HP Elitebook 850 G1 Owner's Lounge

Does anyone own this cool Ultrabook? Post your experience, problems and reviews here.

Ten facts to know before buying Elitebook 850 G1
1. There are 2 types of screen resolution. 1366 x 768 and 1920 x 1080
2. There are 2 battery types. 24 Whr and 50Whr
3. The processors are power efficient and dual core unlike its predecessors with quad core processor. This is done to reduce the weight and thickness of the laptop which starts at 1.88 Kgs or 4.18 Ibs with a 15.6'' screen.
4. There are two types of core i5 processors.4200U with 1.6Ghz speed and 4300U with 1.9 Ghz speed.
5. There only ONE viewing angle. SVA – Standard Viewing Angle. If you are looking for UWVA = IPS, check out some of the models of Elitebook 840 G1.
6. There is no CD/DVD drive
7. The screen is non-touch and matte
8. There is no HDMI port, instead, there is a display port.
9. Some models have SIM card slot with LTE capability.
10. It has 3 years manufacturer’s warranty but some have 1 year warranty

Detailed Specification

Operating systems Preinstalled:
Windows 8 Pro 64
Windows 7 Professional 64 (available through downgrade rights from Windows 8 Pro 64)
Windows 7 Professional 32 (available through downgrade rights from Windows 8 Pro 64)
Windows 8 64
Windows 7 Professional 64
Windows 7 Professional 32
Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Windows 7 Home Premium 32
SUSE Linux
FreeDOS

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 processor; Intel® Core™ i5 processor; Intel® Core™ i3 processor

Chipset
Chipset integrated with processor

Memory
DDR3L SDRAM, 1600 MHz, two slots supporting dual-channel memory, up to 16 GB total

Internal Storage
320/500 GB /1 TB 5400 rpm HDD; 320/500 GB 7200 rpm HDD5
500 GB 7200 rpm SED (Self Encrypting Drive); 500 GB 5400 rpm FIPS SED
128/180/240 GB SSD; 256 GB SED SSD; HP 3D DriveGuard
120 GB M.2 (NGFF) SSD
Flash Cache 32 GB M.2 (NGFF)

Expansion Slots
1 Media Card Reader

Display
15.6" diagonal LED-backlit HD SVA anti-glare (1366 x 768)
15.6" diagonal LED-backlit FHD SVA anti-glare (1920 x 1080)

Graphics
Integrated: Intel® HD Graphics 4400
Discrete: AMD RadeonTM HD 8750M , with 1 GB dedicated GDDR5 video memory

Audio/Visual
HD Audio with DTS Studio Sound; Integrated dual-microphone array; 2 Integrated stereo speakers

Wireless Support WLAN:
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac (2x2) WiFi and Bluetooth® 4.0 Combo
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260AN 802.11a/b/g/n (2x2) WiFi and Bluetooth® 4.0 Combo
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260NB 802.11a/b/g/n (2x2) WiFi
Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n (2x2) and Bluetooth® 4.0 Combo

WWAN:
HP hs3110 HSPA+ Mobile Broadband
HP lt4111 LTE/EV-DO/HSPA+ Mobile Broadband
Communications Intel® Clarkville (I218-LM) Gigabit Network Connection (10/100/1000 NIC)

Ports and Connectors
3 USB 3.0; 1 USB 3.0 charging; 1 DisplayPort 1.2; 1 VGA; 1 Combo stereo headphone/mic jack;1 AC power; 1 RJ-45; 1 side docking connector;
1 secondary battery connector

Input Devices and Camera
Full-sized spill resistant keyboard with drain; optional10 backlit, Dual-point (touchpad with scroll zone and point stick),
2 Discrete buttons (WLAN on/off, speaker mute)
720p HD webcam optional

Software
(Windows OS only)
Buy Office, HP 3D DriveGuard,7 HP Connection Manager (Windows 7), HP Wireless HotSpot,11 HP PageLift (Windows 8 only), HP Recovery Manager, HP Support Assistant, HP ePrint

Security
HP Client Security Suite (requires Windows) includes: HP Credential Manager, HP Password Manager,16 HP File Sanitizer and HP Device Access Manager with Just in Time Authentication, HP BIOS with self healing, HP Drive Encryption,18 HP Secure Erase, HP Trust Circles, Microsoft Security Essentials (Windows 7) & Microsoft Defender (Windows 8), HP SpareKey(requires initial user setup), Absolute Data Protect, TPM Embedded Security Chip 1.2, security lock slot

Dimensions
(w x d x h)
14.78 x 9.98 x 0.84 in (at front)
37.5 x 25.3 x 2.14 cm (at front)
Weight Starting at 4.15 lb / 1.88 kg
Weight will vary by configuration.

Power Primary Battery:
3-cell (24 WHr) HP Long Life; 3-cell (50 WHr) HP Long Life
Integrated: 45W Smart AC adapter

Source:
http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/html/pdfs/AMS_HP_EliteBook_850_G1_Notebook_PC_Data_Sheet.pdf

 

Just bought one, the full hd i5 Version with 512 Go SSD and 16 Go Ram. Runs cool and noiseless. Screen is not IPS but still a noticeable improvement from my 8460p 1600x900 HD+ Screen which was so pale that I could not edit pix on the road.
But where is the SD Card Slot? According to specs, should be on the right side but I've been looking all over and can't find it.

 

SD card is hidden with a dust cover. Remove it to access the SD card slot.

 

I picked up a refurbished 850 G1 a couple of weeks ago and I'm just now getting to unbox it. It is nicer than I expected: super quiet, very fast, very good screen and it should meet my needs just perfectly.

Here is the build:

Hewlett-Packard - HP ProBook 850 - Factory Refurbished - 1yr HP Warranty
HP EliteBook 850 W7P-64 i7 4600U 2.1GHz 256GB SSD 16GB 15.6FHD WLAN BT AMD HD 8750M Cam Rmkt NB PC

 

Can anyone confirm if the Radeon 8750M throttles at stock settings?

Notebookcheck review noticed that when they were running Dota 2, the GPU's clock rate was fluctuating between 650 mhz and 300 mhz at 72C.

 

Good question Loney. Hp and AMD should solve the problem by now.

I have updated the first post with some useful information.

 

I'm not sure if they solved it by now. One of them mentioned installing the latest Catalyst 14.4.

 

The problem might be related to Switchable graphics option. Check this thread. It talks about the same thing for different machine and HD4600.

 

Would people recommend this over the Zbook 14? The primary reason I need additional horsepower is that I do a decent amount of HD transcoding..I had a quad core 8570w which worked fantastic but it was just way too heavy. I don't do gaming and I care most about stability and durability. Zbook 14 hits all the buttons except I want a 15" screen which the Eltiebook has.

 

An Elitebook 850 would perform about the same with the transcoding tasks as the Zbook 14. However the screen is not going to be as nice, if you were planning on getting the 14" FHD screen.

 

Elitebook 850 G1 also have FHD anti-glare with an option of wide viewing angle. I would like to know where zbook is better.

 

I'm thinking of purchasing an 850 G1. Is it possible to add a second internal hard drive?

 

Yes, it possible. It has an additional Msata port. See this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbmTOT0z1SQ
You get the info starting from 4:45. Even though it is obvious, it is good to confirm from HP Support.

Edit: agreed with SL2. The port is not msata but m.2. However, I can't be sure if it is Pcie or sata type. At this point however, using any of m.2 sata ssds is not good for the laptop as they have over heating problem that would damage themselves and the PC. So it is better to wait for some time.

 

It is not obvious from the video, and the reviewer is wrong.
That's a M.2 slot (which is NOT the same thing as a MSATA slot.), you can see that it's narrower than the network cards next to it.

HP clearly states that it has a M.2 slot on page 15.

HP EliteBook 820 G1 Notebook PC HP EliteBook 840 G1 Notebook PC HP EliteBook 850 G1 Notebook PC (QuickSpecs/c04164161.pdf)

Another source.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-EliteBook-850-G1-H5G34ET-Notebook.112439.0.html

 

Agreed! Thank you.

 

Hello future 850 G1 owners! I wanted to answer a couple of questions since I just purchased an HP 851 G1 and have it up and running.

Can you boot from an M.2 drive in the M.2 slot?
Yes, you can boot from an M.2 drive in the M.2 slot in the laptop. You need to check on a few things. First, there seems to be some 850's that DO NOT have an M.2 slot, make sure yours has the M.2 slot. They seem to have the "space" for the M.2 drive, but they don't have the M.2 header on the motherboard, so make sure the 850 you order actually has the M.2 slot. When the 850 was first released I came across one for a customer that DID NOT have the M.2 header soldered on the motherboard, don't know if this was a mistake on that unit, or there are different versions of the 850 and some don't have the M.2 slot-thought I would alert you all to check.

You have to update to the latest and greatest BIOS. Then go into the BIOS and checkmark that the M.2 slot is bootable in the Boot Options section.

There are different sizes and types of the new M.2 standard. The specific M.2 drive that I purchased for my 850 G1 is a Transcend MTS400 256Gb SSD. It is 22x42x3.5mm and is B+M notch type or "key" type. What had me stumped for a bit it the slot in the 850 G1 has only 1 notch in it, but a B+M key type drive has 2 notches in it, so I thought it wouldn't work. This is all new to me, but from what I read, a B+M will work in either a B or M or B+M key type. These drives are kind of hard to come by, they were sold out on Amazon for a while, and then were back in stock and that is where I purchased. NOTE: the M.2 drive doesn't come with the one mounting screw and the screw was not in the laptop either. I took the screw from the cellular card slot (that is empty in my 850) and used it to screw down the M.2 card. So if you plan on using BOTH cellular card and M.2 slot, you will need an extra screw.

Some M.2 drives apparently have heat issues. Mine does not, the M.2 is the same temperature as the wireless card. They are very slightly warmer than the rest of the machine. I haven't taken temps yet, but don't see any issues at this time.

In the SATA drive slot, I have left the mechanical 500Gb SATA hard drive that came with the laptop. I boot Win 7 Ultimate from the M.2 and my data is on the 500Gb mechanical SATA hard drive.

Bluetooth takes some extra drivers to get working
Bluetooth being a pain to get working consistently is not unique to this model of laptop. I have a headset, two speakers, and a plantronics headset that all work fine with iphone. With the new 850, I could pair them, but never got the option to "connect" and play music through them or switch the mic/speaker output to the bluetooth devices. This is a common Win 7 problem and is not unique to this laptop, but I thought I would share what I found worked for me to get the devices working. The problem I had is documented here on Seven Forums: Bluetooth headset pairs but won't connect, not avail as playback devic - Page 2 - Windows 7 Help Forums

I have all the up to date drivers for this model from the HP website installed, but bluetooth devices would not fully connect and become usable in Control Panel, Sound (they just wouldn't show up) until I installed this driver and rebooted:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=23451&lang=eng&ProdId=3507

Fan Issues
I have purchased about ten 840's and 850's for customers. Two of them had loud, obnoxious fan issues as has been well-documented with the Folio series of laptops. Working with HP tech support, supposedly a firmware issue will solve some of these fan issues, it did not for the 2 laptops I had. Also adjustments in the BIOS to turn off "fan always runs on A/C power", etc. did no good. The fan is extremely LOUD, you can't miss it and it is obvious there is something wrong. Both of those went back to HP and new laptops were shipped. In the 850 I personally have, the fan is whisper quiet and even under stress I barely hear it. Even with the BIOS set to "fan always runs on A/C power" it is very quiet, I can't even hear it, and have checked a few times when I first got the laptop to make sure it was working. Laptop stays very cool, no hot spots. But if you get one of the bad fans (one was loud immediately, the other didn't become loud until a few days of use), get rid of it right away and fixed under warranty. It will only get worse.

LCD Quality
I assume from the price of my 850 that I have the "standard" LCD. I saw some other users say they thought the LCD was not very good. It looks great to me, no dead pixels, no glare, which I like better than the glossy screens. I don't do a lot of video editing or graphics, so it is great for me. I saw earlier posts which told how to tell specifically what LCD I have, so I will check it out and post back.

Battery Life
Even with 2 hard drives, wifi, bluetooth and the screen on bright, I worked 8 hours today on battery alone. General email, surfing, quickbooks, playing video/music, all good!

Other thoughts
I like the touch and feel of the keyboard, the keyboard is also backlit (the keyboard is not backlit on all models, so check if this is a feature you want). Keyboard does not have a 10-key.
The mouse buttons feel a little mushy, I wonder if they are going to hold up? The synaptics touchpad works great and is responsive.



Specs of my machine:
HP 850 G1
2.50 gigahertz Intel Core i5-4300U
Windows 7 Ultimate Retail
256G M.2 2242 SSD (boot drive)
500Gb SATA hard drive
8GB RAM (1 slot used, 1 slot empty)
Intel HD graphics (1366x768)
IDT High Definition Audio

 

@TechGuide Thank you very much for the detailed review.

Do you think the M.2 could also work with PCIe SSDs? It seemed like it is designed for it.

I think your battery life worked for a long time because of the limited resolution.

 

Hi, sorry I don't know on the PCIe SSDs, my initial thought is NO because of the key/slot issue. A quick google for a PCIe SSD, and it looks to me like the drive is too long (not 42mm) and the slot is in the wrong position. But I am by no means an authority on this new M.2 standard so I can't say this for certain.

I have both called and done a chat session with HP technical support and they are of no help with "what specifically is the model and format of the M.2 header on this motherboard". First, they said it could only be used as cache, I pointed out the HP bulletin I saw that said with the new BIOS, it is bootable. When asked if the M.2 was PCIe compatible and what exact formats of drives the slot supports, I just received back generic, non-english responses that don't make any sense.

So I think we are on our own to figure it out.

 

That is shame on hp. At least the chat support should have known about it. I think they said it is only cache knowing the overheating issue of m.2 ssds.

 

Are you talking about the Elitebook 850 G1? The M.2 2242 slot is too small for any PCIe SSD. Having two NAND chips doesn't even saturate SATA6 so PCIe isn't needed in that form factor anyways.

 

I am talking about all 800 series. So do you mean PCIe needs a bigger form factor? If so, the new 800 Series G2 will have major changes internally.

 

As far as I know, the M.2 overheating issue is only with a bad batch of M.2 drives. My M.2 drive I posted above on is extremely cool and isn't overheating, I had heard of the issue, but also read on other forums that it is not all M.2 drives, so I have been watching mine closely. Laptop has been on for days straight and no more heat is being generated from that slot than the wireless card a little further away - which is just about no heat. So I think you have to test your M.2 drive and make sure it is not one of the faulty overheating ones...

 

Can anyone confirm that the HD display can be replaced with the FHD display? I'm find it less expensive to purchase the HD display version and the order a FHD display and install it, IF, it will work.

 

Did you check other specifications? Always, the ones with lower resolution also have inferior spec, like battery of 24 watt hour and slower processor. So be aware of that.

Someone has replaced the screen of 850. Check this page and the pages afterwards. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/hp-elitebook-800-series-owners-lounge.733801/page-15
You can contact the person who changed the screen too.
Check this video too.

They are doing sales but the video might give you an idea. It is on 840/ zbook 14.

 

Almost always you also need to replace LCD cable as stock one supports only HD resolutions.

 

Any 850 owners, I have the latest driver installed for the hotkeys, the function keys. What I find really strange is that when you press caps lock, the white light comes on on the caps lock key (I have a backlit keyboard, don't know if the non-backlit keyboards have a light on the caps lock key) after about a 5-10 second delay, I see a little popup on the screen that says caps lock on. Also when using the function keys to increase/decrease LCD brightness or sound volume, I see the same strange delay in the hotkey popup window that indicates the change. The change in volume, etc happens instantaneously, but the little popup on the screen doesn't show up for 5-10 seconds. It is rather annoying, wonder if this is unique to my machine or if anyone else has noticed this?

 

My 850 does not have an SD card slot, it has an SC slot. That is a smartcard slot, not an SD media card reader. The SC slot is on the left side of the laptop. There are probably different configurations of the 850, but my particular model does not have an SD card reader. Some people are confusing the SC slot with an SD card slot.

 

Can anyone, who has E3W16UT, check the model of screen panel?
It can be found using hwinfo64 and looks like "Monitor Name: LG Philips LP156WD1".

 

Hey jetstalker, sorry I don't have the same model as you, I have a E3W18UTR (the R meaning refurbished). I was curious what my screen panel is, it is a "Chi Mei Unknown Model CMN15BE". Don't know if that info helps you, what are you trying to determine, replacement parts or if you got what your thought you ordered?

My model doesn't have the TFT screen, it has the LED-backlit SVA anti-glare.

 

Hi,
I have an Elitebook 850 G1 with 16 Go Ram and full HD display running Win7 Pro 64bits. I tried to connect an external monitor (i.e. DellU2515H 2560 x 1440) through the Displayport 1.2. And I get zero signal and just the message no DP cable. I have HP's latest 3993 W 20 Jan 2015 Intel Video Driver installed. Also set the graphics memory to its maximum 512 Ko in Bios. What should I do? Anyone experienced similar problem and found a solution? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

Hi mjjones, I have used the Displayport on my 850 with no problems. I have not gone displayport to displayport, only displayport on laptop to HDMI on LCD with a properly-adapted displayport to hdmi cable. To troubleshoot:
1) I had this with another ViewSonic LCD, with multiple input ports, there was actually a "source" button or menu item, and the LCD "source" has to be switched to displayport to be "listening" on that port. Some LCDs do not auto-detect the cable so you have to select the source on the LCD manually?
2) Do you have another displayport to displayport cable to test with, maybe you have a bad cable?
2) there are some other connections on the Dell LCD, can you test displayport to HDMI, do you have another cable of that type?

 

Hey!!

Thought Id ask here, cos you guys seem pretty clued up!!

I was initially going to buy a new laptop from pcspecialist, because I am a bit annoyed that I can't open up my laptop, even to air it out! - Well I can if I strip it down completely..I cant even add more RAM

Any way, I saw the HP elitebook 850 G1 for a relatively cheap price, and I wanted to pop in a 120GB mSATA (For OS/programs) and a 1TB drive for data, the RAM at 8GB is good enough, and upgrade the wireless card to an Intel 7260 wireless AC

Im of the belief that all that is possible with the G1, right? And it has a decent battery life, right? Im not a business user, but I want to be able to upgrade, and if any thing, I want to be able to air my damn laptop out so it doesnt get so hot!!!

With the PC specialist laptop, in theory I could have 4 hard drives ie: It's built with one SSD built in, plus another bay for a second hard drive, plus an mSATA bay, plus an optical drive that you can turn in to a hard drive, but then I think do I really need 4 drives?

Any way, was just wondering if it's easy enough to say re-apply some "proper" thermal paste ie: some IC Diamond 7 instead? ie: without having to strip the entire laptop down

I was also under the impression that you could use the display port and convert it to use HDMI?

 

Hi, the G1 opens easily with 1 large slot to remove on the bottom to get to RAM, M2 slot, wireless card, etc. See my earlier posting in this thread for the specifications for the M2 slot, it IS NOT mSATA.

Battery life is 8 hrs on mine with general web surfing/email, abt 4 hrs under heavy load. I have no trouble with heat, and I have a SATA hard drive and an M2 hard drive, and 8Gb of RAM.

I do use a displayport to HDMI cable to hook up to my 40" TV. This is the cable I am using purchased from Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/ksgfbc8

This cable has worked with several different monitors I have hooked it to but just yesterday, I tried to hook up displayport to an HDMI port with this cable on a Epson projector and couldn't get it to work. Haven't had time to look into this, but will need to figure this out. If anyone here has any ideas, I would love to hear!

 

Dont think Ill be using it under "heavy load" tbh. Tbh, I intend to get a new laptop, install the following programs:

Spoiler: programs

Acronis True Image
Adobe Reader
Adobe Flash Player
Cisco Packet Tracer
Cisco WebEx
CutePDF Writer
Dropbox
Epson Stuff
f.lux
Faststone Capture
Filezilla
Foxit PDF Editor
GNS 3 Beta
Google Chrome
inSSider Home
iTunes
Logitech webcam
MEGAsync
Office 2013
OneDrive
Firefox
Mydrive connect (A TomTom thing)
Notepad++
Skype
Speccy
Speedfan
Teamviewer
Trusteer endpoint security (Rapport)
VLC media player
VMWare Workstation
Virtualbox
Wireshark
World community Grid
Zoiper

And most of the time I intend to use Chrome, dropbox, onedrive and Kaspersky tbh! And then the other times it'd be GNS3, alongside VMware home

I've seen something on YouTube, showing how easy it is to get at most of the stuff, but Im not sure how easy it is to re-apply the thermal paste? Like sure you've not had problems with heat, but it's just me thinking about the future a bit!

Thanks for letting me know that it's an M2 card and not mSATA! That'd be a £60 mistake!

And wow!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samsung-M...420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item541a1db924

In theory, I can buy a 1TB WD Blue for around £50 and sell the 500GB hard drive for £25 (minus eBay fees etc... ) So all in all probably a total of £500 in the end...

 

I just opened the bottom of mine up. You have many screws, another plastic layer to remove to get the heatsink off and the fan off get to the CPU. Not as bad as some I have seen, if you are experienced with laptop repair then it would probably be one of your easier jobs.

If HP is doing what they have done sometimes in the past, then there isn't paste on there right now, but some "rubberish" sort of spacer between the CPU and the heatsink/fan. I have seen that on the discrete GPU chips also in other models of HP laptops. Sorry don't know what the technical term for that material is

Only thing you might run into is sometimes the heatsink won't sit down flat on the CPU/GPU, and you can't use paste because you need the "space" to rise the heatsink up to be level. So you have to use the above-mentioned "spacer" and not paste.

Sorry I can't confirm on this model how it is setup from the factory, I don't want to dis-assemble at the moment

 

You didnt have to do all that!! Like unless you HAD to for some reason!!!

I guess I dont mind that. I've stripped apart laptops before, but I didnt want it to be one of those dealies where you have to strip down EVERY THING to get at the parts!

For instnace, with my HP sleekbook, just to install RAM, you have to strip it entirely apart, and then the RAM is actually on the underside of the motherboard, so you have to take that out too. It's one of those few laptops that you have to strip every thing to replace one little tiny thing

Ahh that's KINDA annoying - Id like to be able to apply my own thermal paste

I wonder how this HP laptop would compare to something like this though?

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...Note-II-first-impressions&highlight=Ultranote

(Aside from the slightly added power consumption) I guess the HP elitebook is certainly a lot cheaper at £440!(+ upgrades)

 

Ooooh or perhaps say the HP 8460p? THat seems easy enough to open! (And to re-apply the TP!)

 

I know this is an old post but I bought a 128gb M.2 card for my 850 G1. The system doesn't seem to recognize it no matter what BIOS settings I use. Any ideas?
-Ross