HP EliteBook 8540w/p

Wooooow! These notebooks are on premium! I customized an 8540w with i7 820 and man its up there near $3500! What are your guys thoughts on this? Worth it? Not?

Customizing link here

 

not worth it. check out a similarly configured lenovo w510

 

Wow and this guy here configured his to $5,720. I want one bad but its such a huge price for an 820.

 

These systems are primarily for business-style users with the company bankrolling it Honestly, even if I had the money I think I'd stick with my Envy, maybe upgrade it a bit with some SSD's or something. The ONLY reason I might go with an EliteBook is if I absolutely needed the workstation GPU.

 

But how could a company justify these prices when a similarly configured w510 is about 60% of the price and if you need more power, the Dell M6500 can get you more for less. I still believe these CTO prices are either a mistake or a deliberate deterrent to CTO until production is ramped up. HP can't be this clueless on pricing.

 

Ding! What do we have for our winner, Johnny?

 

I hope it's a 8540w with all the bells and whistles!

 

I would like to have a workstation gpu since I play/work with autocad and pro/e all the time and I feel like (dont know for sure) the work station gpu would cut down on some of the hiccups and crashes I have when I use those programs but a $1000-$1500 premium for essentially the gpu almost seems like it should be an SLI setup. Granted the 3/3/3 warranty is built into the price of these books as well but that can't be over $600. So being conservative you're talking a $400-$900 premium for the gpu versus a premium notebook like the envy. Hopefully the prices drop soon, I'd love to get the 8540w for $3k or less with comparable specs to my envy now (minus the ram bc its way cheaper everywhere else)

 

When you guys mention "hopefully the price will drop" is this something that would be likely? I'm new to the notebook buying scene so I'm not sure if this a tradition where a new release comes out and the price is spiked and a week or two it drops down considerably.

 

I have no idea but market forces somewhat dictate that if they don't drop in price they wont sell any.

 

4 ram slot only in the quad core version right ??

 

lol yes only 4 slots for 16gb max ram

 

no , i mean ...

2 slot on core i5 and core i7 620m

4 slot on core i7 720-820-920

right ?

 

That's what the HP documentation says, yes. But note that the i7-920 is not currently offered on the 8540.

 

Thanks for the info!

Hey guys I don't need 1920x1080 and don't game much other than say WoW and Starcraft 2 when it comes out. But mostly doing Photoshop/Illustrator work, Video Editing/Processing and Visual Studio compiling. Would the FX1800M be overkill for me or would the FX880 be fine? I'm getting the i7 820 processor and the 1600x900 screen if I can get some good discounts on it.

Thanks!

 

You do photoshop work but don't want the extra pixels? That's pretty much the prime reason to have a high-res screen. Video work, all that. I would recommend you re-evaluate getting a higher resolution display... you can always run a display at a lower res, you can't ever run it higher.

 

Yea man I already had a 1920x1080 15incher and let me tell you it sucks! The fonts were waaaaay too small even after adjusting the dpi's. What happens is some software developers hard code their font sizes so it doesn't blow up their apps when someone like me who sets the dpi's higher... example is Norton Antivirus 10 and Visual Studio. I was straining no matter how I sliced it. And I realized 1680x1050 was too small as well. So yea.. 1600x900 is where I'm at unfortunately. So what do you think about the graphics card choices I was asking about?

 

I don't think either game will be that intensive and the FX 880M would probably be enough. Though you might want to install the consumer drivers instead of the workstation ones since you aren't going to be using programs that require it.

 

Thanks sgogeta4! Certainly good info to know for myself. Now if we can just get the prices down.

 

What are you waiting for? Go configure a w510 and 8540w as desired and go complain to the sales people in chat.

 

did you get one for a reasonable price?

 

You know what I just tried chatting with them and comparing them with the W510 and they wouldn't budge on me with any discounts. In fact they suggest I pick a lower model. They said however they will have someone contact me to see if they can go lower. So it looks like i'm off the 8540w and heading over to the w510 thread.

Good luck guys!

 

wow HP is short bus special lately

 

Absolutely not, I just wanted to complain to someone and I'm trying to get other people to do the same thing. If everyone reading this who is put off the CTO pricing goes to "inquire if CTO pricing is wrong" while citing the w510 prices....maybe someone at HP will notice (but probably not).

 

i just configured a great thinkpad w510 for about 2700 and i think i might get it. I still have time before my envy is due back, I'll see how this whole stupid pricing plays out. Though I just need to be told that lenovo's customer/technical support is better than HP's and I'm pretty much sold.

 

read this

10char

 

Ok so HP sent me this offer. Considering I can get a similar spec'd W510 Thinkpad for $2,480.69 out the door which would you guys go for? The display option I chose for the W510 was HD+ and that's WSXGA+ correct? The difference would be with W510 I'm getting a 1680x1050 screen oppose to 8540w a 1600x900 screen.

Configurable - HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation Quad Core
(ENERGY STAR)
VD444AV

• Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 (MS Office Trial NOT included)
• MS Windows 7 Logo Label ** doesn't apply to Win 7/XPP downgrade OS AV's
• Intel® CoreT i7-820QM Processor (1.73 GHz, 8 MB L3 cache, 1333 MHz RAM - turbo boost up to 3.06GHZ)
• Intel Core i7 vPro Label
• Mobile Intel QM57 Chipset/Estar Label
• Intel® vPro Technology (Only available with Intel WLAN)
• 15.6-inch diagonal LED-backlit HD+ (1600 x 900) Antiglare w/CAMERA
• Webcam Integrated 2.0MP Only Available with and required selection for Display w/Camera
• NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M with 1GB DDR3 video memory
• 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2D)
• 500GB 7200RPM SATA 2.5 Hard Drive
• DVD+/-RW SuperMulti with Double Layer LightScribe Drive
• Full- sized keyboard with numeric keypad and dual pointing devices (touchpad and pointstick) with scroll zone
• HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth® 2.1 Wireless Technology
• Intel C entrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3)
• 56K v.92 high speed modem
• Integrated Smart Card Reader
• 120W Hardware Kit 8540w
• 8 Cell 73Whr 8540w Battery ( 1 year warranty)
• Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 OS Restore Media Available with any OS Win7 localizations. (not available with FreeDOS)
• Electronics Recycling Fee ($16.00)
• Limited 3 year standard parts and labor warranty (3/3/3)

Subtotal: $2,424.75
Est. Tax: $214.11
Recycle Fee: $16.00
Shipping: $21.99
Price: $3,233.00
Discount: $808.25
Cost: $2,676.85

 

That can't be right for the W510 since it's also 16:9 aspect ratio, hence the ratio for that should be 1600x900 too (which is HD+, that isn't the same as WSXGA+).

 

Oops I believe I made a mistake reading the specs for the w510 and it didn't help me that their order page didn't list the res, just hd hd+ and fhd. In any case thank you for pointing it out for me. So what I'm seeing is with the hp discount the extra 200 may be worth it for the 8540w's body. You think?

 

guys im thinking about getting either one of these or an envy 15 with i7 processor. i can't decide tho.

can u guys compare the two?

which one performs faster?

is fx1800m better than the ati 5830?

which one runs cooler?

which one would last longer?

what r the pros and cons for the two?

im open to ideas and thoughts from everyone. help me decide.

 

Hey tunch the only thing I could add is I had considered the envy but since I'm right handed and tend to have a usb plugged in while using a mouse would irritate me. So that's why I decided on this one and the thinkpad w510.

Hey guys can any one comment on hp's price for me compared to the w510? I'm on the verge of buying this thing.

Much thanks!

 

ill be calling tomorrow and i will be haggling the s out of them. My configuration is about $3500 but an even better lenovo (since it has the 95% gamut & calibration sensor) is only $2700 with the 3 yr ADP warranty. If I can't talk them down to $2700 shipped its no deal. These prices are absurd and I guess its all just done to get money from those who think hp offers reasonable prices?

I don't think I'll purchase the lenovo I don't want the fx880 card and they look terrible.

 

Well I did the math again and now with the Visa Card Holder's discount the price difference makes it $444.22 between the w510 and 8540w. Man.. this is nuts I can't decide which is better. The w510 is ugly like you said altoid... *thinking* *thinking* .... . .

 

If you buy a share of stock in IBM, you can get 15% off the w510 which widens the gap even further. Here is that website. You don't need the stock to create an account and log in for pricing, but I assume there will some verification before final checkout???

I do prefer the looks of the HP, but I can appreciate the aesthetics of a Thinkpad too. The bigger draws to HP (for me) are the numpad and escalating reputation of Elitebooks (Thinkpad rep seems to be declining a bit). But I just don't see them being able to get the price down enough. I'd go for it at a $200 premium, but beyond that I think I'd stick with the Thinkpad. But I'm for sure waiting this out to see what Dell has with the M4500.

 

The Envy is a MBP wannabe. It looks nice, but I think it has some heat issues. The 8540w is a business class workstation and is built to be much tougher.

1) Given identical processors and HDD/SSD, I'd expect them to perform about the same (unless the Envy gets too hot)

2) You really need to wait for some benchmarks to compare the fx1800 and the 5830. But if you are using certain programs, the drivers in the fx gpu will be much better for you. So partly it depends on how you will your laptop.

3) I have no evidence, but I'd be willing to bet that the 8540w will run way cooler than the Envy.

4) Again, I'd bet on the 8540w for lasting longer. And even if has problems, it comes with 3 year on-site warranty (you can't even get on-site with the Envy).

If money is not much of a concern, then I'd absolutely recommend the 8540w over the Envy. But if you are buying this for gaming, I'd recommend a Sager.

 

You can't really recommend a Sager at this point in time, they are behind on some key technologies at this point.

 

Thank you for the info knight! That was very helpful.

 

The only laptop (that I know of) which offers the ATI 5870 is a 17.3" from Asus. I assumed this poster was interested in the 15" class, which makes the 280M the best-in-class card at the moment. Also, if you compare 3dMark 06 scores on these two cards, they aren't that far apart. I'm quite comfortable recommending a Sager NP8690 over the HP 8540w and Envy 15 for anyone looking for a gaming computer.

 

I have the envy right now, mine has no heat issues FWIW. As a matter of fact it has none of the issues that anyone in the envy forums has posted which include loose keys, super hot palm rests, loose and crooked touchpads, scratched screens, loud fans, lines on the screens, corrupted ram, BSOD, hollow and distorted sounding laptop speakers (they're actually pretty incredible sounding speakers as far as laptop sound goes). Thats all I can think of right now, and my envy has none of those issues. I do really enjoy it but I would rather have the elitebook.

 

NEW ECOUPON! I went to configure the 8540w and it said enter CTO8540w for 24% off!!

 

That's cool, but I'm not sure it will be enough for me.

One interesting comparison I made was the pre-config 8540w with i5-520m to the dual core CTO (which stars with 15-520M). The starting specs on the CTO are almost identical to the pre-config, but the starting price is almost $1200 higher. So here is the math. When you go from pre-config to CTO, you pay an 82% "convenience fee" before you even start upgrading. But then you get a 24% discount. In the end, the CTO in this case will be about 38% higher than the pre-config for the same specs after the coupon is applied.

For me, when I config this to compete with the w510, I have to give up a lot to get the price close to my desired budget. When I go config the w510 to match, there's about a $550 difference. On the w510, I can upgrade everything to where I want it, and hit my budget (and still be under the downgraded 8540w). On the bright side, at the current rate of price reduction on the 8540w, it'll be nearly free in a month or so!

 

FX 1800M:
+ workstation card
+ 128-bit GDDR5
+ 40nm

HD 5830:
+ 40nm
- consumer card
- 128-bit GDDR3

Winner: FX 1800M.

 

i would say it mainly depends on what youd use the notebook for.

if you really need a workstation-class professional gpu, the quadro fx 1800m is definitely the winner, but looking at more daily-like usage and mainly gaming, i would say the mobility radeon 5830 is the clear winner (against the fx 1800m):

directx 11 (10.1)
-shader model 5.0 (4.0)
-direct compute 11
open gl 3.2 (3.2)
eyefinity - also for professional use very very useful!
open cl
tdp 24W (up to 45W)

and the GDDR5 memory doesnt make such a big difference, except when doing CAD or gaming at very high resolutions with big textures and lots of them.

also, look at the price jump when choosing the fx 1800m..

a GDDR5 mobility radeon 5770 would be very interesting.

 

I see the code, but it doesn't work......

 

If you are just pricing it out, multiply your total by 0.76 to get the discounted price. If you actually want to buy it, call in and see if they can beat the online discount or offer some other free upgrade.

 

I came up with a new config where the price was dropped to $2620, contacting the sales rep to see if he will budge and move it down closer to $2500, if so I'll let everyone know.

 

Cool thanks for sharing! In my case the quote I got from HP was about $30 cheaper... still in debate mode.

 

Good to see the prices coming down.

The 8540w and W510 are exactly what I want, save for one thing: 17" WUXGA. I just don't want to edit code at 141 DPI and 120 less vertical pixels. I know I ought to hold out for the 8570w / W701, but the cash is ready and burning a hole in my pocket.

 

If you are going that big, why not the Dell M6500? It's been available since December.

 

I was considering it until I started reading these forums.

Reports of grossly oversaturated reds and greens
Reports of units arriving incorrectly assembled or not in new condition
Reports of clueless support personnel
Shipping delays
No Intel 6300 Wi-Fi
No USB 3
Sharp front edge
Soldered-on graphics instead of MXM
I suspect it's not as durable as the HP or Lenovo
Brickmaster 5000 PSU