The HP ProBook 5310m Owners' Club

Just get it. I watched Star Trek last beef.

 

1. If Windows XP works for you then I would stick with that, wait until you actually use 7 before jumping right in. I personally went right to 7, it adds a lot of little things not present in XP. For example, more shortcuts (easier to manipulate windows/programs), faster startup/shutdown, better Windows explorer, and a few other things.

2. You might not have to fix it - several people who got their 5310m recently are not experiencing any issues with the spacebar. If you do have issues, the tape fix is rather simple.

3. I would just start using it, if you have any questions be sure to post them here. You can check my review here, I listed a few programs under the Software section you can safely remove:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=432540

I am going to have to pick up a SIIG adapter then. It just worries me that with my Startech adapter, audio does not go to my HDMI TV which I know works with HDMI sound because I do it with my Pavilion dv5t. Where did you buy your adapter?

 

SIIG.

bought it from Fry's.

 

I recently received my 5310m (bought with the TigerDirect deal before Christmas), and I'm using the Startech adapter from Amazon to go to my 37" Vizio 1080p TV, and the audio works properly on the TV. I was a bit worried about it after seeing what you posted, but when I tried it today, it just worked. I'm on Win 7, with the video driver from the HP supplied DVD installed. Is this the driver you're using? Perhaps there's something wonky about your HDTV?

 

I'm going to have to re-try the Startech adapter . . . I must be missing something. No HDMI audio device shows up in sound output options.

However, there is a slight problem . . .

 

lol. i drink a gallon of that flavor a day.

 

Okay, so I've been literally looking at reviews for this laptop for days now. And I've read this thread from beginning to end. Despite a few downfalls (no eSATA, average display) I feel like this is the laptop for me. This will be my first laptop purchase and first PC upgrade in general since '02. Yes, I know, I've learned to live minimally, plus I'm a poor grad student.

I have just a few quick questions, thanks in advance:

1) There's been a lot of discussion about the screen, but I just want to know if anyone out there is doing programming on this thing, do you feel comfortable with the lines of code you can fit on the 1366 x 768 screen?

2) I believe that the HD is connected by a SATA 3.0 Gbits/s connection. But from all the documentation I can find they refer to it by the ambiguous name of SATA II which is usually discouraged. So can anyone confirm that it is the 3.0 Gbit/s connection and not the 1.5 Gbit/s?

3) Someone on the board mentioned getting display adapters from Monoprice. I was wondering how those worked out since everyone is getting mixed results from the other brands. I have monoprice HDMI cables and am happy with them so hopefully their adapters will work too.

4) Did anyone else have the same problem with their Bluetooth that Charles had? Where he had to go and manually download the Bluetooh driver to get it to work?

5) How is the WiFi? Laptop Mag's review states that the strength drops to about average at 50 ft.

6) Last one! The Win 7 drivers that come on the DVD are for the 32-bit version right?

That's all the questions I have. But I do have a bit of insight to offer from my many hours of research. Turns out the $999 FM998UT model with the Gobi card also has a LAN antenna in addition to the cellular antenna. This supposedly allows for better wireless network reception according to an HP rep that replied to a question on Buy.com's product page. If you check out the tech specs you can also see the two antenna's diagrammed. This LAN antenna is lacking in the $899 FM997UT model which is why I asked question (5).

Thanks to mtorgow for posting that deal from Tigerdirect. I'm going to wait for CES and see what gets announced, then I'll see if I'll pull the trigger on this laptop.

Thanks for all your help guys and this wonderful thread. Man shopping for a laptop is ridiculously time consuming; my sleep and eating schedule is totally thrown off!

 

So I've been doing some research and haven't found any real answers. Does anyone know if this computer (mine is suppose to come Wednesday so I haven't had any chance to test it out) will play blue-rays via an external blue ray player? I was doing some google searches, but I have only found information pertaining to netbooks. (Only CPU without internal drive that people discuss)

1. Has anyone tried hooking up an external blue-ray player, and if so, did you have success? Also, what brand and model unit were you using, and were you able to use the power from the computer's USB port? (interesting in purchasing)

2. Does anyone recommend any type of slim external DVD player (reader & writer) that uses power from the computers USB port? If you have one, what do you recommend? (If you don't mind brand & model)
( http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qJY9LXcM9Q6IgWmK&templete=2)
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135198)

I will be bringing this PC to class/traveling, and would like to have an external drive. I am contemplating whether to go for a Blue-ray/DVD combo or just go with a slim DVD. Any opinions/experiences are appreciated.

Thanks once again for all the help.
Happy New Year.

 

I used the non Blu-Ray one that ASUS provides, and it's LOUD. I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be in the classroom. You could just image all of your discs though.

 

Welcome to the forums. Definitely time for an upgrade . . . the next decade of computing.

1. What screen resolution do you use now? I feel a bit confined with 768 px of vertical space, but I think it's forgivable given the screen is only 13.3" diagonal. With 768 px of vertical space you can only see about one half of a page in a Word document.

2. SATA II = 3.0Gbps; the 5310m indeed has a SATA II port.

3. People are using the SIIG and Startech DisplayPort > HDMI adapters, and have gotten audio out of both. The Startech isn't producing audio for me but I think I am doing something wrong - haven't had time to figure out what though.

4. The Bluetooth is perfectly functional, the only problem I had originally was that no driver was installed. I had to go the HP support site to get it.

5. No issues here - the 5310m's wireless reception is much better than my dv5t's. Laptopmag's 5310m review gave it high marks for the wireless.

6. Yes, but there are 64-bit drivers on HP's site. Both 32- and 64-bit are supported.

That's an interesting observation regarding the FM998UT model . . . it had not occured to me. However I am not sure that the FM997UT model lacks the cellular antenna; I opened the bottom of mine and I can see there are two antenna connections going to the empty mini-PCIe slot where the WWAN card would go. One way or another, I don't think slightly better wireless reception (potentially, if what was posted on TigerDirect is true) is worth ~$100.

As you can see from reading this thread, just about everyone who bought it has been very satisfied. It's light, stylish, well-built, has decent battery life, great performance with the C2D processor, and is very well-priced. I would buy this laptop instantly if I had to do it all over again.
Another laptop to consider is the Dell Latitude E4300, though you will need to go the Dell Outlet refurb store to get pricing comparable to the 5310m. I think the 5310m is hard to beat.

 

The e4300 doesn't even compare to the HP. It's twice as thick.

 

Seriously, I can't decide between this 5310m and Dell Vostro V13, in my country the price is about the same, but I get 4GB ram with the Dell, but the 5310 has a better processor.

 

The Vostro V13 has many disadvantages compared to the 5310m; I would go right for the 5310m.
The Vostro V13 has
-Internal non-replaceable battery
-Terrible keyboard ( according to Engadget)
-Weaker processor
-No advanced video/audio out (VGA only)
-Much weaker processor compared to the 5310m's C2D SP9300

The only actual advantages the V13 has over the 5310m are a slightly thinner profile and a slightly lesser pricetag.

Very true. It has a few advantages though - built-in optical drive, backlit keyboard option, dedicated docking station, and larger battery/battery slice. For me, none of those options mattered though. I'm not a fan of Dell's designs and build quality, and they have too many QC issues; see here for an example:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/01/dell-facing-massive-e6400-and-e6500-overheating-and-underclockin/
There are also a ton of similar issues with their consumer Studio XPS 16:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=446193
And additionally, there are throttling issues with their Alienware M15x as well. That's QC issues across their business, consumer, and gaming/premium lines. Not a good sign, it reflects very badly on their engineering department. Those issues should have been recognized early on in QC and weren't.

 

I did some programming this past semester for a compsci course I was taking, and definitely felt the restrictions on a screen. Keep in mind though I was coming from a 1680x1050 screen that I used for 4 years up to the end of October, so the change was pretty drastic. After using it for a while, I think I stopped noticing the lack of vertical space. I can tell you that in Ubuntu using Geany, I get between 35 and 40 lines of code. This can get a bit claustrophobic, especially when dealing with routines that are several hundred lines long.

As far as the adapters go, Charles, I'm not sure why you're not getting any indication of digital audio out. When I tried with my roommate's cheap-o adapter (I can't remember how much I said before, so I'll just say it all again), I couldn't get it to work with my TV at all (no signal detected), but the 5310m registered that there was a new HD audio out, and routed my audio that way. When the adapter was unplugged, that output disappeared. This occurred in both Ubuntu and Win7.

Finally, the wifi on this computer has been flawless for me. It connects awfully quickly and I haven't had to deal with any signal dropping or such.

I have an Asus external DVD drive that looks almost exactly like the Blue-ray drive you linked to, but it's just DVD. No complaints, it works as plug-and-play. It likes to rumble a bit when the CD's are spinning, but I can deal with that as I don't use it often. One thing to note is that even though it's only been sitting on my desk since I got it, it's already scratched up like crazy. Not sure how, but the glossy plastic reminds me of my 1st gen. iPod nano that I had as far as how scratched up it gets.

Even though it's twice as thick, I'd say it's a viable competitor, as it does weigh less than the HP while cramming in an optical drive. No offense to our beloved 5310m, but if I had the money to pick up an E4300, I would have done so with no hesitation whatsoever. =P

Sorry I've been MIA; I've been at a conference WITH NO INTERNET! I'm surprised I survived... but HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

 

does any one know the screen model on the 5310m I need it for replacement reasons

 

Charles, do you consider the 5310m to be the best affordable 13 inch with a matte screen in the market right now?

 

How does one upgrade to Windows 7? I just got a new 5310m with XP on it but am not sure how to go about it. I want a clean Windows 7 installation.

 

The 5310 looks very nice. Is is suitable to drive a 30 inch LCD like the HP LP3065 with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and dual link DVI?

How long does it work on battery power?

 

Have any of you upgraded to 4GB RAM? If yes, what did you choose? I'm trying to avoid the original HP ram which is very expensive.

 

Hi all,

Although I can pretty much touch type especially on a full size normal keyboard it's not always easy on a little laptop like this and I was finding the strong bright screen was making it impossible to focus on the keys in a dark room and see any of the letters - so I've just bought the orange version of these glow in the dark/reflective stickers:
http://www.baronbob.com/glowingkeyboardstickers.htm

I couldn't find anywhere in the UK that sell glow in the dark stickers but they ship to the UK for less than $5.

If you want some use "facebook" as a coupon during checkout and you'll get 20% off.

These also look ok but I prefered the smaller letters and no logo on the spacebar of the ones above:
http://www.myglowkeys.com/

And to those who've asked I use the laptop every day and my spacebar is still going strong and working great with my electrical tape fix. I'm glad some people aren't getting the problem anymore.. I wonder if HP have fixed or if those people just aren't noticing it!?

 

http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345

That's the link Charles used to make a bootable USB. You'll need a USB stick that's 8GB+ large. I just used the included install CD and an external DVD drive that I picked up for about $50 from Fry's. As far as I know, we both did a clean install.

I'm easily getting 4:30 on a regular basis, but I almost never run it down all the way to see exactly how long it'll last; I've heard some people are getting over 5 hours. I can't help you on the monitor question, as I haven't got access to such a large monitor. I can confirm it works on a 22" Dell LCD via DisplayPort to HDMI adapter + HDMI cable.

Do the stickers change the feel of the keys much? And are the removable without damaging the keys or leaving sticky residue?

Also, has anyone gotten a silicone keyboard cover? Would it leave marks on the screen when I close the laptop?

 

As to the headsets:
The standart Iphone headset works well with 5310m. Jsut used it for Skype.
For whatever reason Nokia headset, which looks very similar, did not work. In a sens that headphones didwork, but mic did not.

 

I find it really annoying that there is no way to set up Quicklook button in Windows, when the notebook is on. The browser button at least opens a browser, but quicklook starts РЗ Software setup. It will be so nice to change it for some other programme. I would use it for my Thunderbird.
Any hackers out there?

 

I have switched to 5310m from thinkpad t61. I was looking for the light notebook, and was thinking of asus ul30, but it was not available in the most powerful configuration. And now I think 5310 is better. Win 7 works great on it.

I really miss keyboard light and dedicated multimediakeys, though. I also find it to be more heavy then I was expecting. And the space key...

 

Havn't got the stickers yet but will let you know when I do - from description/review they don't change feel at all but not sure about removal...

 

is there any automatic hp update utility which updates all drivers and bios automatically for this laptop?

thanks for that link chaosrl, worked like a charm and I'm on Win 7 now.Also finished installing the app recovery cd.

 

For my uses, definitely. The Vostro V13 as I noted has some serious drawbacks. My criteria for a notebook are a good keyboard with a proper layout (no secondary home/end/pgup/pgdn keys), good portability, and good battery life (3-5 hrs). My review reflects what I was looking for when I bought the 5310m:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=432540
Over the last two months of ownership I can safely say I am more satisfied with this purchase than any other notebook I have bought to date.
I think I could have gotten along with the Dell E4300 but as I noted, it's a Dell . . . and Dell is having issues. I'm not going to trust them with my money until they get the issues I noted sorted out.

That's a tough question - I would email/call HP. Note that the 5310m only has DisplayPort for video out so you will need to buy an adapter to get DVI. I used a DisplayPort -> HDMI adapter and got 1920x1200 on my monitor perfectly.

I am regularly getting between 4 and 5 hours of battery life with minimum screen brightness and the Balanced power mode in Windows 7.

Some people have, but most are sticking with 2GB because of the $$ reason. I would say any of the sticks on Newegg are good; this one is probably what I would get:
http://tinyurl.com/ybo65rg
The CAS latency doesn't matter if you are wondering.

Wow, I definitely want to see pics of the stickers when they are applied (and in the dark ). I never thought of that.
--------
Guys, I have an idea for the glossy keyboard surround that I have been thinking about for some time.

If that glossy surround part could be removed, it would be possible to stretch a big piece of InvisibleShield over it and cut out the key holes with a knife. It would be time consuming but if done right, bye-bye fingerprints/dust/scratches. Anyone know if HP posted any disassemble/service guides for the 5310m?

 

Hey folks,

I am also a new 5310m owner. About to wipe te hard drive and install Win7 and Linux.

Any thoughts on 64-bit OSs? Or are most sticking to their 32-bit OS?

HP ProBook 5310m | P9300 2.26 | 2GB

 

Congrats! Welcome to the club.

BTW - you can put your laptop specs in your signature here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/profile.php?do=editsignature
Type some stuff in the box, then click Save Signature and it will appear below all your posts.

About 64-bit OSes; I don't think anyone here has installed 64-bit W7 on their 5310m. It is not faster than a 32-bit OS unless you have a 64-bit program to run. The only real reason for most people to get a 64-bit OS is to take advantage of 4GB+ of RAM, and the 5310m only supports 4GB of RAM so . . . it doesn't really matter.

 

hmm, im not sure if im being paranoid or not, but the right side of my screen is experience light flickering, its not too noticeable with brightness on high but when i put the brightness on low its somewhat-quite noticeable. anyway to fix that? i really cant send my laptop in since school just started today.

 

Thanks.

TwiztOG43 - Is your laptop near speakers, a fan, or other kind of electric or electronic device which may be causing interference?

Which of the included software/drivers/apps did people install or purposely not install?

Im not sure if I should install the following programs:
- HP Support Assistant
- HP Wireless Assistant
- HP Connection Manager

 

Dose Anyone Know The Screen Model On This Laptop I Need It To Replace The Screen Please Stop Ignoring My Every Post. Im Sure Someone Knows Here Its Just Good Karma Please Answer

 

I checked the tech specs and can't find it anywhere.
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13394_na/13394_na.html
You're best bet is to probably call HP.

According to the spec sheet it should be able to support it.

But I'm not sure if your DisplayPort to DVI adapter will affect that. As for supporting dual link DVI, it doesn't say. But I would be curious to know if it can as well. Anyone tried this?

I'm also curious to know what software/apps people decided to install or not install.

Also, did anyone opt for extended warranty or anything like that? I usually take care of my stuff pretty well, but I've never owned a laptop. And I'm always hearing about how laptops always fail, etc.

 

Charles, what did you use to calibrate the screen? I've tried Spyder3Express on several laptops but not with good results.

 

The screen model according to the Device Manager is "AUO112C".

I used a Spyder2Express. What went wrong with your calibration?

 

Wikipedia says that there is no standard wiring for the TRRS 3.5mm plug. This may be why the Nokia headset does not work;

 

HP announced some new additions to the Elitebook and Probook series.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/06/hp-refreshes-probook-and-elitebook-lines-with-core-i7-processors/

Not much detail in terms of specs though. They look pretty.

 

Take a look:

[thread]448317[/thread]

 

Hi guys, been following this thread for some time now, close to pulling the trigger on one, couple of questions.

1) Any former Thinkpad owners out there who can comment on if they miss their thinkpad keypad? (I have a T60)

I played around with a dm3 yesterday and while I liked the keyboard, didn't think it was quite up to snuff.

2) How do you change the volume on this thing? (I assume you have to hold down the fn key? - really love the volume control buttons on my T60).

3) Any more comments on the useability of the 768 vertical resolution? My T60 has the 1400x1050 screen and am concerned that I will miss all that real estate.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

Dear 5310m users,

I received my new 5310m together with a HP Compaq 24" LA2405.

The laptop was downgraded by our company to WinXP.

When I connect the Display by Displayport connection to the laptop I immidiatly get a BlueScreen and 2 Seconds later the laptop reboots.

The gfx drivers are the newest from intel. (6.14.10.5160) an I tried 2 different displayport cables.

I dont know what to do, does anyone of you guys have a clue? Could it be really a hardware issue?.

I would appreciate any help.

 

There is likely something wrong with your Spyder3Express then, my Spyder2Express does nothing like that. If anything, it should be making the screen warmer . . . I have found most notebook screens are below-average to average quality at best and have a somewhat cold color.
I would exchange it for another one or pick up a Spyder2Express.

Welcome.

1) Can't comment on the ThinkPad part but regarding the dm3, it does not have the same keyboard as the 5310m; I haven't tried the dm3 so I can't go into detail, but from looking at pictures the keyboards are clearly different.

2) Yes, you have to use the [Fn] keys; F9 = mute, F11/F12 = up/down.

3) 768 pixels of vertical res is limiting. I have a 1680x1050 res on my other HP laptop and I can tell you going down to 768 is restrictive at first. You get used to it but I still have yet to feel as productive using the 5310m's screen. 768 vertical pixels allows you to see about one-half of a Microsoft Word page.
Unfortunately you cannot get a 13/3"/14" notebook with more than 900 pixels of vertical space anymore; the best res offered in that size range is 1600x900.
Most of the notebooks in Best Buy should be 1366x768, so go there and try it out.

 

1) I came from a Thinkpad T60 as well (though I had the 15.4 widescreen). The keyboard is (obviously) not a "legendary Thinkpad keyboard," but it's certainly more usable than most other keyboards around. While I don't "miss" the TP keyboard anymore (I've been using the 5310m for about 3 months now), I still believe the TP keyboards are better. However, the thing I miss the most of the keyboard is really the UltraNav, but I guess if you don't use it, there's no problem there.

2) Like Charles said, fn+f11/f12 adjusts volume up/down. I do miss media control keys though (play/pause/previous/next) from the T60, so I've opted to use my iPod touch+headphones most of the time now.

3) I can't tell you HOW MUCH I missed the screen real estate at first, coming from 1680x1050. But after using this laptop for 3 months, everything's about the same. I use fullscreen more often now, and don't really notice the missing real estate. However, I have gone back to use the T60 a couple times (mostly to set it up for my parents to use), and the screen feels so expansive! But that's really the only time I miss it.

If you want a Thinkpad (Ultranav, keyboard), the Thinkpad Edge just came out. I know it only has a CULV option and the keyboard is a departure from the standard Thinkpad keyboard, but most of the reviews I've read have said the chiclet style keyboard works just as well if not better than the normal Thinkpad keyboard. Good luck deciding!

 

hmm the guy at the screen replacement place said this

"AUO brand screen should have model number similar to B133*"

Dose anyone know the model number of the screen for the 5310m that correlates with this comment.

 

Hey folks,

Anyone here know how to get the wireless on when at a command line?

I am trying an Ubuntu Alternate install. I get internet off my landlord's wireless, so no ethernet option. The wireless button on the 5310m panel automatically goes to orange after passing bios...

POST EDIT:
Ok, I got the woreless to turn on, but now I dont knwo how to connect to my network. iwlist and iwconfig are not installed. Anyone go through this?

 

nope it happens everywhere....

this laptop is starting to get on my nerves
1. the light flickering of the screen
2. when i type something, sometimes there's a delay before the sentence appears on the screen [2 or 3 second delay]
3. when scrolling in firefox theres a lag. [not video card related]
5. the space bar issue [but its not really a problem with me]

 

If you try to run a program that is not installed, the CLI should after a brief moment tell you which package it is available through. Note the name of the package, go to http://packages.ubuntu.com/ and download the corresponding deb.

But since you're running the alternative CD, I believe you're rather stuck with what's available on that. You could try the DVD instead, that should have a lot more packages!

If you have a spare computer with WiFi, you could connect to that using a crossover ethernet cable, with minimal hassle.

 

I attached a screenshot of what the Device Manager is showing me.

I would call HP support and arrange to send your notebook in, none of that is normal.

 

Anybody figured out how to make an ISO from the HP supplied Windows 7 OS recovery disk which works with MS USB/DVD Windows 7 tool? I tried to make an iso with magic iso and the tool says the ISO is not compatible.

That apart, how do I update my bios?

Thanks

 

Can't help you with the ISO issue, as I don't have my disks or external drive with me at home, but I'll give it a shot in a couple days when I'm back at school.

The BIOS update utility is below. I used the HPQFlash utility included in the download that lets you directly update the BIOS from a booted Windows environment.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...021356&swLang=13&taskId=135&swEnvOID=4052#120

Edit: be careful when doing it! I went ahead and did it with no problems, but Charles did say he wouldn't recommend updating the BIOS if you weren't experiencing problems.

 

I think I am in love again. Minus the whole spacebar thing.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/hp-mini-5102-hands-on/2583496#2583497