8710w screen quality

Hi,

I received my 8710w a few days ago and I am a bit concerned with the screen quality. I ordered the WUXGA+ version (1920*1200). I ordered it much because of the very good reviews of the screen, which according to the review here ( http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3864) "stands out as one of the absolute best" and was considered "Gorgeous".

Now that I put the 8710w next to my 5 year old Dell Inspiron 8200, which I wanted it to replace, I find that the old Dell screen (UXGA) is just so much better. The screen on the 8710w has fairly poor viewing angles and definitely lack in screen brightness. This is particularly evident because 17" is a quite large screen, so that when looked at from straight ahead, the colour differs in different parts of the screen; not because it is unevenly lit, but because of poor viewing angles of the screen. I haven't seen anything near this on the Dell. Also, the colors were pretty washed out with the default settings, but after some tweaking in the Nvidia control panel , they are now OK.

Now I wonder if:
1. What is the experience of others that have bought this machine?
2. Was the screen on the reviewed 8710w a different one than what is available for sale? I understand that the reviewed one was a pre-production unit.
3. Was I just very lucky with my Inspiron 8200 UXGA screen? Is it possible that the 8710w screen I have is in fact considered good with today's standards, and that I compare it with something superior rom the past. Perhaps they did the Dell 8200 screens with IPS panels back then (2002).

I guess I can live with it, but it is a bit frustrating since I had one overarching demand when I bought the laptop. It had to have a good screen.... In fact, I do not know my possibilities to return it.

I do not know the manufacturer of the screen, but the Hardware-ID says "LPLF700"

 

Maybe the brightness is turned down because its not plugged in? Check control panel.

Can you please post some gaming benchmarks by the way? Im dying for some gaming benchmarks on this system!

 

LP means LG. Thats odd. Normally LG is considered the screen to get as far as notebook screens. But its possible your 8200 had an IPS based panel which is no longer used in notebooks now. IPS panels are very good with colors, and viewing angels.

 

Have you turned off the ambient light sensor?

 

No, I have the brightness on highest setting and it is plugged in and I have the ambient light sensor turned off.

Maybe I sounded as if it was a bad screen. It is not! But I had expected something that was on par, or even better, than a screen that is 5+ years old. But I guess that the Dell had an IPS panel and perhaps it is unfair to compare them directly.

For reference; I also received a HP 2510p last week, and the screen on that, although LED-lit, is not nearly as good as the one on the 8710. But on the 2510, I had expected it, so I am very happy with that machine.

When it comes to gaming benchmarks, I would be happy to supply you with some, but I frankly have no idea how to do it? Is there a benchmark suite to download or something?

 

I experienced the same in 2004, when switching from a Thinkpad A21p to a HP nw8000. The UXGA panel on the IBM feelt much sharper than on the HP, but the HP panel was a little lighter.

Anyone knowning how the 8710w WUXGA is compared to the nw8000 UXGA panel...? Very close to ordering a 8710w, the nw8000 has turned 41 months in active service...

 

I have 8710w and b4 this i had p100-10p toshiba, dell 1720 and the screens dont even come close to my 8710w. Its simply perfect.

 

Gaming Benchmarks:
3DMark05, 3DMark06, PCMark05

HD Benchmark:
HDTune

CPU BenchMark:
SuperPi (I forgot the link)

Advanced System Information:
CPU-Z (Again, I forgot the link)

 

Hi, I'm glad someone else is having a problem with this screen. My 8710p is also LPLF700, WUXGA. (This build is a kind of hybrid between p and w models - mouse stick on keyboard & 3-button track pad & WUXGA).

I have dark corners at bottom, and light leakage at bottom. See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150050&page=10#96

When in a lower res, like 1600x1000, the colour interpolation is shocking.. bright edges etc. Is that the LCD or the underlying software borking?

I also heard LG screens are good... but I got in touch with HP and explained my concerns. They were SO accommodating, I didn't even have to argue my point. A tech is coming to swap it out. So my advice is complain and they will respond.

This might sound dumb, but I'd like a native 1680x1050 for this 17" screen - full res is just overkill. I spotted this post of recommended LCDs:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=206527&highlight=lcd+manufacturer#9
and so I'm wondering which LCD model is the most recommended for 17", so I can try and stipulate it before the swap is done.

Good luck with yours! Seriously get HP to swap it out, they seem really OK with that.

 

Ok, the HP tech came and swapped my nice LG LPLF700 panel out for - wait for it - a nasty SEC4347. Grainy, and omg it shimmers too for no extra cost. Not to mention I now have WSXGA+ instead of WUXGA. Not impressed.

HP has been supportive though (a unique concept in support these days) and is organising another replacement. I wonder what's up with their quality control.

This is why I hate buying new laptops.. the old one is usually perfect, just not as fast. Why laptops aren't upgradeable is a mystery.. the PC industry seems to thrive on the parts market, why not notebooks?

 

I am not sure of the WUXGA screen, but mine WSXGA is pretty GOOD. It's a lot better than my DV9500 same size and res screen.
Here are benchmarks for my 8710w (T7300, nVidia Quadro FX1600, 3GB)

 

I have the same problem. My 8710w also has the LPLF700, WUXGA, and I'm not happy with the viewing angles. And the colours seem faded. Gong to contact them to replace it with a better make. I hear there are 3 different makes HP uses, I have the LG, what other ones are there and which is the best?

 

I mentioned the different makes available in my review. I've got a very good screen on mine, certainly one of the best screens I've seen in quite a long while. It's an AUO display.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4417

 

Hi Antic

How were you able to configure the 8710p with WUXGA screen? I have been wanting to get the 8710p for a while, but decided to look elsewhere because HP doesn't offer a WUXGA screen for it. I had even tried to talk HP into configuring one specially for me, and I would have gladly paid the difference. HP simply refused, stating that the 8710p's are prebuilt and couldn't be changed. At that point, I simply decided to drop the issue. How were you able to get this special configuration?

Thanks,
Rayt

 

Hi Rayt,

WUXGA was actually the standard build here, at least in the shop I got it from - they apparently get HP to custom build their machines. So, while I did get a good LG WUXGA screen, I had a different issue - which was the fault of the nVidia card - and had to return it. I'm going to get an 8510 instead, since it has an ATI card, but only WSXGA+ but that's ok for me.

So you could try a shop which sells HP notebooks and ask them if they can customise it. Some shops have the "buying power" with HP to do that.

 

Antic - thanks for the quick reply! Can you give me the name of your shop where you bought it from? FYI, I'm now living in the NT (Alice) so maybe I could purchase it here instead of back in the US.

Rayt

 

I've mentioned this countless times. You need to find a reseller which has access to Ingram's TopConfig utility in order to customise this (most IM resellers do). HP Australia will do it too, but only for big enterprise clients as unlike other countries, HP Australia's sales team is outsourced overseas and they do not have any product knowledge beyond what's available on their web site.
CTO builds are more expensive in Australia unless you build in large quantities, so if you can find a preconfigured unit matching your specs, you should go for that first.

 

It was Cybershop here in Perth ( www.cybershop.com.au). I'm not sure if they're getting any more 8710's in, but you can ask. I do know that Tang Computers, also here in Perth ( www.tang.com.au) is getting some in, but I don't know what the specs will be.

[ed] Tang has the 8710w WUXGA.
http://www.tang.com.au/products.cfm?ItemLookupCode=GT649PA

hope that helps.

 

It does -- thanks!

 

I originally had a AUO display but thought it was a bit dim so I asked for a replacment, although it wasn't really that bad. 3 replacements later, all LG panels, I was very happy that I had insisted on keeping the AUO display until the new ones had proven themselves, because all very noticable worse than the AUO one. I collegue also bought an 8710w at the same time and received and AUO panel, and that to was better than anything I have seen from LG. So my recommendation is AUO if you can choose.

BTW, it took some gamma/brightnes/contrast adjustments to get the screen as I wanted it, so probably not something for a professional DPT person reliying on correct color matchen etc but works for me being a developer.

/pJ

 

Thanks for that, good to know there is another good quality choice besides LG. Can you tell me what AUO comes up with as the hardware ID? For LG it's something like LPLxxxx. What is the prefix for AUO?

 

Mine's AUO1188

 

Sorry to rain on anyones parade here but none of the 3 LG panels that was installed in my lappy before we gave up and put back the old one could compare to the AUO panel. The difference wasn't huge in any way, but it was absolutely there, and I asked a collegue to confirm it just to make sure I wasn't seeing ghosts. Please note that in order to really get the best out of any 8710W (at least the AUO and LG ones), you would have to do some changes in gamma etc. At least we had to.

/pJ

 

WARNING ...

You could get other LCDs than AUO or LG .... on 8710W

HP is now selling this high level business notebook with a
low quality SEC3448 (never heard about is before ...)

Lot of light leakage at the bottom and grainy

Take a look here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3504516#post3504516