*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

Well, who knows how accurate any of these supposed dates are? The delay into June wasn't a problem for me, but now I'm starting to get impatient...

I did find the explanation for the July date interesting ("we have to catch up with all the delayed orders") given that HP showed an estimated shipping date of around June 28 when the DC2 models first reappeared on their website.

 

Ditto. Do most of you get the DC2 option with or without the built-in camera? Do we have any access to a spec sheet on this darn screen? Why the secrecy? Hmm...

 

Specs of the DC2 should be up next week according to Greg. Sometime it takes time due to legal review. I am on the hunt for the specs.

 

hi, Guys,
i am in a spot to choose DC2 panels vs Broadband 3G (specs says 2 can't exist on same machine) tried digging thru. can anyone share how good this DC2 panel compared to "normal" screen? think my quote stated both WUXGA. (full hd?) doing interior design and visualization. really important. but as well connectivity.. here.. i am leaning towards DC2, as 3g still possible with USB stick..

 

Since nobody has the DC2 screen yet - all we can do is guess and speculate.
It's supposed to be an IPS 30-bit panel (LG?). But the first real reviews are to appear in a few weeks from now, I guess.

 

Get a MiFi. Or a phone that has the ability to work as a mobile hotspot: EVO 4G or Droid X

It looks like you'd get unlimited data on Sprint, and Verizon could get very expensive if you go over the limit.

 

Sorry guys

I have to put it bluntly. Microsoft currently does not fully support 10bit format on Vista as well as Win7 platform. If anyone is inclined to get a 10bit panel for medical purpose, please look away now.

Matrox Xenia is the current available choice for 10bit format, although it may cost you dear after processing the payment.

 

I wonder when HP will integrate the function of hardware color calibration into 8740W product line.

 

Thanks for pointer,
I am at SEA, SG. BB is unlimited, but slow only 1M.
am using andriod Desire at the moments, not sure if its good, but seem capable of tethering too, just not sure what the speed like,

but thinking HP already quoting me with DC2 Panels, and nothing mentioned of the delivery delay due to that panel. so i guess its ready? better check out this.

Thanks again.

 

Oh, Bro,
Can you help clarify a bit here, cos, i think somewhere HP is showcasing their DC2 panels already and i assumed its on Windows platform? with your hindsight ill probably go with 3G already.

 

There was some definite confusion with early SandForce drives, probably not unrelated to the use of firmware not approved for mass release. Drives using the now-tested, up-to-date and release-approved firmware (e.g. the Vertex 2E) should escape that, but I'll grant that they haven't been out long enough to know.

In any case, it's a small drive in a laptop - shouldn't be hard to keep your critical data, or even *all* of your data backed up. If I'm not mistaken Windows 7 can finally do live, incremental full-system images, so no good excuse not to. I you're multi-booting, Linux can of course do the backup for all the drives, or you can use ext2fsd and try backing everything up from Windows (it's quite reliable; all my Windows machines use ext2 for their data-storing partition).


SSDs being fundamentally different architecturally from HDs means that their performance profiles are also quite different, and they do have those weak points. That said, I think that now that it has TRIM, the P256 (or any other branded Samsung PB22-J) shouldn't have any spots where it's bad compared to a slow notebook HD. Wouldn't go with anything lower-performance though - that's where you're likely to experience the fun of SSD stutter.

 

Care to elaborate? What do you mean by "does not fully support"? From that presentation in California months ago it looked darn supported to me

 

You are the MAN, NotebookGrail! So ok great, I'm going to go ahead and place the order then. Any final recommendations as to which graphics card, which CPU (as far as the most bang for your buck scenario), or anything else? Do most of you order the DC2 with or without camera, by the way?

Please forgive me, guys, if this has been asked before, but what was the reason again as to why the ATI DirectX 11 card is so much cheaper than even the "low end" NVIDIA Quadro FX2800M??? Who would be a candidate for one of the NVIDIA cards and who might benefit more from the ATI one? Also, The DC2 display is available with any of the cards, yes? Sorry, my paranoia dictates that I ask this question anyway. Another potentially dumb question would be as to whether or not one card will display a better quality picture over another gfx card?

Do we have an approximate ETA for those who order the 8740w w/ the DC2 panel as of this moment?

Thanks all!

 

He's talking about medical applications. Unless you're using the 8740w in a hospital as a doctor, you can disregard his post.

 

Its not true. According to the public video available in youtube, it does support. And according to private conversation with Greg, it (Windows 7) does support. And 8740W DC2 uses the same technology as the LP2480zx monitor. If the monitor can be run on a windows 7 OS, why wouldn't it on a laptop?
The only time it will happen is when the graphic card doesn't output 10 bit, may be? . The ATI M7820 for sure supports 10 bit output.

 

That's true, but if data is really important (and time is somewhat tight) I would still stick with the Intel or the Corsair. Certainly waiting for a while to see how the Sandforce based drive performs after a few months is important IMO. While you can backup your data, if the drive dies on you, you will have to spend hours of replacing it, reinstalling the OS software etc.

It's the drivers. The ATI CAD/professional cards are weak. Even a lower end Quadro like the FX880 can outperfrom the Firepro easy in most professional software like autoCAD, and the like.

 

If this is 100% true (I think so), don't worry about 10-bit color component output, because it's very likely the DC2 panel will have a very accurate sRGB emulation mode (I claimed it several times before), and even if Windows 7 is not color managed (and I think so too), the sRGB mode will subdue the wide color spectrum and you'll see an almost perfect standard RGB monitor. No more red tones on skins, no more oversaturation overall. The HP LP2480zx is able to achieve this. Finally, even if you're a doctor, I recommend you the DC2 panel rather than the normal panel, with better color fidelity and better contrast and brightness than the normal, you'll be able to see more details in your X-rays.

Correction: It seems Windows 7 has the necessary technology (color engine) to manage color in non-color managed apps, but it's disabled by default in the GUI and Internet Explorer 8 . On the other hand, Windows Photo Gallery is a color-managed app. A thread about this issue was open in the public Technet forum and no official answer has been posted yet.

 

Ha!

Mine (DC2 & Backlit): "Total Number of Business Days in Config: 73"
It also still sits at: "Wave (Picking Process) 04/15/2010 6:18:46 PM"
More Info Button Reads: "Est. Ship Date 06/30/2010 Scheduled/SCHD"

@m80: How did you find out your order has been built and shipped? I'd like to find out now too as my rep is no longer answering my e-mails.

 

oops.. Thanks,
"I have to put it bluntly. Microsoft currently does not fully support 10bit format on Vista as well as Win7 platform. " i tot so he mentioned that... anyway.. really why cant hp just make BB and DC together..

 

The current issues.< 10bit x 3 +2=32)

1. WDDM driver support < Nvidia--> Non/ATI--> Non/Matrox-> Ok, but circumstantial.

2.Core of Win7/Vista

I don't want to offend all of you, but I just want to acknowledge these unresolved issues those companies don't want you to know even now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Me!!!

Gamers. :tongue: :laugh:

 

nVidia GLM5 2GB GDDR5

 

30-bit monitors exist for quite some time now and are fully supported under all operating systems, even the latest linux has it. Since you don't care to elaborate your statements -> I will.

First, the video cards:

32bit and 30bit are two totally different things:

 

Nvidia GLM5 2GB is a quadro variant of the 480M card, which is on par with the M7820 (MR5870) in most games except for heavy tessellation (2-3 games). In addition, due to the 2GB GDDR5 and 100W the card runs very hot, it was tested in a Clevo D900F (has one of the best cooling systems in the notebooks up to date) and ran @84C during normal gaming. If that's a normal gaming temp in a Clevo - it will turn any other system into a BBQ-grill.
Not to mention the cost - 480M is ~900$ (Quadro will be about 1.5-2x of that) while the M7820 is ~300$

 

I am talking about the native 10bit, not the vibrant 10bit.

 

Windows 7 does support native 10-bit. ATI M7820 and Firepro and nVidia cards support it. The problem is the software that display the pictures doesn't support it yet fully. For sure Adobe CS5 doesn't support and is the process of doing it.
Link from Adobe forum

Edit: Looks like Adobe CS4 and CS5 does support, but not fully?
http://www.amd.com/us/Documents/48108-B_ATI_FirePro_Adobe_10-Bit_FAQ_R5_Final.pdf

 

So at the moment 10 bit is senseless because no sw supplier like Adobe or Phase One for my photography workflow does or even plan to support fuel 10 bit per chennel? That's indeed very stupid... (((

I would buy immedeately the new high-end laptop from HP to be mobile... But need good, accurate sRGB mode too.

Is there a trick maybe to get internal good sRGB status? Loading some HP hardware LUT to internal display?

Best, Walter

 

Hey, Looks like ATI quietly added the Firepro M7820 Specs on its website.
ATI M7820 Specs

 

I am on a hunting spree now and came across this interesting quote from HP.
Mobile Workstations & film editing, an interview with Chris Convertito

Look at what Chris says for the last question - ROFL based on what folks here are experiencing.

Also to note - he sasy 8GB DIMMS available later in the year - does it mean 32GB Memory?

 

Yes --- I believe Win 7 (64 bits) will support up to 128GB of RAM, so a quad core 8740w should allow 4 x 8 GB RAM (all for as much or more than the original cost of the machine, most likely ).

 

According to MS ( linky), 192GB is the limit . But, we are limited by the Mobile Chipset/processor - currently they support only 8GB per stick max(so 32GB).

 

Glad I didn't read this BS before buying, I didn't expect this machine to be silent or cool to the touch, and it's not. This guy is an idiot.

 

I got AutoCAD LT 2011 today. As expected, it runs great. I'm very happy to see it pop open drawing batches that nearly choked my old Sony. I do need to go back to 8 GB RAM though, one drawing had an issue with hatch size exceeding available memory. It will be interesting to see if my number of crashes goes back up.

 

Or may be he is right...We are experiencing the system being blown whenever the fan heats up. It might be just that the system is true to his words - it blows away when it starts to be 'not cool' or 'not silent'

 

Can it be "quiet that you can barely hear it" while doing an idle work (like simple browsing, or reading a text) or it's always not true?

Thermal profile could be changed by fixing the BIOS. I know that they will fix the bug with running fans after resuming from standby. May be they'll take care of that too.

 

If you compare it to other high end laptops, it probably does run cool and silent.
BTW, is it really that loud and hot to touch?

 

Dude's was up guys I was wondering if there is a build for the elitebook that offers a well round quad core i7 that has HT and has atleast 6MB Cache and has a ATI FirePRO for under 3000 bucks bro? I did some research with my school and found out that higher clock speed doesn't give subtantial performance boost so i guess a i7 running at 1.66GHZ or something is really good. I looked at some GPU test and the ATI FirePRO kill's all, thats a beast

Also i found out which programs my school officially uses, check out the quote at the bottom of my post

So is there? Also i believe that the elitebook has not heating problems, plus the Precision M6500 base price is actually over 3000 THAT SUCKS

Thanks in Advance

EDIT* If u people don't believe me this is the site: http://www.mae.carleton.ca/maehtmls/computing.html

 

Walter,

Read this POST. Also, I recommend you read the HP LP2480zx review and watch the impressive deltaE's achieved in sRGB mode.

I hope this helps.

 

I do not think it is loud or hot. But I also don't think it is "nearly silent" or "cool to the touch" "even under heavy load". I think it is well designed and can handle the heat it generates appropriately. You will hear the fan and feel the warmth, as you should expect from a powerful laptop.

 

@knight427
Of cause one will hear running fan when the laptop is "under heavy load". No questions asked. But what about that when it's not under the heavy load? When you're just reading this tread, for example? Or editing a text file?

Is there even a point to purchase SSD to make laptop silent (just one of the reasons to but it), if all the time you hear the fan?

 

@nbr99: By default, I believe the fan is always on unless you change that in the BIOS. I changed it on my first 8740w but not on my second (the one I am using right now). I cannot hear the fan in lowest setting above my current background noise which is currently dominated by distant tire/road noise in my left ear (~1 mile from an interstate..open windows tonight) and my always-spinning HDD in my right ear. If I put my ear above Caps Lock, I can hear both the Intel platform buzzing and the fan gently humming.

...going to close windows right now...

I still can't hear the fan and CPU over HDD, so SSD will reduce overall level, by getting out of the way. If you flip the fan setting in BIOS, I'm guessing you'll still hear the CPU buzzing if your room is otherwise completely silent. Currently I have to get my ear ~1ft above the keyboard to hear the fan, and ~4 inches to hear the buzzing.

If I can remember, I'll borrow a sound level meter this Thursday and do some actual measurements.

 

Interesiting indeed. So bro two questions:

1). How is the ATI FirePRO M7820? Hows the temperature? So did u use any CAD software yet? Any performance gain/drop? Also did try to game with it?

2). How much does your current rig cost you? I might buy it off HP? Also did u buy it from the state's?

Thanks in advance

 

i'm closing on you percentage wise; up to 69 now By the time your wait hits infinity I'll just about be right there w/ya! <hehehe>

I was assured it was definitely going to go into production on the 25th. And I've got various delivery dates of th 28th or 1st showing. Regardless of that, I'm not expecting anything to be definitive (which explains my use of "supposedly"). Still haven't gotten a reply from the person who assured me it would go into production on the 25th tho as to the disposition of the item. I'm supposed to be leaving for vacation on the 1st, and it would be beyond irritating if I need to wait longer to sign for it, or if it goes back to HP because noone was here to receive it.

 

@knight427
Thanks a lot! Please do and let us know your findings.

Please elaborate a little bit about the change in BIOS that you did with your first 8740w. You mean one can change temperatures when the fan starts running on different speeds (or even when it starts running at all)?

I'm working in a quiet environment and that's why it's important to me to know if 8740w can perform silently (under a lite load).

 

That's more than 2 questions.

1) The card seems great for my needs. Temps are mid 40s at idle and under 80 when playing Portal. I have used AutoCAD LT 2011 and it is working great. Not the most demanding of CAD software though.


2) I paid just under $2k (in the US), but that was for 720qm, 4GB and 250GB HDD. I got an upgraded unit from HP so they can investigate these crashes some of us have been having.

 

Interesting..Can u send me the link to the order site? I really wanna get my hands on the awesome GPU power of a ATI FirePRO M7820 with a nice quad core i7 CPU with 8mb Cache or so. i don't think u need i7 extremes, even for the programs im gonna be using

Also hmm sorry if that was more then two questions. ALso ty for graph I wanna get the same rig as u the one in ur sig

 

Regarding the fan noise and heat.

Fan noise:
My system has the "fan always on" feature disabled.
When system is idling or performing light work, the fan can be heard. But it's a fairly gentle humming. It competes with my two HDs, but the HDs still win. RAID0 FTW! :laugh:
For example, right now all I'm doing is browsing and my 720QM core temps are in the 54c-58c range, the GPU is at 46c and current ambient temp is 29c.
I'm surprised how cool the FX3800M is. My 3700M was hotter than this.
The fan DOES turn off. The problem is that the temperature has to be below 47c-48c, which almost never happens. Unless you lift the keyboard.
Side Note: Actually, if it was just air circulation (like 8710w, 8730w), it would be even less noticeable. But this sucker also has a humming noise coming from the fan motor.
The humming is louder than the air circulation. That's why I asked "knight" to check on his and indeed, his is the same. It is a bit annoying, but I'm getting used to it.



Heat:
The palmrest does feel pretty warm, but it doesn't bother me much.
Keyboard area is cooler than palmrest.
Again, keep in mind the current ambient temp. is about 29c, so it's pretty hot where I am.

Actually, if it wasn't for you guys talking about fan noise and heat, I wouldn't even be thinking about it.

Thanks A LOT for reminding me!! :laugh:

 

@ True Sultan: I'm not sure how you can order in Canada, I thought I heard you can't configure these there. If you order through the US website, you won't get a very good discount, you need to order through a rep over the phone or over email. But again, this in the US. I'll be happy to send you my reps contact info if you have some way of ordering it in the US.

 

I was feeling adventurous tonight so I re0installed the other 8GB...uh more crashes coming bye

 

Always ready to help a friend

Regarding the humming sound - I'd call rep and ask about that one. It cost nothing (I guess ), but it may be resolved in some positive way. Just knock that damn door, may be it'll be opened

Where are you getting those 29C? It's should be very hot there... Not surprising that computer will require the fan run all the time