*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

Should be:

A plane loaded with HP notebooks crashes, but crew miraculously survives. Out of the HP notebooks, all the elitebooks survived without any damage due to their rugged construction, while the pavilions, dv#s, and envys were all less fortunate.

 

if only that were true ahahah XD

IM GETTING AN ELITEBOOK....SAY WAH? LMAO yeah they better sell dem in a store in New York

 

Just a note: the Dell Precision M6500 is already available with the FirePro M7820. So now the DreamColor panel is the only exclusive feature for the 8740w/8540w.

Perhaps this fact may change the mind of some undecided potential buyers (or already buyers they've made their orders and they still continue waiting).

 

@HiddenUser: Well, there's price too. My Dell rep was crappy, so unless you win the coupon lottery or can get a personal discount from your company's Dell account, I think there will be a fairly big price difference. Then again, I haven't spec'd out a M6500 for a long time, so I could be wrong.

 

I forgot to say the M7820 for the M6500 (surprisingly) is not available in America, but in Europe For example, it's available in Dell UK and Dell Spain...

 

And the fact that if you drop a 8740w or use it in a desert, it'll probably still work fine, whereas a M6500 will die. And the 8740w has i7-840 processors. And a USB 3.0 port. And I can't find the FirePro M7820 in the configurator, only a mention of a 7740 (USA).

The only advantage I can find with the M6500 is that it has more than 1 HDD slot. I want to say the M6500 is heavier and larger too.

 

Jul 13, 2010 4:17 PM
Departed FedEx location
ANCHORAGE, AK

 

Well and what about if you're not a soldier nor an archeologist? Do you need that MIL-STD-810G certification? And remember, that certification is not intended for endurance in real hard conditions, read the disclaimer note on the HP website.

The M6500 has the 920XM since the beginning, when it was released. And yes, it also has 2 USB 3.0 ports like the 8740w. And it has one advantage over the 8740w: it uses a 3.2MP webcam (the 8740w it has the old 2.0MP camera).

With that said, I'm still interested in the 8740w, but that note may help some buyers who are tired of waiting.

 

Looks like HP has quietly updated the ATI M7820 Driver and is available for download. Though its dated 19th May, it was available only today. The interesting piece to it is - the description says its compatible with M7820, M5800 and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series.

Edit: So are the NVIDIA Drivers updated on Jul 5.

 

It'd be better to see if it runs reliably on a plain desk first. So far we observe a lot of sudden crashes with it

And second, Dell claims that Precision M6500 passes MIL-810 tests: Dell Precision M6500 review - PC Advisor

 

The 920XM seems to be a strictly inferior chip to the 840; it's equal or worse in everything from performance to power use.

And maybe European M6500s have upgraded specs, but USA M6500s only have a 2MP webcam, not a 3.2MP webcam. And The USB 3.0 ports aren't in the specs, but I just found them in the config page (without specifying how many ports there are).

A certification is a certification and it meets the requirements for the certification. If you read carefully, it doesn't say that it's not intended for "real" hard conditions, it says the certification is not intended as a bid for military contracts. I don't think any computer ever made passes all the tests for MIL-STD-810G, and the 8740W certainly does not, although it passes more than 99% of laptops out there.

So it seems the European M6500s may be a good alternative to the 8740w if you can't stand HP (which is understandable), but the USA version of the M6500 still has no advantages besides the 2nd HDD over the 8740w while retaining many disadvantages.

Funny how not even Dell advertises that, and the only reviews that mention it are pcadvisor, techworld, networkworld, and infoworld, which are all written by the same reviewer and is actually the same exact review.

 

Actually, I have very little doubt that both M6500 and 8740w will be equally spec'ed soon. I'm sure, both W70Xx and M6500 will have the IPS screen option as well.
But I'd like to try out the metal workstation this time, so Lenovo is out, and as was mentioned - Dell is pretty expensive.
But if HP gives us enough reasons to abandon it - I'm off to W701 at the next 30% OFF deal

 

I installed the new ATI driver and ran 3DMark06 and Cinebench again. While running 3Dmark06 I noticed the fan behaving differently. It regularly kicked into the highest mode that normally indicates a crash is coming, but then ramped back down after only 1 or 2 seconds. I don't recall this ever happening before the new driver (and keep in mind I did my sound testing while running 3DMark06, so I paid a lot of attention to the fan behavior before).

The fan did not behave this way while running Cinebench however.

Cinebench dropped from 26.46 to 26.37 (-0.3%), 3DMark06 dropped from 13,063 to 12,892 (-1.3%). Probably within repeatable error.

Max Temps during 3DMark06:
CPU: 82
GPU: 69

 

OK, I've edited the first posts to fix any obviously obsolete information, broken links, etc. That will do until I actually read to the end of the thread, which is going to take a few days.

 

Or you can go with the x7200

 

Have you applied new BIOS or you still use the stock one?

In both cases it's a bit weird. Fan jumping to max mode should be somehow justified...

 

I am still on F.03, so no new BIOS for me. In fact, "my guy" at HP is completely ignoring my emails, so I've got nothing from the inside to report.

My guess regarding the fan is that maybe the fan is still being triggered by something, but it now does a double-check on the temps and sees that it can ramp down and ignore the critical state. But this is total guesswork from a guy who can't even handle running Ubuntu, so what could I possibly know about it.

 

Huh. Several others have reported not being allowed to change, and I just got a message back saying no changes allowed. :-(

I'm considering putting in a second order with the better config, then canceling whichever doesn't come first . . . however, the new for-your-trouble discount makes that a less attractive equation.

AAAAAARGHH. You had me all excited!

 

I was one of them who re-ordered with a 840QM. When i did i made sure they applied the credit from the previous cancelled april Order and also apply new credits as well. One interesting thing about the credit is i got a Credit Memo mail from HP yesterday and it included Tax. Basically Credit+Tax given back to me.

Its all about co-ordination between your sales rep, CS SMB rep and you. I did by having them both on the line in a conf. call...I know its too much-but its worth the credit.

 

I didn't get to change the order for the processor either. But I was rewarded with a nice sum of credits . And also, my 8740w just arrived! My camera isn't working right now, but you can be sure that I will be putting the panel to test with my EyeOneDisplay2 hardware calibrator and its software. I will report those results as I get some time to play with the laptop.

Btw, I was surprised how small and light the package was... I guess I am just used to receiving desktop parts.

 

Horray! We got the winner!
Congrats! That was one helluva long wait.
Looking forward to your feedback.

 

My system crashed while booting this morning. That's nothing new, but it is my first crash since installing the new ATI driver...so no solution there.

 

Winner, winner! Chicken dinner! Congrats! Mine still says departed Memphis and hasn't arrived locally.

Here's to hoping for a Fedex end-of-day miracle...

 

Thanks guys, this sure was a long wait. I actually had to take a vacation day today to wait for the fedex people... Because otherwise it will NEVER get here...

Complaints aside, now my problem is whether to use my just arrived Hybrid Samsung XT 500GB as my os drive or the 160GB SSD that has been waiting for 2 months for a host.

I really want to put a mechanical drive in the 3D drive slot to make use of it... But what do you guys think? Like one of my desktop, I was actually planning on putting the SSD as an addon drive for apps and games.

 

Got mine delivered as well.. Working from home today to play this bad boy. Happy to first see the dreamcolor logo Pictures on the way.

 

First issue - Got setup my laptop and was asked to restart by windows after installing automatic updates. Restarted - no display . Then powered down, unplugged power cord and replugged and restarted - worked.

 

I wasn't first but I may not have been last. Got it about a 1/2 hour ago. It's drizzly outside and box got some water on it; hands got black from all the black printed on the box ... what a waste of ink/toner!

Work demands have kept me from even opening the box. My Photoshop CS5 arrived yesterday and I don't have time to play. I envy uze-giez that are using yours. But I just wanted to check-in to scratch me off the 'painfully waiting' list.

 

Now can one of you list the tests i need to run and the links to their download.

I got hwInfo32.

Is there any tool to identify the panel make and type?

 

Moninfo should do the trick.

So how's the screen?

 

Its gorgeous. 180 degree viewing angle. See it from any direction , any angle i can read the stuff..no noticeable difference. I am processing the pics.

 

Sorry Aikimox, just because I am home, I still have to work, so I couldn't really play with the system til later. I am also installing my own copy of W7 on it.

But subjectively speaking, the screen held the color surprisingly well (for a notebook) when I moved side to side to get a feel of its viewing angle.

edit: don't worry, I will torture test it soon enough, I didn't pay so much money for all the calibration stuff just so they could sit around.

 

LCD Specs: LGD 0270
10Bit IPS

 

Hmmm... Maybe I should buy one and offer it up for rental to everyone who'd like to periodically use it... [pondering]

 

:cry: ..... no comments...

 

Congratulations to all of you.

Can you please post the part# for the DC2 display?
You should be able to see it in the nvidia or ati control panel, in the section where you can adjust resolution.

Part# should say something like... LP171WU?(TL)(B1)

 

where did you that that info? I haven't installed my battery of tools on it yet, so I cannot know for sure yet.

 

If you open Moniinfo tool, it will show. Or instead you can open HP Mobile display assistant and it will show the same.
By the way the HP Mobile Display Assistant opened up automatically when i changed the display to 10 bit. To enable it go to desktop->right click->ATI catalyst Control Center->Graphics menu->Workstation->Enable 10Bit.

 

This is what i see is the display assistant(see attached) - no more part numbers other than LGD0270.

 

Yeah, that's more like an internal part# or code.

Can you check using the ATI graphics control panel?

For example, with nvidia cards, you just have to open control panel and go to "adjust display resolution". In that section, you can see the monitors currently available and it shows it as LP171WU7-TLB1. This is the part# for the standard display.

I'm guessing yours probably has an WU8 instead of WU7, but I need to confirm.

Thanks.

 

Gah I was at work when they delivered it at 9am. Guess I'll get mine in 5 hrs or so from the fedex facility.

I'll post pictures.

 

Screenshots and info

1. MoniInfo and hwinfo



2. Monitor properties_ no part#


3. Unboxing and Pics






3. Display at various angles.

 

refer to my 2nd pic in the above pics post. It says Mobile PC display

 

Too good to be true

Could you tell me where to find that wallpaper?
I wanna check it on my RGB LED.

 

Its from my website - Best of Tulips
Tell me which one you want , i will email it to you.

 

You're not using the ATI control panel.
There should be an ATI equivalent of "nvidia control panel"

Can you please try right-clicking on your desktop space and check to see if there's an "ATI control panel" option?
Once there, look for a tab or option that says "adjust desktop color settings" or something equivalent.
Note: I'm not talking about the "Windows screen resolution" option.

The part# should be listed somewhere within the ATI control panel.
Otherwise, we'll have to wait for someone to remove the top cover and check the part# behind the display screen.

Thanks.

 

It will be hard to see any difference, anyway
So far, it looks like my RGB has more color oversaturation.

CCC doesn't have that info
It throws you to the same screen posted earlier.

 

ATI Control panel is called ATI Catalyst Control Center. There it lists the same name or it displays as ATI M7820.

 

OK, I found another way to check.
Can you please install PCWizard2010 and run it?
Once you run it, it'll display "system summary" by default. Take a look at the line that says "monitor type"
Please post screenshots of;

1- "system summary"
2- "video"
3- "mainboard"

Thanks.

 

I was happy I wasn't in the can @ the time ... (I left a note on the door anyway )

 

Based on that attachment, sux that they show the Gamma as "1" instead of the "2.2" that it is. I'm sure "1" means "default", but makes me scratch my head why they're using a relative value related to actual rather than the actual there.