*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

2.6k is a very good price considering what you get.
Just for comparison, configure Dell M6500 or Lenovo W701

 

Also, others have done much better on the RAM (sorry, no links).

 

Where do you find the one for $1812? I'm interested in that since I don't mind to pay extra $62 of my range limit.

 

Downgrade everything, then apply 28% discount. let me know if you want to use my rep, I can PM his info to you. I assume your are buying here in the US, right?

 

Anyone has 8740w on order? How much wait time is it taking these days?

 

ETA 10 days.

 

I usually go with Crucial, but if others have had good luck with other vendors, please feel free to list your recommendations.

 

I've always had good results with Crucial also, even if there may be cheaper options out there. (I actually got the RAM from HP this time because surprisingly they were cheaper than Crucial at the time I ordered it, but Crucial's prices have dropped significantly since then.)

 

Any links for Crucial??

I am looking into ordering this G.Skill Ram that someone noted on this forum:
Here

 

Anyone had experience with this RAM?

 

I'm running G.Skill in 2x4GB. Works fine.

____________________
Kaliatech 8740W | 620M | M7820 | 2x4GB | DC2 | Backlit Keys

 

Can someone confirm if this is the right RAM compatible with 8740w?

G.Skill 4GB

RAM Configurator on G.Skill's website is not working.

 

There shouldn't be any problem using any RAM. The issue applies to early adopters before the fix. I replaced my RAM with 2x4Gb sticks from the AW machine and no problems encountered. Will add 2 more sticks soon.

 

Yes, but I think you cannot test it, because you must have a DreamColor panel.

Anyway, I quote it again for the rest of DreamColor owners:

On the other hand, there is another test that all 8740w users can perform. What about the hardware scaling in games? Run a game in non-native resolution (1680x1050, for example) and watch the image quality (image rescaling). If scaling is as good as my NEC 2490WUXi (my monitor has the most powerful scaler in the market, giving you the chance to customize the X and Y axes independently, from 1x zoom up to 3x, in 0.01 steps) you won't notice the rescaling when gaming (or you'll notice it subtly). Please, DON'T use the ATi software scaler, only change the resolution in the game or in the Windows Desktop (to 1680x1050, the previous resolution of 1920x1200).

Regarding to the 920XM, I trust Aikimox, I'll wait a while more... But damn!, I'm starting to feel tired of waiting. Remember that I have to wait up to 1 month to get the computer when ordered, whereas US citizens only have to wait up to 10 days... It's absolutely unfair, apart from the high price I have to pay for that thing, at least, $1500 more than US users... What's wrong with HP and european users? Are we second-class citizens?

 

Absolutely not..Think it this way - We US folks are the Guinea Pigs to test early

 

Technical you aren't any type of citizen.

 

Best deal I've gotten is 2gb stick of Kingston memory for $43.19 from Newegg after bing cashback, which is unfortunately now over.

I'll be sticking with my 2x2gb of DDR3 until RAM prices drop. Buying a 4gb SODIMM is a waste of money IMHO. You have four ram slots! Take advantage of it!

 

Not if you ordered a dual core.
____________________
Kaliatech 8740W | 620M | M7820 | 2x4GB | DC2 | Backlit Keys

 

Just FYI, I installed a WD 1TB drive into a 3rd party upgrade bay caddy and it works perfectly. Links below.

Amazon.com: Western Digital 1 TB Scorpio Blue SATA 5200 RPM 8 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Notebook Hard Drive WD10TPVT: Electronics

Add 1TB HDD or SSD - HP Upgrade Bay (compare AU097AA, AK868AA ) [HP12-2BAY-8730] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Instructions are simple. Get the caddy, open it up (just pull it apart gently), install the hard drive, screw it in from the bottom with 4 thick screws, put the caddy back together, use 3 thin screws to screw the caddy together, then use 3 more on the front to install that metal tab (needed to get the caddy out of the laptop again and to secure it in place). You don't need to remove anything your your DVD drive. You should end up with 2 extra screws.

 

Nice! Now add a 400GB Intel G3 SSD as a primary drive and you're set!

 

I ordered a caddy from HP for $19.99. Why are you guys paying $44.75 for 3rd party when you can get original HP one for $19.99

 

Nice find. It wasn't available before. Will rep you when you get it and confirm it works.

 

Yeah I'm actually just waiting for the G3 drives, which is why I still have my stock 250gb hdd.

adshakil - when I last checked, they only sold the caddy with included HDD. Also, the $44 allows 12mm height hard drives, while I think the HP one only allows 9.5mm height hard drives.

 

Koshinn, I don't know about the 12mm or the 9.5mm. I'll let you know once I get it. When I called the rep he told me the same thing that they sell the caddy with HDD included and I placed an order for the 500GB HDD with Caddy for $299. Its only after a loss that you start digging deeper I then picked up the service manual and got the part number for the hard drive caddy and called my rep again, got the parts department number and ordered it through them.

I canceled the $299 and ordered a OCZ Vertex 2 240GB from TD instead.

 

just wanted to say I still love this thread and this computer. I want this screen bad enough I can taste it.

*goes back to MBP*

 

I believe whether this is available or not on a shortcut or the binary itself has to do with whether the binary is true 64-bit vs 32-bit. I just looked at the bins & shortcuts of all my true 64-bit programs and these options are not available on any of them. It is available on (many/most? but not all) the 32-bit programs.

To support this, you can find a sampling of binaries, sometimes the same, in 16-bit, 32-bit and 64-bit In the Windows directory and sub-dirs. I noticed this option is not available on the 16-bit, available on (many, not all) the 32-bit, then back to not available on the 64-bit progs.

 

It worked on all the shortcuts I checked before.
Both 32 and 64 bit.

 

Must be some type of permissioning difference? Are you logged in as user Administrator? I am in the Administrator's group but not the user Administrator. I'm more versed with the form NT 2K3 user administration used to work (Microsoft's best OS ever to date IMO) so I really don't know what can be behind this.

 

Solidly answered already, but yeah, I was one of the peopl advocating G.SKILL and am using 4x4GB of it. So long as you're ok with what you can fit into the machine with 2GB sticks, that is indeed fine . . . but the advantage of going 4GB is that now it's only slightly more than 2x2 (~100 vs ~90), and if you want to upgrade (anywhere up to 16GB), you haven't wasted any money. If you've got 4x2 and want more, every chip replaced is $45 out of which you're no longer getting any use.

 

That does matter for some stuff, but usually it specifically tells you that there's a permissions issue.

I also see the option for all the links I checked (both 32 and 64).

. . . AHA. No such option in funny-protocol links, eg steam games linked on desktop as steam://[whatever] because Windows considers those to be "web" links.

--edit--
oops, forgot this was the same thread, sorry about the double-post.

 

Oddly enough, I've switched between 8-bit and 10-bit numerous times today. Not a single boot problem. Not a single display corruption. Not a single lock.

I did allow HP to update the system a few times since then. I know I updated HP MDA, can't recall if it was before or after that 'really bad day' however. But it's all operating really stably today.

 

I finally made a decision for my laptop workstation. It will be the 8740w. Right now, I need to know which one of the hardwares that I should've saved money to buy the upgraded version:

OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 (MS Office Trial not included) I haven't owned any MS Office, but I will buy one or probably get one for free from my University. Since Professional 64 is a free option, I am not sure if I still need the Home edition.

Processor: i5-520M I just learned that this processor is newer than i7. I read somewhere that the speed difference versus i7 is approximately 2 seconds, so it ain't that too long. I plan to use the computer on heavy 3-D rendering for my engineering courses (AutoCAD, ProE, etc.

Display: 17.0 inch diagonal LED-backlit DreamColor WUXGA WVA anti-glare (1920 x 1200). That one is irreplaceable. I don't like when one day I wish I could have selected this option. I know that will make the texts smaller, but I usually zoom in.

Graphic Card: FirePro That's one of the main reasons why I made a final decision on HP Elitebook

Memory: 2 GB Can someone point me where to buy upgraded memory for cheaper? It'll cost additional $75 or $274 if I decide to upgrade from HP. I may upgrade to 4 GB from HP if the cost different isn't too big.

Internal Storage 250GB 7200 RPM I would love to opt for 256gb SSD, but I can't find one for less than $600. Lately, I'm a bit concerning about choosing for SSD because I read many negative reviews about poor reliability for SSD. Anyone recommend a good SSD that is nearly invincible??

Upgrade Bay: DVD+/-RW SuperMulti w/ Double Layer LightScribe Drive I would like to opt for Blu Ray drive, but $450 is way through the roof. Can someone find a good price for a good quality Blu Ray drive?

Battery: Not sure which one should I get. Can someone suggest me to choose one?

Recovery Media: Not sure.
OS Recovery Media: Not sure.
Option/Other Stuffs/etc: Not sure.

Total: $2,967.00 Potential 28% Discount: $2136.24

 

To tell you the truth, this is a very good price for this machine.

 

Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX250G 2.5" 250GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I looked this up for 250gb SSD, it's nearly $700. The one HP offers is $625 for the 256gb SSD, but I don't know what company makes this.

For i7 core, it's still dual core - so I don't get what you mean about 4 dimm slots. I thought that's what the quad core has (i7 720 or above).

 

I got this with TD. After 15% Bing Cash back (unforunately over now) cost me around $559 - $20 (OCZ promotion) = $539 + Tax.

The $625 SSD that they are offering I believe is made by Samsung. I am not sure about it. Double check.

8740w with a Dual core model is available with two memory slots and Quad cores are available with 4 memory slots. I would not limit myself to two memory slots since there are cheaper far reasonable upgrade to 16GB RAM incase you need it ever.

 

I just found out that I was configuring at the wrong notebook series. This one I configured doesn't show the option for 720 or above i7. I am going to start over and see the price difference. I will do it later tomorrow.

 

Can someone please tell - how is the dream-color display against RGB LED of M6500?
How is the brightness of Dream-color in terms of NITS? Is this screen is darker as it has billion of colors? Is it more brighter then M6500 or saturated because of colors?

Anyone who owns can please tell the brightness?

 

Click the review in my sig. Second post is the comparison.
Brightness is 210nit but it's perfectly fine, I keep it @120 even in my brightly lit office. It's not oversaturated, IMHO, it's the RGB LED in M6500 that is too bright ond oversaturated compared to this baby.

 

thanks very much.

 

I wanted to share... I started using the 'Rec.601' color gamut yesterday, which best I can tell is related to legacy video, even though its color intensity is significantly lower than the others. Two reasons:
1) It makes the screen looks closest to 'all the others' (non- LED RGB that is) in saturation intensity, so when I look @ websites and furthermore look @ the submissions in online photo competitions, I see what others with laptops likely see.
2) Black level. Strangely enough the sRGB has the most loss in black level, less-so for AdobeRGB, then even less-so in Rec.601. I can discern difference on the screen down to #020202 in the browser, maybe I'd even notice #010101 if I where to turn all the lights off.

All this just to say those other Gamuts other than sRGB and AdobeRGB are very useful to have, where I'd been wondering "why bother" a few weeks ago. It's sometimes usefully and necessary to be able to make my screen look 'ordinary'. (display-angle notwithstanding)

 

Only 210 nits? The old DC panel had 300 nits of brightness. I'm very surprised (in a bad way). Are you sure of this? It's very odd.

 

I am sure. That's the max you get by using Fn+F10 or through the Display Assistant.
I'm at 105nits currently in a very brightly lit office with huge windows and direct sunshine, and it's totally comfortable.
At night/evening I keep it around 60-80nits.
The M17x has the 300nits RGB LED -> that is a constant eye strain and burning retinas.
But I agree, it would b better to have 300nits, just in case...

 

I picked up two brand new Intel x25-M 160GB SSDs. Great deal.
I'm going to set them in RAID0.

Faster speeds and greater capacity.... all for less than the price of an OCZ vertex 2 240gb.
I would pick this upgrade over DC2 any day of the week. LOL :laugh:

You guys know what the best strip size for SSDs in RAID0 is?

I know with conventional drives, 64-128KB is usually best.
But I think I read somewhere that SSDs perform even better at much lower strip sizes like 16-32KB....

What say yee?

 

Good deal ye say
Let us know how they work in RAID. I heard that the upgrade bay limits the speed of SSDs but that could be a mistake.

 

Both connectors should be SATAII.
Damn, maybe that's why I can never get pass 150 with my regular HDDs.
Nah, that can't be it..... I hope not.

If that's the case, I'll just throw the other one in my Desktop.

 

Care to say the source you purchased from? And hoping the raid0 goes well.

 

Private party.
IOW, it was a one time deal...

 

So you simply made use of the hot blond chick's low IQ and xchanged a pink pen from the Dollar Store for "two weird, useless and fugly looking metal thingies" from her nerd brother's PC desk?
How very neutral of you

 

Nah, he just happened to score an even better deal than me and then sold me his extras.
It's a win win situation.

I'm tempted to pick up a good deal on a vertex 2.

Must....stop....finding....deals......


On another note.
The Bergquist pads sucked. Sometimes the temps would jump almost 10C out of nowhere. Probably bad contact... or they simply just don't cut it for this graphics cards.

I had to go to the store to pickup the appropriate paste for the memory chips. I bought nano diamond from Biostar because it was the only thing they had that was not electrically conductive.
I also found some really expensive ShinEtsu thermal paste (thermal conductivity 6.0) and decided to give it a try. I used it on both CPU and GPU.
So far, I'm not very happy with it. It's actually a few degrees hotter than with the AS-5.
I'm hitting 60s on the CPU and 70s on the GPU.
I don't get it. I thought this stuff was suppose to be even better.
I took my time during application. I spread a thin layer all throughout the CPU and GPU surfaces and then put a little extra in the middle.

I'm trying to decide whether I should bother reapplying it or just go back to AS-5.

 

First, a silly question, - are those idle or load temps?
Second, try again but this time,
CPU - after applying a thin layer or a grain/drop, screw the HS and unscrew rightaway to see if you have a proper contact. I know, it's a waste of TIM but it's necessary to verify if your method is working. I prefer the grain method because if you see the entire surface covered afterwards - then you're doing it the correct way.

Same for the GPU core. But there are different gaps between the core, mem and the HS so in this case, I'd apply a little more paste and smear it in circular motion to cover most of the surface area of the chips and core and then screw the HS. It's important to use non-bleeding paste on the memory chips.