*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 1*

Would it help you guys if the model was listed? It is listed in Canada but none of the resellers give you the option to order. Their estimated waiting time is 1-2 months for the pre-configured systems (no DC) to become orderable.

 

Guys, when you receive the order confirmation email, on the list of the components what's the DC panel item# ?

 

Item #: 1232570
Part #: VG322AV
Description: LCD 17.0 WUXGA+WVA DC2 f/CAM 8740w

 

VG322AV LCD 17.0 WUXGA+WVA DC2 f/CAM 8740w

 

Heh, thanks, guys. Had to write another letter to the rep, the Order Status windows doesn't show the screen type...at all, lol.

Hopefully, the issue will be resolved soon.
Need many more beers now

 

Mine did that too on my first quote. He fixed it before I ordered it

 

Oh C'mon... the backlit keyboard is not on the list as well.
Hope they can fix it before I get too frustrated and cancel the order.:confused2: :cry:

 

Did you end-up using the same guy as me, Eric? That's weird if so. He was real precise w/me, and he tracked everything down until he had exactly the same $ number as my online build price; even noticing based on a $ figure difference that I must have forgot to tell him I had the backlit KB selected. Then after I changed to quad core, he needed to go back a couple of times as a few things needed to be re-added, but all that was caught well before the order was completed. Sorry to hear.

 

Hope everything's sorted out for you now. Look on the bright side. All this hassle will make the wait time seem more tolerable, since you will be less likely to be focused on the waiting part.

But yeah, as I warned you before, you really need to watch your orders. HP has too many separate departments involved for every order. Which leads to more likelihood of someone messing up.

 

Yes, it's him. On the list that is sent to their warehouse everything is correct, it's the HP Order Status page that lacks those items. Maybe they haven't updated it yet?

 

AH. Maybe, then, there's hope. Maybe, just supposition here, those two items aren't showing because they're temporarily out of stock presently and not able to be part of the build? And I'm only making that leap because neither of those two items are showing on the order pages presently either. I'll have to check my status page to see what it reads.

edit: my "Line Item Details" does show them. Again tho, that may only mean I got in early enough to grab the last few on the shelf. You'll discover if there's any truth to that I imagine soon.

re-edit: btw, does the "Line" column enumerate from 001 - whatever without missing values? I'm wondering if "009" is missing in your list, which is my display. I'm missing only "007" which has me wondering if I'm missing some amazing James Bond device option designed by "Q".

 

Finally, the VG322AV part (DC2 display) is starting to show up on the reseller catalog..And its listed @ $745. but, sadly not in stock yet. At-least something is moving to give us hopes.

 

I think you're right, the screen& keyboard not showing because of the temporary lack of those at the warehouse.
In my list 9 is the webcam and 15 is the BlueTooth (on the quote it says 9 is the DC and 15 is the backlit keyborad).
So you got the last items, lol.

 

Whoa! My order status has been updated, now the DC2 is finally there as well. The backlit keyboard is still missing, but that would be a minor loss, IMO.
So far so good. Feel much relieved.

 

I just talked to a pre-sales rep via the web chat on the HP site regarding the missing Dreamcolor option - he said that they aren't expecting that option to be available until May-June, and to just wait until then if I wanted to place an order with a DC screen. So for those of you with preorders pending with a DC screen, I wonder if yours will actually ship in April or get pushed back...

 

I'm afraid we gonna be pushed till mid-late May in the best case scenario.
But will hope for the best of course!



Also, any ideas on how big are the customs fees when sending a laptop to Canada from USA?
I have a few weeks to figure out the most painless way to do it.
Any help in the matter will be greatly appreciated!

 

Well, I checked the order status pages today, expecting my order to be delayed into May. So far, no delay.

Estimated ship date is tomorrow (4/24).
Estimated delivery date is Monday (4/26).

Config status is still at "Wave (Picking Process)". If the notebook really was shipping tomorrow, one would think it would be further along. There are still the "Staging", "Configuration Build", "Review Hold", and "Bench Hold" stages for it to pass through. I'm not getting my hopes up.

My separately ordered SSD (160GB X-25M G2) and RAM (4x2GB Kingston DDR3 1333 CL7) were delivered on Thursday.

 

Mine is the same case as well..Estimate Ship Date as 26Apr.

Can you tell me the part# of the Kingston Memory or link to the product? Can the Kingston Memory co-exist with the HP memory that comes with the laptop?
What was the price you paid for the SSD?. I got mine for $382 after BCB -good deal?

 

If both the parties live close to the border (or able to drive to in couple of hrs) you can always do a hand shake there and avoid the custom fees,etc..I did once to my friend via hand-shake @ Niagara.

 

I was wondering how long it might stay in 'Wave' and I think I now know the answer.

All this is very reminiscent to me of when I ordered my '09 Mini JCW, and the online monitoring of every phase of the build process, tracking the ship daily on its way to port Newark, and release to the dealership. lol

 

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory
Model KHX1333C7S3K2/4G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104158

I'm not sure if it can co-exist with the HP-branded memory. Can you mix memory with different CAS latency? The memory I ordered is CL7; I'm 99% sure the HP memory is CL9 (almost all notebook DDR3 seems to be). Whatever the case, I do not intend to use the single 2GB stick that will arrive inside my 8740w.

You indeed got a better deal on the SSD! I paid $425-ish to Amazon for a bare drive (no retail packaging).

 

Thanks for info..Mine was a retail one. Got it via Tigerdirect when it was $439 2 weeks back and used BCB.

Did you come across this post regarding a issue reported about memory in 8740W? I was about to pull the trigger on memory and came across this.
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/8740w-shuts-off-with-four-memory-chips/m-p/257720

 

@NotebookGrail: No, I had not noticed that post. I guess we'll find out if that is a common problem soon enough.

Regardless, that post means that someone took delivery of an 8740w!

 

There are quite a few people that took delivery of 8740W..All of them are without the DC2 screen. Even buy.com has it in stock, but without the DC2.

 

Shows how much attention I've been paying. /facepalm

 

can't wait to see you guys' reviews next week!

 

Dumb question, but is the ATI FirePro M7820 same as a 5870? Whats the difference, and can the M7820 be used for gaming like a 5870? I'm not too familiar with workstation video cards.

 

Wow, guys! I hope your systems will be shipped according to schedule. Can't wait to see some pics and benches!

@s0ysauce45,
The card should physically be the same, just flashed with a different "bios". Should perform similarly, but since it's optimized for pro work there could be some glitches during gaming. We'll check this out soon enough though

 

It does seem to based off that

http://hpfansite.com/hp-elitebook/e...820s-confirmed-relation-mobility-radeon-5870/

It's strange though that the M7820 seems to have appeared only in the 8740w so far -- sort of like an exclusive trial run/promotion. In my experience the professional cards work just as well as the corresponding consumer ones in gaming, though driver updates are much less frequent.

I hope that's not a general problem since that's exactly what I plan to do also. There shouldn't be any problem with using matching Kingston/Crucial etc. memory instead of the more expensive HP memory.

 

Price aside, is the HP any good? Since, i can get a 2GB HP stick for $62-65 which is less expensive compared to the Kingston/Crucial which run for around $80-90 (more than $100 for hyperX), want to know if price is the only reason for not buying it.

 

I'm sure that the HP memory is absolutely fine --- if you can get it cheaper from HP (or basically the same price) than somewhere else I'd get it from HP, but usually prices are the other way round...(looks to me like a compatible 2GB DDR3-1333 stick from crucial is $60 and a compatible 4GB stick is $250).

 

Sigh, just got the email saying that my order ship date is delayed. The wait is agonizing.

 

I know what you mean. Sad, but at least your order isn't canceled Some guys from Lenovo boards are still waiting for their 15" FHD screens ordered in January.
The rumors are mid-May the shortages will be over.

 

Just noted that my ship date got pushed from 26th Apr to 27th Apr (Just 1 day :confused2: ). No email though..Hope it's not a teaser to a bigger delay

 

When did you order?

 

Ordered Mar 30th..
Ship Date - 6th Apr->26th Apr->27th Apr.

 

Still no change on my EDD. Order placed 24 March.

Order still listed in "wave" stage. No tracking number.

 

Ok..Here we go - The Maintenance and Service Guide for the 8740W is up

http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02114152/c02114152.pdf

 

Odd that there's no mention of "DreamColor" in the panel section (or anywhere) in that doc.

Actually having looked thru the whole thing, kinda worrisome, in conjunction with how DC2 can't be ordered anymore. And now this doc only mentions the standard WUXGA+ screen, even specifying 16.7 mil colors in the specs section. ...worrisome in that I might be getting an e-mail or phone call from my salesman about some terrible turn of events that has befallen their plans to offer DC2 due to a supplier unable to meet commitments... I would feel better if DC2 was mention in that service manual like absolutely every other option, part number and spec there-in is made mention of.

 

Probably because of the temporary shortages. Remember, this is a new product, it takes time to sync everything. I'd give them a few months. Hopefully, our orders won't be affected.

 

The elitebooks are the only laptops getting the dream color panel correct? Is the supplier LG? Is there a shortage of all of their higher end laptop panels?

 

January!? Wow... Now I am really worried

 

The LCD shortages have made people wait nearly half the lifespan of the model year. By the time we get to the actual notebook and get things sorted, HP will release 8750W (2011) model. It's like, as if the Notebook companies just release new models every year with super-specs only on paper.

 

One interesting thing to say:

It seems the HP 3D DriveGuard feature supports protecting not only the primary hard drive, but the secondary one too. This is stated in the service manual posted before by NotebookGrail. At page 13 you can see the following:

So there is no need to swap the drives when purchasing the 256G SDD as primary drive and the 500G HDD as secondary one as the factory configuration (SSD's don't have mechanical parts, therefore it's not needed to protect them).

I think this will not occur until the end of 2011 / beginning of 2012. And even if this occurs before (quite unlikely) it's quite likely the screen will be 16:9 aspect ratio, so the 8740w is your best bet.

 

@Aikimox - Did HP already deduct the money from your bank a/c as you were purchasing thru wire-transfer. That will be worse. If that's the case, you should demand them credit for every delay in shipping date.

 

I was just comparing the 8740W service manual with the 8730W - the Ambient Light sensor was only present in DreamColor models in 8730W. In 8740W, its not specifically mentioned..

 

as far as I know all 8730w have a ligh sensor

 

Thanks! Added to page 1.

 

@Hiddenuser and NotebookGrail: for the upgrade bay HDD protection. I am under the impression that you will need to buy a HP HDD that comes with the necessary "protected" upgrade bay enclosure.

A 3rd party one wouldn't have the special bay-cages necessary.

 

I ordered the HP upgrade bay enclosure w/500GB HDD. I'll make sure to take it out and look for any extra connector that could carry a "drive protection" signal.