HP EliteBook 8540w/p

why isn't the coupon code working? this is stupid. maybe ill call monday...meh...

 

Guest: hello

Jason: Good afternoon! My name is Jason and please give me a moment to review the chat so far.

Jason: The CTO version of the new EliteBook 8540w (and other new EliteBooks too) just became available today and it may not have the eCoupon Code loaded just yet to work as you enter it during checkout. That should be available very soon.

Guest: Oh ok, if I were to call in my order would they honor the code or do I have to use it online?

Jason: They should be able to apply that if you called in. As long as they have confirmation the eCoupon is valid for it.

Guest: I see, thanks for the info I will give that a shot shortly, take care

 

called up got the discount and free shipping and promotional promotional pricing, saved about $100 with phone promo and then the 24% with online code. Excellent lady, very nice, and patient and even threw me a pointer of don't buy 2day shipping since it will only be shipped by ground irregardless of my choices. Of course maybe its not true, but still very cool she gave me the heads up.

 

Several questions...

Why is it that when you try to customize the 8540p/w, the price drastically increases when the standard components remain the same?

What is the difference between the NVIDIA NVS 5100 and Quadro FX 880M graphics? Which is better for day to day use?

Is the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M graphics really worth the extra money?

What would be the most PRACTICAL choice for graphics?
What is the best compromise between graphics performance and battery life (since the 8540 p/w sadly doesn't have switchable graphics )?

And lastly, what is the estimated battery life of the standard 8-cell battery (was not mentioned in the data sheet)?

Thanks.

Good to hear. Let us know what the notebook is like when you see it. It so hard to find a review on these Elitebook models. They start appearing a few months after these notebooks come out.

I also wonder if they offer an additional college student discount of some sort, since the prices seem slightly inflated. But those were very generous discounts and advice that she offered!

Thanks again.

 

I assumed thats a "convenience" fee.

What do you consider day to day use? If you mean gaming and MS Office then either would do, for CAD/CAM I'd go with the FX880

To me it is since it has the GDDR5 RAM and I will be doing CAD/CAM and video processing with it.

I would stick with the NVS cards. With the FX1800 you need the 150w adapter

She said, to me, "this particular machine is rated for 4 hours of normal use," so I think it will be about 2 hours of battery life, maybe 4 if I turn off WIFI/BT
and just write a paper

You might want take different angles on that, if you buy for college then they might treat you like a consumer and give you the run around so maybe get a price quote then call up and ask for more of a discount some other way and maybe you can get them to save those quotes and you can decide which is better. I will do a review when I get it. I will probably make it a video review mostly since I don't feel like typing all the time. But we'll see.

 

I think what Im going to do.. is but the FN095UT ($1,679 unit) and buy a 500gb hard drive kit, an ext cd/dvd burner, and the battery that lasts 3yrs and ask for a discount on those accessories. Its got to be cheaper than configuring it. That's all I want. Everything else is more expensive than it's worth to me. Can anyone yet tell if the graphics card slot on this notebook can be replaced later? Upgraded? And how would the 880 compare to my lenovos 3850?

 

I recommend the 8540w with the FX 880M graphics. The 1800M performs better on 3D mark Vantage, but that seems to be the primary area (gaming). For workstation apps, they are very close. Things might change with later driver updates from NV. Just an FYI.

 

But I still like the 1800M for the pure wowness factor of GDDR5

 

So for gaming the 880 is better? What about for Video?

 

What would you guess the WEI would be with the 880?

 

I don't know how you can say that when the 1800m has more bandwidth and cores than the 880m? That just doesn't make sense to me, though, if you have documentation to back it up, link me

As for buying a workstation notebook to game on is pretty silly, not that you can't, but things aren't optimized for it, nor do I think spending more money for something that does something more poorly is a good idea either. Of course getting a workstation gfx card to do workstationy stuff and game on the side is totally cool

 

WEI is stupid, form no opinions based on anything it tells you.*

*my suggestion given my experience.

 

None of the actual work that I do (software development) requires more than integrated graphics. However, I need a machine that is:
-- movable in a bag from desk to desk
-- performant enough to run a heavy toolchain
-- durable enough to handle 8+ hours of heavy use per day
-- presentable in a client's boardroom
-- fixed onsite ASAP by a non-imbecile
-- capable of gaming when I'm home for the evening

It would be great if I could find a business notebook with consumer graphics, but AFAIK they don't exist.

 

Do you know the if the 8540w gfx card is replaceable? mxm do you call that?

 

I've ran Specviewperf and Vantage on eval units, and the 880m is not extremely disadvantaged for workstation benchmarks. I'm just mentioning it to people who feel like the FX 880m is not fast enough, so they might reconsider. But yes, there is a performance delta between the two.

 

It is MXM 3.0, but a replacement card would have to fit the internal heatsink (as far as the Z-height).

 

oh I gotcha good to know thanks

I'm sure one could buy a copper shunt if the height is too low or maybe lathe a few micrometers off if it's too high. I was told that HP BIOSes actually have a whitelist so essentially one could only swap between the 880 1800 and the ATI when it become available, but that's hearsay on my end.

 

If you didn't know, the gpu strings must be included in the BIOS for the card to be recognized.

So you will be limited to whatever cards HP is offering with the elitebook.

 

Do u know if there's anyway to hack the bios to replace strings?

 

I ordered one a bit under that price and was told yesterday (around when I expected it to ship) that it was backordered (something about the LCD screen?). Maybe would ship around first week of March, they claimed. Nice of them to to tell me, but only when I called and asked, around the day it was scheduled to ship.

 

Yea that's wrong and they should have informed you. Congrats on your investment!

 

Is there any place where you could actually go to see this notebook for yourself before buying? Specifically in NYC?

 

Have you ordered? The new Dell Precisions m2500 and m4500 will be out soon....worth a look...I have an m4400 from last year, love it....going for an m6500 when the USB 3.0 gets integrated soon enough. I've learned enough through Precision ownership not to pay much attention for forum complaints (with regard to Precisons)...haha

 

I buy business line of notebooks because I work on them everyday, and I need decent onsite support. I'm also a gamer. For one laptop, which do you recommend? Photo editing, etc is a hobby only.

 

Its a shame that there isn't an option for Ati graphics, and the lack of manually switchable graphics is also disappointing.

I wonder if the newer models suffer from stiff touchpad buttons as in previous models.

What is even more important is the display quality. On a machine that is meant for productivity, this is one of the most important factors. A low quality display causes eye strain. What will the 1600x900 FHD display be like?

Finally, is there any place to see the notebook in person before actually purchasing it? How about in the NYC area?

 

Hey guys,

i have access to a quite nice offer, i get a 8540w with *i think* the best specs for around 2050 Dollar.

Unfortunately i have to decide within a week and its still a good amount of money + im not up to date at all with hardware...

Short specs:

Intel QuadCore i7-720QM
4 x 256 KB L2; 6 MB L3
500 GB / 7200 RPM
8 GB (4 x 2 GB, DDR-3)
15.6" Full HD (matt), 1920 x 1080, LED
Nvidia Quadro FX 1800M, 1 GB GDDR5
8 Cell, Long Life d, 68 Wh
Blu-ray RE, DVD+/-RW
3 years warranty and pickup service

For a full list:

http://www.neptun.ethz.ch/hardware/modelsPC/f10_specs_modell4


When i take this specs on the Hp site i come around 4200 Dollar..so i guess thats quite a nice offer, right? But i heard its possible to get 24% discount somewhere...

Do you think i will be able to sell it without losing to much money if i dont like it maybe after 2-3 months. Unfortunately i have to decide very fast without beeing able to see it....

Kind regards and thanks, cauchy.

 

Estimated ship date for my 8540w, which I ordered early February, is now March 19. I don't think these are easy to get.

 

@jlsoaz

Have they held to the March 19 shipping date, or is that slipping now too? I'm thinking of ordering an 8440p and just want an idea of whether the elitebook shipping dates are accurate.

 

HP charges a lot to configure their notebooks, so you're better off comparing with one of their preconfigured models like this one for $1680 (not sure if educational discounts would reduce its price, or how US/Swiss prices generally compare)

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/e...-3740645-3955549-4096175-4097221-4121921.html

But for less than another $400 you're getting a (somewhat?) faster cpu, higher res sceen, better gpu

http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html

blue ray, more RAM, and a bigger HD --- so it seems like a very good deal to me.

The HP Elitebooks are really nice laptops -- I'm sure you'll like it if it's the kind of thing you're looking for.

___________________

u_x = v_y, u_y = - v_x

 

I haven't ordered yet as I was waiting on what was coming out of cebit and dell's m4500 and possibly some 8540w reviews.... it looks like the 8540w is going to be it.

 

Hello

Can someone say me the clock speed of the Nvidia Quadro FX1800m from the 8540w.


thx


LOLO_90

 

How much point have the hp8540w in 3dmark06 and vantage?


thx


LOLO_90

 

That's a good deal I guess ... I don't think I care for the i7-720 in a laptop.

i7-620 is the highest I would go considering the 720's TDP effect on heat and battery life ... But that's just me.

 

I don't mean to be rude, but are you internet challenged or something? You seriously cannot search this yourself?

In the event that you have, I would assume it's because the computer is fairly new, has shipping issues and as a result doesn't have many reviews yet.

 

For a desktop replacement it should be fine. For a laptop to take with you on the road, I think the best deal is the i5-540.

 

** Didnt see the official owners thread... re-posted there. **