*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

Yes, the 28% discount will be given no matter what the price is..As a matter of fact, i was given a jaw dropping price of $1800 for the non DC2 when i was going thru the DC2 non-availability fiasco 2 months back. That was more than 50% DISCOUNT

Since i can't settle for a non DC2, i skipped the offer and cancelled my order at that time. Now i am working with the same Volume Support CS to see if i can get anything close by that discount for a DC2.

 

You were buying in bunches? Maybe that's why they offer that much discount?

 

Nope, only one. I think they offered that because of the mess-up with DC2 and long wait-time.

 

I don't know how much this will help, but assuming the 8540w uses a similar 8-bit TN panel, here's a review of that laptop which has a handy diagram of the viewing angles.

 

Nope, sorry. I've never used a W500 and haven't used a Thinkpad of any type for more than a few minutes (and even that was a long time ago).

 

Thank you sir. I fail at checking reviews before opening my mouth.

I await with anticipation a demonstration of the input lag difference between the two screen options, although with that 2-3 week delay quote I think I'll just hang with my current order (heh . . . ) and find the cheap screens later to do the upgrade myself. Then I'll have a spare!

Haven't called the SMB folks to whine for a possible further discount yet.

 

And still, no one comes close to my deal. :laugh:

I would have taken the 50% also.
You'll be able to get that display for far less in a few months.

 

Currently I have achieved a 68% discount, but that will drop to 42% once HP bothers to call me and ask why I haven't sent in my old unit yet. Are you figuring in the resale of your 8730w into your "deal"? f not, I don't understand how anyone ordering 1 laptop could be doing better than 50% off list.

 

Well, I'm happy to report that so far the laptop has been rock solid.
I spent a good amount of time yesterday setting up RAID0, dual booting XP/WU7, installing software and transferring files, and everything went fairly smooth. And I'm still not done yet.

Couple of things I've noticed;
1- My system has Hynix RAM. I thought it would be Samsung but no big deal.
2- On CPU-Z, under SPD tab, it does not show any of the RAM sticks on slots 1-4. I have ghost RAM. :laugh:
3- Under the Memory tab, it does show the total. BUT, I noticed a small discrepancy. It only shows 4030MB, instead of 4096MB. I've never seen that before on any laptop or desktop for that matter. However, on the BIOS it does show the full 4096MB, so maybe it's just a problem with CPU-Z.

Finally, on GPU-Z my FX3800M shows up as "65nm" instead of "55nm".As far as I know the 3800M is only made in "55nm", while the 3700M is "65nm".
The timings and the name all match those of the 3800M.
Note: I have the professional video CAD drivers from the HP website installed. Not the "gamer" drivers.

Any thoughts?

 

@RampageII: time for some benchmarks, click on the link in my sig if you want to compare them to the ATI card

 

Do you really need to speed of RAID-0? RAID-0 frightens me... this however coming from a man who runs RAID-6, not 5 for add'l safety.

 

Well, if i had taken the 50% deal and later been unhappy and try the return path to get additional discount, it would be still cheaper.
Anyway, i envy you for getting a dinasour deal
Edit: As Knight questioned, did your deal include the re-sale of 8730W?

I don't have the patience to go thru the custom DIY process and later find myself in a mess. . From what i heard, the IPS(DC2) panel and the regular are a bit different.

 

It provides a nice boost in speed when transferring files and installing software. SolidWorks and Matlab typically take a long time to install on a single laptop drive. But with RAID0 it's much quicker.

To answer your question...no, I don't really NEED it. But since I have a pair of 500GB HDD from my 8730w, I decided to use them.

This time however, I decided to experiment, so I changed the allocation size of from 128KB to 64KB.
Using 128KB, HDTune benchmark was consistent with a max. of 165MB for both XP and W7U.
But now that I'm using 64KB, XP went up to 193MB range, which was a nice boost. On W7U it took a major hit. Initially it was struggling at about 65MB and there were a lot of drops in the graph. The max. was only 136MB, but it didn't last long. Most of the time it was around 105MB.

So I was happy with the XP results but disappointed with W7U results.

 

You've been waiting for over 2 months haven't you?
I would say you've been very patient. :laugh:

As long as you do the proper research and get the right parts, there shouldn't be any problems.
But, to each his own I guess.

 

Wow, this thread is more alive than a disturbed ant nest on a summer noon, lol.

@ RampageII,
I hope you'll join Albert in terms of having a crash-free system. Crossing fing...erm..toes for ya!

 

TN panels (non-DC2) have the least amount of input lag.

 

That's a good point. Gamers beware, lol.
Hopefully, the lag won't be as noticeable as some picture it.

 

I decided to [finally] get active about my order yesterday -- I figured no sense fighting something I couldn't change re: the DC2 wait before -- to check if I could upgrade to an 840 in a timely manner. I was given a ESD of June 25th for the order as it stands (w/an i7-720) and the operator stated that is guaranteed.

...

I am not going to try to get the 840 now; I'll add it later when warranty is about to expire. Instead, I'll take my DC2 equipped machine expected to be delivered to me within a week, thank you very much.

 

You don't really need the 840, minor performance gain, bigger price, possible delays.
In fact, my re-booked order is not even confirmed yet, so it looks like the waiting time will be increased further

 

In the review they've concluded two (among others) drawbacks for 8540w:
1. Cardreader very slow
2. Fan control after load phase ( it reduces its cooling activity to the lower rotation speed again only after you pull the device's plug)

The question to happy 8740w owners - do you see the same problems too?

 

When you resume the system from sleep, does the fan always spin up to medium level, or does it stay off?

 

Thanks Aikimox.
I hope your patience pays off.

On another note, I can't seem to be able to get the webcam to work on W7. On XP, it seems to be limited.

I opted to download/install the drivers for XP and W7 from HP instead of using the driver disks provided.
The website only shows a "universal webcam" driver which is the same for both XP and W7.
In XP, I have to look for it in control panel. Webcam turns on, but the functionality seems limited to just taking pics and transferring files. Everything else is faded. Also the HP folder, normally found in start menu after installing driver, is absent.
In W7, it's worst since I can't find the webcam application at all in control panel and it's also missing the "HP" folder in start menu.

Is there ANOTHER driver still missing?
I can't seem to find any other webcam related drivers on the website. Only the universal webcam driver mentioned before.

I also tried searching for a specific driver from the driver disc, but there's something strange going on.
Once disc is loaded, it asks you to select which drivers to install. OK great, BUT, the only option presented on screen is "install/select all".
There should be a tree selection menu, but instead only the "select all" option is seen.
I also tried clicking on the only option available, but it won't proceed.

What's going on?
How did you get it to work?
Did you simply load the OS and driver disks provided and installed everything?

 

W7 should have its own generic driver. I'd try rolling back to it and then download a webcam software (ex. Youcam) and give it a try.

 

I'm not using sleep mode.
I just turn it off when it's not in use.

I've noticed the fan spinning fast and then quickly slowing down to a quiet state. But that was mostly while doing a lot of installations and transferring files yesterday. Seems logical since it was working hard.

On another note, my 720QM seems to always stay between 55C-65C.
Right now I'm watching Argentina vs Greece and it hovers around 58-60C.
Seems a bit high. Are you guys getting similar temps?
FX3800M is only at 47C.

 

Aikimox,

It's the same driver for both XP and W7. "sp47047"

I checked my 8730w drivers and it uses two drivers.
There's an "HP Webcam" AND "chicony camera" driver.
That's why I was asking if there was another one.

The only one available for the 8740w is an sp47047 "universal camera driver".
I think it needs a 2nd driver, but it's not on the HP website.

 

@RampageII
Have you tried to find out the driver on the disk provided (searching through its folders) and install it manually? You have to look at some '*.ini' file in the driver's folder to install it.

 

No, not through the folders.
Only through the selection screen. But as I mentioned, there were no individual driver selection options.
It asks you to select, but it doesn't provide the options. :laugh:

I guess I'll try that. Maybe I can find the "chicony camera" driver that I seem to be missing.

 

When I ran a bunch of benchmarks (820QM, FX2800M), it usually didn't go above 65 C.

What BIOS version did the system come with?

 

Looks like Intel has posted info on the new i7-processor. Availability is Q3 2010. I can smell delay in my order unless Intel outs it on Jul 1 2010.

Intel® Core i7 Mobile Processor Family

 

Ahhh, success.

This time when I loaded the driver disc, it presented the driver menu list like it was suppose to.
It was missing the webcam software, not driver.

On a side note, these USB 3.0 ports feel tighter than a nun in a convent.

 

Just got my displayport audio working. You need to get the right driver separately from AMD.

 

Just placed my order. Thanks to NotebookGrail for passing the rep info.
They said it'll take about 2-3 weeks lead time before shipping.

I opted for i7-840QM, 8GB RAM, DC2 w/ webcam, ATI M7820, and backlit kbd. I'm really looking forward to having a laptop w/ a decent screen for a change. Hopefully the DC2 is everything it's hyped up to be.

 

Anyone else have an FX3800M?
Has anyone else noticed when checking GPU-Z and CPU-Z that the graphics card is listed as technology: "65nm" instead of 55nm?

According to Notebookcheck GPU information, the FX3800M should be 55nm.

 

Crazy discounts result in inferior hardware! You cannot win 100%. They probably put an older 3700M in there as well as left the CPU without thermal paste.
Don't worry, soon we'll all look back @ it and laugh
:laugh:

Now seriously, all those monitoring tools have some glitches, so don't worry if you see a 100nm, 99999999W or 200C on the GPU. I've seen those 2 many times to care about.

 

Did u manage to hook it up to a HDTV or receiver to see how many channels they output?

 

Yea, here's a link to a thread in Apple's support forum about problems with the displays on MacBook Pro's. Not all MBP's are glossy. There has been a matte/anti-glare version of the 15" and 17" MBP's available for $50 for a while now. I personally dislike glossy displays and don't understand why there are so many people who supposedly prefer it over a matte finish.

 

Damn, serves me well I guess.
I think next time I'll pass.

Haha, now that you mention it, I have seen HWMonitor register 200+ degrees on my old 8710w while browsing the web. LOL
Yeah, I wasn't really too concerned about it. Just checking for consistency. But I guess I'm alone in the green camp.

On the other hand, it's not completely uncommon for manufacturers to use different specs on the same cards. Some graphics cards use GDDR3/GDDR5 as well as different core sizes, despite being labeled with the same model#.
On top of that, sites like notebookcheck don't always have the correct or up-to-date info.

 

Well, light passes through more accurately through a clear glass vs one with a pre-existing filter so it provides a better rendition of the image.
At least that's what they'll have you believe.
In reality the improvements are negligible and certainly do not outweigh the inconvenience of constantly dealing with distracting reflections.

But I guess as long as you're always in a dark room while using, it's not an issue. :laugh:

 

Because they're good looking and you're not.:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

JK. In reality it's true, people think it looks clearer. You can try it yourself, I bet you'll agree too. But for other people, I'm one of them, the distraction of glare is more of a negative over the plus of seeing the clear, true color.

 

I agree, they can change the specs slightly and notebookcheck can't boast a 100% accuracy... On the other hand it's been confirmed in tests and benches within this very thread that your green card is indeed the FX3800M with GDDR3 since the 3DMark06 and Vantage scores are pretty consistent with the overall average scores found on many other forums.
In the end it doesn't matter if it's 55nm or 83.6nm if it performs the way it should.

 

If I change my mind after an order, can I cancel it before it's shipped eventhough it's past production stage?

 

AFAIK, you can cancel it any moment before it's shipped. But call them and confirm to be 100% sure.

 

OK. I haven't order yet, so I'll ask when I order.

 

In dark room with the new backlit keyboard you'll have a change to observe two keyboards (and twenty fingers) at a time. Printing on two keyboards synchronously will not result in double speed of characters appearing on the screen though

 

I found a way to crash my new system within 15 minutes every time...playing Mass Effect (through Steam). Running it in a window seemed to help, it at least got me past all the setup and intro stuff so I could Save before crashing.

I had tons of problems even getting ME to run, ended up running it Compatibility Mode. Not sure that has anything to do with it though. The crashes exhibit the same behavior (fan ramps to HIGH, then insta-crashes 30 seconds later). I tried to watch temps, but running those programs seemed to make it crash right away (though I only tried it once). Overall through, I went through 5 or 6 crashes playing ME tonight, but none all day doing email, Word, Firefox.

 

@ Knight,
Are you using the stock HP video drivers?

 

I have a displayport to hdmi cable running from the 8740w to my Panasonic Viera 32 LCD TV. My TV is then connected to my Sony soundbar via optical cable. I don't have a separate receiver.

Here is what's listed under the "Supported Formats" tab from "ATI HDMI Output Properties":
- Max Number of Channels: 2
- HDCP: Supported
- Bit Depths: 16-bit, 20-bit, 24-bit
- Sample Rate: 32.0 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
- Encoded Formats: No compressed formats found

 

Yes, those are the only drivers I'm aware of. AMD/ATI still has no mention of Mobility Firepro on their website.

 

Cong! Can you PM me the discount?

 

I know this will sound crazy but could you try the Mobility Radeon 5000 drivers? If you go that route - backup your valuable data