*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

@m8o, thanks for confirming it. That's what i thought when i was using my old 8740W. But since the new one did behave differently, i went and checked the old one and it did the same. Couldn't figure out why. Nice find.

Anyway, i will stay with F.05 as it is no big deal to go and change MDA after logon. I am reporting it to my HP engineer.

 

So even the new ones suffer from the old fan problem?
Do you get occasional freezing during startup?
I thought that newer orders were not having any issues and that they were shipping with the latest BIOS F.05.

 

Mine has the F.03 BIOS and does suffer from the fan problem.
No freezes though.

 

Got mine on Monday. Came with the F.05 bios. No freezing, and no fan issues whatsoever.

 

Interesting development on the waking problem we've been dealing with. On the 8540w, a new BIOS was issued today and one of the updates is:

- Adds an "Auto Power-On" feature, which enables the notebook to automatically
power itself on at a specific date and time.

So maybe all this time it's been an undocumented default feature turned on in the old BIOS, but with the visible switch turned off.

As a rule though, I never update the BIOS for at least ten days to 2 weks after issue (been burned enough times), so I won't know for sure for a while.

 

I noticed that the "red tint" effect is gone, even with the factory sRGB settings and 6.5k temp.
I don't see it anymore, regardless of the ambient light and angles. Very strange...

 

Not necessarily. It may be the DC2 needs a "breaking-in" period. Many displays need an adaptation period to even its brightness, for example. It's good to know

 

It could also be my retinas burnt out by the AW screen

 

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I've read a lot more than I posted.
You can add me to the 8740w owners. I got mine today.
There's a problem though.... The bottom side of it is damaged. It got burns and scratches etc.
Haven't even booted it up.
Any help on how to get a replacement as fast as possible? (I live in Belgium)
I'm gonna upload some pics of the damage as soon as i can.

 

7 pics in total

 

it seems that someone put this StopTrack sticker on it without knowing how to do it, so no warranty and I guess you have to live with it because the bottom is part of the warranty sticker and not replaceable (but I am not sure)

 

Why would I have to live with it? I just received it like that this morning. I didn't pay all that money to get a product that is damaged!

 

I meant this StopTrack sticker is not part of HP so your company or reseller or who ever did something to the notebook. But you can ask the reseller/company to replace it of course

 

Another review for the 8740w, translated (with Google) from Chinese to English: LINK.

You'll notice this review is deeper than the previous one I've posted before. It's very hot, because it's from today!

Enjoy

 

THX, do I get this right, it is not a CTO but has backlit keyboard?

I hope more models would get one...

 

Contact your reseller without delay and get it replaced fast.

 

I contacted them (it was an online order) but they just redirected me to HP customer support. I contacted about every possible thing now, waiting for replies atm...
Edit: Called them again... They're going to investigate... tomorrow. Guess im gonna call them every day now to make sure they make progress.

 

You're right, it's a pre-configured model, specifically the WW427PA. I 've found this thanks to one of the pictures from the article, with the HP Support Tool open and showing the model number.

Google says it's only available in China , but keep in mind this model has the regular display, not the DreamColor.

 

Yes, be persistent and keep calling them.
I'm sure it's the reseller's fault.
I'd even demand a free upgrade for the replacement system.
This is unacceptable!

 

I'd worry about those burn marks. Who knows what could have gotten affected on the other side of the surface.

 

I'm so impressed with the system lately.
It does look like the DC2 needs some time to achieve the optimal backlight.
Also, the stability of the system so far is 100%.
Temps are ok even after many hours of gaming.
I wish, the upcoming Northern Islands from ATI would make their way into this notebook. There will be a powerful new FirePro that should outperform FX5000M.

 

I think the 8740w is the best single GPU desktop replacement laptop on the market. Besides the top-end components, it has an IPS screen and passes some mil-spec tests for ruggedness. It also has a zillion ports (only noticeably missing HDMI, which is fixed with a displayport adapter).

The only real problem I have with it is the lack of dual internal HD bays + optical drive. But I have a 2TB RAID1 NAS and a 1TB drive in my smartbay, and I rarely use discs anyway.

 

Yeah, It would be nice to have 2 HDDs + optical drive.
But like you, I almost never use discs so it's not a huge deal. G3 should be up to 600GB, so even with 1 SSD you can have most of your games, videos and music on a single drive. I'd go for 2x600 (if money wasn't a big concern) and get an external optical drive or use one remotely from another laptop/desktop if needed.

 

^^^I totally agree. Just got mine yesterday, and this thing rocks. It shipped with the latest bios, and I haven't had any issues accept one start up to a blank screen.

I did, however opt for the backlit keyboard and it had a heck-of-a bulge from about the f4-f7 keys. It's all good now, just had to remove the keyboard and gently bent it in the opposite direction, now it seats to the chassis how it should and is really solid. The keys do take a little getting used to though, I find my self fat fingering a lot more than usual.

Anyways I'm completely happy with my purchase and would recommend this notebook to anyone in the market.

 

So what's the list of issues associated with the F.05 BIOS version?

BTW, starting to a blank screen happens on F.03 as well.

Did anyone experience crashes/freezes not related to the video driver?

 

I'm gonna try and get a compensation somehow. Since there's Next Businessday Warranty on them AND an insurance against theft and damage. If they don't get me a new one today, I'm guessing they will have breached their agreement.

 

What about the M7820 temperatures running Furmark? Excuse me if this has been already posted. Thanks.

 

Does anyone know someone at HP who can provide a 28% discount? I spoke with a sales rep today and the best they could do now is 23%. (Feel free to send me a message or email me at [email protected]).

Based on people's reports, it looks like new systems ordered from HP no longer have the poweroff/crash issues. So I'm now looking to reorder the 8740w (I had returned my unit back in July since there was no fix available before my return window ran out).

 

It was tested before but I decided to give it a shot right now -

Ambient - 25C. The temps stopped climbing after 4.5min but I waited 6min to be sure - nothing changes anymore.

 

Wow, these temperatures are very good for a stress GPU test like Furmark (85º at most) . I think the M7820 is cooler than its sibling, the Mobility Radeon 5870.

 

I think it's a combination of cooling and the fact that HP puts paste on the memory chips (normally you'd use pads) thus greatly reducing the temps.
It wouldn't be different with MR5870. They are physically identical, AFAIK.


>>> BTW, does anyone know what paste was used by HP on memory chips? I replaced it with OCZ Freeze but would try to revert back to their stock one and try Furmark again.

 

Just had something very strange happen to me. My DC2 is set to full/native, and while I was reading an e-mail the screen suddenly changed to have a very yellow tiny.

Changing the color space to sRGB fix it, but changing to back to full/native still resulted in the yellow tint. When I opend up the Tuning dialog, I noticed the full/native setting had was set to 4000K. Changing this to 6500K fixed the issue.

?

 

Do you have the light sensor active? I disabled it in the OS and the Bios.

BTW, does your full/native read "Full/Native" or "User Full/Native"? If the later, press the 'Restore' button under the gamut pull-down. That will get rid of the tint. I noticed anytime I change a gamut pre-set resulting in the name being prefixed with 'User', I'm susceptible to the tinting you described.

Why? Dunno, bug. Something they have to fix. But pressing 'restore' on a preset has always addressed it for me.

 

I thought that was posted a few months back by one of the other frequent posters in this thread, stating something like "HP uses the good stuff", but I can't immediately remember what that name is.

In light of that actually, I was surprised when you were changing the paste thinking maybe it wasn't "the good stuff". But in actuality maybe it's just that you missed the post. Lemme do a search.

Here we go: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...175.html?highlight=the+good+stuff#post6532175 Lethial stated it's "Shin-Etsu Thermal paste".

 

Thanks a bunch, M8o!
I was replacing the CPU paste (it was very important and successful) and since to get to the CPU you have to remove the GPU heat sink - I had to repaste it as well.

 

Thanks -- I did get the 28% discount!

 

I can confirm that the solution provided here does indeed resolve the buzzing noise.

Yay.

 

You owe him some rep if you haven't done so already.

 

Hmm, I do see some minor glitches in games that are most likely driver related. Gaah is right, guys at HP should hurry up with the newer drivers.

 

I reverted back to the backlit keyboard!
Bending it in a couple of places fixes the flex issues.
A little bump is still visible, but it doesn't really bother me now.
The system is now complete, lol... Till the next crazy idea.

 

I remember that our mate Thecla has the stock Samsung 256G SSD (shipped by HP). Also our mate RampageII has SSDs.

Well, there is a new discussion about SSD's performance impact on PM55/HM55 chipsets here. I encourage Thecla and RampageII to run CrystalDiskMark and post the results. I think the QM57 chipset of the 8740w does not have this issue, but it's better to be sure

PS: I'm planning to buy the Samsung SSD from HP too...

 

Can you describe exactly where you bent and how much? I want to try it on mine.

 

Just bend it slightly inwards at the separation bars - F4||F5 keys and F8||F9. Insert it back and see if it sits tight. I had to do it a few times to get the perfect fit.

To get rid of the bump one needs to sand down one or two metal pieces a little. I might do it later and post some pictures.

 

Got it, that was easy. Thanks.

 

does anyone's 9 key make a strange sound? (backlit keyboard)

 

Nope, same sound.

 

9999999876543210987654321999999

nope, sounds like the rest to me

 

Aren't there two 9 keys? .... which one.

 

Are you guys really modding the 8540w to add a backlit KB? It's one thing to mod an $850 Acer 3820TG but a $2K 8540W, now that takes guts. You are some brave souls.

I was looking and it appears that a backlit KB is not an option on the 8540w? How can this be? A mobile workstation must have a backlit KB IMO. I use mine in all kinds of low light situations ... that is the whole idea of mobility. It is especially great when using the laptop for presentations, the KB is accessable in a room with lowered lights. No fumbling.

Good luck with it.

Bronsky

 

I have a regular keyboard as a backup making experiments less painful. Plus, I'm bored

BTW, 8540w has a light bulb integrated into the lid. Just press the button and the keyboard will be lit up by the light coming from the lid. It's also very useful for reading documents in the dark.


On another note, It appears that some of the sudden boot-ups of the system are triggered by plugging the power cable in. Happened to me this morning. Also, that boot was into a blank screen...
I'm considering to give the F.05 a try.