*HP Elitebook 800 Series Owners Lounge*

Hey all!
I just ordered the new Elitebook 840 G1, and I think that these may prove to be quite popular.
No threads were made that I had seen, so post tips/tricks/questions on here!

I can't wait to get it!

 

I think I will order it too, just need to see some reviews first

 

I'm also considering purchasing the 840 g1.

 

How thick is it lets say compared to the ab9+ ?

 

I'm thinking of buying one of these since my 8440p is showing it's age (waiting for them to become available in my country, until know they only seem to be available in HP's online store).

When looking at the specs I can't find any info regarding the NGFF SSD slot... is it a SATA ou PCIe NGFF?

 

this is the laptop i want but they need to fix the CTO prixing,.

DEATH THE KID!

 

So I guess HP has given up on producing business laptops with normal CPUs, not the ULV ones.

What a shame.

 

It's .83 inches thick

 

I was considering getting it as well, then I realized that they somehow removed $1900 840G1 (the one is i7, 1920*1080, 8750, 256GB SSD) from Smartbuy. Why, why, why?

The equivalent 850G2 is still there, though its screen is not IPS, AFIAK.

 

i called them about the CTO pricing or if i could just add a 1080p monitor to a configuration the guy said he would call me back.

 

I am afraid that you are supposed to haggle, as CTO prices of HP business store always have been nuts compared to that of their competitions. I really wish if they bring back the best smartbuy configuration of the whole new Elitebook lineup, though.....

 

I ordered the Elitebook 840 F2Q28UT (the one HP removed from SMB direct) through PC Connection. Estimated arrival in 3 weeks. Can't wait! Buy HP Smart Buy EliteBook 840 Core i7 2.1GHz 16GB 256GB W7P64-W8P Notebooks F2Q28UT#ABA today at PC Connection

 

Im thinking about this should replace my current 8460p since its kinda ageing. In the quick specs ( http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14687_div/14687_div.pdf ) it says that the 1080p on the 840 G1 is Touch but that is not specified on the various danish websites that sells that model. Also, is there port for NGFF SSD's aswell as a reguar 2.5" HDD. This would be a killer option for me since i really want the speed of the SSD and the space of the HDD. Currently im running with both a SSD and a HDD in my 8460p and i love it.

 

There are multiple screens available. From the service manual:

-(35.6-cm) 14.0-in LED, HD, AntiGlare (AG), SVA (1366×768), 200 nits display with and without webcam
-(35.6-cm) 14.0-in LED, HD+, AG, SVA (1920×1080), 250 nits display with and without webcam
-(35.6-cm) 14.0-in LED, HD+, AG, SVA (1920×1080) 250 nits capacitive touch display with webcam
-(35.6-cm) 14.0-in LED, FHD, AG, SVA (1920×1080) 300 nits display with and without webcam

 

Hi all,

At least until now it seems that HP Elitebook 840/850 G1 do not have any options for quad cpus and their memory is restricted to 16G.
I mean I7 4600U is just fine if you want to play Solitaire but I would
really like to have 850 G1 with I7 4702HQ (37W quad) and 32 G of memory
and without discrete graphics (as I really don't care about that).

Is really only Mac (MBP) and Dell (M3800) that know how to make useful notebooks?
I hate Mac (keyboard, software, etc) and hate Dell (keyboard does not have the page up/down, end/home as for example HP 8440p) so I really would like to go with HP here but unfortunately they have gone crazy. Seems also that MBP and Dell M3800 are restricted to 16G even if they have quad cpus.

I can only get 32 G of ram if i carry around a 3kg (+ the charger i guess half a kg at least) machine like Zbook 15? I hate the numeric pad also and the 3 buttons touch pad on Zbook 15.

Why can't anybody make a proper notebook and have a lower voltage quad i7 like 4702 and 32 G of ram in something closer to 2Kg package? HP Envy seems to have that but is NOT a professional laptop and also is restricted to 16G.

Will HP wake up and give us more useful HP 840/850 specifications?

Well, sorry for the mumbling here but I'm a bit angry that I have no (good) replacement for my HP 8440p. C'mon they could put a 35W I7 620M and a DVD reader in a 2Kg package in 8440p
and they cannot do it again with a quad core 37W?

As far as I can tell if I buy a 840/850 G1 with I7 4600U I get the same performance as I have now (3 years old) but with 15W instead of 35W CPU (I7 620M). What kind of improvement is that? Give me the max power you can give me for 35W and max memory and I'd be really happy.

Cheers,
za-k/

 

Looks like I am officially the first EliteBook 840 owner here Will post reviews and impressions later on.

So far I love it!! It's fast and built quality is PHENOMENAL. Ask me any questions and I will answer here. It's SO light. My last laptop is the HP HDX 18 which is a tank.

Battery life and size (over 2 pounds lighter) should be better than the 8440p. Also screen resolution and quality (1080p, IPS, matte), newest WWAN (Verizon, AT&T LTE) and WLAN (802.11) specs, SSD (SED, Samsung 840 Pro), m.2 slots, etc. I just got mine and they have used every cm of available space. It's packed. You can't put a 37w CPU in this. Those are for gaming laptops. You would eat battery and burn your lap.

Also the GPU should be comparable, or better on the 840. Unfortunately it's AMD but that's a whole different discussion.

The features built into this function amazingly. The fingerprint reader is integrated into boot which is awesome. No issues installing WWAN that was not factory installed, etc.

 

Hi peter0328,

Of course everything is better in HP 840 G1 compared to HP 8440p except performance.
The performance is about the same (excluding some architecture changes).

I really do not agree that quads I7 are only for gaming. I never play games (got fed up with it - too much playing when I was little) but I do a lot of coding/compiling and 4 cores are always
better than 2 cores when compiling stuff in parallel.
Maybe I'm just an odd user but the perfect notebook for me would be the lightest possible machine (2kg or less) with quad and 32GB of memory. Screen size 14"-17" (i don't care which). No discrete graphics (I don't need it and is just consuming 10W or more for nothing). This is really doable but nobody has it yet. Why is that?

I'm glad you got the new HP 840. Hopefully will serve you great!

Cheers,
za-k/

 

Hi I think you answered your own question. "odd user" or more specifically "non-standard use case". Most people who need raw CPU power (more cores) just use a desktop. Or they would not care about weight (desktop replacement). But lightweight with powerful high wattage CPU and no GPU and tons of RAM is a very small market.

As you have seen the ZBook is just a quadro GPU but same CPU as the 840. So there just is not a large market for quad core CPU and no GPU. That's why I say "for gamers" since they just want max everything lol.

The 4600u does have hyper-threading. Not sure if that helps you though.


For anyone else interested I have SSD benchmarks. I have the secure-encrypting drive which is a Samsung 840 Pro according to device manager.

Elitebook 840 Pro 256GB SED (SATA 6gbps):


Vertex 4 in my desktop 512GB (limited to SATA 3gbps due to mobo):


Also according to CPU-Z motherboard is rev 04 which should have USB haswell bug according to what I can find on google.

 

How much battery life are you getting?

 

Please show some real live pictures of it, thanks.

 

I haven't used it at school yet but so far on HP Recommended plan I got about 2.5-3 hours to 50% battery when using Verizon LTE (using embedded LT4111) to download and install HP updates, Windows Updates, various programs, and browsing the web. Do you have any good battery testing software that I should run for a standardized test? Or a specific usage scenario?

 

My unit (F2Q28UT) has these specs:

• Windows 7 x64 Pro SP1
• Intel 4600U
• 16GB DDR3 RAM
• 256GB SED SSD (device manager states Samsung 840 Pro)
• AMD 8750M 1GB VRAM
• 1920x1080 matte IPS FHD UWA non-touch display
• Intel 7260 AC wifi+ Bluetooth
• Sierra Wireless HP LT4111 WWAN (Verizon Wireless LTE)
• Backlit keyboard
• Fingerprint scanner
• 50 whr battery
• 65w power adapter

I have an Asus RT-AC66U router and link connection is 866.7mbps on the 840. Real world intra-network transfer (wired server to wireless 840) I sustained 500mbps for 12GB over the AC wifi.

I'd love to answer any other questions you guys have.



Looks like the 7260 AC is mSATA and the LT4111 is m.2 and there is an open m.2 slot in my config for cache SSD (m.2).

 

Thanks for the pictures. How would you rate the touchpad, buttons and the keyboard? I am interested how these compare with the lenovo thinkpads.

Thanks,

 

Touchpad has been working great for me. It is not glass but I enjoy the feel and have had no tracking issues. The buttons are also good too. The Pointing Stick is ok. I mapped the right key to be center button so I can hit that to scroll in Firefox. It is a little weird not having the middle button for that like on the ThinkPads.

The keyboard is AWESOME! I hate chiclet keyboards but have no issue with this one. It has the best key spacing and travel I have felt in a modern laptop.

I have only tried new Lenovo computers at Best Buy and I prefer the travel and feel on this elitebook over them.

Also wanted to post an update on SSD speed. The first screenshot I posted was with encryption disabled (not configured in windows). I have now configured HP Drive Encryption within HP Client Security. The SSD is a Samsung 840 Pro which has hardware based encryption only if using HDD PASSWORD function in BIOS. When using HP Client Security it is software encryption since the 840 Pro does not support the OPAL standard.

This means increased overhead for the encryption but it integrates nicely with software (such as fingerprint scanning for boot, TPM encryption, etc).

Here is the SSD with no encryption enabled:
View attachment 104426

Here is the SSD with HP Drive Encryption (software) enabled:


The performance hit is negligible. I cannot tell at all in daily use. I am going to stick with this method of encryption since it is fully integrated with the fingerprint, smart card, etc system.

 

Hi Pete,

am also interested in buyin this beast. I was considering T440s, Dell 7440 and 840 G1 ( dont need dGPU that Zbook 14 provides) and it looks like this is my winner, because its already available ( T440s in EU is available in just stupid configs so 7440 is) and cant be ordered here in pretty nice config - model H5G29EA#BCM .

I have a few questions and I really prefer to ask you instead of our lazy and stupid tech support in Czech rep.

1) What is the NGFF factor of the SSD cache slot?
2) According to Service Manual, 840 G1 can have only Flash cache in here. They say that SSD Drive in NGFF is available in ZBook 14 only. That does not make sense to me. Can you please check the BIOS if there is an option to boot from NGFF?
3) What is the toughness of the 840? Does it flex a lot?

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer

And congrats of being one of first who have it

 

1) I think the SSD Cache is 42mm but I will verify if I find a ruler.
2) Options regarding boot are the following:

• mSATA
• Notebook Drive
• USB Floppy
• USB CD
• USB Harddrive
• Network

There are no options in the BIOS that mention NGFF or m.2 slots at all. I think that port is automatically used for Intel hybrid RAID using the cache drive. HP Drive Encryption states that when using SSD Cache drive you cannot encrypt because of Intel RAID in use in this scenario.

I would recommend using the SATA6 2.5" drive for an SSD. It is very fast and the 256GB SED model is the Samsung 840 Pro. I do not see anywhere to tell if the cache slot is 6gbps or 3gbps. I think I read on the t440s theirs was 3gbps.
3) No flexing in the body. It's magnesium. You can barely get a little flex if you push hard on the keyboard but there is no flex there when typing. It has a solid typing feel. The only flex is when I actually push hard to see if I can get it to flex. The display has a little flex if you attempt to twist it but that is normal to me. I think the lid is plastic or plastic/magnesium. Not sure but it feels solid and has a great finish.

Thanks for the congrats. I've been waiting a month to get my unit

Also if you plan on getting the SED let me know because there is some nuances about the "SED" claim that you should know about.

 

How's the fan noise on the Elitebook 840?

 

I haven't been able to hear the fan yet. It goes on (I can see it spin if I remove the backplate) but it seems silent to me. The underside gets a little warm if it's on your lap but definitely just pleasantly warm, not burning your lap.

I haven't used it for gaming though yet so no idea if it goes a lot faster when using the GPU.

 

The M.2 SSD should be ready now in november. Here is what the quickspec say.

120 GB M.2 (NGFF) Solid State Drive (Expected to be available in November 2013)
128/180/240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
256 GB SED Solid State Drive (Expected to be available in November 2013)
NOTE: If 120 GB M.2 (NGFF) SSD is selected, any of the HDD and SSD can be configured as secondary storage.

 

Hi Peter

Is it possible we could chat over on IRC ? There is something I'd really like to test but it'd be easier to explain over chat. I prefer IRC as it doesn't require any form of registering or installing of programs (just use a webchat, such as: https://webchat.freenode.net/). My desktop recently just died and am seriously considering this as a replacement. Just registered today for my interest in this laptop. (as you can probably tell by my unoriginal username)

Thanks

 

yeah if you go on 11/10/13 sunday 3pm eastern time I can chat. let me know the "channels" to enter on that site.

 

Can anyone explain what the relationship between the EliteBook 840 and the Zbook 14 is? Is it just that the Zbook comes with some higher frills (pro GPU, on-site warranty, etc.)? I ask mainly because in Canada I'm not seeing any 840s spec'd with the 1080p screen, and that's the only one of the bunch that's IPS - but I CAN get the Zbook 14 F2R99UT version, which has pretty much everything I want (well, the SSD is a bit small, but at least I can change it easily!)

 

Channel: ##hpelitebook

 

Hi,

I'm interested in the Elitebook 840 G1 with 4600u, Intel graphics and Full HD display. Has anyone installed linux so far? How is the fan noise? How is the battery life.

Has anyone compared the 4600u with the 2720QM? I would use the laptop for VST instruments and using two cores of the 2720QM would not be enough for me, thus I wonder how the 4600u compares to it.

 

So any further thoughts on your new machine, Peter? I see they're in stock and ready to ship at a number of retailers...

 

I tested UT2004 for 840 G1 and got framerates between 30-100fps with the 8750m depending on the part of the map.

If the fan gets going (gaming or on soft surface where heat cannot dissipate out bottom vents), you can hear it. It doesn't wail loudly but it is audible. 90% of the time the fan doesn't activate to an audible level.

I've about pegged real world battery life (non-gaming) at 5-7 hours. This is on HP Optimized 50% brightness. For media playback I don't have full battery life yet because the AMD GPU was set to max performance when I used MPC HC so it was dropping quickly. I changed it but haven't tested that since. I think it would be difficult to get under 2-3 hours minimum with this laptop.

The fingerprint reader and HP Client Security software has been great so far. DO NOT install HP Drive Encryption update from HP Support Assistant. It will break Client Security. HP is aware of the issue.

Very quick boot. As soon as the Win 7 flags fly in the system is at login screen.

I highly recommend the F2Q28UT model if you can spend the money. This is the maxed spec model and is what I have. I would not recommend buying a lesser model considering the bang per buck with the one I got. $1900MSRP and it has maxed specs.

 

Yeah, the 840 models available in Canada are rather limited... only one has the 1080p screen, and it's i5/8gb/180gb/no GPU. Only one has the i7, and otherwise it/s 8gb/256gb/900p and again no GPU. Two have the AMD GPU, but they're both i5 with 4gb and 900p screens. Horrible selection, honestly, and I've searched for your part number and no distributor is listing it.

However I *can* get the Zbook 14 model that's essentially identical to your model... I have no use for the workstation class GPU, but I don't play games on my laptop either so I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

I checked PCConnection and their website says they ship to Canada but you need to pay freight shipping or some other fees. Very weird that they don't have this model in Canada.

 

Companies often only offer a subset of models up here - and for some reason HP doesn't even allow customization (while Sony, Lenovo Thinkpad, Fujitsu and others do). However one thing HP at least does with their higher-end prebuilds, is offer them with English or bilingual keyboards (which I hate due to changed key layout, but is typically the ONLY option up here unless customization is allowed).

I can always ship to Canada through a freight forwarder if I have to, but it's usually about another $100 charge and I don't know if I'd have warranty issues. Regardless, I'm sure it would end up around $2000 US shipped ($2100 Canadian) plus possible brokerage & duty since it's made in China, and the equivalent Zbook is only $2311... so, for a 10% difference, I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.

 

Hi All,

I've just got a 840 G1 so thought I'd post some first impressions. My purchase criteria were that I'm looking for a relatively powerful laptop (16GB RAM, Core i7) with physical ethernet and VGA ports a good screen, good battery life and relatively light (sub 2Kg) I had been looking at the Lenovo T440S/T440P but the 840 G1 seemed like a better match (plus Lenovo can't seem to get the new T-series out in the UK)

In the UK at the moment the only place that seems to have them in stock is the HP store. there's 2 models available and I went for this one HP EliteBook 840 G1 Notebook PC - HP Store UK with the FHD screen and core I7

I've upgraded it with 16 GB RAM and a Samsung 840Pro 512GB SSD. the upgrade process was very smooth. For an ultrabook class device the key components are pretty easily accessible, the back panel comes off easily and the RAM and HDD/SSD slots are easily accessible.

In terms of the laptop itself, the screen is very nice, good viewing angles and sharp. Keyboard is good, and I'm a fan of the touchpad being recessed from the palm rest as it makes it much less likely that I tap it when typing. Performance seems good, and weight is about right, all in all quite pleased with it so far.

 

Thanks for the reviews guys. I'm really looking into this machine because it seems to be the only sub-4 lb laptop on the market with discrete graphics. For some reason Lenovo and Asus have decided that the US has no demand for a product like that.

As for the model F2Q28UT: where can that actually be purchased? Every site I've found says that it's not in stock. Is there anywhere I can actually see this device in person?

 

So I think I've pretty much narrowed down my choice of a new laptop between the Elitebook 840 G1 and the Thinkpad T440s or T440p.

I like the fact that the trackpad has dedicated buttons on the 840, however my main reason for wanting a Thinkpad was for the keyboard since I will be doing quite a bit of typing on it going forward. Can anyone share how the 840 Keyboard compares to that of the Thinkpad T-Series? I have an ENVY Pavilion DV6T at the moment, and while the keyboard is ok, I would be interested in something better.

Any and all info is truly appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

 

After returning a yoga 2 pro, my short list is down to the hp 840 g1, zbook 14, fujitsu u904 and t440s.

I would buy the 840 g1 F2Q28UT model in a heart beat if it wasn't for the price... sigh....

Probably purchasing the zbook 14 now because the price is cheaper and all the models come with a dgpu, Waiting for a model with 1080 fhd though that is cheaper than $1600 USD........

Also still wary of HP because of poorly made consumer laptops in the past few years.

Does anyone know how the Radeon HD 8750M in the 840 compares to the AMD FirePro M4100 on the zbook 14? I know that the firepro is for business users. But which one is more suited for light gaming?

 

I was able to build a reasonable 840 G1 machine for under $1600 with a full HD screen on HP's custom site. They have a 20% off coupon for the Zbook and an 18% off coupon for the 840 g1.

Anyone have any thoughts on the 840 G1 keyboard versus the Thinkpad?

 

I just ordered a Zbook 14 in Canada - since the Elitebook 840 G1 is not available in a combination containing i7/1080p/GPU like it is in the US.

The keyboard is extremely important to me, and the anecdotal evidence I've read about the 840/Zbook/previous models all says it's good. But I guess I'll find out! I do like the inclusion of dedicated home/end//page up/page down buttons on the 14", which is a bit hard to find right now in this size range but something I'll be using. Heck, companies like Dell are throwing keyboards designed for 11" frames on their 15.6" laptops, which is just stupid in my opinion.

 

Buy HP Smart Buy EliteBook 840 Core i7 2.1GHz 16GB 256GB W7P64-W8P Notebooks F2Q28UT#ABA today at PC Connection

Call them up and they will tell you the lead time. I was quoted 3 weeks for mine and got it exactly that date. This model is in VERY short supply. Place the order then you go in the queue to get it shipped to them from HP in China.

Nowhere to see it in person.

8750M is better for light gaming since it will have consumer (gaming) drivers. M4100 is for anything that uses GPU compute (like Adobe suite, etc).

Can't wait for the review!

Also I can't say specifics on the t440s keyboard but I hated all the Lenovo keyboards when I tried the win8 machines at Best Buy. I like the 840 keyboard. Also the t440s has fn and ctrl swapped.

 

Hey Hikings,

What were the full specs for the 840 that you configured? I tried configuring one with the dgpu and also 1080fhd and it was around 1800+ with the 18 percent off coupon.

 

If there's nothing significant out by the time I get mine, I'll try to maybe do a video. They say 3 weeks lead time, but I don't know if I trust that since the model isn't even listed on HP Canada's website yet. I'm actually pleased to be getting a notebook that still has "real" mouse buttons - I've been studying how I use my Z11 which also has real buttons, and I find I tend to click the button as much as I tap the pad depending on what I'm doing. Plus since I'm not a trackpoint user, I guess I can customize the top two buttons to whatever functions I want.

I was quite hesitant about finally making a decision - am I compromising in the wrong areas - but now that I have I'm quite satisfied!

EDIT: I just checked, and an ETA has actually appeared: November 25th. Not going to bank on it though!

 

I've just got my 840 recently, so haven't really given the keyboard a work out yet. Previously laptop was a Thinkpad 430U, so in comparison

840 keyboard is relatively light touch compared to the thinkpad but I think overall that's a positive.

On the keyboard layout, I'm not 100% happy with the placement of page up/down as they're to the right of return so there's a tendency to hit those when you're going for return. apart from that it's been fine in that regard so far.

I'm a big fan of the 840's recessed touchpad. On the 430U my palms set off the touchpad a lot, so I'm happier with the 840's setup. Also the 840 has physical touchpad buttons which I prefer.

 

Peter0328 and Raysene,

Another question, how is the sound from the speakers on this laptop? I have external speakers, etc for my notebook, but is it adequate and loud enough to hear videos, listen to occasional music, etc?

Also, I was originally building a system with the i5-4300u CPU. Do you both have the i7-4600u? Do you think there is a significant performance difference in the i7? I do plan on upgrading the HD to the Samsung Pro 840 and memory to 16GB on my own.

Lastly, I was going to get the dedicated AMD GPU upgrade, but is it worth getting over the Intel HD 4400? How much better is the AMD?

I guess my final decision is whether to go with the 15.6" 850 or the the 14" 840. Looks like biggest difference is 0.6 lbs, as 15.6 is only 4.1 lbs total.... not too bad for a 15.6" Laptop. But I like the fact of having something a tad more portable these days.

Thanks again everyone for all of your help and insight!