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

Time to call HP TS. Sounds like a bad battery.

 

I did not even notice that was an option when ordering... I will be running Windows 10 Pro and Ubuntu... I think this is because of Intel, or could it be because it is Xeon? Anybody?

 

I just re-booted the machine and went into the BIOS and look what I found:



I was able to enable SGX and save settings. After some research I found that Intel was initially shipping Skylake processors without SGX (this was the initial batch), however now Intel seems to have included the feature.

 

By the way... the Dreamcolor is a must option... I believe someone commented that it looked similar or better to the OLED screens from Samsung phones, and I would have to agree. It is so nice to have this quality of a display on a matte screen. This goes head-to-head with the Retina display, and in my opinion is much better. I am running this with a HP Z32x 4k monitor with both the ZBook and Z32x running at 150% on the scaling and could not be happier. Now, if I could just get the second Z32x to arrive sooner I would be all set. I should also note that the hard drive I received is the HP Z Turbo PCIe drive made by Toshiba (I believe it is the XG3), and it screams.

 

Agreed... the DC screen was definitely worth the wait ... over 6 long months. Set a new delayed gratification record.

 

Could anyone that got one with the Dreamcolor3 tell us the specs? Like the gamut size and if it really a 30-bit screen? Some people here said it's only 24 bits but that was just a guess.

The Zbook 17 G2, according to the specs, can do 85% of Rec 2020 in it's Native setting.
I used DisplayCalc to create a monitor profile from the EDID data from the screen. According to that it's full gamut is pretty large, larger than AdobeRGB.

 

Any impact on battery life for the DC screen? Has anyone seen a head-to-head comparison of the normal UHD display vs DreamColor? I have the normal UHD now, and overall find it's good although the brightness seems a bit low. But battery life on the Studio overall hasn't been great -- if I upgrade to a DC display, will it get significantly worse?

 

Calling all ZBook Studio Owners:

Can someone please tell me if you are experiencing high fan speeds while there is virtually no load on the CPU/SSD? I have a unit with Xeon with DC, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD. I have not put it through my normal work cycle yet (i.e. rendering and content creation), and I have just been using it for light Microsoft Office use along with Microsoft Edge (no YouTube, just basic sites), and the fan is constantly on. Right now the entire machine is just very warm, warmer than I would expect for not doing anything. Additionally, the fans are annoyingly present for not using the machine extensively. Anyone else noticed this? I am running a clean install of Windows 10 Pro with Anniversary Update. This is quite frustrating. I am on AC mains.

 

I don't have a Zbook studio but on my Zbook 17 G2 there is a BIOS setting that says "Run fan at full speed when plugged in" or something like that. Maybe there is a similar setting for the studio that you can try turning off.

 

There is a option in the power settings to make the fan setting active or passive.

 

HOW TO INSTALL A SECOND NVME 2280 M.2 DRIVE IN YOUR HP ZBOOK G3 STUDIO

1) Update the BIOS/UEFI to 1.12
2) Go into Disk Management, initialize, and format.

BIOS/UEFI versions lower than 1.12 may not "see" the added drive. I know for a fact that version 1.06 (which my G3 arrived with) reported only the boot drive, and there are posts on the HP site that "only HP PN 823959-001 will work".... at USD 913.00 for 512GB (!!!).

I ordered a Samsung SM 951 512GB part from Amazon, USD 279. When I first entered Disk Management, my ZBook Studio didn't see it... so I did a BIOS update, et voilà, after the update a raw "Drive 1" appeared in Disk Management. In a matter of seconds I had 476GB of NTFS as my new data drive.

SM 951 on Amazon

The HP OEM part no. ends in a "1", and the Samsung OEM part no. ends in a "0". Otherwise identical PNs.

 

I am selling my HP ZBook Studio G3. If someone is interested, then please configure it on HP's website and make me a legitimate offer. I am willing to negotiate. The ZBook is perfect, brand new only used for approximately 12 hours of total on time with approximately 7 charge cycles. There are absolutely no mechanical or cosmetic flaws. There is only one reason why I am selling it... Microsoft Windows 10. Microsoft is causing me so many headaches, I can no longer consider their operating system reliable to get work done for which I am switching Apple macOS. I cannot downgrade to Windows 7 and at this point I have made a conscience decision to abandon Microsoft. I just ordered a Mac Pro today. I have proof-of-purchase from HP and it has 3 year on-site next day warranty. Here are the specs:

US Country Localization

• 15.6 inch B-LED DreamColor3 UHD UWVA Anti-Glare enabled for Webcam (3840x2160)

• Fingerprint Reader

• NVIDIA® Quadro® M1000M with 4GB dedicated GDDR5 graphics memory

• HP ZBook Studio G3 with Intel® Xeon® E3-1505M (M6V81AV)

• 1TB Z Turbo Drive PCIe Solid-State Drive (SSD)

• No secondary internal storage

• Backlit Keyboard

• ENERGY STAR Qualified Configuration

• Intel® Xeon™ G6 Processor Label

• Elite Services Card

• DreamColor Display SGX Flag

• 16 GB 2133 DDR4 ECC SDRAM (2 DIMM)

• Windows 10 Pro 64

• HP ZBook 150W Thunderbolt™ 3 Dock

• Power Cord - 1.0 Meters

• Drivers for Windows 10 (Driver Media)

• SGX Permanently Disabled

• 150 Watt Smart PFC Slim AC Adapter

• 4 Cell 64 WHr Long Life

• Intel® vPro™ Technology Enabled

• 3/3/3 Warranty

• Intel 8260 ac (2x2) + Bluetooth 4.1

• Integrated 720p HD Webcam

 

I would highly suggest, if it has been less than 30 days since your Zbook was delivered, to just initiate a return through HP rather than selling the laptop. Unless you got a really great coupon or deal on the machine, its probably the easiest and fastest way to get your money back that you spent on it. Even if you are slightly out of the return policy period you may be able to contact HP and get a manager to accept a return on it.

Sorry the Zbook didn't work out for you, its a very nice machine indeed, but Windows is just getting sillier. I spend most of my work time in Linux just because its the only OS I can consistently expect to function one day to the next. It doesn't really help if you do content creation, unfortunately.. I am actually in the position where I may need to use a Mac for a project I am working on.. I need a stable L2TP/Ipsec VPN connection, but the project also uses python packages that aren't usable on Windows..

 

What version of Nvidia drivers are you guys using? The one from HP seem really buggy. I have 356.49 installed.

 

on top I think the rule is that if you want to use mix of M.2 SSDs (SATA and PCIe), PCIe must go into first M.2 slot.

 

Anyone know why I am getting this issue on battery even when I have it on high performance? I have the latest drivers installed from HP SoftPaq. Its fine when its plug in.

Here are two videos you can see when its plug in there is no lag.

On Battery:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzgdA0Z7l4j1Q1dITWtzcWh6OHc


PlugIn:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzgdA0Z7l4j1Qjg3cHozZGU4M0k

 

Adding a second NVME SSD presumes there is a first NVME SSD.
The M.2 standard is a small form factor implementation of the SATA Express interface, with the addition of an internal USB 3.0 port.
NVM Express (NVMe) or Non-Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface Specification (NVMHCI) is a logical device interface specification for accessing non-volatile storage media attached via PCI Express (PCIe) bus.

I haven't read of anyone getting ACHI and NVMHCI to work concurrently in the M.2 slots in a ZBook G3.

 

Does any one know if there is PWM issue with the Zbook 15 G3 UHD Dream Color screen?
It looks like, just like someone mentioned before, the UHD and Dream Color UHD are basically the same panel which is SHP1445.
According to the notebookcheck's review on Zbook 15 G3 studio, it looks the SHP1445 panel does use PWM under 11/20 brightness level. This is a little bit sad.
For those who purchased DC3 UHD machine, could you check this little bit? Just move your fingers fast at a brightness level below 11/20 and you can tell.
Contacted HP and they told me DC3 does use PWM, but not sure under what brightness level it occurs.

 

Hi I finally received my ZBook G3 15 today after receiving a order not configured right and having 2 other orders cancelled because they said the mobile broadband card does not work with DreamColor Display. I love the DreamColor Display and the colors just pops. My Final price came to $2,124.76 with all my credits from the previous order and 10% for the delay and 30 % Coupon. The mobile broadband card they ship that by it self.

HP ZBook 15 G3 Mobile Workstation - Customizable

150 Watt Smart PFC Slim AC Adapter
HP lt4120 Qualcomm Snapdragon X5 LTE Mobile Broadband Module (4G)
C5 1.0m Power Cord
Drivers for Windows 10 (Driver Media)
No Service Provider
Intel vPro Technology Enabled
3/3/3 Year Warranty
Intel 8260 ac 2x2 +Bluetooth 4.2 Combo
Integrated 720p HD Webcam
Country Localization
15.6 inch LED DreamColor3 UHD UWVA Anti-Glare enabled for Webcam (3840x2160)
Fingerprint Reader
ZBook 15 G3 with Intel Xeon E3-1545M v5 with integrated Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (2.9 GHz, 2133 MHz, 8 MB Cache, 4 cores) (M9R65AV) (Skylake Architecture)
NVIDIA Quadro M2000M with 4 GB dedicated GDDR5 video memory
1TB 5400 rpm SATA Hard Drive
Dual Point Backlit
3 year Battery Warranty Card
ENERGY STAR Qualified Configuration
Intel Xeon G6 Processor Label
DreamColor Display SGX Flag
Elite Services Card
16GB (2x8GB) 2133 ECC
Windows 10 Pro 64 - HP recommends Windows 10 Pro.
9 Cell 90 WHr Long Life

Software

Upgrade to Foxit Phantom PDF Business Software

Accessories

HP Professional Slim Top LoadCase
HP ZBook 150W Thunderbolt 3 Dock
HP Ultraslim Keyed Cable Lock



Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

That is great man! Great machine and great price!
By the way, did you notice the PWM of this Dream Color screen when the brightness is under 50%?
Thanks!

 

I didn't notice any PWM at all and I set it to 34 ℅ brightness to test out.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

Great thanks man!

 

I just updated to TPM 2.0 using this ( http://h20565.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/...693763&docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-c05192291)

 

In case anyone else is curious, it sounds like HP is going to have a bios update to fix the oscillating fans on the Zbook Studio ( Reference). Supposedly it affects a few other Skylake models as well, but this is good news for this annoying problem that has been around from when they were released.

 

HI guys, I'm looking to potentially procure a Zbook. Was planning to get one of those SM951 drives from eBay or Amazon. Am just curious about a few things:

1) Would it matter what firmware version they come with?

2) It sounds like the Zbook has issues working with drives other than the SM951? Are these to the point that the Zbook would not be able to boot from them or it's really just a case of it works, but just booting up the machine from the NVMe drive is just slower?

Reasons I'm asking the above is am curious whether or not should I procure the SM951 since the SM961 is pretty much around the corner, as well as the 960 Pro. Also, I found some sellers on eBay selling those with a HP part number on it, whilst some don't. So am curious which should I get.

Thanks in advance everyone and looking forward to your insights on this

 

Are you ordering a Zbook with a PCIe SSD from HP? If you are, then get the same model drive it comes with as a second drive, or any model SATA M.2 SSD would work too. If you are ordering it with a HDD only, then you can add a pair of whatever PCIe SSD's you want. HP is using the Samsung SM951 and Toshiba XG3 right now for their ZTurbo drives, and will probably start using the SM961 as soon as they start shipping.

 

Hi win32asmguy, thanks for your thoughts there! I'm basically buying it with the standard 1TB drive, no PCIe SSD included.

Noted on that bit and great to hear that any SSD would work. Just curious as I've been reading of people complaining of slow boot issues with the PCIe SSDs and if there'd be any relation to specific models or makes? Thanks!

 

I believe the problems are driver related. When you load the 950 Pro driver, it causes the SM951 to boot slow. If you don't load the 950 Pro driver, then the 950 Pro performs poorly under Windows. I believe the SM951 just uses the Microsoft NVMe driver. The Toshiba XG3 in my Studio does.

I will note that in the new 1.14 bios HP added options to disable the SSD, which is pretty cool if you are trying to install a dual boot setup.

 

Does anyone know if you can switch out the wireless network card for a Killer N?

 

I highly doubt that it would work. There is a paragraph in the repair manual that makes it sound like a vendor whitelist is in place for the wifi cards. Although the Intel wifi is a high quality device. I haven't experienced any dropouts or unusually low signal with it yet.

 

Kind of figured but I just wanted to confirm. Thanks for the reply

 

I had no problem with the BIOS update to 1.14. On first reboot, be prepared for a black screen and M I in Morse code several times... then a reboot.

 

@maunakea (or anyone else with a custom built DC3 Studio) could you go to http://partsurfer.hp.com and enter the serial number for your laptop and check to see if you have a line item under the Component BOM table like this:

809578-6D1 PNL, 15.6 UHD AG WLED UWVA 95$340neDP,SHP

I can't seem to get a straight answer from HP if this panel is DC3, and the Dreamcolor Assistant software will not load. Yet the panel has the Dreamcolor sticker on it and the specified replacement spare for my serial number is the correct DC3 part number (840946-001).

 

Hey guys,

I'm looking forward to buy a zbook g3 but I'm still not sure wether to buy a regular one or a studio. I've read the whole thread but Maybe you guys can answer me some questions wich are unanswered for me:


1. I considered buying an xps15 first but got scared about bad reviews in terms of using dells thunderbolt 3 docking station tb15. the xps15 seems to get warm and fans are blowing constantly even in idle. Can someone tell me if the zbook(studio) has similar problems when using TB3 dock or maybe any other TB3 equipment?

It seems that dell missed out that the TB3 chipset gets warm and they didnt cool this enough. Now I wonder if there are same problems at HP so maybe a conservative dock is to prefer...


2. Does the fan start blowing on your zbook(studio) when in idle and AC plugged in? xps15 does...


3. Does it make sense to order a config without nvidia quadro?

I can get a i7 6700hq config without M1000M quadro gpu. my main use is postgresql work and I only consider graphic intense use when playing some sc2 or a moviemaker job every once a year. I guess an Intel p530 fits the needs.

I wonder if it is a good idea to order a zbook studio without dedicated graphics in terms of battery life and thermals/less fan noise. If I really need GPU power some day I'd consider buying an eGPU dock so more gpu power than all current GPU options but (hopefully?) less heat and power consumption on the zbook.


4. Is there a powerbank like dell companion? i know there are regular usb-c banks on amazon but I wonder if they would work as I have read that the zbook studio needs 150W but even tb3 only supplies 100W so I am not sure if my plan to get an external battery works in case I need more battery on tour.

edit: One last question (5): I've read so little about battery life so if you own a zbook(studio) it would be nice to hear from your office/surf battery life experience and also wich CPU/GPU/Display config as that may seem to be important when comparing.

Best regards

 

The Studio heatsink cools the chipset for both the dedicated graphics model and integrated graphics model. Its probably necessary for instances where you are using both the Thunderbolt 3 ports.

The fan will come on while idling if it needs to. It will stay on when the system is running and the battery is charging. There is an annoying oscillation that effects the Studio model right now (the fan pulses slightly while running every other second). There is a bios fix that is supposed to be released in a month to fix this issue.

If you do not need dedicated graphics, its probably a good idea to order a model with integrated only. If you want an eGPU in the future it would also increase the chances of it working. I would eventually like to order a Razer Core to use with my Studio at least just to test it. Trying to use a Geforce card in an eGPU with a Quadro built in may leave you having to fight drivers all day.

I am not aware of any devices like this, but I recall reading that HP didn't allow third party chargers on the Elite X2 1012, so the Zbook may be similarly locked down.

I get about 3 hours of battery life with the 6820HQ/M1000M/UHD configuration. I run it with the Nvidia chip always active, to help speed up the UI and so I do not have to deal with hybrid graphics switching.

 

thanks for your quick reply win32asmguy!

Not sure if it is the CPU/GPU wich gets hot on the xps15 when using tb3 dock tbh. I've read reports wich leads me to think that it is the TB3 chip wich heats in xps15 and causes the fans to work. might be wrong though and would appreciate any reports of people with zbook docks.

3 hours usage would be way too short for me but I see your UHD config and M1000M always on seems to use a lot of power consumption. Maybe someone else has found a working power bank. If there is none I think I would go for a regular zbook because of the extra battery.

If I order a zbook I will report my experience here

regards

 

I have used both the Zbook Studio and the Precision M5510. They both run warm at idle and can get very hot under load, Thunderbolt port active or not. If you want a cooler machine, then something thicker like the Zbook 15 G3 is a better option. You can even order it without a dedicated graphics card, which should help even more on heat generation and battery life.

The UHD display uses alot of power. I think its 8.5W per hour on average. I usually have a VM running and a couple IDE's and a test database on my system, along with 25+ Chrome tabs open and Photoshop CC. If you were careful with what you were running and had the FHD panel I think you could get closer to 6-7 hours of battery life, especially if it were a configuration without dedicated graphics. On the other hand, if you want to use the dock and connect a couple of external monitors you would probably have a better experience with using the Nvidia card or paying extra for the Xeon with Iris Pro. I ran a pair of 2560x1440 displays in extended mode on a Dell Latitude with only a HD4600, and the UI was not very responsive in all but the simplest tasks.

 

So you had a Precision and prefer the zbook studio? could you tell me why you chose the zbook instead of precision?

Its hard to figure out wether or not I can live with heat and noise of slim studio without seeing or hearing it in action. no good video review online, everybody is playing background music or constantly talking on youtube.

I mean if its not too noisy under normal circumstances I'd of course prefer a slim studio. No need for absolute silence. If there is a power bank available I also can live with 64wh battery

In case of multi monitoring without dedicated graphics: I only have a FHD 27 inch dell as external monitor. maybe i'll get another 4k display in future. but even if i need the whole setup I think buying eGPU instead of regular dockingstation should get all possible monitor setups working.

 

@ win32asmguy
Partsurfer reports
809578-6D1 PNL,15.6 UHD AG WLED UWVA 95%340neDP,SHP

 

I used a Precision M5510 that was on display in a local Microsoft Store. They also had an XPS 15, too. Both machines were very warm to to the touch even when idle.

With the Studio, it was actually a forced upgrade that HP offered me when my Zbook 15 G1 w/Dreamcolor started having display issues. They were not able to get a replacement display after about a month of waiting (and sent the incorrect display a few times as well wasting both my time and my repair technician's time) so their Customer Relations department offered me this Studio as a replacement instead.

The Studio isn't particularly noisy, it just has the pulsing fans that is annoying. Right now I drown it out with a desk fan running in the background, but HP will have a bios fix out in a month to address the issue.

If you are interested in the Studio and happen to live in the US, there is a reseller on eBay selling the T6E10UT configuration for $999 right now. That model has 6700HQ/8GB/128GB SSD/FHD/3yr warranty. You could easily grab a larger SSD for it and have a very nice machine for ~$1200. It doesn't have Nvidia graphics or a UHD display so it should be able to get 6+ hour of battery life easily. It would also be a prime candidate for an eGPU because its essentially a larger, quad core version of the Razer Stealth.

 

Unfortunately I live in germany and lowest config with UWVA FHD is minimum 1500€ or $1646

Well, if fans are not noisy and a bios fix is in pipeline the studio is my most wanted machine atm. Pulsing fans I know from a VAiO and things got fixed to a constantly low running fan instead.

Maybe notebook fan control helps until the bios fix arrives?!

As soon as I catch a good deal I think I will order. Thank you very much again for answers win32!

best regards

 

My fan noise on my Studio (i7-6820, 2x512GB RAM), DC, was never that noticeable, went away entirely with the 1.12 BIOS, and didn't return with the 1.14 BIOS. I think the dedicated GPU pushes the cooling load and makes the fan activity bothersome.

 

Thanks for the experience sharing. Unfortunately, there is no demo for either Zbook G3 Studio or the M5510 in my living city.

Currently, I have a HP Spectre X360 laptop with i7-5600U, 8G ram and 2K display. The display should cover 100% of the sRGB and 7x% of Adobe. I think its pretty good. However, sometimes, the X360 gets very hot and have throttling issue, making it much slower sometimes. My daily use includes 10+ chrome tabs and photo editing. The experience with Lightroom is not that great as I think it was somehow a bit slow. Also, I easily used up all the SSD space even that is a 512G one...

I checked the information online and having more interest in the Studio G3 and the Precision 5510 now. I noted that the Studio G3 can also get too hot from the online review. From your experience, is that cooler than the 5510?

I have checked the FHD model. Seems their regular FHD model does not cover 100% sRGB. That is quite a crucial consideration for me.

 

So after eyeing at this laptop since it was announced almost a year ago and checking this forum, I finally ordered it via HP Canada. They had a promo with a bundle that also included the HP Thunderbolt 3 150W dock. http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=ECC_BUNDLE_6119264&opt=&sel=NTB I even got a discount from them after calling it in to price match and apply a student discount. So I finally get it and I noticed the keyboard. It's a English/French Canadian keyboard in ISO format. I didn't know about this and I find it annoying because it is much harder for me to use the keyboard on this laptop without mispressing the left Shift key or the Enter key. I usually use the ANSI format keyboards for English only and every other keyboard I have used have also used the same format. I have yet to call HP about this to see if they can send me the US English version of it instead. Although I don't think I can. I checked which SKU I got and referenced the other one they had on the HP Canada website and found it to be the same SKU. This means that they probably don't have a non English/French Canadian formatted keyboard in stock at all. I remember a while back they had two different SKUs on the online store. I guess they ran out of the English only keyboard and started shipping it out with the English/French Canadian keyboards instead. I've also found on HP's part website where I can order the US English keyboard and replace it myself. It just costs a crazy ~$150 + shipping and taxes. I'd much rather get this laptop with the US English keyboard since it would fit my typing way better and I'd actually enjoy typing on this thing rather than getting annoyed . So my question is, what is the SKU for the T6E16UT#ABL but in US English keyboard format? If HP can't send me the same laptop but with a US English keyboard, then I'd likely go to a third-party dealer like CDW.ca or where ever else to get it.

• Windows 7 Professional 64 (available through downgrade rights from Windows 10 Pro 64)
• Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ with Intel HD graphics 530 (2.60 GHz, up to 3.50 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 6 MB cache, 4 cores)
• 15.6" diagonal FHD UWVA IPS anti-glare LED-backlit (1920 x 1080)
• 16 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM (1 x 16 GB)
• 512 GB HP Z Turbo Drive PCIe SSD
• NVIDIA Quaddro M1000M 4GB VRAM

I've never had so many issues with a laptop until this one. I get that annoying fan speed oscillation that everyone else is talking about. It's been an issue for months and a fix is expected to come out next week? Come on HP. Several months have past by with this issue present. Mine had it with the BIOS it came with and the latest BIOS you have for it. Also mine came installed with Windows 7 Pro anyone wanted to know. Upgrading to Windows 10 was annoying because Windows Update in Windows 7 took forever so I used the Media Creation Tool off a USB to install it. Didn't do a fresh install because I wanted to just update the existing software for Windows 10 but the whole updating process took awhile. HP's SoftPaq didn't seem to have the most updated software since there was a newer versions of some programs/drivers on the HP website. Updating the BIOS broke the laptop for a while until it magically rebooted itself and booted just fine ever since. On several occasions, the fingerprint reader wouldn't work with Windows Hello (a Windows 10 feature).

The Thunderbolt 3 dock wouldn't connect. I had the updated Thunderbolt 3 software and everything. Turns out I had to uninstall and reinstall the Thunderbolt 3 software in order for it to finally detect. Sometimes the dock won't connect at all and would only serve power unless I did a reboot. Sometimes I had to do a cold boot (turn computer off completely, then turn it instead of just Restart in Windows) for it to work. Sometimes the dock wouldn't detect my displays (1 DP to HDMI adapter, 1 VGA) and could cause flickering. I resolved the DP to HDMI issue by changing the HDMI cable although if issues still continue, I may even change the adapter. One of the front USB ports serves power only, no data at all. Pretty sure that isn't supposed to happen. At one point, the USB ports would flat out not work at all. At one point, the monitors wouldn't detect at all. At one point, sleeping the laptop, disconnecting it from the dock, not touching it at all, later reconnected it to the dock, pressed the power button on the dock (which is a neat dock feature since I often run my laptop with the lid closed) and the dock wouldn't detect the display nor the USB devices. This was fixed by disconnecting the dock, opening the lid and pressing/holding the power button to force a shutdown. I'm running the latest drivers and software available at the time of posting this.

I've had this laptop and dock for less than a week. It is frustrating to run into all of these issues, mostly with the upgrading to Windows 10, getting the dock to work and installing new drivers on the first 24 hours of turning it on. I was expecting a better first impression for actually using it. The dock was a neat idea and having it as an all in one cable looked like a great idea. I use the dock to connect my monitors and other stuff at my desk, then take the laptop to go somewhere. I was pretty annoyed with all of the unplugging and replugging of cables with previous laptop setups so this one would have been perfect for me. At least in theory. Anyways, moving forward I plan on calling HP Canada soon to ask about options for a change in keyboard layout. I will literally never use the French Canadian part of the keyboard even though I'm in Canada, know French and occasionally use it. After that, I'll wait for the BIOS and various other updates to fix the problems I've had.

edit: and yes, I made an account for the purpose of posting about my experiences with this laptop since I kept tabs on threads like this one about the HP ZBook Studio.

 

@garychencool That sounds like HP messed its TB3 dock up just like Dell did. Since Dell managed to fix most of their bugs and you seem to get it running sometimes my question is:

If the dock is working properly, do you notice any difference on the zbook in terms of thermals/fan activity?

 

Nope, it's the same fan speed annoyances.

 

I tried it, the BIOS eventually ignores it and does whatever it wants, but I can confirm that if you select the Zbook 15 profile, it will actually work. There isn't that osculating effect when set to 0, 65+%.

 

@garychencool whats so annoying for you, the general fan noise or that it is pulsing? i have hope that when bios fix arrive and pulsing stops, i will get a machine that constantly blows air out the fans in a somewhat decent noise, not too loud.

@maunakea do you mean you have a zbook without dedicated GPU and therefore you assume your config is less warm/more silent?

@ll: when working, my old i7 2620m has mid load about 30-50%. If the studio is very loud under these circumstances i would rethink about purchase, even though alternatives are rare

 

I spent some time debugging the EC on my Zbook Studio to try and create a better fan profile that can control the CPU and GPU fan. It has the default fan curves / critical temperatures set. I can still hear the pulsing fans slightly at idle now, but its much better than what the EC was doing stock.

https://gist.github.com/fleaplus/a2bba8478beed071fdbfbaa29753a60d

Feel free to test it out with Notebook FanControl and post feedback.

BTW, if your EC gets into a thermal overheat protected state, it will emit a very high pitched squeal from the speakers! You have to remove the bottom cover and disconnect the battery, then hold the power button for ~30 seconds, in order to reset the EC. Make sure to have a good torx bit set standing by for this if needed. None of the registers my profile changes should cause this to occur, but its probably good to say it either way.

 

The pulsing.