The HP ProBook 5310m Owners' Club

Does the 5310m have a built-in mic to go with the webcam? I installed the web cam drivers but in Windows I don't see a microphone volume adjustment-- do I just need to install another driver, or does it not have one?

 

Is this possible??

"Thank you for doing business with Hewlett-Packard. Part or all of your order has shipped. Please reference the shipped column below for the quantity of product that has shipped. Please contact your Client Service Representative if you have any questions: 1-800-888-0292."


I ordered it end of last week... wow!!!

 

Think you have to select the right "recording" device in the sound properties, mic should be working fine then.

As i remember there were two devices listed, only one of them worked using Skype.

Many thanks for the link, have done the fix as well.

Found it pretty tricky to remove the spacebar, but succeeded and the spacebar now seems to work properly !

 

Weird I selected UPS delivery and they gave me a fedex tracking #. But the good news is I am getting it wednesday!!! ... to bad I will be in school all day so I can't play with it that same day

 

TigerDirect did the exact same thing to me. Congrats!

Charles, any news on the audio-out capabilities of the DisplayPort? I found out yesterday that my roommate's monitor actually has no speakers (I didn't check myself, I took his word for it), so it's no surprise I couldn't get sound out that way. However, still working on that TV...

 

Congrats to the new 5310m owners. Do stick around and chat with us.

It is still in the mail, I expect to get it sometime this week. I will be testing it as soon as I can; I have my fingers crossed.

In other news, with minimum display brightness and MS Word/Firefox open (light use), I am getting 5+ hours of battery life.

 

I will post up benchmarks w/ssd once I get it... Probably won't be able to until friday because of school.

 

Hey guys, if anyone is still thinking of buying it they should buy from ebay through buy.com. You get a buy.com receipt in the end so its like buying straight from their website/amazon, however you get 20% cashback if you use bing, plus 1-3% ebay bucks makes me wish I had waited a couple of weeks to get mine, could have saved over a hundred bucks. But it comes up to around $690 with bing + around 17 dollars ebay bucks right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-5310M-C2D-2...iewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item5d26b8a1e0

 

Actually I just checked tracking and they attempted to delivery it today, I asked them to hold it so I can pick it up tomorrow morning...

 

Hi all

Haven't had much time with my new 5310m here in the UK, but a few initial impressions and as ever, a ton more questions/musings

Mine came with Win 7 Professional 32-bit pre-installed. I skipped all registration stuff, final setup was fairly quick but I would have preferred it not to install any bloat (mcaffee, office trial etc), I wonder if there is a way to do that? (I know you could skip all this on some Vaios).

Not sure if it has XP dpwngrade option, but 7 Pro means I can run XP Virtual Mode right? Handy for some older apps, esp on the audio side.

I must admit I haven't read the very minimal documentation yet, but does anyone know how the recovery discs made? Do HP UK supply physical copies on request? Extended guarantees - anyone bought an HP one recently for the UK?

3-pin power pack may be good for audio use (Sound on Sound magazine recommend 3-pin over 2). Bit heavier/chunkier than I would have liked though, again I'm spoiled by the Asus 1000H.

How 'green' is the 5310m? Do any reviews cover this aspect? Can it be left plugged in to 'sip' juice intelligently and keep battery conditioned? Any additional tips on battery conditioning?

I need to get a sling-type bag that won't swing around while on my bike - any ideas? Also a decent neoprene sleeve would be good.

Screen viewing angles are pretty poor as many have mentioned, but this is okay for my purposes. I picked up a HP DP to DVI adapter lead on ebay, yet to test it with my HPw2207 monitor. Any good testing/calibrating apps? I saw Spyder2 mentioned?

Can't reduce the dpi in Win 7 100% is lowest. To me the icons seem large but then I would have loved 1600 x 900 display (one of the reasons I wanted a Vaio Z).

The keyboard is really great,love it. Spacebar bug definitely an issue but I will try the fix.

What lean and mean apps are people using? It's been a while since I reformatted a work machine. I have to use Office, so I got the 2010 beta. I used IE once just to download Chrome (with it's "Earthy" theme - any similar Win 7 theme?), FF for web dev tasks. The 'HP Dock' seems pretty awkward and useless - any problems with ditching it? I'll use Revo to clean bloat, Pidgin, Foxit etc, but not sure how Win 7 has removed the need for stuff like unlocker, teracopy, launchy etc.

So far the 5310m has restored my faith in HP, so...any word yet on that Envy 14 with backlit kb, cooled'n'quiet i5 and edge glass for under £1k?

Z

 

Nice, zendar - glad to hear you are liking it overall.

About the spacebar - be sure to do that fix, it takes about 5 minutes.

Recovery discs . . . my 5310m came with four discs: two for the OS (XP and 7) and driver CDs for each.

The 5310m should be "Energy Star" compliant (see if yours has a sticker or check the box). This notebook is rather power efficient; the LED screen helps and the processor will throttle itself depending on load. Put the notebook in Balanced or Power Saver mode for the best efficiency.
Battery conditioning - the 5310m is smart enough not to charge the battery constantly so it will allow the battery to drop a few percent charge before re-charging it. This helps extend the battery's lifespan.

Cool - have any links to that HP adapter?
I used a Spyder2Express to calibrate my display, it greatly improved the colors.

There wasn't any way to skip the install of those programs; the only way to get rid of everything is to wipe the drive and reload the OS. I wiped mine and only installed a few of the original apps.

 

> About the spacebar - be sure to do that fix, it takes about 5 minutes.

Great, I'll definitely do it.

> Recovery discs . . . my 5310m came with four discs: two for the OS (XP and 7) and driver CDs for each.

No discs at all with mine pesky EU regs...

> The 5310m should be "Energy Star" compliant (see if yours has a sticker or check the box).

Nothing I can see - is that a US thing? There's a bunch of logos under the batt but nothing that looks like Energy Star. BTW my battery fits snugly, and inside I can see a SIM card slot - does everyone have these? Is it there regardless of the WWAN module option?

> This notebook is rather power efficient; the LED screen helps and the processor will throttle itself depending on load. Put the notebook in Balanced or Power Saver mode for the best efficiency.

Roger wilco

> Battery conditioning - the 5310m is smart enough not to charge the battery constantly so it will allow the battery to drop a few percent charge before re-charging it. This helps extend the battery's lifespan.

Great. I always found it odd that laptops didn't know how to handle this until recently. Looks like it takes an age for certain things to reach critical mass (backlit keyboards anyone?). Hopefully the 5310m won't have the same battery drain issue as the Vaio Z.

> Cool - have any links to that HP adapter?

Yes but it's UK-based http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/hp-display-po...uting_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item3a555b8706. I offered £4 and won one. I think it's an older model but should work ok. I couldn't find similar on US ebay but there must be some cheap out there somewhere Anyone tried a DP to VGA adapter?

> I used a Spyder2Express to calibrate my display, it greatly improved the colors.

The Pantone Huey is a bit cheaper in the UK and has slightly better reviews - anyone tried one?

> There wasn't any way to skip the install of those programs; the only way to get rid of everything is to wipe the drive and reload the OS. I wiped mine and only installed a few of the original apps.

Gonna do that when I scoop an Intel X-25M 80gb SSD - still no stock in the UK

Cheers
Z

 

I finally got my probook 5310m today. I don't have any problems with the spacebar actually. But I do have a problem with what I'm guessing is the fan constantly running, I feel some vibration and I can hear the air blowing, in addition to some other small noises now and then. I have updatet Bios, and that didn't work. Anyone else had this problem, or am I just being sensitive?

I did buy the 3-year extended care pack warranty, but somehow the retailer forgot to send me the damn thing. Will I be able to get the same help without having registered this? I'm guessing that what's in the package they forgot to send me is some registration number. Anyone know how this works? Too bad if can't get the help I've paid for.

 

Are you sure it's the fan? The fan is located in the top left of the machine (when looking down at the keyboard from a typing point of view). Or you could turn it over and look at the vents at the top right, through which you should be able to see the fan and determine whether or not it's running. My fan doesn't emit much noise even when it runs, and when on battery power it doesn't run constantly.

I'm guessing what you're hearing is the HDD, coming from the bottom right (again, looking down at the keyboard from a typing point of view). If that's the case, there's not much you can do about it except swap out the harddrive for something quieter (perhaps solid state?). If the sound is indeed your fan, then I'd get it looked at, maybe check what the sensors are reading to see if the sensors are wrong or something? I know that sometimes when I come back from sleep in Ubuntu, one of the sensors registers 90 deg. Celsius, causing the fan to spin all the way up. I've been getting around it by re-sleeping/waking the system or plugging it in, and still am looking for a fix.

I'll let someone else chime in on the extended care deal; I've never bought one, I actually didn't even know they sent you something when you bought it...

 

Hi All,

OK - I am now a member of the club. An I must say that I am happy with the 5310m. I upgraded to 4 GB RAM and put in a SSD (Besides being slow - that 320GB seagate is also extremely noisy).

HP ProBook 5310m VQ470EA#ABY
Antiglare display
Core 2 Duo SP9300
4GB RAM (Micron MT16JSS51264HY-1G1A1, 1066MHZ, 7-7-7-20)
Intel® X25-M 80GB SSD
HP un2420 Mobile Broadband Module Network Device (With GPS)
Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth® 2.1 wireless technology (Broadcom BCM2070)

Running Windows 7 Ultimate X64

 

Thanks for the quick answer. I was guessing on the fan because of the vibrations. But the vibrations seem to stronger beneath the armrests, so maybe you are right about the HDD. Are the vibrations normal though, any of you notice it?

I did try and see if I could see some movement, I couldn't really see any, but then I have poor lighting conditions!

Another reason for me blaming the fan is that it's an "airy" noise! If that makes sense... And it never seems to stop, neither the sound nor the vibration. This is kinda frustrating to me . Will I have the same problem with any PC? I have a 6 year old HP pavillion which I feel is more quiet, and doesn't vibrate at all.

 

Yes I noticed the vibration. The drive in the probook is a 7200 rpm drive - in older machines it is probably 5400 rmp. The higher RPM is the source of the vibration.
This leaves you with 2 options to fix it. Downgrade to a 5400 RPM Drive - like the WD Scorpio Blue series http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=343402 - or go ssd: http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=485983 ;-)

 

Really, and the noise too? Now that I have had it on for a while, without actually using it (I'm using the six year old one), I notice that the fan in addition seems to start up quite often.
If this is to be expected of this model then I'd rather return it and get another model.

 

That is the hard drive for sure, the fan is very quiet (at lower speeds). The Seagate 320GB 7200RPM drive is blazing fast for a hard drive but it is noisy. That airy sound is the hard drive platters rotating. As noted, consider a Western Digital Scorpio Blue drive if you want something whisper quiet; I have a 500GB 5400RPM (WD5000BEVT) in my HP dv5 and while not quite as fast as the Seagate, definitely much quieter.

Congrats! I would love to put an SSD in mine, the problem is justifying the expense. I'm eying one of the 256GB Samsung/Corsair drives. I can't imagine how fast the boot-up is with that sick X-25.
Did you buy yours pre-installed with the mobile broadband card? If so, how well does it work?
Also, where did you get that 4GB memory module and how much did it cost (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

What thread page were the benchmarks links?

 

I put some benchmarks in my review here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=432540
If you want any more, let me know and I will see what I can do. I'm sure other members would be willing to run benchmarks as well.

--------
Edit: I got my StarTech DisplayPort > HDMI adapter today. My monitor is HDMI but doesn't support audio; unfortunately I have not been able to test the audio yet but the video works very well. I connected the notebook to the monitor and it recognized the display instantly! Works extremely well in that respect - even set the correct resolution.

When I have access to a TV/monitor with audio output I will be sure to test it. There are reports earlier in this thread that audio out does indeed work with the StarTech adapter.
---------
Edit2: I just purchased a SleeveCase from WaterField Designs ( http://sfbags.com) for my 5310m. I've been buying bags and sleeves from them for years, you will not get a better quality bag or better CS. Here's my reviews of their products:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2688
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4571
The custom SleeveCase size for the 5310m is 26-17. I got mine with the flap, D-rings and suspension strap. I'm planning on getting a Muzetto bag from them in the future as well.

 

Yes - it boots up pretty fast Actually faster than my X58/I7 stationary due to the short BIOS check.

The Mobile Broadband card was preinstalled in this model.
It works extremely well - and is not locked to any carrier.
See the specs here: http://www.gobianywhere.com/files/gobi2000_overview.pdf
Also the GPS is a nice feature.

The antenna for the WWAN card is in the top of the screen - just above.
And I dont think the antenna is installed in models that come without the card.
(You can check if there are 2 wires going to the WWAN slot if you take of the cover and have a look)
If the antenna is not installed - a later addition af the WWAN Card would mean taking the whole computer (incl screen) apart and installing cables, antenna and the card itself.

The memory stick is this one from Crucial (Micron's Retail brand) http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT51264BC1067

 

Actually - I find the fan noise tolerable.
In normal battery operation doing Ofiice type work or browsing it is almost inaudible. (I do not notice it)
My Thinkpad T61 and HP DV5 otoh have irritating levels of fan noise.

 

Actually I was saying it because I have the SSD in my laptop and I don't think anyone posted Benchmarks with that or did they? If they did that is fine I won't need to, it was more just to compare the two.

 

Hi everyone,
I'm new here and this is my 1st post, so HELLO :>.

I'm form Poland, I have bought the 5310m some time ago and im very glad i did it. The laptop is great. Non less there are few things i found very disappointing about it. The most annoying for me is spacebar. From the very first words i wrote, i imminently didn't like how its works.

Now i read here that there is a solution for spacebar issue and it can be fixed. I tried to use, as it was in the post, credit card to remove the spaceboar, but i couldn't do it. I'm afraid that, if i'll press it hard, I could brake it or something. So could you plz give me some tips or upload some video or pics how to do it??

Thanks ahead,
Piotr

 

Welcome to the forum, azureone. Try putting the credit card under the back of the spacebar and gently pressing up. Mine came off after a bit of fidgeting. I am not sure if anyone has created a video.

No one has posted benchmarks for the 128GB SSD so that would be great if you could post one. Try HDTune.

Exciting news - NotebookReview.com officially reviewed the ProBook 5310m and gave it editor's choice!!!
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5423

 

ok let me know if there are any other you guys would like....

 

What block size do I choose in the options? The first one I attached was 8mb.... Can you give me the setting you used Charles so I can get an accurate comparasion...

 

Welcome, and congratulations! As far as the spacebar goes, I thought I was going to break mine also. Just be patient, and like Charles said, with a bit of fidgeting, it'll come right off. Not sure if these tips'll help, but I'll try:

- Definitely work on the back side of the spacebar (upper right/upper left hand corner).
- I alternated between right and left upper corners, wiggling the credit card under and then prying a little, then sliding it over to the other side and doing the same.
- Going back and forth like this a few times, eventually the left side popped up and I held it up with my other hand, and worked on the right side
- Once you do get it off, it has a sort of hinge-like connection where it flips up towards you (hopefully that makes sense).
- Just to be clear, the credit card doesn't need to be deep under the spacebar, just a half-centimeter or so, if even.

Hope that helps!

Hey Charles, I couldn't help but notice a few mistakes in the article. First, the processor should be, if I'm not mistaken, an SP9300, not a P9300. Or perhaps I'm less informed than I think and they're the same thing? Also, in the battery section, it keeps referring to the laptop as the 4310s; I also find it hard to believe the tester got 5 hours and 51 minutes out of it, but if so... AWESOME. I'm not really sure where to leave these comments, so feel free to point me in the right direction. Thanks!

 

Agi2002, thanks for posting the HD Tune benchmark.

So, it's a Samsung SSD. A google search on this SSD brings back:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/productInfo.do?fmly_id=161&partnum=MMCRE28G5MXP

which seems to suggest the SSD is EOL'ed. HP probably got these for cheap. I assume it won't have support for TRIM.

I was debating whether to go for the SSD option, but given it's a Samsung SSD, I think i might go for the HDD option instead.

Some info on Samsung SSDs from Anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=19

 

I honestly never had an SSD before so I can't compare them. But I will say that this laptop is quiet, it doesn't have the noise problem ppl have been complaining about and it is really fast in response compared to the computers I am used to. So I have no complaints

 

so I received my 5310m with SSD option the other day. For some reason HP couldn't tell me what kind of SSD they were putting in it so they said to just return it if its the wrong one. Well, it is. Samsung SSD no TRIM support. Anyway, wanted to say a few things. First of all, it is a very nice computer. Mouse buttons are very nice. The space bar on this one worked 100% no matter where I would press on it, so I don't understand why other people are having issues with it. The speaker configuration is absolutely stupid. Why even put 2 speakers in it if they are both on the same side???????
Thats about it. It is going back to China tomorrow only because the SSD doesn't support TRIM. When will people learn to put quality parts into a quality machine??????????
also the LCD is fine as far as viewing angles

 

I didn't write that article but yes, the P9300 is a mistake - should be SP9300.
There is a discussion thread here for that review:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5608499


I have yet to run the 5310m down past 30%, but lately I have been doing the math and at the rate I was draining the battery, I have been consistently getting 5:15 - 5:45.

I'm really glad I bought this notebook. My only true complaint is that it's so hard to keep clean (but then again, if it wasn't so pretty I wouldn't like it as much ).

Thanks for the benchmark - that looks pretty fast. No TRIM support as others have noted, but it's still going to be faster than a hard drive by a significant margin.

Are you going to re-order? I would guess so.

Maybe HP realized the spacebar issue and sent the new ones out with it fixed; if so that is good news. I'll be waiting for more new owners to chime in, we'll see if that is really the case.

 

Thx guys, your tips really helped. Now it works perfectly. I was trying to remove it from the bottom, not from the top, that was the problem. I recommend to do this to everyone!

Cheers from Poland ;p.

 

I haven't had any issues with the space bar either.

 

Glad those of you who tried it have all had success with my spacebar fix! It's been working great on mine since I did it. I should go work for HP on the production line If they've fixed it maybe they read this forum!! If so they owe me hehe

As far as getting the spacebar off is concerned it is designed to come off so don't worry too much about breaking it as long as you're using a credit card or similar soft plastic removal tool so you won't scratch or harm anything. It does take quite a bit of leverage to remove - push it down vertically until you reach the key bed and try and push it under the spacebar slightly.. I then use leverage i.e. bend the credit card back away from the spacebar to lift it away. As I said as long as you're being gently and taking your time increasing pressure slowly the weakest point by far is the clips as it's designed to come off so don't worry it WILL lift off.

- Also just to say I got mine in the UK and have had it since the 6th of November so not sure what the delays were with the other UK users over here. I bought mine through Insight via a company account.

 

I am hoping so!

 

Hey,
i have some problems with QuickWeb application. I check it out once, when i bought the laptop and it works. After that i've never launch it again (i dont use it) till today. Now it gave me Error 501 and failed to launch, like THIS. Then it launch Win 7. I think the cause of the problem is that few days after i'd received laptop i divided my disk C: and add a partition. I created the partition with build in Disk Manager in Win 7. Now my disk looks like this:



On HP support site they wrote that i need to reinstall my BIOS. Will it fix the problem?? Any ideas how to fix it??

 

I Can't Wait For Mine To Come In!

Afwoefihj90348wythgenf39824!

 

He guys I thought this was really useful considering the laptop doesn't come with a CD

Bootable USB flash drive

 

I just tried it -- took me like 2 minutes -- very easy and great fix. Before the very right tip of the spacebar would not register now it does. When ur lifting the spacebar just use very light pressure with the credit card and it will lift up.

 

Indeed - I used that guide to get Win7 on my 5310m, no problems at all.

 

Does anybody know if HP is going to release anymore ProBooks based on this one? A 14" ProBook with:

- a 6 or 8 (or may even 12) cell battery
- HDMI output
- an eSATA port (not essential, but nice to have)
- an optical drive

would be sweet IMO.

 

HP has a new 14" ProBook 4415s:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3929941-3955552-3935050.html

It has:
-Six-cell (47Wh) battery
-HDMI
-Optical drive

No eSATA though, and I don't know about its build quality. Earlier ProBook models weren't impressive . . . see this review as an example:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5015&review=hp+probook+4510s

EDIT: They also have the new 6445b:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3929941-3955552-4021376.html
It is significantly more expensive than the 4415s but looks to be better-built (like an EliteBook . . . but not an EliteBook).

It has six- and nine-cell batteries, DisplayPort, and an optical drive. No eSATA again though.

 

Yikes just noticed it was a repost... my bad

 

hey everyone, havent been here in a while.
i just upgraded from a compaq v3000z to the 5310m from tigerdirect.com [through bing.com]
got it for $643
so excited!

 

did you the get the 1.3 or 2.2ghz?

 

well i thought about it for a bit, and i got the Intel Celeron SU2300 1.2GHz because i was planning on just using this for school so it would be the basic, word processing/browsing and light multimedia usage. on top of that, it the battery has a longer run time compared to the higher priced models.

anyways, can anyone recommend a good sleeve? probably one that has a somewhat hard outer shell but foamy type interior?

 

They're both based on AMD CPUs :-(.

 

That is the catch. I don't know much about the performance of the Turion/Athlon CPUs next to the Core 2, nor anything about power consumption. Before writing off AMD, those two factors are worth looking into.

Congrats on the machine.
We are most interested in benchmarks for the SU2300 CPU, no one here to my knowledge has purchased a 5310m with it. It should suffice for basic usage - it is dual-core and way faster than an Atom.

Check out WaterField Designs - I just bought one of their SleeveCasesfor my 5310m.