HP ZBook G3 (Studio, 15u) Owner's Lounge

they all do. the studio I use has 32GB ECC

 

Hi everyone,
I am now also proud owner of a new HP Zbook G3 Studio (6700, 8GB, 256GB, FHD) as well as a keyboard with flex issue. While investigating over the internet I found quite a lot of people mentioning this issue. Furthermore several explained that even after returning the faulty device, the new replacement Zbook had the same flex.

Did somebody here get a notebook with properly solid keyboard after requesting replacement?

I am considering to keep the notebook, even with the flexing issue. But only if it will be too much effort to get an impeccable one. My device has less flex than shown in the youtube clip, so I wouldnt like, but could live with it.

I am wondering about the cause of the issue. There is definitely free space underneath the keyboard, most in the middle (b,n,m) as well as the middle-to-right area (k,l). Thats why I have my doubts that it could be just a missing screw or an unprecisely mounted frame, especially under consideration of the fact that the whole keyboard is flat and flush with the case, means no dents. Meanwhile my theory is that a big part of the sold HP Zbook G3 Studio devices has that week keyboard, but many customers maybe do not claim it. Even a friend if mine said, he wouldnt have recignized it without my prior notice. Alternative explanations could be a low quality batch of one or more manufacturers versions of keyboards or even a general design failure. To know the cause would it make easier to decide how to proceed. Example: waiting a few weeks to catch another production batch.

HP support could not help. I contacted to different support channels. They did even not know about it, at least they said that. ;-) Does somebody here have an idea?

 

Congrats on your brand new investment! I also got my Zbook G3 17in yesterday and the keyboard flexes a bit. I would of never realized it if I never saw the video on YouTube concerning the flexing issue....
When I type on it it feels solid. In fact it's the most solid laptop I ever held. But if you put your face really close to the keys more than you normally would and then press a key a little harder than you would normally press it you'll see that it does flex a bit.... I don't know about you but I could live with that.

 

Many thanks for your feedback Artkidtec. So mine is flexing a bit even without stronger pressing, just by normal typing. However, I feel everything else than the keyboard also very solid.

 

win32asmguy, pec, or anyone else that finds/found the fan noise an annoyance,

Could you give an update how you are currently experiencing the fan noise? win32asmguy, you mentioned that the BIOS has given you a satisfactory experience. Is this still the case? Pec, have you updated the BIOS yet, or tried any other solution such as Billy Cantor's proposal to use Notebook FanControl?

I've just gotten my Zbook Studio but am seriously annoyed by the fan noise. I am still on the old BIOS, so the fan kicks in after simply loading a web page and stays enabled for way too long. Even worse, the fan oscillates like crazy. Up and down and up and down consistently. It's really frustrating and I'm thinking about returning it. I think I cannot return it if I update the BIOS, and neither I would like to use it much more in order to increase my chance of returning it properly. So my question to you or anyone else is whether it still or has become an acceptable situation. The more input / experiences, the better .

 

I'm on the latest 1.06 BIOS and the fan hasn't been a major issue for me. I don't know whether updating the BIOS would prevent you from returning it -- ultimately the BIOS is going to be updated by someone -- unless someone has definitively told you no I'd give it a try and see if it helps. I like the machine overall and recommend giving it a shot with all of the updates (and there have been quite a few since release).

 

Thanks for the response. I'll check with our IT guy whether I can do it.

Even though it hasn't been a major issue for you, did you also notice the improvements like other, specifically regarding continuously fluctuating fans? Do you still notice the fans go up and and down or has this issue been completely resolved?

 

I only installed 1.06 a couple of days ago so I haven't been able to fully test it out. With 1.05 I did still see some oscillation but I also was able to use it for long periods without it coming on at all.

 

when does the dreamcolor come out for the studio G3 15 inch hp ?

is it a better display then the dell xps 15 ?

 

Hi Kevin,
did you return the device in the meantime and order a replacement. If so, was the device fine in that case with a 100% solid keyboard over all keys?

My device had the same flex issue as yours. I returned it. Now I am considering to order again (via different seller). Hopefully I will get a device of another production batch?

Would be great if you can share your experience.
Thanks & Greets
Notebookster

 

The official announcement is "1H2016"... IOW, before 01 July 2016.

 

Interesting. A "Dreamcolor3" configuration option is now available on the customizable Studio's in the US. Strangely, it does not cost more than the standard UHD option, so I wonder if its an error? Either way it looks like its getting close to being available.

 

I can confirm that. I was told by a HP sales rep, that it wouldn't cost more than the non-DC UHD display. Sadly, I couldn't afford to wait for it...

 

No Dreamcolor option in the regular G3 configuration just yet, in case anyone else is looking.

 

I am holding out for the ability to customize the Studio with an E3-1545M and iGPU only. They did add the E3-1545M to the Zbook 15 G3, but it would only have a single fan cooling solution if ordered without a dedicated GPU...

 

why cant you customize your HP Z book studio in the german online shop of HP ?

why are the prices in germany so much higher compared to the USA ?

 

Just ordered a ZBook Studio G3 w/ i7-6820, 16GB, 512GB Z drive, webcam, 4K Dreamcolor, TB3 dock w/ 150W PS. Canceled my Jan. 2016 order to wait for DC and TB3 dock, and they are finally shipping. My sales agent was great at finding coupons... just under $2.5K for a CTO! Est'd shipping date: 02 June. The 6820 was only USD 30 more than the 6700 after all the coupon madness. I have no idea what coupons the SMB agent used... but he did have to sort through many coupons.

 

Today, my ZBook Studio appears to have died. I was troubleshooting a bluescreen when the system starts up while connected to the TB3 dock with a tech -- and changed the amount of video RAM in the BIOS. After saving and exiting, my system no longer boots, or even completes the BIOS POST. Apparently the flashing CAPS and NUM lock light sequence means the processor/system board has failed. On-site service has been initiated to replace the processor/system board and/or RAM modules. I can only hope they're in stock... I've waited 2+ months for my laptop, and 3+ months for the dock, and was finally ready to start using them (once I got the nasty blue screen figured out). I really want to love this notebook, but HP is making it challenging, to say the least!

Anyone else have a problem like this?

 

Is anyone satisfied with their battery runtime on their Studio?

In normal office useage (word, excel, browsing) at 75% brightness and battery saving on I seem to get between 4-5 hours. Is it just me who finds this disappointing?

 

That's a beastly configuration!

 

Anyone get their dreamcolor display yet? I ordered on May 16th and still haven't received any updates.

 

Yes... quite a step up from my previous notebook with DC, an 8740w.
Considered, but balked, at a jump to Xeon. Cost/benefit ratio was too low.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E3-1505M-v5-vs-Intel-Core-i7-6820HQ

 

Are the regular-G3 available with UHD now?

 

They were on the site the other night but only with Quadro M1000M (4 GB version). I was waiting to see if they got the configurations sorted for at least the M2000M option but now they don't seem to be on the site anymore. Hope they're available soon.

 

will the offer the M2000M soon ?

what about the german market I still can not see any dreamcolor option on any european hp store...
will they ever get the custom configuration again for europe cause its only in the US atm ...

 

Hello all!

First message on the forum

Anyone got problems with zBook studio G3 thunderbolt-dock ?

My setup:

zBook studio G3, tb-dock hooked up with 27" Dell, display port, HDD usb 3.0, Ethernet cable. When I connect usb DAC the audio turns randomly to static noise, stuttering, lag or lastly: stops completely. I have tried several usb dac´s. When connected straight to zBook audio is fine.

 

Problem solved - case closed.

As a magician - I pulled the rabbit out of the hat. This time it was Intel Rabbit storage carbage-utility. Long evening with troubleshooting this and that but LatencyMon helped a lot. Uninstalled Intel rapid Storage driver&utility and changed it to default Microsoft AHCI-driver stopped stuttering and random static noise with usb DAC´s. I hope someday Intel will fix this...

 

PetriP, good info.

Turning to ship dates.... HP slipped the ship date for my Zbook Studio G3 (UHD Dreamcolor, i6820) from 03 June to 17 June 2016. Upon asking for partial refund, the agent immediately offered USD 80 for the delay, credited to my Amex card upon shipment. That USD 80 is in addition to the %5 rebate on purchase price (about USD 130) from the current HP/Amex promotion (automatically shows up on your Amex statement).

 

Any recommendations for second M.2 ssd? 500GB models!

 

Can someone clarify how much extra stuff you can put into a regular G3? I'm reading two NVMe drives, two 2.5" SATA drives, and two M.2 SSD drives?

 

The NVMe drives ARE the M.2 SSDs.

 

I see. Still, there is space and ready wiring for two regular-sized (likt 9.5mm height, not 7mm slim) 2.5" SATA drives?

 

Anyone get their laptop with dreamcolor?

 

Are the dreamcolor UHD regular-G3 available for order now?

 

I got it before the option was removed.

 

The UHD display? When's your ship date?

 

It was supposed to be June 2nd but they kept on delaying it.

 

I see that I can now order the Xeon 1545M which has the P580 graphics. But there is no option to exclude/remove the M1000M graphics from the order. I thought that the P580 is comparable to or even better than the M1000M and one of the main reasons to get the 1545 over the 1505. Is this incorrect? Seems like the additional cost of the 1545 wouldn't be worth it for the small bump in cpu performance unless I could also save on the overall cost of graphics.

 

Dang, hope you get yours shipped soon!

Looking at the regular G3 the UHD display again is showing as an option with various video cards. Looking to order but wanted to get some input if anyone has any thoughts.

• 6820 vs. 6700 processor. Is the additional 2 mb in cache and .10 GHz really going to do anything for Solidworks and VM work, for $110 extra?
• 500 GB 7200 RPM HD + 256 GB SATA SSD vs. dual SSDs (or maybe single larger SSD)? I am a bit leery of the PCIe options due to some concerns about power states and Linux and obviously HD prices are only going down for upgrades...
• M1000M (regular 2 GB version) vs. M2000M (4 GB) for extra $150.

Thanks to anybody that can help.

 

Waiting on reviews of the Dreamcolor3 UHD display to pull the trigger. I'm officially ready to jump the Lenovo ship.

 

Does anyone have the part/product numbers for the regular-G3 with UHD display? The 123456-B21 something format.

 

Per HP SMB today... the UHD DC panels are back-ordered and they have no ETA for receipt of the panels or for shipment of ZBooks with UHD DC panels. It appears that no UHD DC models have shipped as yet. Upon request, HP will refund USD 80 when a delayed order ships.

 

So what you're saying is my 7/6 ship date for a UHD G3 looks SOLID? I did miss a call last night at 8 PM EST from HP but they couldn't bear to leave me a voicemail with the good news, I guess.

I noticed now that if you go to the customizable G3 build option and select the UHD the ship date moves back 1 day to 7/19 but the "add to cart" button is rendered inactive.

May be back on the Dell train at this rate...

 

ordered hpzbook studio with dreamcolor on the german HP website... its 1 month later and im still on step 3 "waiting for product availability"

1 month ago they wrote ship data will be today...

how long do they need ?

 

Update today, and it's not good. My order was cancelled as they are not going to be producing ANY regular g3 15s. The representative I spoke with (this was home and home office support, not SMB) said that there is a problem with the vendor for the video card (he didn't specify but I had ordered Quadro M2000M) and they are not going to be producing any more of these. I asked to clarify that it wasn't an issue with the UHD display, and he said no. I asked for alternatives and he was pretty vague, saying there were some current deals on the website and confirming again that there will be no more regular G3 15s (no mention of the U or Studio). He alluded to the upcoming back-to-school type season and new products possibly coming out but again nothing specific. Doesn't sound good.

 

I received the delay email too and was told my order will ship on July 15. So I called to try to ask for a credit for the delay and was told my order will ship on July 7 and no credit will be given. They said they have the display shipments in as of today.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

Interesting. Was your order a regular G3 or a Studio?

 

Regular G3 15

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

Weird. Maybe it really is just a video card issue but it seems odd they'd cancel mine and tell me no other G3s will be shipping. Hope you get yours.

 

I did asked to speak to a supervisor.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk