The HP ProBook 5310m Owners' Club

Thanks for the info on the transferring your data to a Hitachi drive. I am thinking of doing the same thing, the Seagate in my 5310 makes the same annoying noise.

 

Charles
Why are you even wasting time with a conventional drive?
There are sooo many good ssd's available now...

 

I have been using the Hitachi for about 48 hours now, it is great. Very little vibrations and none of the annoying noises the Seagate made.

SSD technology is still immature; all the technological advancements happening to them (better performance, higher capacity) are good indicators of that.

And even if they were mature, I don't have $500 to spend on a 160GB+ drive. I'll bite at $1/GB.

 

Here's a question for you - when I use the fn+f7/f8 keys to adjust brightness up and down, the Windows 7 calculator keeps popping up. I'm on a clean Win 7 install and I haven't loaded up any 5310m-specific HP software, other than the essential system drivers.

 

I believe the HP hotkeys (or multimedia key) install fixes that....its one of the included software you have to install

 

great thanks

 

any of you guys tried the displayport to hdmi cable at monoprice? It is around 10 bucks and seems like a good deal and it says it outputs sound.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024607&p_id=6011&seq=1&format=2

 

The stickers finally arrived from the states (only took about 20 days!......) I have to say I'm very pleased.

In answer to the questions some people asked. I can confirm the feel is unaffected. It says on the packaging they are very easy to remove with no residue. I can confirm they would be easy to remove being careful not to scratch the keys but they seem to stick very solidly also.

These ones would only work on black keyboards as the stickers have a black background. I needed to do a lot of custom keys by cutting out the little symbols from keys like "2" and moving them around as I have a UK keyboard layout! But it was all fine.

As the photos not taken with a flash below will show with the naked eye and to the casual observer you cannot tell they are stickers. However you can if you look closely see that they are stickers and have edges to them. The flash photos really show this up to the extreme but it honestly doesn't look like that to the eye as the other photos should show.

Most importantly they do the job of making the laptop keys readable during low light or darkness brilliantly! Well worth the effort of putting them on and it's heaven to not have to stare occasionally anymore.

Tip for installing.. make sure you have some tweezers.. it makes placement so much easier especially if you've had to cut out tiny symbols and also stops your finger removing any stickyness before placement.

http://www.ramitss.plus.com/keystickers1.jpg

http://www.ramitss.plus.com/keystickers2.jpg

http://www.ramitss.plus.com/keystickers3.jpg

http://www.ramitss.plus.com/keystickers4.jpg

 

Hi, I am actually comparing between a Sony Y series, Probook 5310m and a vostro v13. Opinions on each machine?

I think Y series has bad glossy screen (from a youtube unboxing video) so that is not in my favor.
All 3 machines seems to have similar weight.
Anyone who had experience with both machines?

 

My only concern with that is whether the cable actually converts the signal or it's just a passthrough.

I don't have experience with the V13 but based on the on-paper specs, here's my thoughts:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5611579&postcount=32
Bottom line, no comparison.

Wow! That looks awesome. I believe you that they're tough to distinguish in real life, the camera flash does make them stand out.
Backlit keyboards, who needs 'em. You basically have a backlit keyboard without the battery life hit.
Great job.

 

has anybody figured out a way to make a usb drive windows 7 bootable with the windows 7 cd provided by hp?

 

Has anyone tried to use the HP FQ834UT docking station with the 5310m?
The FQ834UT is recommended by HP to accompany the 5310m. My external mouse works just fine but there's no image output to the external monitor.

I just contacted HP tech support and they told me that the docking station can't relay the graphics output to an external monitor through its VGA or DVI jacks because the notebook itself doesn't support these formats (it has DisplayPort). I find it pretty incredible that HP would recommend an incompatible product and am waiting to hear back from them about this.

Anyone else have this experience?

 

Hmm, I guess the novelty of the machine being very thin will wear off fairly quickly. It is thin but the design leaves much to be desired. In the pictures I see the HP probook has some shiny surfaces. If so, how shiny is it and does it easily show dust particles and finger prints? This is actually a huge pet peeve of mine seeing dust on shiny black plastic.

Also I find it a bit strange that hp aluminum styled notebooks are a bit on the heavier side. The probook has only a 4 cell @ 3.8lbs but the sony Y has a 6 cell I believe @ 3.9lbs with their magnesium plastic casing. I can only guess that the plastic magnesium casing is lighter. Thinkpads on some surfaces use this material but it seems Sony uses it mostly on all of their laptops. They also use carbon fibre or glass fibre re-enforced material.

This aluminum weighting also appears in the hp dm3 (4.2lbs) 6cell 13" laptop. Usually i expect 13" 6cell would be < 4lbs. Perhaps hp is making their notebook base tougher?

However, a Macbook air (made of aluminum) is only 3lbs with thickness at widest point is 0.76". For the Sony it would be 1.2". HP must have added a lot of weight into their multitude of chassis. (dm3 13" 6cell-4.2lbs, 5310m 13" 4cell-3.8lbs, tm2 tablet 12" 6cell-4.73lbs)

 

http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/install-windows-7-from-usb-using-windows-xp/

 

The only shiny surface to me is the keyboard inlay.

The aluminum on the lid and the palmrests aren't really shiny to me. They can pick up fingerprints, but not nearly bad as any plastic like you would find on other notebooks. The provided cloth does a good job of picking up all of that goodness.

Like I said in an earlier post, this has to be the best looking notebook out there, even with the minor shiny bits.

edit:
The novelty of it being thin will never get old, provided the notebook does everything you need. I'm on my third laptop since selling it, and I sincerely miss it.

 

I was actually referring to the dell machine . I feel that the probook is quite a handsome machine with resonable power. I just need to decide based on some criteria between this is and the Sony. I have a feeling the machines are quite comparable except for the battery life since the Sony has a few extra cells for the same weight. I also have never encountered a bad Sony touchpad ever from their lineup. For HP, I have used a dm3 and I did not have a good experience. The shiny touchpad seems like it could be an issue.

 

Has anyone tried connecting their laptop to a monitor through displayport? I tried connecting mine with an NEC ea231wmi and got a blue screen of death.

 

It is tough to compare the 5310m to non-business class notebooks. The 5310m has a metal internal frame in addition to the aluminum lid and chassis cover, which adds weight but increases durability. It is a very well-made machine.
Also, the 5310m's six-cell battery is quite powerful given the number of cells it has. It is very thin so if you need extra life, consider picking up another one.

The dm3 has reportedly one of the worst touchpads on the market so I would refrain from judging based on that. While the 5310m has a shiny touchpad surface, it is actually very easy to use and I don't have the moist-finger skipping I have with my glossy touchpad Pavilion dv5t consumer HP. The 5310m's touchpad has a very soft and slick feel.

I connected to my monitor using a DisplayPort > HDMI converter if that counts, no issues. What operating system are you using?

 

I grabbed one (my roommate ordered one as well, so I just had him grab 2 of them), I'll report back as to whether or not it works. How would I be able to tell if it's a passthrough vs. converting the signal?

I used an adapter like Charles, and was able to get a monitor (Dell 23" I think) to work.

 

A final note: I decided to get the Sony Y instead. I went to the store and felt it's sturdiness. I also considered the Sony actually has 2 ram slots vs 1. I know Charles mentioned only business class has a strong chassis but I believe Sony is special in this regard in the consumer space.

Perhaps if I ever happen to see a Probook 5310m I can give a direct comparison between the machines for future reference. Thanks for all the input! I'll most likely be in the very empty Sony Y series thread .

 

I uninstalled the HP driver for the 4500 graphics and installed the one on Intel's website. It works now, but the taskbar occasionally flickers, which is kind of annoying. I think I'll just get the adapter like you guys.

 

Sorry if I missed it, but what were you using before?

 

Hey guys, I have some great news. The Razer Moray Plus earphone+microphone combo WORKS with the 5310m's jack! I have confirmed the microphone works - I disabled the laptop's array microphone and it records sound fine. Audio playback works great too.

http://www2.razerzone.com/razermoray-plus/

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=nippon_displayport-_-12-816-072-_-Product

No brick and mortar stores carry displayport cables around here (including the Apple store and the Microsoft store in Mission Viejo) so I had to order it online. Just out of curiosity, can anyone tell me why Macs use Mini-displayport instead of the standard version?

How is the sound quality for music? I need to get a pair of earphones, and that looks like a nice all-in-one solution.

 

I have done about an hour of listening so far. I'm a headphone audiophile . . . I did not expect much in the way of sound quality. It is lacking - the midrange is recessed/distant, though bass is reasonable (not overpowering) and there is some perceivable soundstage.

I will do some more critical listening later today and report back.

 

pretty spendy though Charles!

 

I did some more listening with the Razer Moray earphones today and the sound quality is average at best . . . not much better or worse than competing headphones around its price range. Not much should be expected in the way of sound quality but they are leaps and bounds better than the stock Apple ibuds for example. The noise isolation is satisfactory; in a relatively crowded place I was able to listen to music without increasing the volume level (vs. a quiet place). They are also comfortable for at least 15 minute periods - I have not worn them for longer than that yet and will report back when I do. I can barely feel them in my ears and they are very light.
If you're looking for a headphone+microphone combo, I think the Moray Plus is a good choice (for 5310m users especially since the mic works through its headphone/microphone combo jack).

I know, audiophile-grade headphone equipment has cost me thousands . . . it's a great hobby though.

--------------

In other news, I am enjoying the near vibration-free and quiet Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM drive (vs. the Seagate 320GB 7200RPM). It is on my to-buy list (the drive I have in there currently is a loaner from Hitachi for review on another site).

 

Worked like a charm. Many thanks!

 

That's good to hear! Quick question about those: do they work with the iPhone? I can't imagine Razor'd make a set that wouldn't...

Anyways, I got the cables in from Monoprice that have a male HDMI on one end and a male DisplayPort on the other. They're thick, solid feeling cables, though a little bit on the short side (I think they're 6'). Anyways, GOOD NEWS! They work!

Charles, I'm not sure what's up with your adapter, but with this cable, as soon as I plug it into my DisplayPort, I can go into Sound Preferences (or Sound Hardware in Windows) and the option of "Digital Audio (HDMI)" shows up. Selecting that will send my audio through the cable and out of the TV.

Now, you mentioned something about converting the signal vs. passthrough. Could you elaborate on that please? Thanks!

 

I'm using it with VGA without problems. It uses the DisplayLink driver. I suggest upgrading to the latest DisplayLink driver here: http://www.displaylink.com/support/downloads.php

The HP provided driver for XP is out of date and has missing options like "disable notebook display".

UPDATE: switched to DVI and it works as well. Sucks that the USB docking station doesn't do power though! =(

 

it might be not true for everyone, but two of my IPhone headsets do work with 5310m.
Just filmed it to demonstrate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDLOmI30F0Y

The headphones are at $6 on ebay. Now waiting for $3 replica to check.

 

From Win 7's device manager:

Graphics:
8.15.10.1855

Audio (2 entries):
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
6.10.6226.0
Intel(R) High Definition Audio HDMI
6.10.1.2073

I also bought a Monoprice DisplayPort to VGA converter (w/ chip), and it works (though I haven't tried it with a very high resolution monitor).

 

hallo guys, my sister is having trouble with probook and its noise, the cpu is not that hot (cca 40°C) but the fan is still running. is there a way how to tell it to adjust the speed of the fan on the base of the temperature of cpu? thx

 

Does anyone have the CULV version of the 5310m? I was wondering how the battery life of the CULV version is compared to the SU version.

This notebook is great but the battery isn't that strong for real day-to-day work.

 

Hi, I have the culv version, battery life is good but not outstanding. I get around 4:30hrs with continuous wifi surfing (bluetooth off) and around 6+ hrs with wifi off. For me, thats gives me enough power so that I hardly check the battery status during usage because there always seems to be power, as opposed to the Dm3 (amd version) where I was continuously checking.

To Cujo11, fan noise is an issue with this notebook, although I'd say its not nearly as bad as the Dm3 which I returned. There is no way in adjusting the fan, and even though the bios has an option to turn off the fan when using the power adaptor, I certainly did not notice any difference when I tried it. Today for the first time since Ive owned the laptop (2 weeks), the fan actually completely shut off when I reading a pdf file. It was quite blissful

You may want to try to eliminate all unnecessary processes (there are many) to free up ram and use less processing power in hopes the fan wont spool up as often. Also use Firefox 3.6 since it has the smallest memory footprint.

If it wasnt for the fan noise, Id definatly say this laptop was near perfection. View angles could be better, sound could be better, but neither of those bug me much. I geuss we just have to wait for a bios update that hopefully address the issue.

 

The CPU fan speed is dependent on the CPU temperature, yes. I noticed that sometimes when I resume my 5310m from standby/hibernate, the fan stays on high speed for some reason. Putting it in standby and resuming again usually fixes it. Are you sure it's the fan and not the hard drive?

The 5310m is based on the CULV platform so technically regardless of configuration it is a CULV notebook.
Technicalities aside, the Celeron 1.2GHz version does not get significantly better battery life, it manages about 30-45 minutes more than the SP9300:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5656443&postcount=415
If the screen brightness is lowered to minimum you can squeeze some extra time out of the battery. I think about 5 hours with light usage is an acceptable estimate.

Edit: kingcy beat me to it. Welcome to the forums and the 5310m owner's club.

 

Thanks Charles, and your quite right, the sp9300 is technically a CULV also. I really want to put in a ssd in this thing and dual boot xp with Google OS, but I geuss I'll have to wait a year or so.

 

Like I said, it's quite hard for owners to know if it's the fan or the hard drive that is making noise. Is there a foolproof way to test?

 

I have carefully followed computer today and I can say that the when it gets hot and fan works to full capacity it gets really noisy. I can see it is a fan as the sounds change in a very particular way when I close the air defuser on the left side

 

i have just realised that my 5310m has Broadcom BCM4315 chip which does not support 802.11n.

 

I have Intel 5100

 

I think the slight buzzing sound is the fan (for the su2300). I was running linux off of a flash drive, and the noise was no different than before. I would think while running a OS from a flash drive would shut down the hdd from use (but Im not certain).

 

thanks but i'm still not sure - anyone here you replaced their hd with an ssd? is your 5310m now effectively silent (aside from boot-up)?

 

Anyone here taken off the shiny plastic cover on the keyboard yet? Suggestions on how to do it? I really want to put a cut-out InvisibleShield on it....

 

Just want to say thanks to charles and everyone else who posted here. Based on the info that the newer dm3t's are shipping with switchable graphics I've decided to go with that.

Thanks again guys!

 

We need to find a service manual for the 5310m . . .

What 5310m do you have - the Celeron 1.2GHz version (FM996UT)? If so that only comes with a Broadcom 802.11b/g card and not an Intel N card.

I am still working on replies for you, I don't own an iPhone but one of my friends does. Just have to meet up . . .

Congrats. Switchable graphics are a great feature, I am glad HP added support for that on the dm3t.
---------
In other news, I finally bought a Hitachi HTS725050A9A364 (500GB 7200RPM) to replace the noisy Seagate 7200.4 drive that comes in the 5310m. It can be had for about $80 using this deal:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=456377
I have been testing that drive in my 5310m for about a week now and it is better than the Seagate in every aspect as far as I can tell. It has basically no vibration and is much quieter than the Seagate. I did not notice any differences in performance (it is less than 10% between the two) but I sure did notice the extra ~150GB of space.

 

Hey guys - our machines made it to the #18 spot for most clicked on laptops in January:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5515


How did the 4510s beat us at #8!

 

My 5310m is still new but I'm curious at later on how to clear the dust from the fan. Normally I'd imagine taking a thin needle to block the fan from moving and use a can of air but I wouldn't know whether to shoot from the side where the vent is or aim perpendicular to the fan.

 

No, I have Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P9300 @ 2.26GHz
Contacted the HP support with chat. They were first trying to convince me that I have 802.11n, but then they saidt here are two options of the same model. SO mine comes with no 802.11n despite HP website statement. cheating...

 

Yesterday I have decided to recover my windows 7 from HP_recovery, as I am getting different errors, after installing something wrong.
It did not work.

Although HP_Recovery was never touched and I can see all the neccessary files are there, recovery process was not able to start. It says required device is inaccessible.

HP support did not even try to sort it out but have immediatly suggested sending recovery CD. Friendly speaking I do not plan to buy USB DVD drive just because of that.
I have found this article http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744280(WS.10).aspx and will try to use *.wim files which are here at HP_recovery. May be someone was dealing with this before?