HP Elitebook folio 9480m (successor to 9470m)

Hello HP experts,

Did anyone hear about or experience this 9480m?

http://shopping1.hp.com/is-bin/INTE...se?CatalogCategoryID=Y1cQ7EN52s0AAAFG3WoTA5Co

HP quietly released it.

Its the Folio 9470m update with Haswell processor.

I wonder if HP fixed the loud fan issue with this 9480m and short battery life going to haswell.

Anyone have this or any experience with the 9480m?

 

I saw that on HP's site but never thought much of it. Is there a particular reason you'd be interested in the 9740M/9840M over the Folio 1040 series?

 

hi charles,

the only thing i like about the 9480m is the 16gb ram max capacity.

I used to own the 9470m and it was amazing except for the horrible fan noise and low res LCD screen.....

But the 1040 g1 wins in all other area.

thanks charles..

 

I can't seem to find any reviews for the 9840m, oddly enough. Looks like it's a victim of never being marketed.

I'd just go for the ZBook 14 G1/G2 if you need 16GB, or look at a Dell Latitude E7440 (NOT the E7450 ...Dell ruined that IMO). If you're OK with 12GB, the EliteBook Folio 1040 G1/G2 would be advisable.

 

Hi Charles! thank you again here...

12GB Folio 1040 G1 might work out well....

Zbook 14 is great since you can open it up easy and service it yourself if needed

I like the black carbon fiber Dell e7440 touch screen version because it looks pretty cool and 1080p

How did Dell mess up the E7450? Isn't it lighter and more battery life with the Broadwell?

 

You're welcome.
Dell messed up the E7450's keyboard - they relegated the Home and End keys to secondary functions within the arrow key cluster. To me that's a deal breaker. I have a work-issued E7440 which I use for P/SQL and VB programming and would be totally lost without dedicated Home and End keys.

You might be able to get some good deals on the E7440 in the Dell Outlet. IMO it's an awesome Ultrabook. I don't have the touch version but the 1080p non-touch IPS screen is quite good. I think the EliteBook 1040 has a better, sleeker design but it's more expensive in general and lacks the E7440's user serviceability.

 

hi charles,

Thank you again!

Is the dell e7440 quiet? does the fan get above 35 db and annoying at any point?

I did not know there was a 1080p NON-touch version! Is it also the black carbon fiber for the 1080p non-touch?

 

The carbon fiber backed model is probably the touch variant. Mine has a silver aluminum lid.

The E7440's fan rarely goes on in my usage, but I don't have an SPL meter to measure the dB. It's not silent at top fan speed, but not annoying to my ears. It's really not noticeable at lower fan speeds. There is a slight whine no doubt due to how small the fan must be. I wish I had a better comparison for you.

 

that is a pretty good desciption of the fan! thank you again....

HP consumer division just threw a wrench into this whole thing by releasing the new HP Spectre X360!

$999 for core i5-5200u, 8gb ram and 256gb ssd!

Being that the Folio 1040 g1 is list price at $1,900+, i wonder how quality is compared to each other!

 

The Spectre X360 is hard to ignore, I agree.

Check the HP Business Outlet - https://h41183.www4.hp.com/pps-offers.php
As I made this post, there were 45+ different 1040 G1's available from $699. FHD models around $1,199.

Edit: And some ZBook 14's with FHD for $879.

 

Hi,

Has anybody tried to upgrade a HD version of the 9480m with an HD+ panel? The HD panel is an N140BGE-LA3 Rev C1 and I tried to replace it with an N140FGE-LA2 Rev C2.
I thought this would work, because according to the maintenence handbook and parts list all parts except the panel itself are the same for the 9480m. In particular I could not find any information about the need for other cables for example. That was an issue for the 9470.

After the upgrade the backlight is working, but I do not get the screen to actually show any picture.

Any help or hints would be highly appreciated.

best regards, Jörg

 

hi joe, i have not tried the HD+ panel for and it sucks yours couldnt work! did you call that vendor back?

I had the 9470m. I loved it except mine had the problem of excessive fan blowing and fan noise! it was unbearable, so i sold it.

Does the 9480m have the same issue?

I downloaed the 9480m hp service manual because i was toying with the idea of getting a 2nd hand 9480m and swap the LCD to HD+

i suggest get the exact HP part number and call this vendor again....

please tell me if your 9480m has fan noise problem..thanks and good luck!

 

hi charles,

yes the spectre x360 is so hard to ignore. i just read from a insider post that the spectre-line has the same designers/engineers as the elitebooks so the quality is at the same level.

I am still thinking to myself if TOUCH is really worth it and the future of good PC laptops.
I'm not 100% sure yet that a laptop needs touch or that its a feature still not perfected as part of the laptop experience.

A excellent large touchpad is good enough? (thats what Apple Inc believe and thinks)..

HP outlet does have good deals...thanks for sharing!

 

Hi yaonyc.

The fan noise so far is quite ok. It did only start for a few moments at system boot up. Most of the time the fan stays completely off and I only noticed it a few times while working with it.
But I only have it for a few days now and it is therefore hard to say how the fan behaves in usual work situations. So far I was only setting it up and trying to improve it (HD+ screen).

I read often often that the thermal grease used in many notebook computers is not a good one and that people could cool down and silence their machines by replacing it with a premium thermal compound. Also dirty fans might be a problem, but as you had a new machine this might not be the case for you. In the end it might also be bad fan control. I am using windows 7 64bit professional on it. Maybe other operating systems are worse regarding fan control. But all this is only speculation.

The HD screen resolution is the biggest annoying factor so far for me. Before reading in this Forum I did not notice this as a problem. My old Lenovo T420s was much worse regarding fan.

I would also have liked if the display would open 180 degrees and not only 140 degrees. There are situations where I want to completely open it and put it vertically in front of me. For example for watching a movie on a plane. It is very convenient for this situation to have 180 degrees opening angles, but I know that this is complaining on a very high level.

For my screen upgrade I now ordered the exact HP part number rather than a "compatible" replacement. It s out of stock practically everywhere. This is why I tried the non HP replacement first.
HP technical support told me that just replacing the screen will work. I however have my doubts now and I ordered also the HD+ cable from the 9470m. The cables and connectors seem to be very similar, but the HD+ cable is for sure able to handle the dual channel signal needed for HD+.

So I have not given up yet, but it might take 2-3 weeks until all has arrived and I can continue. I will report.

best regards, Jörg

 

hi jorg / joe1970,

Thanks for the detailed info and report on the fan issue. Perhaps HP addressed the issue on the 9480m vs the 9470m and the Haswell processor probably also helped here..running cooler and less power usage

Here is a good youtube on 9470m LCD replacement and taking apart the 9470m





Best of luck on your HD+ screen! keep me updated. If you are successful, i might try it since 9480m are very affordable now in the 2nd hand or refurbished market

i love that the 9480m can have 16gb ram! the folio 1040 g1 can not....

all the best!

 

I have finished with all the upgrades and I think I report about the changes I did and add some remarks. Maybe somebody finds this useful.

My model is an HP Elitebook Folio 9480m with i5 processor

1. Adding a WWAN LTE card: HP lt4112 LTE/HSPA+ Mobile Broadband Module
The official part number from HP is 704031-001. The official part purchased in Europe can be quite expensive. I have seen prices close to 200 EUR.
I finally ordered directly from China (AliExpress, eBay might be an option) for less than 70 UD$.
What I ordered is: HUAWEI ME906E NGFF LTE/HSPA+ FDD 4G WWAN module Card 704031-001 Unlock for HP lt4112.
I am convinced, that this is actually exactly the same as the original HP part.

It works completely fine after loading the driver from the HP website. The driver chosen automatically by windows was older and had some troubles with the card disconnecting after a while. No problems with the newer driver provided by HP. Very good performance especially with 4G coverage.
I also find the HP Connection Manager a very useful tool.

2. Add a second SSD:
The 9480m has next to the SATA SSD also a M.2 slot. I ordered a Transcend MTS400 M.2 SSD 256GB SATA III, MLC
It works perfectly. The only issue was that the m.2 slot came without the tiny screw to secure the card. Also the SSD did not include this screw. I finally "stole" one from another machine, where it was not needed.

3. Keyboard replacement:
My employer delivers a Swedish keyboard and the layout drives me crazy. I ordered a spare part. In my case the US layout. The replacement is done in a couple of minutes without any major problems. Just follow the maintenance guide.

4. Screen upgrade to HD+
This was by far the biggest problem especially because information about the process is hard to find. HP technical support did confirm to me that this can be done by just replacing the HD panel with the HD+ panel. This information was wrong, but I finally made it with some experiments.

The original HD panel that was build in is an N140BGE-LA3 Rev C1. This is the product number of the original panel manufacturer. The HP part number is 769721-001.

I tried first to replace it with an N140FGE-LA2 Rev C2. It should be compatible but did not work. I sent the panel back and ordered the official HP HD+ panel part number 769722-001. It is more than three times more expensive than the 3rd party replacement panel but I wanted to make sure it all works by using the original parts. I got a B140RTN 03.1 panel as the official one. It is not only more expensive, but also has worse specs than the 3rd party panel I first tried. But also the official HP replacement part did not work.

What I needed to do is also replace the internal display cable. And that replacement part was hard to find. HP finally confirmed, that both versions of the display cable are part of the Antenna Kit. The part number is 769704-001. It took a couple of weeks to get this, but now I finally have it working.

The problem is that HD uses one channel and HD+ requires 2 channel connections. This means that some contacts in the HD cable are not connected. The HD+ cable is fully connected.

Replacing the cable is however a complex task, as the machine needs to be dismantled nearly completely. So I finally did the upgrade with the original parts from HP.

A much cheaper way would be not using the original parts. The 3rd party HD+ panel would cost about 50 EURO and I finally got a price offer for just the right display cable for 17 US$ directly from China. With the original parts this all was much much more expensive, but I had problems identifying all the parts I would need.

For reference, here are the original manufacturer part numbers of the cables:
HD: 6017B0507401
HD+: 6017B0499401

Please note, that the HD+ cable from the 9470m model (6017B0427401) does not fit in the 9480m. The cables are very similar but have different mainboard connectors.

If any of you would like to do a similar upgrade on a budget, I would propose you buy a 3rd party compatible replacement panel with good specs and order the 6017B0499401 cable directly from china. I would have done this myself, but finding all this information was hard and I had to experiment.


5. Fan noise: The fan is not noticeable at all when I do usual office work and in general rarely on. With the display change I had to completely dismantle the machine and I took the opportunity to also replace the thermal compound for a really good one (Arctic Silver 5). It is still silent. I am not sure if this was an improvement, because I just did it yesterday. However, the original thermal pastes used in laptops are often not the best ones and replacing them can make a difference.

6. Slice Battery: The additional slice battery is really great. I was able to work an entire day including travel time on a plane without the need to choose disruptive power saving options. I am not entirely sure how many hours that were, but at the end of the long day I still had 4 hours left. This was impressive. The battery adds considerable weight, but nothing dramatic. The biggest problem is that the 9480m does not fit in the docking station with the extra battery installed. I also did not find an option to charge the slice battery independently of the laptop. If somebody has figured out how to do that, I would be happy about an hint. Does HP have for example a separate charger that can be directly plugged into the slice battery?

7. Display opening angle: The display does not open flat. This seems to be no big issue, bot there is one use case for that. If I want to watch an movie on the plane on my own laptop, I used to open the display 180 degrees and then keep the entire open laptop stand in front of me on the folding table. That is perfect with the Display at perfect hight and distance. The 9480m does not allow to do that. Not a big issue, but a little annoying.

I hope this post helps anybody to save money and avoid trouble when doing upgrades.

best reagrds, Jörg

 

hi,
I just followed your items, bought a transcend MTS 400, but both bios and system can't recognize it.
and I try to modify the bios to dect it, but surprise me that most of bios items are disabled in 9480m.
I'm not good with HP 's notebook's bios.

any suggestions ?

and Can we install the linux on the m.2 ssd as the secondary os ? use normal boot to start it ?

 

Hi kick98,

that is strange. I did not need to set anything up in the BIOS. I am using Windows 7 Professonal 64 Bit. I do not boot from the M.2, but from the main SSD. The M.2 is only additional storage.
The M.2 drive did not show up immediately with a drive letter. I needed to partition it and format with NTFS. I thin I used Windows disk management for that.

It might also help to install the latest BIOS and driver versions.

I did not try Linux on this machine.

best regards, Jörg

 

Joe,
both bios and win7 can't know this new SSD, I checked the hardware, make sure only one place to set the M.2 card (Obvious, there is a SSD mark).
and I also use the Win7 professional 64 Bit.
Which version of your bios ? I just check the version, it's about /07/2014.
I checked the spec in hp website, and find they have a model only have 128g m2 SSD + machine HHD. it should can be boot from the M.2.

 

Hi kick98,

I am not sure I understand what you tell me in the last message. Mazbe I am a little slow this morning. Are you saying it cannot work, because the official HP specs only know a 128 m2 SSD?
For me it works that I can use the bigger Transcend SSD in Windows 7. I did however not try to boot from it, becasue I also have a primary SSD in the SATA drive slot. Win 7 did recognize the drive and it did allow me to partition it with a primnary partition with NTFS.

bets regards, Jörg

 

sorry for my unclear description. I mean since they have such model (128g SSD + 1T hdd), the M.2 ssd should be bootable.

I checked the user manual again, see they said it support 256g SSD for M.2 interface.

I have updated the bios to the newest version, the problem is same.
and it's very tricky, In my bios, most of items are disabled, and don't allow to modify even I use a administrator not a guest account.
I also find the mStata option in Built-in Device Menu is unchecked, but I can't activate it, it's gray.

It seems that some thing wrong in my bios which is locked, any suggestion?

and my previous elitebook 2540p, I found a tools can reset the bios, but find nothing for 9480m.

 

Hi kick98,

This BIOS issue seems indeed strange to me. I agree that the BIOS does not have many options, but I have not seen any that cannot be set. Nevertheless, if I remember correctly I did not need to set anything in my BIOS. I was just having a look out of curiosity.

My machine is my work machine and HP is directly prividing our entire IT. Maybe they have restrictions on some of the BIOS versions and models depending on where and how it is sold. But this is pure speculation.

The grey option for mSATA might be correct, becasue it is an M.2 slot with SATA Express rather than an mSATA slot. It might be geyed out because the BIOS correctly detects that there is no mSATA slot in the machine.

Just to confirm:
1. Windows disk managment did not not show the m.2 disk at all, right? So it is not only a problem to boot, but to use the disk at all?
2. Did you try the m.2 disk in another machine? Just to make sure that the disk is ok.

best regards, Jörg

 

Hi Joe,
It can work now.
I found I can update the BIOS setting as a guest user not admin user, very tricky.
In HP manual book, they really consider the mSATA as the M.2 interface.
and when I checked the mSATA in Built-in Device Menu, the 9480m can know the MTS 400 well. It's unchecked by default. The 9480 is also my work machine , rent from HP IT service. I guess HP did some special things to protect the original setting .

I installed a Fedora on the MTS 400, keep the Win7 on the old SSD driver, both of them work well now.
The WIFI still have terrible performance problem in Fedora, I'm still working on finding a new driver to fix it.

Thanks again.

 

Hi kick98,

Congratulations. Very interesting and very good to know that you made it work. On a first thought it does not seem to be very logical that a guest user can do more than an admin.

Is the Wifi problem the only one you have with Linux or are there other problems? For example: how is the fan and power managment working?

best regards, Jörg

 

Joe,
According to my previous experience, the power management is not so good as windows. My elitebook 2540 can work 5 hours with WIFI in win7 , only 3.5 hours in ubuntu. and about the Fan, I guess it's not problem since it's a ultrabook.

 

Hi Jorg,

I plan to do a panel replacement on my 9480m and was wondering what would be a good source to buy a compatible HD+. I want to avoid getting the original part from HP for obvious reasons. Is aliexpress.com reliable?

P.S. My machine is also provided by my Swedish employer and somehow they decided to spec it with this ridiculous panel that reminds me of the early 2000s.

 

Hi clinlin,

does your Swedish employer happen to start with an E and work in telecommunication. Sounds pretty much like my problem.
If you are located in Europe or North America I can highly recommend https://www.laptopscreen.com/English/series/HP-Compaq/ELITEBOOK/

see: https://www.laptopscreen.com/English/model/HP-Compaq/ELITEBOOK~FOLIO~9480m~SERIES/

My first order was from them. In my opinion and experience they have very good prices, fast delivery and they have a responsive and helpful customer service. I did first order from them. It did not work, because at that time I have not jet figured out the cable problem. I did send back the screen and ordered the official HP one to cancel all possible sources of incompatibility.
Also, the laptopscreen.com customer support gave the right hint about the cable while HP messed everything up and gave wrong advice. The only reason why I did send back the first screen was that I needed longer to get the right cable than their returns time window. They graciously extended the time, but I getting the cable took still too long.
All in all I can really recommend them. By the way: The panel from laptopscreen.com had better specs than the HP original HD+ panel.

Aliexpress as such is not bad. I have myself ordered a couple of things from there with very mixed experiences. Aliexpress is however just a platform for many separate shops. It is an art to separate the good shops there from the bad ones and good products from bad ones. On first glance all looks perfect.

I have ordered the mobile broadband card for the Elitebook from Aliexpress. The shop was "Shenzhen SEG Plaza E-commerce Co., Ltd." That worded well. The HP part is anyway a re-branded Huawei card. What I got is fully functional with HP part and serial number and without any problems. Delivery time was also reasonable.
I also got an offer for the needed display cable from "NanQi Technology Co Ltd's store" while no shop had it listed that cable yet. I finally ordered the official cable pack from HP instead.

These shops appear to be good and professional. But I have mixed feelings in general about Aliexpress. A few other non IT orders did not go that smoothly and there are a lot of low quality products around. Some shops are professional and others behave unprofessional and try every excuse to not solve a problem.

My advice would be to get the panel from laptopscreen.com and the cable from an Aliexpress shop. That is what I would do if I would need to upgrade again. This way the upgrade should be in the 70-80 Euros region including shipping costs.

I hope this helps. Best regards, Jörg

 

Thanks for the reply!

Looks like we rock the same E// boat. Since I'm based in Europe, I'll follow your advice and order the screen from laptopscreen.com and see if I can manage to get the cable from China. I was not considering the broadband card, but now that you mention it, this is not a bad idea at all.

All the best!

 

Hi clinlin,

The mobile broadband card was something like 70 EUR on Aliexpress. For the full HP price, I would not have bought it, but for 70 EUR I found it would be a convenient addition.

best regards, Jörg

 

HP Elitebook Folio 9480m , i5-4210u, Intel V pro technology, 256GB SSD, 12GB RAM, 2GHz. Pre Owned for £350.

OR

HP Pavilion i5-6200u, 2TB HDD, 8GB RAM Brand New for £380 . Which one to buy ?

 

It depends on your usage. The EliteBook Folio is business class through and through, and stands a far better chance of withstanding abuse, travel, and general usage. The support is also much better. Check to see if it has a warranty.

You can fill out our FAQ in the What to Buy forum to get expert opinions from our forum members.

Charles

 

Thanks Charles . This laptop elite folio is under warranty until June 2018 but it's not valid here in the uk as laptop is from USA. I had a chat with HP guy and they said they can't cover in the uk as this product is not sold in the uk and parts won't be available .

 

It's a gamble, then. The 9480m is a solid computer, but not popular around here to any degree; I don't know of any first-hand accounts of its reliability. It should be reliable, considering it's a top-end business class notebook.
See if you can haggle the price a bit considering there's no warranty.

Charles

 

9480 also has 3 USB (1040 only two) and track point in addition to trackpad, and two sets of trackpad buttons, top and bottom.

 

I'm a HP warranty self maintainer and I have been going crazy trying to find the display cable for some of our 9480m's that have experienced liquid spills or physical damage.

This information is good to know.