*HP ProBook 4430s & 4530s Owners Lounge!*

Yea, I tried that hoping that it was just a poorly labeled heading for that setting and thought it would wake on the built in keyboard and touchpad, but it didn't work.

 

So do you all recommend the 4530s with the i3, hd 3000, and 4 gigs of RAM? I will buy tomorrow if so. I haven't liked hp in the past as they tend to not hold up, but do these?

 

Nobody knows how well they will hold up since they just came out. I think that the 4430s I have is of better quality than the dm4 I was considering though. It feels sturdy and somewhat durable, not as cheap feeling as the price tag would lead one to believe. Time will tell.

 

So would you recommend buying a 4530s then?

 

Its a price point where for me its the most 15.6 screen laptop for the money that I could find this day (2nd gen i3-2310 - 320gb 7200 rpm hdd - 4gb memory - hd3000 video) I upgraded to 8gb memory but actually the performance is pretty much the same. I suppose I can multitask more programs with 8gb memory.

This is my first HP laptop that I've owned personally. I'd buy it again today. Its all I need in a basic laptop.

Its doing basic tasks just as quickly as my Dell XPS 17 (i7-2720 - 500gb 7200 rpm hdd - 8gb memory - nvidia gt555 3gb memory/hd3000) The Dell doesn't use the nvidia graphics for most tasks as its unecessary. The Dell is heavy and rests at home as a desktop. I carry the HP around with me daily.

The HP ProBook 4530s runs fast and "cool" which should allow it to run for a long time without problems. The battery life is pretty fair also.

 

Alright, then unless someone says "no, don't get one" I'll buy one tonight.

Anyone have a reason I shouldn't?

 

The only reason I wouldn't buy one would be if you can find a better specked laptop for the price, which wont happen. The laptop itself is very nice. Great specs for the price, imho great looks, and better than average build quality. I go through laptops like my wife goes through purses, I switch out every 3-6 months, but Ill probably hang on to my 4430s for a couple years. Yea, I like it that much. Its a great basic laptop with some extra features that you normally cant find at this price point with performance that surprises me. If your purchasing it expecting a basic laptop, the I would highly recommend. If your purchasing it expecting it to be a high end laptop then you may be disappointed. I hope that helps.

 

Yeah I just want it for the ability to have iTunes, Chrome, and MS word, and I will run OS X Lion and Windows 7 on it too. So I think it sounds like a good choice, so I will price check and order later today I think.

 

Is it me or does the CD drive vibrate like hell? It only seems to happen when I play my Enigma CD. How many hours has everybody been getting here? Me: with FSX running (settings maxed out, screen at 50% brightness) @ max performance, still 3 hrs. 28min!!!! I see that quite a lot of people got theirs from tigerdirect. Anyone master the multi-touch scroll gesture?

 

trust me, don't run iTunes on windows. These days it pegs your CPU power dramatically and it is just a gigantic ad for apple. WMP is actually pretty good.

 

>>Anyone master the multi-touch scroll gesture<<

I activated the traditional single finger scroll area on the right side of the fingerpad. Surprisingly, it is the best of any laptop I have have used so I haven't really messed with trying to learn the two finger scroll. The pinch and expand two finger gestures have come in handy with pictures though.

 

I only actually use it for syncing my iPod haha. Otherwise pandora all the way!

 

The 2 finger scroll is decent, no where close to that of a mac. Its jittery and tends to jump around a bit. I typically use the one finger scroll on the right side of the pad myself. The best Ive used for a 2 finger scroll touchpad was on the xps 15 and the samsung qx412. The samsung was perfect, no problems out of it at all... it just worked.

I have found that disabling advanced filters under the palmcheck enhanced acm under the synaptycs settings gets rid of alot of the jumping around and jittery behavior of the pointer.

 

Has anyone had issues taking the back cover off of the 4530s, reading the service manual and watching the intro vids of the laptop seems pretty simple, just unscrew the one screw that in the middle, and push the latches inward all the way, but i have tried with my fingers and the cover would not slide off at all. I tried pretty hard, i think i might damage the latch if i push any harder. I have bought 3 laptops and I cant remove the back cover for any of them. I bought the 2GB version from newegg and need to add 2 more gigs, but this has become quite a nuisance would have rather had traditional screwed compartments.

Model
NeweggBusiness - HP ProBook 4530s (XU016UT#ABA) Notebook Intel Core i3 2310M(2.10GHz) 15.6" 2GB Memory DDR3 1333 320GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics 3000

 

Hello,

I'm sorry but I don't have the anwser...
I just have another question : is it possible to remove the CD drive ?

Thank you.

David.

 

I have the 4530s and its easy to remove the bottom cover for access to the memory, just remove the battery then slide the bottom cover off pushing from front to back while pressing the latch release.

 

Ive got a 4430s and its pretty simple. Remove the battery and then press the battery release latches inward with a bit of force and the back cover pops forward. Its a real nice system they have for maintenance.

One thing to note, I noticed on mine there is a security screw that is used to secure it in place. Mine was not on there and was screwed into a dummy hole. I guess the user has a choice whether to use it or not. You might want to check to see if there is a security screw in place holding the lid on somewhere.

 

Yes you can remove the optical drive. After removing the maintenance panel you will find a single screw with a cd icon next to it. Removing that screw will allow the optical drive to slide out.

 

My 4430s didn't have a security screw installed either. The cover was rather stiff/hard to get to pop open the first few times but now it pops open fairly easily so you might just need to exercise your unit a few times. FWIW, the first time, I had to push the locking tabs inward with my fingers and at the same time use my thumbs to push the cover down/out in the direction it is supposed to travel to get to finally pop free.

 

I was pleasantly surprised today while watching the F1 race and using my 4430s to display live timing data that even with wifi on and the screen at around 70% brightness it looked like I would have gotten at least 4.5 hours of run time if I had needed to run that long.

 

for some reason my service bay cover slides off without pushing the battery release latches.

 

How is the screen on this laptop? Does it have good viewing angles? Do thing appear big on screen because of the 1366x768 resolution? Thanks

 

the screen is quite good, however the brightness of the screen is sub-par. Its alright if you don't mind cranking up the brightness (which will destroy some battery life) or if you work away from a window. If you are in an office enviroment, it is perfect. Another good thing is that the screen is matte, so there is no glare, though you will lose some contrast. I believe the screen is the same as the higher end HP Pavillion computers, just with a matte finish.

 

Does anyone have the 1600x900 reolution on either 15 or 17 inch versions? How is the quality of picture/text?

 

Has anyone ever tried running the Windows 7 memory diagnostics program on their 4430s or 4530s? After my new ram arrived, it was recognized just fine and the laptop has not had any issues or crashes. I decided to run the memory diagnostic just to make sure the ram was working well. The first time I ran the diagnostic, it gave me a hardware error. I ran it two more times and it didn't report any problem. I ran it again today just to make sure everything was still OK. It has given me a hardware error every time today. It gives me this error with both sticks, just the old stick by itself and just the new stick by itself. I then created a bootable disk with Memtest86+ and ran it with two sticks of ram and then each one individually. Memtest reported over 100 errors each time before I killed it and didn't even try to let it finish.

I have been very careful handling the ram and making sure it is fully inserted. It is really odd that both sticks of ram are bad. I wonder if it is a controller or BIOS issues. I let HP Update install a BIOS update when I was initially setting up the laptop.

I am holding for HP Support on the phone (29 minutes and counting). If anyone has ideas, please pass them along.

Here is a snip from one of the Windows error reports. When you see a 1 in the entry like the following, that indicates an error found: T1NumBadPages 1 T1NumBadPages. I get anywhere from 4 to 12 of these T1NumBadPages errors per test. I can't paste the whole thing because the message function here tries to read it has html code and distorts everything.

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results
Date: 7/31/2011 8:30:31 PM
Event ID: 1102
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: DSF5
Description:
The Windows Memory Diagnostic tested the computer's memory and detected hardware errors. To identify and repair these problems, contact the computer manufacturer
]

 

After 40 minutes on hold, I finally talked to Kurt at HP. He said that since I was getting errors with all combinations of RAM sticks from two different diagnostic programs that he was pretty sure it was a memory controller issue versus RAM issue. He said the laptop needs to be sent in. I said I was going to check with my vendor and see about a return or exchange first.

I would encourage everyone to test their RAM using the windows memory diagnostic program, or even better, Memtest86+ at Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool. My laptop runs fine and has not crashed but the technical support guy said issues could crop up at an inopportune time. I guess it is better to find out now while you can still get an exchange for a new one versus letting HP hack around with it for a week trying to "fix" it.

Ugh. I get to reconfigure a new laptop all over again.

 

I haven't received the new Gskill 10666 memory yet (tomorrow) but my current 8gb memory passed the windows 7 memory diagnostic.

 

Thank you !

David.

 

I don't rely on memory testing programs. In my experience they almost always give errors every time I use them. Ive come to not rely on them and ignore there tests. I prefer to stress a machine under full load for a 10-20 hour period using prime 95 and furmark which will put a full load on the processor and memory. If a computer can go full throttle under these two programs for 10+ hours then you're not going to run into problems later.

 

I agree I don't run diagnostic programs either and do not look for trouble. In my experience if there is a hardware problem it'll show itself pretty soon under normal use.

I ran the windows 7 memory diagnostic as a reference point for the other forum member. I didn't get an error and they did. I also ran it on my Dell and all is well.

 

Well I bought a 4530s with 4 gigs of RAM and a 320 gig hard drive. I will make a backup disc of the recovery partition, but to remove the crap preloaded, is there a way for me to get a regular windows 7 reinstall disc?

I plan on upgrading the hard drive to at least 500 later on, and I'm installing OS X on it as well!

 

Try this. I was able to create a bootable USB drive following the instructions there.

On a side note, I've had my 4430s for about three days now and absolutely love it! I have a G. Skill 8GB RAM kit arriving today via UPS (ordered from NewEgg). I plan on posting my thoughts later in the week.

 

That looks SUPER helpful. Thanks!

EDIT: Also, what partitions are on there to begin with? There is the one with 7 installed, I will reinstall without the crap. There is a recovery, which I will write to disc, then no longer need it, and are there any more?

 

There should be three or four: the 100MB partition that Windows 7 makes, the system partition, HP Tools (this contains QuickWeb, BIOS tools, etc), and the recovery partition. The HP Tools partition will automatically be created if you install QuickWeb or certain other HP items (I have the BIOS tools, QuickWeb, and my backup key for the biometrics here).

 

Do I need the HP Tools partition? What exactly does it do?

 

The HP Tools partition contains some of the HP tools, such as QuickWeb. Provided you have backed up the swsetup folder, you can erase the HP Tools partition when you are performing a clean install. The minute you reinstall QuickWeb or the BIOS tools, a new HP Tools partition will be created to host these utilities. If you do not reinstall any of them, the partition will not be recreated.

 

>>I ran the windows 7 memory diagnostic as a reference point for the other forum member.<<

Thanks wildjim for running it. I appreciate the reference point!

It would be highly unlikely that both sticks of RAM are bad so I will continue to tweak things. It almost seems like an intermittent thing and I think a full removal of the RAM for close inspection of the contacts and slots to make sure something isn't amiss physically with the connections is worthwhile investment of time.

 

What exactly is quickweb and what do the bios tools allow me to do?

 

Im not the smartest person when it comes to computers so I was wondering what what be the best way to get rid of all the crapware on this laptop, I own the 4530s by the way. By best way I mean the easiest way

 

I received the GSkill 13333 106666 8gb memory last evening it also passed the windows 7 memory diagnostic test. No increase in performance : ( But it was a good deal at $39.98 for 8gb

 

Just use a program like CCLeaner (Piriform) (free) to edit startup and disable programs from running and or uninstall (if sure you do not need it) with windows 7 control panel programs and features. Also Windows 7 has msconfig which will allow you to disable programs from starting. Also in services you can disable all the HP services from loading. By just disabling the software you can enable it again if there is an HP feature that you require.

I disabled almost all the HP programs in startup and services and uninstalled MS Office and Norton anti-virus. I use Malwarebytes (free) and Avira (free) for anti-virus, sometimes ms security essentials.

Some other great free utilities:

IMGBURN - free

IFRANVIEW - free

VLC Media Player - free

CPUID - free

 

HP's page about QuickWeb

What WildJim said, or a clean install. I'm a big fan of CCleaner and another one of Piriform's tools, Defraggler (which can now actually "replace" the Windows defrag utility).

I installed my RAM kit yesterday as well. My Index score for RAM went up to 7.4. I haven't set up VMWare yet or tried running any other large-memory operations, so I couldn't tell you if there's been a performance increase yet, but more RAM usually helps. On the flip side, my pagefile and hybernate file are now larger.

 

I would do a fresh install by following this http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

That's what I am doing.

 

There's a free program called pc decrapifier(seriously, its real) Ive used it quite a bit. If your not sure whether or not you should remove a program then just Google it to find out what it is or post it on this forum and we can help you out.

 

Have you compared it to CCleaner? I'd be curious to know how well it works.

 

>>called pc decrapifier(seriously, its real) <<

You might be talking about the same thing since the first C in CCleaner stands for crap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner

 

No.... Crappy PC No More! | The PC Decrapifier

I used it where I used to work quite a bit when I would perform factory installs on computers. Its just a simple program that automates the removal process. Just select all the programs you want removed and click next, it will remove all the programs that were selected one by one. Walk away grab a drink and wait it out or in my case, at the time, start working on another computer. CCleaner would be a follow up to this program to remove the left over folders and registry entries that may or may not be left over.

 

There really not the same thing, comparing them wouldn't work. they would compliment each other rather than being compared to each other.

 

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65733/X15-65733.iso

direct link to reinstall windows 7 x64.
if you have an iso program like UltraIso, you can delete the ei.cfg file, and burn an all-in-one windows 7 disc, with every version up to ultimate.


The 2gb version of 4530s is now $430, comes with windows 7 professional, and has an open ram slot for a 4gb stick. Recent prices for 4gb ram have been around $11 after rebate.
I think it's time to buy.

I don't remember any Intel probooks dipping below $400, and I doubt Black Friday prices will be much better.

 

Hello everyone,

Well this is my first post in this forum. I decided to join in because you guys are really good helping each other
I recently purchased Hp Probook 4530s with Core i5 & 1 GB ATI Card. It came with Linux. Therefore, I just formatted whole drive & installed windows 7 ultimate 64-bit.
My question is related to how to install QuickWeb because when ever I try to install it a message appears that there is "Hp Tools Partition not exist".

Kindly help me out in this regard as I really want to use that great feature of my lovely laptop.