*HP Elitebook 800 Series Owners Lounge*

Very nice ! Can't wait for this showdown. I guess your analysis will be my decision maker.

 

Ordered the 820 with the i7-4600U and 256GB SSD and also got 16GB of RAM and a docking station. I'm looking forward to receiving it!

 

It's 3.5 pounds.

 

I see the "Smart Buy" F2P20UT#ABA Elitebook 840 G1 config is showing up at more retailers, but no sign of any sort of discount for Black Friday / Cyber Monday yet. Only discount I've seen was the 5% promo (limit $50 off) Newegg ran a few different days which pretty much just brought it down to Provantage's regular price after shipping.

*sigh*

 

Thanks Pete.

how you liking it so far?

 

1GB of GDDR5

 

How is the backlight on the keyboard? Is it automatic via an ambient light sensor? If it's manual, can you adjust the brightness level? How many levels are there?

 

I honestly think this is one of the best laptops ever made. It has great security features and insane performance for everything but gaming. It's super light and battery life is awesome (6-7 hours). I have the LT4111 modem that I use with Verizon LTE which has been working flawlessly. I also have AC wifi at my apartment and this thing flies with 500mbps real life transfer speeds. I'm also happy that their is finally a great 1080p small and light win7 machine.

Backlight is not automatic. It has 2 levels of brightness along with off. There is a toggle button on f11 to go between high, low, off.

 

Wonderful, so its just as crappy as the Lenovo Thinkpad T440s in that regard then.

 

How are the speakers? the 8440w and general elitebook are quite terrible and volume are not high enough. I recently listened to a dell xps 12 and the sound though not bassy ( these are ultrabooks after all) was quite loud.

I wish they can put in some effort with the sound even though these notebooks are not made for multimedia.


Also how is the mouse pad with its button with respect to speed / motion , location on the kyboard etc.


thanks!

 

Volume gets very loud. No bass though, so it is not full sound.

No complaints about the trackpad. Has great tracking and smooth motion. It is centered with space key which is good.

 

Edit: So it seems I was wrong. The 840 G1 I received has a 2.5" 180GB Intel Pro 1500 SSD not the 520 series I guessed before based on the technical manual HP published. However, the specs for the Pro 1500 do not match up whereas the 520 did. Oh well...

 

The big day is today i hope

 

The HP gets delivered today (which some on this board already have). Unfortunately, the Acer doesn't arrive until Thursday due to the HOliday. I promise to share thoughts on both as soon as I have both in hand

 

hahaha alright.. uggggh acer, bad start already haha

 

Actually, it's not Acer's fault. I ordered through Provantage.com and while they had the item in stock, it needed to be shipped to their Ohio warehouse first, then reshipped to me in CA. Its a way to get around Sales Tax... and Im happy to wait a few extra days to avoid it if possible

 

how much do you think it will total?

CDW quoted me around 1475 + HST

 

So Crucial says this 8GB DDR3 1600 SODIMM is compatible with the HP Elitebook 840 G1 I have on order (F2P20UT#ABA). Of course it turns out that part number CT5044300 is only sold by Crucial directly. How is it different from this 8GB DDR3 1600 SODIMM that I can buy at a variety of retailers? The specs on both are exactly the same. Is it really likely they've done something to the SPD on the CT5044300 SODIMM that makes it "compatible" with the 840 G1, but the generic one won't be?

Yes, I realize they're the same price at Crucial, but I was hoping to watch for a deal on the widely available CT102464BF160B SODIMM or a similar generic 8GB DDR3 1600 1.35V CAS11 SODIMM instead of buying something specifically for the Elitebook 840 G1.

 

FWIW, the 8GB SODIMM in my 840 G1 is a MT16KTF1G64HZ-1G6E1.

 

How is the noise and temperature emissions of the 820 and 840 models? I have an old HP laptop that it's pretty loud and I am wondering if HP has solved the heat/noise problem on its current notebooks.

 

Ok, I'm back. My sincere apologies for any delay... it was a late night last night testing out the laptops next to each other, but I have some thoughts on both. Im going to keep this short and as non technical as possible though. This is more of a "general use and thoughts" type comparison. I split it up into categories and just picked a winner for each.

Screen:
Both have 1080p FHD IPS displays, however there is a noticeable difference in quality. The HP (AUO123D = display ID) is noticeably superior to the Acer display (AUO311 - display ID). There is a grainy screen door shimmer going on with the Acer and colors are much colder/cooler than that of the HP. The HP display is absolutely Gorgeous in comparison. I knew by looking at both instantly which I liked looking at better.
WINNER = HP

Keyboard (& backlight):
I'm just going to say this now, both keyboards are not anywhere near Lenovo Thinkpad quality. However, between the two, the HP has a little more travel, and a more comfortable typing experience. The Acer wasn't that much worse, but in typing it felt like there was no travel in some of the keys, and it was just way to light to the touch. The backlight on the HP keyboard was also much brighter and has 2 levels to swap between. The Acer had one backlight level and it seemed awfully dim... even in full darkness.
WINNER = HP

Touchpad/Mouse:
The Hp takes this one hands down. The trackpad surfaces are about the same size, but the HP was much smoother, and nicer to use. The Acer has a bit of a texture that I didn't like at all. The buttons were also far superior on the HP because they were raised and easy to find without looking. The Acer's buttons were literally flush, if not depressed in the case, which made trying to hit the buttons cumbersome and difficult. The HP also has the small rubber trackpoint and two extra top buttons for those that prefer it over the trackpad. Both have finger print readers.
WINNER = HP

Performance:
I didn't do any tests on either, but both felt snappy for real world applications. The HP may have been slightly snappier, but it was too minimal to tell.
WINNER = None (for my use)

Build, Weight, Dimensions:
Both are 14" Ultrabook laptops, and their dimensions are very similar, however the Acer's overall physical dimensions are a hair smaller in every direction, including weight. The Acer comes across sleeker and thinner in its all black chassis. Build wise, both seemed solid, but the HP did seem a little more heavy duty and substantial. The one thing I didn't like about the HP (That I dont like about my current HP, is that they make the edges of the laptop below the keyboard so sharp that I find it not only annoying, but sometimes even painful to rest my wrists on the laptop when typing. Its where the 2 pieces snap together. This might be a personal thing, but it's annoying. The Acer has the one piece build so it was a bit smoother and more comfortable to rest my wrists on the edge.
WINNER = Acer (by a hair)


Price:
For very similar specs (minus an 8GB of RAM difference), the Acer is $600 cheaper than the HP. The CPU on the Acer is the i7 4500 vs the 4600 on the HP if that matters to anyone.
WINNER = Acer

OVERALL:
The Acer is a very capable machine, but you can also tell there is a price difference. However, whether that price difference is worth $600 depends on what is important to you. If your computer will be docked most of the time and using external monitors, the system is a steal. However, if you plan on spending any actual time on the laptop, the screen, keyboard and touchpad of the HP are far superior. The hardware specs are only sightly better.

All that being said, Im sending the Acer back for sure. However, the other thing I may be doing is sending the HP back as well. While a nice machine, it hits the $2000 mark with a dock, and I was hoping to keep my purchase price closer to $1500. Not only that, the keyboard of the HP is just a bit too mushy for me, and typing is something I plan on doing a lot of on this laptop. That said, it looks like Im going to totally switch things up and grab a Lenovo T440p. It's heavier and thicker, I know... but it will still be lighter and smaller than mu Envy 15 while still giving me access to a built in CD drive, and higher end components. Id go for a T440s but Id still like a dedicated GPU.

Anyways... I hope this overview was helpful for those considering these machines. The HP 840 G1 is a great machine, with a fabulous display!!!

 

Low heat (doesn't ever burn you like older HP models). Does not get loud unless you crank the 8750m. I don't know how the non dedicated GPU models would be.

 

Well, I got my Zbook 14 - same essential specs as Peter's model, just with a different GPU. Hope to open it this weekend! (Have to do an unrelated hard drive swap on a desktop system first.)

 

Opening up the 840 G1 is a piece of cake. It's also really slick. You slide the latch and the bottom panel slides open and you can access all the guts very easily without fighting screws and latches.

 

Actually I should probably clarify - I mean open the box. It's sitting here, waiting for me to dedicate some time...

 

What sort of enthusiast are you? That should have been opened within minutes of receiving it!

 

It's interesting... the hardware ID on the 1080p panel in my just-opened Zbook 14 is LGD040A, which would indicate it's an LG panel and not AU Optics. It is, however, rather stunning to look at - the quality really doesn't seem far off from my very expensive NEC 24" pro monitors.

 

How do you see the hardware ID of the panel?

Edit, never mind I figured it out. My 840 G1 also has AUO123D for the Hardware ID.

 

Device Manager... double click on the monitor under, then under the details tab, use the drop down to select Hardware ID.

 

Quick Q for those with Windows 7 systems (Peter?)... when you open the screen, does the laptop wake from sleep, or do you have to hit the power button?

 

On the Zbook 15 by default you have to press the power button to wake it, however there was a bios option to allow it to wake when opening the screen.

 

I think the ZBook has a DreamColor panel like an older elitebook line did? Since it has a pro GPU I think that may be the market for it.

I hit the power button to wake. I have re-imaged the machine a few times and I'm pretty sure at one point I had it resuming on lid open but I can't bee 100% sure. I reset the BIOS too so that may be why it doesn't anymore. Probably I changed a setting when I got it.

 

Aha! Thank you so much for that! The first time I went into the BIOS I made the mistake of not selecting "guest" mode, authenticated with my fingerprint, and 99% of the options were greyed out (and not even scrollable to see what there was). Selecting the unsecured guest mode, sure enough there's an option to wake when lifting the lid... even one for powering on when lifting the lid. I'll guess that authentication mode is meant for setting security/encryption settings only.

The bigger models advertise DreamColor as an option, but it's not mentioned anywhere for the 14". Interesting they would put a different panel in, though, especially since I'm pretty sure the replacement part numbers in the service guide are identical for the 840 G1 and ZB14. I also can't find any mention of this LG part number anywhere on the net - so it must be new.

The SSD is an Intel SSDSC2BF240A4H 240gb 530 series.

 

It wouldn't be a DreamColor display, those were only made in a 15" and 17" size, and don't work with the intel switchable graphics.

Would you mind checking in the Intel control panel if your Zbook supports "Panel Self Refresh" (PSR)? Looking at HP's site it mentions that it is supported here but nowhere else on their site. With PSR + the intel ULV cpu it should be able to get great battery life. Even the Zbook 15 was able to get 7+ hours with a 4800MQ.

 

Yes, it says it's enabled.

 

Cool. One more question: if you turn the keyboard backlight off via FN-F12 (or whichever hotkey it is assigned to) then either sleep or power cycle the machine, does the backlight turn back on automatically? The Zbook 15 that I had would do that, and the HP rep didn't really understand what I was asking. Strangely enough, the 8570w works as I would expect it to. The backlight, when turned off, stays off until I specifically turn it back on.

 

Yes, it does seem to come back on automatically. I suspect this is something that could be changed by a BIOS update, though.

Edit: must say there is definitely no issue reproducing colors on this screen - everything is rich and vibrant, yellow is perfect, whites good and crisp without the color temperature being too cool - and there's zero difference in appearance whether running on battery or plugged in. It does seem to be higher than standard gamut, and there's no screen door effect or "shimmering/sparkling" from the anti-glare. I do have some backlight bleed in the lower left corner, but it's only visible on pure black and seems to be reducing the longer I use the laptop. I do agree with others that the keyboard travel is lower than I would've liked and the tactile response is a bit too far on the soft side, but despite that I'm not having any issues typing accurately or having keys register (no trouble pressing on the extreme ends of the spacebar), so I'm sure I'll be able to get used to it.

 

Is there even an ambient light senstor on the HP EliteBook 840?

 

No, none that I've seen.

 

Can anyone find specs for the UWVA display on the Elitebook 850? I have spoken with at a one tech at HP who claimed there is no 15 inch UWVA option for the 850 and the display on the E3W19UT#ABA is actually a UWA display. If so, the display options on the 850 are remarkably inferior to those of the 840.

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/MiddleFra...3712&BaseId=42633&oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=9

 

You need to set an admin password for the options to not be grayed out when logged in to BIOS.

Just wanted to say that on my EliteBook 840 it resets to on every time it wakes from sleep or reboots. Does not save setting.

 

But why did they ditch the ambiment light sensor? Doesnt all laptops have that function now?

SB

 

My 4-year old Sony has it - just for the keyboard backlight (there are numerous brightness levels and it turns on/off and adjusts brightness seemingly at the drop of a hat). And you know what... all anyone complained about at the time was that there wasn't an option to keep it on all the time - it would time out after a rather short period. I actually just noticed the other week that somewhere over the past while Sony actually DID add that option... and I immediately enabled it. As for the HP, there's a BIOS option to adjust how long it stays on for (including never shutting off), and if it has timed out brushing the touchpad or stick will activate it instantly. I always end up disabling automatic dimming screens since the constant changes are more annoying than merely adjusting it now and again (and frankly, I rarely feel the need to adjust it).

With all that said - I wouldn't have objected to an ambient sensor simply to have it automatically keep the backlight on in the dark, and turn it off in light.

 

Does anyone here own one of the 850s spec'd as having an UWVA display (eg. Smart buy F2Q24UT#ABA or E3W19UT#ABA)? Could you comment on the quality of the display such as viewing angles and brightness? What information does the Windows device manager have on the display part number?

Thanks

 

Peter,

Did you wipe the machine when you got it? I just got my F2Q28UT and installed Windows 8 and upgraded to 8.1. The process wasn't very smooth. I'm not sure what HP software to reinstall. Did you install the Peak Power software?

 

Mine came with Windows 7, which is what I want. I do not want Windows 8. I've reimaged the machine at least 5 times since I got it.

I didn't wipe the machine and install Windows from scratch. I reimaged it from the recovery partition that installs Windows 7 fresh. So all I do after reimaging is update using HP Software Assistant and Windows Update and I'm good.

I won't be much help for Windows 8 questions lol I refuse to use that.

 

Hi Peter,

What is it you like about the 840 and what was your previous machine? Any other impressions? I can't find any comprehensive reviews only.
I'm on the fence choosing between the 840 and a Thinkpad T440s. Unfortunately because the 440s isn't available in NA with a discrete video card, I'm leaning towards the 840. My hesitation is that I've never even seen an Elitebook in person.
Ideally I would add a m.2 ssd to be the OS drive and use the mechanical for data, but I've haven't found any information whether that's even possible.

 

update to ask about the Folio 1040 also.

What are the key differences between 840 and 1040 a zbook 14?

 

The BIOS for the 840 has a boot option for mSATA, but the system doesn't seem to have a mSATA port. I'm not sure if picking mSATA would let you boot from the M.2 / NGFF slot if you had a SATA M.2 SSD. Unfortunately, I don't have a M.2 / NGFF SSD, so I can't test it.

There is a M.2/NGFF slot inside for a SSD and one for the WWAN module. Both seem to be 42mm. They are both single keyed slots, which as I understand it means they have PCIe x4 and SATA in them. However, support for booting to a PCIe M.2 SSD is completely unknown (if any even exist in a 42mm length).

 

I'm of the opinion that the BIOS's references to mSATA actually mean the M2 slot. One possible catch is that the service manual mentions booting support to mSATA for the ZBook 14, but specifically indicates that it's not supported on the Elitebook 840/850 (and says only a cache card is supported). No idea if this is actually true, and we won't know unless someone tries.

I continue to be amazed at the thoughtful details that HP put into the notebook, even inside the back cover. Like the little diagram of the exact steps needed to remove the HD. How screws have an embossed logo next to them for what they're for - ie. the ones for the HDD have a little disk icon, and the ones that release the keyboard have a little keyboard icon. I was reading the service manual and how there's an optional screw that goes under the latch to lock the back cover (so it can't be easily removed), and how mine didn't come with that installed or elsewhere. But just tonight I was looking at the back of the service cover for no particular reason, and sure enough there's a small screw installed in a hole doing nothing... next to an icon of a padlock. Oh, there it is!

So far I'm really liking my ZBook 14 (near identical to the 840 G1). My *complaints* up to now would be:

1) Would've liked more keyboard travel, or at least firmer tactile response.
2) Some backlight bleed in the lower left corner of the FHD screen (note that it's a different brand screen to what's on the 840 G1).
3) Although the fan is quiet and not annoying, I do think it's running perhaps a bit more than actually needed (judging by how the thing has never gotten even remotely hot).
4) Not impressed with the wasteful partitioning of the 240gb drive - and for some reason my WHS backup software is unable to back up the system/restore partitions (has worked on every other notebook I've tried).
5) Don't like that the power cord plug isn't a right-angle plug. Seriously, what were they thinking - it sticks out a minimum of 3" before you can curve it back (I've ordered a 90 degree adapter which should help).

The Thinkpad 440s was a strong contender for me, especially at the Black Friday sale prices... but in the end I opted against it due to no dedicated graphics, lack of serviceability, lack of physical touchpad buttons, and I preferred the HP's keyboard layout (although I probably would've preferred the Lenovo's keyboard feel, but I'm getting used to the HP).