*HP ZBook 14 Owners Lounge*

I just received my HP ZBook 14 a few days ago (1920x1080 screen, i74600U, 240GB SSD). So far, I'm very happy with it.

Some first impressions, without having really used it yet:

Extremely portable and easy to carry around, not far off my Lenovo X1C (didn't check the actual weight yet to see if it's really 3.6lbs as claimed).

Touch pad is good and has dedicated touch pad buttons as well as ones for the pointing stick.

Keyboard is solid: different key style and layout from the Lenovo X1C. The keys are raised slightly, which lets backlight through around them, but no flex at all (feels much better than I expected). I don't like having the vertical column of home/pg-up/pg-dn/end keys on the extreme right of the keyboard with the enter/shift/\/backspace keys that I use all the time to their left...the different keyboard layouts will drive me crazy.

Nicely designed ethernet port, which latches out when the cable is connected -- the laptop is about as thin as it could be with ethernet. Not sure I like the power cord on the right hand side, and the connector sticks out about an inch.

Came with Win Pro 7 installed (includes upgrade discs to Win 8). There was only about 133GB of free space (I think...) on the SSD after Windows and about 14GB for HP recovery/tools.

Tool-less removable bottom, which allows swapping batteries, is really nice (though it was hard to find the part number from HP for a spare battery).

Came with a lot of HP software for security/encryption -- probably useful for some, but more than I need, so I uninstalled the client security, after which I couldn't access the fingerprint reader, so I had to reinstall the HP client security. Also came with complimentary PDF Complete Corporate Edition software, which was a nice plus.

The FHD screen is sharp with good colors and wide viewing angle. I have some light bleed on the lower left part of the screen, but I see it only against a black background.

Some suggestions that it's an ugly laptop, but I think it looks attractive, even if the one-inch black border around the lid doesn't quite work aesthetically.

 

Zbook 14 owner, just checking in.

Almost identical opinions here (same backlight bleed), although I actually like the column of keys on the right - not because of having yet another layout to get used to (although I never overreach so their presence isn't an issue in that way), but simply because they're there in the first place. I absolutely hate having to FN + arrow to get those commands, because I use them all the time, so for me this was a selling feature. Plus, they allow the arrow keys to be full sized (well, at least horizontally), and even larger for up/down which is welcome since they're so skimpy vertically (like practically every other laptop keyboard these days).

This is actually a very similar layout to what Lenovo uses on their Ideapad line. I'm just glad the power key isn't the top right key like on Asus, because I also use DELETE all the time and I doubt I could get used to that key shutting down the system!

I actually find the Ethernet port a bit humorous - it's a nice compact design, yes, but when open it doesn't actually extend any lower than the fixed docking station connector that hangs down right beside it. So, there was really no need for the fancy hinge design if they merely extended the docking bumpout another inch!

Overall a nicely designed laptop, although I do wish the body was carbon fiber.

 

I also just got mine, I went for the non ssd and 4gb Ram version as the cost with SSD was too high, so I added my 16GB Crucial Ram and 500GB Samsung SSD afterwards and it was still cheaper than the version HP sell with 240GB SSD and 8GB Ram. The added bonus is the version they ship with the normal HDD also comes with a NGFF 32gb SSD in raid to speed up the spindle based HDD. So now I had 2 SSD's it might be only 32GB but good for files etc. I also have the same backlight bleed mainly towards the bottom of the screen. But the FHD screen in matte is gorgeous. I agree about the power socket being on the right is a bit tedious. But a very compact and versatile machine. I will add a 4g LTE internal card, slice battery, the docking station and a nice HP leather sleeve to finish it all off... awsome!!!

 

I received the fully spec'd model last Thursday, took it out of the box, tried to power it on, no luck. Plugged it in for about two hours, tried to boot it and nothing. When charging, the charging light doesn't work. Tried all the normal tricks - removing battery and using only AC, removing AC and only using battery, using a different charger, holding down power button for 30 secs without battery or AC, etc, etc and nothing. Not a light on the thing has lit up and not any sense of life.

Obviously sending for an exchange.

Don't know about backlight bleeding - obviously - but did notice that the rubber around the inside of the display was loose at the corners and easily could have been pulled off. Otherwise it was a tight and well-built laptop.

 

Whats the paint work like on this. I seen other hp with the same design where the silver paint edges have rubbed off. is the design the same with the zbook 14?

 

I imagine that can still happen. But thankfully unlike the 840 G1 the paint on the ZBook is dark grey / black, and so is the material beneath (don't ask how I know).

 

Still torn between a Zbook 14 and a 1040 G1. I read somewhere that the Zbook 14 has some sharp edges that will cut into the wrist. Can someone confirm/reject that? Since I'm typing a lot, it is quite relevant for me and if there were some sharp edges, it would pull me to the 1040 G1 ...

Thanks in advance for any comments!

 

It does has "V"-shape front edge, like many ultrabook-type notebooks, but mine (anyway) isn't sharp at all. There's a thin rounded metal rim that encloses the keyboard face-plate but they join smoothly. This picture gives a good idea:

http://myzone.tgreview.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/HP-Zbook-14-1024x768.jpg

I'd say the ZBook is excellent for typing and that wouldn't be a reason to prefer the Folio 1040 G1 over the ZBook (instead it would be whether you want more portability vs. discrete graphics etc.).

 

@Thecla: Thank you for your prompt response. I was worried when I was reading about this "issue" somewhere because I really hated the sharp edges on the MacBook Pro unibody.

It seems to me that the ZBook will be the perfect computer for me. I wasn't sure whether I should go for the 1040 G1 but the tradeoffs for just 100 grams of weight gain doesn't make to much sense - at least not for me.

Ist the light bleed a big issue? I have it on all of my Thinkpads and it really bothers me.

 

It's not an issue for me -- I can't see it at all under normal use, even with the screen brightness turned down all the way. But it is definitely visible when I use dead pixel buddy to view a completely black screen (mostly around the bottom of the screen in maybe a half-inch radius semi-circle near the left hinge, and a little bit near the right hinge). I don't know if that would bother you, or if it's worse/better in other units.

 

I did post some comments on keyboard, sharpness of edge etc. in my unboxing video thread - http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/739857-hp-zbook-14-unboxing-video.html

Myself - and my needs are likely not the same as yours - I don't find the 1040 G1 quite as appealing. No discrete graphics (that's a big one), no dedicated mouse buttons (small but surprisingly significant), half as many USB ports... and the warranty isn't as good. I would say your primary need would have to be for portability for the 1040 to make sense.

 

Very glad to see this thread getting started! I originally wanted the HP zbook 14, but with the initial delays in production I changed my mind and ordered a thinkpad yoga. Thought it would get delivered sooner according to Lenovo's web site but it actually took 3 weeks longer than originally thought. After using it for a couple weeks I found the screen size was just a bit too small and I really needed an ethernet port for work. So I ordered the zbook 14. I also do some CAD so the graphics card and 4 USB 3.0 ports was really nice. Here's my thoughts on the machine; note many remarks are just my personal opinions and I really do like this laptop!

The quick access cover is a great idea, but is squeaks like made. I had to get creative in sticking some small thin felt pads on in the appropriate locations so the creaking would go away. It creaked every time I rested my palms on the laptop for typing. It was really bad. The laptop isn't nearly as solid feeling as the thinkpad yoga and every now and then I get creaks but it's 100 times better after the felt.

The physical keypad buttons are nice to have, though I'm surprised there's not a third button in the middle being a laptop designed for CAD use.

The pointing stick works well, but comes off way to easily if you try to wipe dust off the keys. Way too easy to loose and no spares come with it.

They keyboard is nicer than I thought to type on, but I hate the coating they put on the keys. The actual keys on the thinkpad yoga are very nice. The ones on the zbook 14 appear to have a coating on them that fingernails just grab and slide funny on. It's like a texture problem. If I don't keep my nails fully trimmed it's noticeable. Maybe I should start biting my nails! The keys are also very light in physical weight, though I don't mind the force to push them down. I do like they are full size but the thinkpad yoga has better keys coating and concave shape. The keyboard is much quieter than the thinkpad yoga.

I *REALLY* wish there was a direct print screen button. Who uses pause? Why not replace pause with a real print screen button or follow the thinkpad line and put it in place of the menu key between alt and ctrl to the right of the space bar.

Full size arrow up/down would also be nicer. I'm fine withe the page up/down keys where they are. One thing I didn't like about the apple keyboards are the lack of old time keys which I still use quite often in work.

The LED backlight bleed through does bother me a bit. It looks like two LEDs under each key, and a more uniform light would be much more pleasing. OR one LED per key would even be better. Due to the angle you sit and look at the keys, the ones near the top (function keys) have lots of light bleed whereas the ones on the bottom row have almost none. A bit ugly really. They also default to on full brightness and you have to use fn-f11 to flip through the bright/dim/off stages. The first fn-f11 doesn't always take either. I loved the thinkpad solution of fn-spacebar and how it went off/dim/bright instead.

The screen isn't quite as sharp as the thinkpad yoga, but has much better color and is matte There is some bright spots near the bottom but I never see them in actual use. They appear mostly during bootup.

I also *REALLY* wish the screen was 16:10 instead of 16:9 aspect ratio. At least apple got that right. a 1920 x 1200 would be awesome.

Would be nice to have touch on it and 1080p resolution rather than touch only on the 1600x900. Lenovo has a T440p with 1080 touch but I'm not sure if the screen is IPS or not. I love the IPS screen on the zbook.

The ethernet port is a little tight with all my plugs. The hinge works well but wish they would have left that out. Moving parts are just going to break.

It's great to have so many ports. VGA works well. But I wonder about the full size display port?! why not a miniDP which is so much more common especially to find adapters. I wish it had a miniDP instead of the full size one. I also sometimes try to plug USB sticks into it, that's even more frustrating and reason for the miniDP.

Wish the screen would fold back more for my desktop monitor so it could slide under it. The hinge has stops so it can't go all the way back.

It's completely silent 90% of the time for me. Hardly do I hear the fan turn on and it's quiet unlike the reports I heard about the zbook 15. So fan noise is no problem.

The hard drive however was loud. Thought it was the fan at first. And hot. I would get this warm spot under my right wrist. Almost thought about returning the laptop because it bothered me to have one hot wrist and one cold wrist. Once I found out the hard drive was there putting in the SSD fixed those problems.

It's very light for it's size.

I'd love this machine to come with a slim power adapter instead. And the power connector is about 2" sticking out. Surprisingly this hasn't been a problem for me yet, but maybe a 90deg adapter would be a nice addition. I also didn't see much in the way of an optional automotive adapter on their web site.

My build had the 750GB drive, which I replaced with a 256 Samsung EVO. The factory SSD prices are a rip off. I did struggle to find the right foam/felt to fill up the extra thickness on the drive cage. The slimmer SSD caused lots of noise and creaks with the plastic wrap on the drive cage under the removable bottom. Once I got the right felt and foam it was quiet again.

Did have the wireless button not go orange when turning off the wireless. The button worked but the color wasn't right. Turned out to be a driver problem with bluetooth as the bluetooth wasn't completely correct, and took me hours to fix it. Had to go back a version in the wireless driver to get it working again. Hope they fix that bug on the next wireless or bluetooth driver, whichever it was.

There is also a flex problem between the hinges when the lid is closed. If you hold it in that area, the middle when closed you can flex the screen about 1/8" or more. I put a thick foam spacer right under the HP logo so when I close it there won't be flex when grabbed in that area. Not sure if it would hurt the screen but didn't think it was a good thing to let it flex.

As for sharp edges under the palms, yeah they aren't rounded but they don't cut into my wrists at all. So no problem there for me.

The onboard speakers are really crap. Seems like there are 3, left, right and center. Sound is bad, but that's the case for most laptops.

I do get a no cdrom error in my application log all the time. And a few others I haven't worked out yet.

I don't use the fingerprint or smartcard reader. For me those are useless but I suppose corporate security reasons they have to be there. Would rather have an expresscard /pcmcia thingy instead.

Battery life is good. The estimate for time left appears to be always conservative for my use.

I have win7 installed but really liked win8.1 so I'm likely going to upgrade to 8 very soon. The microsoft anti-virus stuff works better in 8, and many things are streamlined better.

Put a yoga hinge, full HD touch, and win8.1 and I'd love it even more. Not sure what I've left out but that's enough for one post.

 

All in all your report sound quite promising - with the exception of this squeakiness issue. Did other owners have the same issues - shouldn't be the case in the laptop in this price range ...

 

I don't have any creaks from the bottom compartment. It's very solid and doesn't move at all. Only issue for me is the screen bleed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

For the quick access cover make sure to slide the release latch all the way so it covers the red area. I didn't do that when I first got the zbook and the cover would still slide a little bit even though it wouldn't come off. With the latch over all the way it doesn't move at all. No creaks either.

 

No creaks here either. The only comment I will make is that (so far as I can tell) the underneath part of the ZBook chassis (including the removable cover) is plain black plastic. The ZBook 14 isn't fragile, but it's definitely not as robust as something like the enclosed carbon fiber body of the Lenovo X1C or the previous HP Elitebook workstations (and maybe the current ZBook 15/17's -- I haven't seen them) which were built like a tank.

(Then again, the X1C doesn't have discrete graphics, a swappable battery, or an Ethernet port, and the 15"/17" workstations are a lot less portable...)

 

No creaks here either - and I use the Zbook most often on my lap, which puts a fair amount of stress on non-standard places. Also the removable cover doesn't seem to be plastic to me, but some kind of metal (but with that said, quite thin, so not indestructible).

The lower half of the chassis is a sturdy plastic, but the outer ring (which is what most stuff mounts to) seems to be magnesium. To me, it does feel a well designed and very solidly built product - but personally I would still like to see the whole bottom part made out of carbon fiber (one thing Sony got very right on my previous Z11), since it would increase durability and reduce weight. This is my first HP laptop and I WILL buy again.

 

big ask but how does battlefield 4 run on say medium (or custom of medium/high with no msaa or AF) and on 900p? or something similar thats fps I also cant see there being much difference with gaming performance between the two regardless of the way the m4100 is orientated to cad when in reality its just a modded 8750m. really going out my mind to know whether to buy this or the 840 with 8750m since I lost the very chance to buy the probook 640 g1 with 8750 and full core cpu. its not the laptop. its the cpu I worry may not be well enough

 

Have you tried setting battlefield 4 to only use 2 cores on your 4700mq? You could even use Intel XTU to limit max turbo to 2.7 GHz and that should give you a good idea if battlefield 4 will run nicely on the 4600u. You might want to even underclock the 765m until it scores a p1500 or so on 3dmark 2011 to make it as close as possible to how its going to be on the zbook.

 

the bottom chassis cover plate is metal for sure, maybe aluminum from the feel? Mine didn't creak too much when new, but after I put the skinner SSD in place of the hard drive it became noticeable. The creaks started from the palm rest areas where the rubber foot is. Would have been better to put the rubber foot off the moveable cover. If you have it on your lap no problem, but on a table was my issue. As I said some thin felt in the right places fixed the problem. I had to add about 4-5 small dots.

 

Heh, I have a whole collection of different size and thickness sticky felt and rubber to quiet rattly desktop computers and other electronics.... or put under them when they have no or inadequate feet. One of the biggest recent offenders I've had is the Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 - built horribly cheaply, but I can't find anything else that's wired and with the same split layout like the original 1996 Microsoft Natural keyboard (which is PS2 interface, and thus not much use on today's computers - and PS2/USB adapters don't work well with it).

I'm one of the first here to get the ZB14, and even on a table I don't have any creaks yet.

 

I'm trying to do a clean install of Windows Server 2012 R2 on the ZBook 14.

My assumption was to use the Windows 8.1 drivers from the site (assuming they were the best match since the above OS isn't listed).

Long story short, after installing the ATI drivers, the 2 (?) graphics cards in the device manager show up with yellow exclamations and error codes 43 and 31.

Most of the other drivers fail to install, without even an error message. I run the setup file. It extracts and then the window is gone.

Has anyone had any luck doing a clean install of Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2 ?

 

Windows 8.1 is simple to clean install. Server 2012 will be harder. You will have to extract the drivers and modify the inf files to bypass checking the OS version. I do not know if it would even work at that point, as the drivers might rely on functionality that only Windows 8/8.1 has. It would probably be easier to run Server 2012 inside of a VM with Windows 8.1 Pro as the host OS.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It seems several drivers (including the 2 display adapters) get installed just fine by Windows update but won't install properly when I try to install them manually myself.

This was with both Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2. There was an error message something to the effect of "the device trying to install is not the same as one that posted" in device manager.

I was able to get Windows 8.1 working. I'm going to try Server 2012 R2 as a VM, along with one more VM. I hope this thing can handle it.

(I have the exact same config as you by the way)

 

Does anyone have any problems with bluescreens ?

I get the BSOD somewhere between sleep and hibernate.

As a matter of fact - in windows 8.1, if I click Power > Sleep, it never wakes back up. The power light stays on and the fans blows extremely hot.

I just got off the phone with tech support and they didn't have any answers.

 

Sorry, all's fine here, but I'm running Windows 7.

 

I had a Zbook 14 (and 15 & 17) for testing and had the same problem. Zbook 14 and Windows 8.1 is pretty much useless, I continued my testing with windows 7 and no more issues about this case.

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on a stripped down Zbook 14 (ill upgrade to SSD and install ram myself and pay sane prices.)

I have two questions before purchasing:

1) Does this notebook come with Wireless-AC? If not, how hard would it be to upgrade to Wireless-AC? A link to the actual module to purchase would be excellent

2) I hear that if you call HP directly and speak with a human sales rep that they will actually negotiate down the price as much as 25%. Any truth to this?

Thanks!

 

It can be configured to order with the Intel 7260AC card. You can also upgrade the included N card to an AC card as well if you get one of the preconfigured models.

If you call HP directly I believe they can give you as much as 28% off the price of the CTO models. It doesn't hurt to try!

 

On my zbook14, when in sleep mode and I open the lid the laptop doesn't automatically wake up. I must hit the power button. Does anyone know of a setting to make it wake out of sleep on opening the lid / screen ?

 

Been there, done that! It's a BIOS setting. Be sure to login as "guest".

 

Thanks for that info. Question, CTO == Customized to Order? I will definitely give them a call, all they can say is 'no'.

Also, is it recommended to stick with Windows 7 x64 on these? I hear that Win 8.1 is a better OS than 7 but forcing you to use Metro (which appears to be deflatable with 3rd party S/W) is why people don't upgrade. I'm willing to deal with the annoyance of Metro if 8.1 works just as stable as 7.

 

CTO is Configure to order, basically the customized models. I doubt they would give you the discount on the "Smart Buy" preconfigured models as those are already discounted. However you can get the preconfigured models a little cheaper from resellers like provantage/newegg.

Windows 8.1 Pro works fine, as well as Windows 7. Use whatever works best with your applications. With 8.1 you can pin your most used applications to the task bar, and setup the metro interface to let you get to everything else relatively easily. Get Windows 8.1 with downgrade rights to 7 if you think it might be an issue.

The SSD's are indeed overpriced, however even the CTO models are expensive, especially if you want the i7. If you don't want/need the i7, the best deal I think is the Smart Buy F2R98UT model which can be had for ~$1600. Otherwise if you need the i7 there is either a Smart Buy F2R96UT model that has the 1600x900 display for ~$1650, or try to call up HP and see what they can do on a CTO model. Good luck!

 

Before I read your post I was looking at a CTO build starting with the Core i5-4300 that came to ~$2300 before any discounts. I looked at the Smart Buy F2R96UT model that you suggested and it is exactly the same build as my custom except I choose Wireless AC for +$10 but only went with the 350GB drive whereas the Smart Buy has WirelessN but a much larger 750GB drive. Needless to say, I immediately ordered the Smart Buy F2R96UT for $1560 out the door from ProVantage. Thanks for saving me a ton of money!

 

Hi Sunfox, can you explain which setting in the Bios and if its windows 8.1 thx buddy.

 

Don't recall of the top of my head and my laptop isn't with me at the moment to check, but if you scroll through them all you'll find it quickly like I did (and like I said, remember to login as guest or you won't see anything). Default is to not wake up (supposedly a HP business thing), but there are options when opening the screen to wake up from sleep, and even power on from an off state if you like.

This is a BIOS setting so shouldn't matter whether you're running Windows 7 or 8.1, but then again I can't be sure of that.

 

I updated the bios from version 1.05 to 1.06 and it seemed to have caused two problems. One is the wireless button no longer turns orange it stays white even when the wireless is off. If I manually turn off the bluetooth and have the wireless off then the light goes orange as it did with 1.05 bios version. I believe the button did both wireless and bluetooth before but now only seems to do wireless. This is frustrating because I'd rather look at the button light and know if the wireless is off or on rather than having to find the icon amoung the many icons on the bottom right of windows. I did have this problem once before when my bluetooth drivers weren't correct and it took me 6 hours to figure out my bluetooth and wireless drivers were the newest ones off the Intel web site and not the latest ones on the HP web site. Going back to the ones on the HP website made the button light go orange and work correctly.

The second problem is the keyboard backlight. Using the Fn-F11 key used to make the backlight go from bright to dim to off, though sometimes it wouldn't register the first hit. Now with version 1.06 bios it goes from bright to off to bright to dim to off. So the bios is now programmed to initially think you want it off when I just want it dim. A minor annoyance. After cycling through once it works as it did before. Wish it would remember the setting when recovering from sleep.

 

Very strange. My system auto-updated the bois a few days ago, and I don't have any of these issues (running Windows 7). Keyboard backlight cycles through the normal bright-dim-off-bright-dim-off (and if already on, switches to dim then off)... and my WiFi button still disables both WiFi and Bluetooth at the same time. For the last one, I suspect something with your drivers since you've had the same issue before. But for the keyboard... no idea.

 

The keyboard lighting issue is actually now a good thing that I figured it out. It's remembering the previous state (dim) that I set it to when waking up. So that's why when I hit the Fn-f11 the keyboard light goes off because it's already on the dim setting. So that's a welcomed change for me. Now just need to figure out this wireless button thing again......

I wish the 1080 screen was touch, sad they only offer the 900 resolution screen in touch

 

Yes, I think the point of the BIOS update was actually to correct that.

I think the Elitebook Folio 1040 is supposed to have the 14" 1080p screen available in a matte touch version in the next month or two. They might add that to CTO Zbooks... or, I guess, wait for the next model.

 

So I have been using the zbook 14 for 2 weeks already(The top end model with i7, 1080p and 16gb ram and 240gb ssd) and wanted to get my impressions out of the way. (I also have a u904 to compare with so I will include that as well).

First Day Impressions:

Weight:
The biggest deal breaker for me was the weight. At first I thought, "wow this is lighter than I thought" and then I realized I forgot to put in the battery lol. Once putting it in the weight on it was not very pleasing. (To note, I knew this going in what I was getting and that it was, but this confirms my belief). But in comparison the u904 is much lighter(though u904 does not have a dedicated gpu though the u904 had a disk drive and not a ssd). Overall I can't call the zbook 14 an ultrabook, more like a light laptop.

Keyboard
Overall, I found the keyboard to be somewhat ok. Comparing it to other ultrabooks I have used in terms of the keys: Samsung Series 9(1st edition) > Yoga Pro 2 > HP zbook 14 > Toshiba z830 > Fujitsu u904. The u904's keyboard is really terrible but coming from a z830 I am satisfied overall with the keyboard. Now in terms of layout, I think they did a good job on the zbook 14. My only complaint is the tiny arrow keys and maybe a better keyboard texture would have been nice. (and coming from a z830 I kinda miss the edge to edge keyboard). Though I found the layout much better than the yoga pro 2 for example which had full sized keys but poorly placed arrow keys often led to miss clicking.

Heat
I have not used the dedicated gpu just yet, but the heat is comparable to my z830. Which is slightly better than I expected.


Overall
I didn't have much issue getting used to the laptop and overall it felt fairly natural, but I kind of expected more since my z830 had 6gb ram, very slow ssd, i5 sandybridge I kind of expected to push this laptop to more limits than I did my z830. I still did not get a chance to take it to the limit as the first day I ran into 2 BSODs. And I continue to run into them though at a less frequent rate.I have not dug in too deeply just yet but I think it is some sort of multimedia error. It might be windows related rather than laptop related as my z830 started to randomly hang lately too (though not bsod)

Impressions after heavy use:

Touchpad
I did not have much impression on the Touchpad on the first day though I was not too thrilled about the texture. It was definitely better than the u904 trackpad but below par the series 9, z830 and yoga 2 pro. The biggest redemption is the dedicated buttons. My z830 has dedicated buttons too though they are separated by a poorly placed fingerprint reader, so I appreciate the closeness of the arrow keys. What I do not like about them is they are way too light. And I have pressed them by accident on some occasions.

Screen
I have not gotten a chance to do graphics design or take the zbook outside to see how it fairs. But coming from a z830 the screen is way better. The only take away from being impressed with the screen was my u904 arrived a day earlier so the sharpness of the u904 screen was hard to let go. I am also a bit upset that there is so much border on the zbook, they could have fit a 15" screen in there.

Other Stuff
While I do like that they covered the edges of the laptop with a soft material (unlike the u904 which has sharp edges). The gaps in between the edges seem to be collecting things. And sometimes when I lie down my beard gets caught in those edges (note to self: I need to shave). But it also seems to be collecting other dirt as well.

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with was the wifi. The wifi on this laptop seems to be the stablest of all the "ultrabooks" I tried. (Though this is subjective, my wifi router is right next to me and I did not do any tests or the like, just from subjective experience).

Final Words
Despite the harsh words I use, overall I am fairly happy with the zbook 14. The only 2 things I take issue with is:

1) The weight. This is really the biggest deal breaker. I kind of wish they had a small battery for 30 minutes use that I can just not worry about losing power if I unplug. I often use the laptop with a plug so any weight reduction would be nice. Overall though this is really eating me up

2) The value. My z830 cost me 1k, this costs 2.3k. Is this really 2.3X better laptop? (Considering that the z830 is already almost 3 years old) While cost to me doesn't matter much as it is covered, I do not like to be wasteful. I think HP put together a very good laptop, but I think they are overcharging for a lot of the components. Though to be fair, I think a lot of haswell ultrabooks have seen their costs been shot through the roof. I guess manufacturers are seeing ultrabooks as a way to pad their profit margins :/

So far I decided to send the u904 back as I have not been using it much. Still undecided on the zbook 14. The biggest barrier is again the weight (though I knew this coming in before buying so I have nothing to complain about). I will follow up with any more things I run into. If anyone wants a comparison of something between the u904 and the zbook 14 I can try to oblige before sending it back.

 

Is it possible to disable hybrid graphics in the BIOS? If yes, which GPU is then permanently active? The AMD FirePro or the Intel HD 4400?

 

Uniten: HP does have a small half-sized battery for the ZB14 (it's how they get their "from" weight). Have you considered buying one of those?

So far I've found mine very stable - it's never actually crashed. It also doesn't have the problem of my old Vaio where it would randomly lock up while playing Flash video, and I have to say the WiFi is better than any I've owned before - I've never had an issue connecting or keeping my connection even after a long time, which I think is a first.

 

Just found the 1.08 bios on their web site and updated, my wireless button now works correctly turning off both wifi and bluetooth. Previously with 1.06 it only turned off wireless. Thanks for fixing this HP.

Now if they would just update the intel 4400 graphics driver since the one HP has is years old I have an external monitor that won't hit the correct resolution. Intel says it's fixed in the 4400 drivers but the intel drivers won't install and refers you to HP for the driver.

 

Does anyone know how to force which graphics to use? The whole switchable graphics thing is a little vague as I would expect an easy method to use "intel" / "amd" / "auto switch" somewhere but can't find anything.

 

I kind of answered that in the Elitebook 800 thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...-800-series-owners-lounge-22.html#post9558672 (in case that doesn't come up correctly, it's post #216),

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

Thanks. I'll follow that thread too since it's just as relevant. I'm on win7 but really want to change it over to win8.1 but heard some people say they've had problems on 8.1 and that's holding me back. I've used 8.1 on another laptop and loved some of the core OS changes..

 

Yeah... me, even with the underlying benefits and the ability to disable a number of bad changes with third-party applications, there's still no way I'd want 8.1 on anything but a laptop with a touchscreen. So far I've been pleased with the total stability and general "everything works as it should" nature of the ZB14 on Windows 7.

 

I replaced Win7 by Win8.1 + UEFI (I prefer using GPT under Linux). I have no issue with the start menu, as I'm used to quick search programs to launch them.

The only thing that really bother me is how complicated the access of config panels have become, with a mix of moderUI & traditional windows. I remember from the first Win8 versions that you could search for "Windows Update" to get the desktop window, but it seems removed.

 

I am interested in the Zbook 14 for portable photo editing, so the screen is very important to me. I read that the screen is gorgeous, which is a good sign, but I haven't found any data about color accuracy. Have any of the owners here done a color measurement by any chance?

BTW, I am not interested in DreamColor-like accuracy, but I would like at least 90% of sRGB. Some IPS screen (like on the Lenovo X230) only go to 70%, so I am hoping the Zbook 14 fares a bit better.