LP2475w desktop monitor has a 8-bit H-IPS panel and HAS color tints (pink) on many batches.

I'm not a HP fan boy, in fact, I have no products from this brand, but I think the 8740w will be a hell good system. And for those who want to wait for an hypothetical 8750w: keep in mind it's very likely the 8740w will be the last computer of the EliteBook line with a 16:10 screen. For developers like me, this is a must.

 

Totally agree, especially with this
VV

 

Ughhh. The thought these machines might be the very last with 16:10 is supremely depressing.

There doesn't seem to be any good solution for 17" laptops, either, if you insist on >=1200 vertical pixels. At a 16:9 resolution of 2240x1260, at 17" panel would be 151 ppi. The size would have to increase to 19.7" to get back to 130 ppi.

 

I might be wrong, but I suspect the 8740w will be around for a while, with upgrades to newer cpu's and gpu's rather than a whole new line.

 

The new line will appear in a year from now together with Sandy Bridge. Intel will have at least one CPU refresh before that (580M/740QM/840QM/940XM)

 

And maybe our DC2 equipped machines' delivery will be delayed enough for the 840QM to become available. While I chose not to get the 820, the 840 seems to be a perfect bled of speed and efficiency.

 

Kinda like how the current 8470w was released together with Clarksfield in Sept 2009?

 

Yeah, but these new CPUs will be more of a slight bump, and less of a major architectural change. Should be much easier to integrate into existing desgns.

 

It's Friday, 6:30pm local time.

No 8740w in sight.



edit:
HP pulled an AlPacino on me... Generally the plan isn't bad.
Futhermore, some data entry person didn't update my spec, it's shown as having DC2. *sigh*

 

Sorry to hear it, nsiboro. You probably would have received a tracking number if the order had actually shipped. Without that number, the estimated delivery date seems pretty much meaningless. For weeks, my order status indicated delivery on the current date -- even on weekends, when UPS does not deliver. Patience is advised.

 

Someone in HP-Country sh*te bricks on Wednesday - email records, useful, this.

I ordered it thru a reseller, who is then required by HP-Country to order from a HP-Distributor. The Disti then login to HP-Country system to place the order, after that it's HP-internal. It's the biz-model for HP in this country. I don't get a tracking number as the 8740w won't be couriered directly to me. There are updates from the reseller, but with these layers - things got a lot screwy.

I waited 3weeks from order-date; then I turned up the heat - directed at HP-Country (that was 2weeks back). Plus a prior 1week+ to get a bid-price... I've been waiting for 7weeks. Some of you had waited longer. Maybe one of the reserved post in the first page should tally who ordered, status, total waiting time.
Or maybe a thread purely for delivery info. Could be useful... throw in a prize for last person to get the 8740w after a cut-off date... Naaah... more work for you.

Honestly. HP-PDM is good.

The CAP/arrangement we reached is reasonably, shall we say "business friendly"...

From now, HP can take "forever" long to resolve:
1] Spec > is NOT DC2, another hefty discount on top of the bid price
2] Mobo design, RAM-slots problem
3] Backlit keyboard recovery
4] *delete*
5] *delete*

Yeah - it was bad, but I'm over it. I am simply not bothered now.
Thanks for your advise to be patience.

Before I forget: This afternoom, Lenovo promised delivery within 2weeks if I order the W701 on Monday. Hah! HAH!

 

Hey I have a question perhaps very silly...but please do answer...

Say I take8740w with WUXGA.... and later want to upgrade to RGBLED... can I do that or should I have to buy a new one??

 

This will depend on whether your rep allow tagging for future upgrade and/or trade-in. I know of a program by HP-leasing whereby they "upgrade" any config to the latest tech, within a set duration. best is to talk to your rep - it may differ from country-to-country.

another method:
if you are in a sizable company - do a downgrade. your notebook goes to someone else, and you get the new DC2-equipped 8740w. it's practical, considering it is an upgrade to the downstreamer, etc. etc. and you need not wait for the DC2 to become a-life.

 

You can always upgrade by buying the parts separately and installing/replacing them by yourself. Keep in mind, the price is gonna be ridiculously high.

 

A question for NotebookGrail (actually for Mr. Greg Staten). This question is not DreamColor-related but I think Mr. Staten could pass it on to another HP employee:

I see 256GB SSD's only are shown in the Specifications tab of the HP USA Website (as an optional primary drive). I'd like to know when do these drives will be available in another countries? (specifically Spain, my country ).

Thanks in advance, NG

 

Maybe now as long as it is new and in short supply, but not forever. Look at what happened with the HP8730w: the DC is still listed as a $400 or so option on HP's site, but it can be acquired for as little as $130 from independent suppliers online, so it is a safe bet that the DC2 will be available direct from the manufacturer or its distributors as well.

 

Hmmm, I'm sure it's just another mistake made by HP like the one when they sold QX9300's for 500$ for a few long months and many forum members made money on reselling those
If it happens with DC2 - I'm gonna become rich, really rich, hehe. I mean it.

 

Just checked the price for 8730w DC panel - 1353.75$. Part number: 494015-001. Here you go!

 

$1353 ?! That's quite a bit of money.

 

Oh yeah HP is known for ridiculously pricing the upgrade/replacement parts. In fact, almost every manufacturer does so (Dell/Lenovo). Luckily, there are those Clevo resellers that can sell you compatible parts (CPU/GPU) for a decent price.

 

$1353.75? Nonsense! Buy it now at $120.99

 

That's a scam. That panel is either non-existent or just faulty. The cheapest AW screens are 500$+ on Ebay, and DC is much more expensive. So go ahead and waste a hundred bucks, hehe. That's beyond ridiculous. A 17" piece of glass costs more.

 

I'm sorry inflicting you the pain of breaking your illusion, but you are mistaken, these panels exist, for that price...

No personal offense, but it never ceases to amaze me finding how credulous consumers are, especially when it comes to believing marketing! Don't you know that in this modern world, "you get what you pay for" is only meaningful to the 10% actual manufacturing cost and that the 90% remaining is pure and simple BS?!

And BTW, do you REALLY think HP would have spent 2 x 1,3XX dollars for warranty service on my $1,200 laptop without flinching and without testing the darn thing if it cost them even one quarter of their asking price? Come On! We well know their pricing structure is totally artificial... It's a BUSINESS laptop after all! Business pricing = No questions asked, the buyer passes on the cost to his customer...

 

Very interesting, are you sure we're talking about the same screen? the links you provided point to a regular WUXGA LED LCD and I meant the IPS panel.

BTW, I never justified the high price HP and others ask for their parts. But to me it looks rather strange that someone is selling an IPS panel with 8-bit per color, for 120$ on Ebay without even a picture or/and some detailed description.
Wish I could buy 10 DC2 (IPS 10-bit per color) panels for 1000$, lol.

That's regarding illusions. Check their website again.

 

Has anyone ordered one of the preconfigs from Amazon or Tigerdirect?

 

preconfigs don't get the DC2 screen, so it's a no go for me.

 

Yeah, I don't really need the DC2, but I would like the Firepro with a WUXGA screen, which they don't have in preconfig, and the custom configs are ridiculously overpriced. Would it be possible to get the WUXGA screen aftermarket? I'm not sure if it was this thread or the 8540w thread where someone said changing screens isn't too hard.

 

It's not hard and not too expensive compared to a DC panel.
I wonder why you need a FirePro if you can have 2x5870 in your M17X. Same card

 

I like the look of the elitebooks and the weight is alot better compared to the M17x. Plus I'd like to go back to a single GPU solution. However, an Elitebook with Firepro and WUXGA screen costs as much as my current comp, so I think its a no go. I want to be able to have a versatile workstation computer that can game decently as well, and the HP Elitebooks seem like the closest match. How well does a 8540w or 8540p game?

 

The price is not too high if you purchase through a rep. I got my config with a 25% OFF = crazily cheap.

Now, regarding gaming... I think there might be a problem with business systems. I mean, yes, you can game on it but 2 major things might make it a painful experience: Response times of business anti-glare screens (especially IPS) are not perfect - the picture moves slightly less smooth than on gaming systems. And of course a pro GPU is not too perfect for that as well. But, yeah, the system looks very attractive as an all-around business + medium gaming rig.

 

Cool, I'll try a rep if my M17x sells. If not, I'm still happy with it

 

If I could have an anti glare DC2 screen in M17X, that would be the only system for me for a few years to come...

 

First of all, you did mean the SPS DreamColor panel. I don't want to start a flame war, but you're obviously mistaken. There is no LED LCD for the 8730w, only a CCFL LCD and an RGB LED LCD. And the link I provided was for the LG Philips LP171WU5-TLB1. If you had an 8730, you would know the DC is an LG Philips LP171WU5-TLB1.

if rcboyit was able to get one on ebay, I don't see why you keep insisting it's not possible.

Not so fast, you were specifically talking about the DC panel in the 8730w, not the DC2. And yes, I did check the website.