8530w Elitebook is here!

Just came today, Specs are 2.53 Ghz, 160 GB HDD, 4 GB RAM (2 came with, 2 are on its way). I will have pics up shorty. First impressions, the thing seems solid, but lighter in weight then I had thought it would be. The LED light seems a little gimicky, but oh well, at least its there. I will keep you all posted on my experience.

 

One potential problem i have noticed so far is that when i open the nvidia contol panel, the screen flickers the whole time its open, but only this program

 

Congrats on the new lappy. Mine had arrived 2 weeks back but it had a broken webcam and videocard (quadro 770). Replacement arrived yesterday enjoying it immensly. The new one has the same problem as the old one, the space key gets frisky after a while.
Anyway let us know more impressions.

 

I think I figured out what the flicker issue it, it only happens when I am setting up whether I want to be in performance or quality setting for graphics, so I think its just the screen adjusting. Pics are to come soon.

 

Here are some initial photos. Sorry, my good camera is out of commision for the moment. Enjoy.

 

More pictures.

 

Here is the rest. Enjoy

 

How is the screen quality? How does its screen quality compare to other notebooks such as Sony? Thanks.

 

Well the screen quality is actually surprisingly pretty good. Compared to sonys and such, its at par, if not above. Clear crisp, and matte screen, exactly what I wanted. No complaints here.

 

Congrats on the EliteBook!

Enjoy it. I have the same and all I can say it is one of the best pro- notebooks out there.

Cheers

 

Thanks asusnote, its some of your positive comments that convinced me to make the plunge. I still have 2 gb coming to me in the mail to bring me up to 4gb total,

 

Thanks for your reply. Do they have an option for an LED screen now? I didn't see it on their website.

 

Not that I know of. But I may be wrong. I looked for it when i purchased mine.

 

What resolution is your screen? WSXGA?

 

Mine is the lowest price one with 1920 by 1200 resolution. So far, I do have one problem, the speakers seem to crack at moderate levels. Does anyone know if this is a driver issue, or something I should contact HP about. I for some reason can't even access the advanced sounds controls. It might just be an EQ adjustment. I leave for Australia in less than a month, so I need it resolved before then. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I really don't think it's a driver issue. My speakers worked fine with the drivers that came with it as well as updated ones both in XP and Vista. It's prolly a hardware thing. That being said my 8530w experience was so-so. First one that came had broken webcam and video card. Now a new one has some issues on the space key (but at least everything else works).

 

How long was the wait time for the arrival of a new one?

 

I am looking at adjusting the settings, because on the grand scheme of things, speakers are not my priority, a working pc for work is

 

Update* I have called HP Canada, they suggested sending in the laptop, thats not an option for me. Technician is sent, 2 to 3 days. Phone wait was 15 minutes, which aint bad. I will keep you all posted.

 

I have the same laptop since nearly 3 weeks and everything works fine, but I have a strange problem with the touchpad/mouse: randomly the buttons don't respond, you must click the right button several time to get the focus in the window or work area and be able to use the left click. It's very strange, I have the same problem with ubuntu and windows vista, and is the same if you use the touchpad/pointstick buttons or a external usb mouse. Anybody else have noticed something similar? Now I need the notebook, but I think I must call to HP after christmas.

 

I got mine in 2 weeks but this might not be relevant for HP US or Canada. I bought from the Romanian distributor. After I returned the bad one they diagnosed it for about 10 days then sent me a now one.

 

Jorid, I am not having those problems at all. I am using an external mouse, no problems, and the stick and such are fine too... my only problem is speakers...

 

thanks stewartlittle, the sound of my speakers is correct, but like other laptops there is a big difference with external good speakers.

 

Well, I got a call from a HP technician today, appoligizing for not being here for next day service, he said the speakers will be in tomorrow and he will be out here to fix my pc tomorrow. So Ill keep everyone updated.

 

I have a question for all of you. Has anyone removed any of the stickers that came on the palm rest. If so, how and did it leave marks on the stainless. I also noticed around the steep hp on the back of the screen, I can see the original sticker mark, has anyone luck cleaning stainless?

 

Wipe it with a slightly damp micro-fibre cloth (use water). The aluminium finishing is scrath-resistant, so if there are slight marks, they can mostly be wiped off easily. However, the finishing may oxidise, hence there are bound to be slight marks causing the surface to look foggy.

 

Try "Goo Gone". Works great.

 

Thanks guys, will try that.

 

Stewartlittle, any updates on the speakers?
I noticed that my 8530w does it also when listening to material with a rich dynamic range and bass. (no problem if I use ext. speakers)

I really dont mind much since I use the notebook for work.
This probably stems from the fact that these are small speakers unable to handle a wide spectrum. Highs and midrange play loud with no audible distortion in my case.

Thanks,

 

Well the part still didnt come in, so I am still waiting on it. The technician says he will be in as soon as he gets the part. The computer is great other than that, though I noticed that when on a dark screen, I can see that the bottom of the screen is lighter, similar to some larger lcd tv's. Its not really a problem though, as soon as its up and running its fine,

 

Update: Day 4, part not in, no call today, so again, I called the technician. He we friendlier this time, but I explained to him, though to him it may be "just a speaker" I need these speakers for client presentations with sound. He said he call HP and put it on urgency; which is cool, but should all orders be of high priority when the laptop was sent with a defect. Needless to say, I have no choice but to wait. I will just have to write a strongly worded letter to HP Support after. haha.

 

If the laptop was delivered with a defect, HP's SOA is to issue a DOA and do a swap out with a replacement unit. Since yours is not a custom configured unit, there should be spare stock available in the warehouse to do a swap out.

 

Unfortunately I didnt have time for that, they said stock was low so it would be awhile, plus if everything else is fine, i didnt want to give up a good pc for replacement speakers

 

Then you may have to wait up to 5 days for a non-critical replacement part to be delivered. HP stocks critical replacement parts such as LCDs and motherboards, so usually those fall within the next business day guarantee (1 day for lodgement, another for repair). Unfortunately, speakers are rarely defective, hence it's quite uncommon to have this part replaced. That's why you're experiencing this delay as they need to have it shipped direct from their regional hubs or factories. On top of that, it's a very new notebook, so part shortages are common.

Anyway, I hope HP resolves this issue for you and best of luck.

 

Thanks chrixx, the way i weighed it out, is i didnt want to get a replacement a few days later, and find a problem with that and so on. Looking back it may have not been the best bet, but this way I can use my computer while i wait.

 

You can always use your computer until they send you a replacement. It's a swap out, which means they deliver you a replacement and at the same time collects the old one. However, repackaging and dealing with delivery can be a pain, so repairs are probably more convenient.

 

All right! An 8530w user's lounge! Me and my HP Compaq nw8440 are now officially jealous of the 8530w and the people that own them

I haven't had the chance to play with an 8530w in person, but I've messed around with a 2730p tablet, and I must say, that are a dramatic improvement over the tc4400 tablets in terms of sturdiness and build quality (which are of the same generation as my nw8440). Let's hope that this is the case for the 8530w also; the base of my nw8440 likes to flex and warp just a little too much for my tastes. Just curious, does anyone with an 8530w also have an 8510 or 8400 series notebook to compare with? I'm interested to see how much better the 8530 series really is.

Also, the official NBR review mentioned the touchpad buttons having trouble registering mouse clicks. Has this been fixed on the production units? (I've only skimmed the thread so far)

Just for fun, here's the "family history" of 15-15.4" HP Compaq Mobile Workstations:
Compaq Evo n800w ==> HP Compaq nw8000 ==> HP Compaq nw8240 ==> HP Compaq nw8440 ==> HP Compaq 8510w ==> HP EliteBoook 8530w

 

This problem isn't there last time I tried the current production batch, so I believe it must be a defect or pre-production unit.

 

I havn't had any problems with the buttons either. For some reason i thought they would be stiff but they arent at all. They are actually easier to push then i thought, which isnt a problem. So far the only things i have had a problem with is the speakers, which are getting replaced asap, and i notice the bottom of the screen on start up is glows a little from the back lighting, but im pretty sure this is standard and isnt a problem, just an observation.

 

hey ppl

I got my laptop last night and i am really amazed with its quality and feel!

Specs in signature!

 

Congratulations!

I didnt notice anything bad with the touchpad buttons either. In fact they are the easiest to click from all laptops I have used this far.

Cheers!

 

Hey madengineer, good to hear, As an update for my situation, no speakers, so I called HP Canada, they were useless, said I have to go through my reseller. So I went to CDW, which has been greatly helpful thus far, definately reccomend them, anyways, we did a 3 way call with HP, got just as far, and HP wouldnt help, not in my tight deadline of leaving for overseas shortly, and wouldnt give me a time for arrival of the speakers, so I left it, CDW is going to take care of the situation. HP will not send a replacement directly in Canada, well not within 30 days, so yea, no speaker replacement fast, no computer replacement fast. Just lots of talking to useless supervisors. All this for a speaker.

 

If you're going to Australia, just log the call through HP's ITRC utility to have the part ready for you in Australia instead. HP can do that. In fact, using the ITRC is the quickest way to get this resolved. I would have thought Canada can do it faster since HP has major distribution facilities in the US.

 

They do have the facilities in the US, but for some reason, they will not ship from there directly, so I am dealing with the reseller, CDW, they will take care of it I am sure of.

 

nice photos! thanks for posting

 

Sorry to hear your plight. I'm bookmarking this as an FYI as I too am in Canada - Toronto actually - and wish to purchase this machine within the next 2mths. Why does HP not have a service center here I'm not sure. Driving on Lakeshore Blvd by Sunnyside beach there is a nice sloped bush ad highlighting the major corporations that have headquarters in Canada & in Toronto. Amongst them are: CPRail, VIA Rail, Sony, HP, and Rogers Communications. Still perplexes me why no service center here if so many corporations use HP products (Rogers is 1 of them).

 

Prom1, I am also from the GTA, and no it doesnt make sense, for parts they seem to help, although the speakers are taking forever. If you buy, go through CDW, they have been working their asses off to help, so I am happy on that front, HP just hasnt stepped it up at all.

 

Stewart,

Thanks for the tip. I bought a used HP DV2404ca and its a great machine but for me its slightly underpowered - Win7 recent build may solve this though. However currently issues with the BIOS not loading, nor the OS (Vista or WinXP) took 1 phone support rep & two online support reps (from USA - neither gave me a ticket #) to confirm known mobo (Nvidia 6150 GeForce Go) failure. So I await shipment box & label to send to the USA; as covered under extended warranty due to this issue. Funny though they offered an extended normal warranty for 2years lol.

But the quality of the 8530w & the 6930p have me looking at a new laptop upgrade, no more craigs' used swap meet junk for me.

I will be checking out CDW for purchase in 2-3mths. Hoping to also get the Pavilion TX2z for my daughter.

 

Hi guys,

Appreciate all the info in this thread. About to pull the trigger on the 8530w based on what i've read - one issue is it doesn't seem you can get one with Vista Ultimate 64 (which is a little annoying). I assume it shouldn't be a problem to get Business 64 and upgrade to Ultimate via Microsoft?

Also, I assume the Blu-ray option on the configuration site will write blu-ray discs (or just read them?)

Thanks for the help

 

Thought I would drop another update. So I had a 3 person phone chat between me, hp, and my rep at CDW. CDW tried to speed the process through hp with little luck. As much I love the 8530w, HPs customer support is . After talking to 4 different levels of people in the company, we got told, well a manager will call you next week. Its now been well over a week since my first call. We said fine, but CDW is going to take care of it on their side because HP cannot step it up with either a part or a replacement. This morning I got a call from HP saying, we can send a replacement, but with processing and such, its going to be at least 3 weeks, which doesnt work for me since I am going to be overseas by then. They knew this from the start, what happend to next day service with business computers. Aweful, all I have to say. I am glad I have CDW to back me, without them I would be out of luck and with a computer that has broken speakers, brand new out of the box.