HP ZBook 14 Unboxing Video

I received my ZBook 14 on Friday and opened it on the weekend. For anyone who's interested, I made a quick unboxing video last night to show some of the design, port arrangement, keyboard, inside the rear panel and so forth. The physical design is also the same as the EliteBook 840 G1, only in a different color.

Unboxing HP ZBook 14 (Haswell) Ultrabook - YouTube

Be sure to select 1080p. If you have any questions, please let me know!

 

Thanks for the video which answered many questions I had before I placed my recent order.

I also ordered model F2R99UT, but had to buy from the US as the preconfigured UK models are not only ridiculously overpriced, but nor could they offer a 1920x1080 display with AMD FirePro graphics.

I have ordered the correct parts from the HP Parts Store (UK power cord and UK backlit keyboard) to turn this into a UK spec machine. I also ordered the Wireless-AC card to replace the Wireless-N and the WWAN card.

A clean Win7 install is planned as I too am not happy with the preconfigured partition sizes as you mentioned elsewhere. Can you post the partition sizes you settled on in the end?

Also, could you tell me exactly what discs and documents were in the box? I counted two discs, setup instructions and a couple of other documents, but it was a bit difficult to tell exactly. Thanks.

 

I haven't adjusted the partition sizes yet - mostly because I don't know what the true minimum size is that will allow everything to work. The BIOS relies on these extra partitions for system utilities and diagnostics.

Box contents are quite slim.

1) Operating System DVD for Windows 8 Pro (says "contains software and drivers already installed. For software reinstallation and repair only").
2) Application and Driver Recovery DVD for Windows 8 Series: Elitebook 840 (says "contains software and drivers already installed. For software reinstallation and repair only").
- Due to the fine print I'm actually a bit confused as to what exactly is on both of these discs, but since the first disc is generic and the second disc is (kinda) model specific, I'm guessing the first disc is bare OS and the second disc is OEM add-ons.
3) Small pamphlet with Windows 8 installation instructions.
4) Small pamphlet with Setup Instructions
5) Warranty paperwork (terms, worldwide telephone numbers).

There is no backup media included for Windows 7 Pro, however there's a utility to burn them.

Must say HP has been rather proactive on driver updates - quite a few new versions have been auto-installed this month alone. Plus, the HP software seems far less intrusive and annoying than that on their consumer PCs. Only thing I've really done is uninstall a few things that don't apply to my situation.

 

Thanks for answering my questions.

I'll most likely stick with the out-of the-box configuration also and see how that works out for me. The USB optical drive is also winging its way here, so no problem in burning the Win7 discs.

Good move by HP in preinstalling Win7 instead of Win8. Like myself, all the companies I have worked for in the past few years are about as interested in Win8 as they were in Vista!

I'm expecting delivery on Jan 2nd, so will no doubt have some more questions and comments soon after.

Cheers.

 

The great thing is you can put in any standard 2.5" SSD you want... and then there's room for a M2 drive on top of that. I also got a USB DVD drive (the Samsung ultral slim), since I do have a significant amount of software still on DVD - but honestly besides for installing it the first time, I really never need an optical drive on my laptop... despite every one I've owned coming with one.

HP does put Windows 8 on any model with a touchscreen - but frankly I find having this one officially come with Windows 7 a selling feature. Lenovo also offers the option, and even Sony eventually released a version of the Pro 13 with Windows 7 and a non-touchscreen. Plus it's the best of both worlds, because it comes with a license and officiall support for Windows 8 too. Also appreciate wired gigabit ethernet, real touchpad buttons (and the ability to make all 4 do something different since I don't need the stick) and the fingerprint reader, which works really well for me. Sometimes the little things make a big impact.

 

Surprisingly, it was delivered to me just a few moments ago, though I won't get time to play with it for a few days.

The 240GB SSD should be enough for my needs for now, but it's good to know there's a simple path to upgrading the capacity, i.e. addition of a M.2 SSD followed by replacment of the existing SSD with one of a larger capacity, or vice versa.

I think you mentioned most of the positives which made me pull the trigger on this. The other thing I liked about this version is that it already has the maximum 16GB of RAM.

When at my desk this will be connected to the UltraSlim Docking Station, which in turn will be connected to a couple of 22-inch monitors, gigabit ethernet, and wireless mouse and keyboard. This will completely negate my need to maintain a separate workstation.

 

I've been using my Zbook 14 for a while now, and so far I've been quite pleased.

* It really is quiet (silent!) during normal usage (email, internet, documents, video watching). I've actually been a bit surprised by this, since my prior laptop would regularly start ramping up the fan during similar usage.

* It stays extremely cool. I use this quite a bit on my lap where the bottom vents will regularly be blocked by direct contact with fabric, and it's never gone above slightly warm on bottom, and still completely cool on the top.

* The touchpad may not look as big as, say, the Spectre 13-3000T's, but it's massive compared to the one on my prior Sony Z11 - so much more massive I find myself regularly using just a small part of it. The "matte glass" feel is quite nice, and I really appreciate having physical buttons compared to a "clickpad". I've heard it said they're a bit "mushy" and I don't necessarily disagree with that, but they're also thankfully quiet. Plus there are four of them, so since I don't use the stick I've customized the top two to other functions (and if I do want the stick for some reason, it supports "push to click").

* I've complained a bit in other threads about the keyboard, and honestly I would like it to have more travel and a firmer feel, but I've been using it just fine. I definitely would not want the up/down arrow keys to be any smaller vertically though - they should've extended them down, or up into some of the right shift key's space (which I never use anyways, but I know that's a personal thing).

* I don't find any of the edges to be sharp. Nor the front edge on my wrists. I know some have commented about this, but for me it's a non-issue.

* I do find the keyboard backlighting to be uneven. It seems like the right side is objectively dimmer than the left, except for the arrow keys which are almost blindingly bright.

* I've found the screen and/or video drivers to look good, but with the default settings will crush video blacks/whites quite significantly. However, if you tell the drivers to use "full" range, blacks on movies become a dark grey (which is to be expected, but is not ideal). So far I've found the best compromise (comparing the result to my desktop with high-end NEC IPS screens) is to set the drivers to use "Full range", and then adjust driver-based brightness to -7.5 and contrast to +1.03. Note that this brightness setting results in black that are ever-so-slightly grey, but with great improvement in shadow detail, however if you insist on absolute pure black and are okay with a moderate loss of shadow detail, you can set brightness to around -9.0.

* For best sound through the built-in speakers, definitely play around with the DTS console. Using the "music" enhancement I've played around and now have sound that is far less hollow/muddy than when this is disabled. I can provide my current settings if desired.

* QUESTION - has anyone figured out how to get the fingerprint reader to work with Windows Biometric Framework? I'd like RoboForm to take my fingerprint as my password, but it doesn't appear that the reader supports the needed WBF like my prior Sony Vaio reader did.

 

Thanks for your comments and review! I ended up ordering a Zbook 14 as well. It should arrive early next week. Did you have any luck finding a right angle plug for the power adapter?

For your fingerprint reader take a look at this document from Validity. It sounds like these drivers aren't as fully featured as the ones that HP provides, but they do mention using WBF so it might work with RoboForm. My friend also uses RoboForm on his M4700, which has a Validity fingerprint reader as well. I will ask him if he has had any luck using it.

 

I did find a plug, yes: Right Angle Connector Converter for Dell Laptop Power Adapter LC90B | eBay

It works... but it's not ideal. The adapter itself is quite large (much larger than I think it absolutely has to be), so by the time you're done you've got quite a hunk of wire hanging off the side of the laptop. I miss the compact, soldered-on right-angle plug from my Vaio.

 

Yep, it looks like HP makes a universal 65w power adapter which has a right angle plug, but it might be no better than using the adapter based on how it looks.