HP ZBook Studio G3 Owner's Review

I have problems with a few apps when running at 4K resolution. Most apps are smart enough to scale automatically--but with a few of them I have to expand their windows when they start or look at really funny cut-off text with a whole lot of whitespace

Windows 10 apps (from the Windows Store) auto-scale, so no issues there.

Of course if the 4K gives you problems with some app, just switch to 1920x1080 in the Control Panel. In theory, the panel should just quadruple the pixels for you (from FHD to UHD) at that point.

 

At first I was really hoping for dedicated buttons too. But then I realized that the trackpad itself clicks (hinged at the top) like a MacBook and the experience has been great. Of course if you really like trackpoint nubs then yeah you may want to look at another ZBook or other manufacturer.

 

Thanks for sharing this, GosuDesign. And yeah, the screen in nice and bright

BTW, the light leakage around the edges that I initially experienced went away after a few hours of use and has never come back. I think the backlight may have just needed a few hours of runtime to settle.

 

I'm pretty sure that the display controllers for the non-DC UHD display are standard 24-bit color. I'm assuming that the DC displays will come with 30-bit color since but those specs aren't out yet.

 

I'm not using an external display, or I would be happy to test that for you. GosuDesign, any input here? I think you have the exact setup needed to be the expert on this...

 

I almost bought Precision 5510, but the HP seems better for my needs (Linux development). My main worry is battery life. I will be very grateful for a real-life test of battery life of the Zbook G3. Maybe despite the smaller battery compared to Precision 5510, battery life is not that bad.

 

In theory, yes, that should work. However, for the 4k laptops I have tried this with, I ended up with an FHD experience that was substantially inferior to a native FHD screen. Can you tell us what this looks like on your ZBook?

 

@Billy Cantor Would love to get your response on battery, I have to make a decision soon regarding 840g3 or Zbook Studio.

 

HP reports it/ markets it at 9 hrs 30 min max battery life....so far i'm usually AC/DC so wouldn't comment on it to confirm. The times i've used it without connected, it doesn't drain battery life like other machines in this category. I would need more time to run battery benchmarks but this area doesn't concern me too much. Windows 10 power manageability features coupled with Intel Skylake and DDR4 memory improve power efficiency which helps battery life.

Getting an 840 G3 instead of Studio is like getting a Hyundai instead of BMW. Two completely different machines - 840 is only Intel graphics and dual core while ZBook Studio is NVIDIA and quad core . My previous machine was a ZBook 15u which is very similar to the 850. Personally, I would recommend stepping up to the Studio.

 

Yea, I'm aware of the differences Performance-wise I would get by fine with the 840. The main reasons Im looking at the Zbook is the large touchpad and thunderbolt 3. Battery life is also important since I spend most of the day unplugged. I would like to be able to at least get close to 7 hours. I only run remote desktops so no CPU-intensive tasks and I would get the model with FHD no touch and no dedicated GPU.

Thanks for the info of HPs rating btw, haven't been able to find that anywhere. Slight concerning though, Im not sure if HP has gotten better with their estimations this year but if previous years models are any indication that would mean close to 4 hours with web browsing. What does Windows 10 estimate your battery life to when you unplug?

 

Thanks for the pics and review! I was set on XPS or 5510 until I found this forum. The HP website sucks so bad I wasn't sure what they offered in comparison to Dell. Now I seem to be locked on to this model and I'm trying to confirm the potential of using a standard 7mm 2.5 inch SSD as the secondary drive. Most configuration options offer the PCIe drive, and according to this review that will leave some missing items for installing a standard SSD. If I choose the option for 256 GB Self-Encrypting OPAL 2 SATA III Solid-State Drive, then I can add my own Samsung 950 but I'm not sure if I could swap the SSD for my own.

In the service manual pages 32 and 33 it shows a different interface on the hard disk. I hope this is just an error with the graphic, because the OEM adapters usually connect to a standard SATA connector. Does anyone have a model with a standard drive or any additional knowledge on this topic?

From the graphics, it also looks possible to install 2 PCIe drives and a standard SSD, as there is a gap under the second PCIe drive. You may have to rig a way to hold the second PCIe drive, but would this be possible?

Here's my shopping cart config:

• Fingerprint Reader
• 3/3/3 Warranty
• AMT Enabled
• Power Cord - 1.0 Meters
• 8 GB 2133 DDR4 ECC SDRAM (1 DIMM)
• HP ZBook Studio G3 Base Model Mobile Workstation
• 150 Watt Smart PFC Slim AC Adapter
• Backlit Keyboard
• NVIDIA Quadro M1000M Graphics
• 256 GB Self-Encrypting OPAL 2 SATA III Solid-State Drive
• 3 year Battery Warranty Card
• 15.6 inch LED FHD UWVA Anti-Glare (1920x1080) for Webcam
• Intel® Core™ i7 Processor vPro Label
• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
• US Country Localization
• Intel® Xeon™ G6 Processor Label
• Intel 8260 ac (2x2) + Bluetooth 4.1
• Integrated 720p HD Webcam
• 4 Cell 64 WHr Long Life
• ENERGY STAR Qualified Configuration

I will purchase this once I confirm the ability to replace the drive with a standard SATA 2.5" 7mm SSD.

 

How noisy is the headphone out?

 

@Billy Cantor, now that you've had some time with it do you see any potential reasons the regular G3 might be preferable? I saw you mention the touchpad being quite nice, and I have the same reference of a Macbook but was wondering how it is for any gestures/multi-touch (if there's really any of that in Windows 10)? Thanks for putting together such a thorough review!

 

The ZBook 15 G3 is going to give you the option of more RAM--plus a numpad--at a greater size/weight. The ZBook 15u G3 is going to give you a budget option. But overall, I'm pretty sold on the ZBook Studio. It's not quite MacBook Pro quality, but it's the closest PC I've found so far quality-wise.

 

Thanks, @Billy Cantor. For engineering use, I like the idea of the numpad and discrete touchpad buttons (in spite of the question about the touchpad on the Studio), but would prefer the smaller form factor of the Studio. I'd also be wrestling with the "special" M1000M vs. the M2000M on the G3, since the M1000M on the regular model appears to be the regular M1000M with 2 GB VRAM. Also really want UHD but really don't want to wait for it in the G3 (or need Dreamcolor).

 

Awesome review @Billy Cantor ! A few questions: First, I am a little confused on the materials that this machine is constructed with. Is it a magnesium uni-body, or is plastic the primary material? Also, what is the UHD (if you have it) screen like compared to the one on Dell's Precision 5510? Finally, have you gotten any numbers on battery life? Thanks!

 

The lid is definitely made out of some kind of metal. It feels like metal, sounds like metal, and gets cold in a chilly room like metal.

The display bezel is made out of plastic.

I thought the palm rest was made out of metal since it looks just like older presumably-metal ZBook palm rests. But I haven't noticed it getting cold in a chilly room so it's probably just a really clever plastic material. But I really don't know.

The Dell screen was a lot more like an over-saturated glossy OLED display with a garishly hot white point: I had to routinely turn down the Dell's brightness because the whites were so hot. The HP screen is more like a traditional LCD, but with really high Adobe RGB and sRGB gamut like the Dell display. Saturated glossy displays are sexy, so I guess I kind of like each model's display for different reasons, but overall I prefer the HP one. Of note: the HP display is not a touchscreen. And the Dell's webcam isn't really awesome for videoconferencing.

On battery life: I keep forgetting to leave the laptop unplugged long enough to run low on power. Sorry.

 

Thanks for the awesome info! I am leaning away from this model, as the build quality seems to be sub-par. I have heard a lot of complaints about plastic chassis/keyboard flex/fan issues. I appreciate the in depth coverage, as HP has been quite vague.

 

Yeah, looks like at least one or two other forums members got machines with some keyboard flex issues. I'm pretty happy with the quality of the keyboard on mine but as the primary interface to the computer I can understand why they are nonplussed.

BTW, for fan noise concerns: check out Notebook FanControl (ZBook 15 profile, Auto mode). My laptop runs at 25-50C internally, quietly, pretty consistently. Or wait for the upcoming processor option with built-in Intel Iris graphics and skip the dedicated GPU.

 

I haven't had a whole lot of time with my machine and have skimmed over the posts here. Here's my experience.

-WIFI is mostly stable but have been getting intermittent very quick pop-ups from the HP Connection manager that the WIFI has disconnected/authorizing/connected. A couple times this has resulted in web pages not loading. Most of the time this is in my apt where all other wifi devices have connected, stayed connected, without issue.
-Battery doesn't charge properly. The first time you plug in the charger it immediately goes into a trickle charge mode. Unplug and re-plug it in and it charges as I would expect from experience with many other laptops. This happens no matter what level the battery is at when plugging is connected.
-Laptop is slow to boot at the moment. I know this can be related to programs I have loaded but compared to other, older, laptops with the same, similar and many more programs and files loaded this is now the slowest to boot up. I have gone through the start-up manager and deselected unimportant programs which has made no difference. My two yr old, workplace, off the shelf, Lenovo T540 with many files and programs is 4x faster to boot up.

HP assigned me a specific person to work on at least the first two issues (unclear on the boot up issue). He is very responsive but as of the moment issues still exist. They have asked me to send my unit to them for testing and have extended the 30 day return/replace policy as we try to resolve the issues.

As far as the keyboard flex goes, as it is mentioned immediately above, I have noticed that the 'frame' plate around the keys does flex on occasion. I can't say that I've noticed the keyboard itself flexing. I'll pay more attention to that from here on out. Otherwise the unit seems fairly rigid.

My unit specs:
i7
8 gb ram
215 gb SSD (as delivered), 512 SSD added myself
15.3", 1080p
Windows 7 pro
M1000M graphics

 

thanks for the great review and great pics!

I've got my new zbook studio g3 and I love it. The only issue I'am having, the screen went totally black a few times and I know laptop was still working fine. Every time I have to reboot and then it works again - until next time. Anyone else having this issue?

Also mine does not have VGA port - can I get USB-C to VGA adapter or I have to look specifically for thunderbolt 3 to VGA one (which I cannot find online)?

 

@boriskey. Send it back for replacement. Sounds like a bad display controller.

Why not use a plain usb to vga adapter? Plenty on Amazon, Newegg, etc.

 

looks like i need to send it back stress tested it yesterday with prime and intelburn and CPU and RAM are stable so not sure what the deal is.

Do you mean common USB 3 to VGA or USB-C to VGA?

 

common. USB 3.0, which is a signalling format and a connector format.
not USB 3.1, which is a signalling format
not USB-C, which is a physical (reversible) connector format, not a signalling format.

 

I was very much on the fence between the Studio and the 15u G3. I decided on the Studio in order to get the quad-core CPU and TB3 features. Been using the Studio for several days. Here are my impressions so far:

Pro's: Love the power, performance, & sleekness of this laptop. Very attractive and lightweight design. The fans are extremely quiet; esp. when compared to my previous Elitebook 8570w. The machine stays nice and cool even while using it for 9-10 hrs straight; no need to worry about hands feeling any heat.

Con's: The largeness of the trackpad definitely causes the cursor/mouse to move inadvertently while I'm typing. For example I was composing an email and all of a sudden some motion I did on the trackpad caused the entire email to zoom out unexpectedly, and it took me a few moments to figure out that I had inadvertently adjusted the zoom level using a gesture with my palms. It's very irritating and requires me to adjust my palms upwards while typing. Obviously the trackpad can be turned off by simply double-tapping the corner, which is fine when using an external mouse. But if you just want to pull the laptop out and work, it's not practical to keep turning the trackpad on & off. I don't use touch gestures at all, so I think it would have been MUCH better to make the trackpad smaller, leaving more space for your palms to rest while typing, and add actual buttons instead of having to click the trackpad itself. This is my only complaint with this laptop so far, but it's a big one. I will just have to deal with it. A separate number keypad would have also been nice but not a huge deal.

 

Me too - pretty solid experience overall so far on ZBook Studio

 

Full review of Studio G3 with 4K screen:

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-zbook-studio-g3

 

Does anyone have the ZBook Studio with the FHD panel and could give a short review about its quality?

 

I guess it's quite subjective, but it's the best matte FHD screen I have seen.

 

I find it strange that they don't mention the cooling / fan noise in the review, it's really annoying.

 

I am really interested in this laptop. Does anyone know how this would handle RED 6k R3D files in Premiere Pro CC and Davinci Resolve? I have been looking everywhere for this info and cant find it anywhere.

I am looking at this or of all things the alienware 15r2 with Graphics amplifier and Titan X. That gives me mobility and desktop power. I am also interested in this laptop because I would be able to do the same thing via thunderbolt 3 when external graphics come out.

 

The other question I have is if say you used one thunderbolt 3 port on the zbook for an external graphics card (razer core) and then another for a connection to a 10gbe switch, would they slow each other down? Meaning do they work off of the same pcie slot? Hopefully that makes sense and excuse me if I have terminology wrong.

 

Does anybody else has problems with cooling/fan noise?
Does it show up only on load or always? Could anyone see any throttling due to heat?

 

Define "problems".. having no load, it's completely silent. Having a full load, it's noisy but not unbearable, it's kind of expected. Having a small load, the fan constantly switches tone, like switching between a high and low rpm in every 2 seconds.. it's not loud at all but it's *very* annoying. Better wear earphones or be in a noisy room to get rid of this experience.

 

I finally received my order and I can confirm the 256GB SATA 3 self encrypting drive is not a regular 2.5 inch SSD. It's actually an M.2 in the PCIE slot. The good news is that it appears you can purchase the cheaper and slower M.2 SATA3 drives and use them in this model. The bad news is that mine still did not come with the connection for a standard 2.5 inch SSD. HP customer service is terrible, and since I am traveling I don't have time to deal with them. I picked up a Samsung 950 and will just wait for larger PCIE drives to be available.

 

ok I've got "StarTech USB-C to VGA adapter" and it works great with Thunderbolt 3 port. I guess any USB-C adapter will do the trick but StarTech was the only vendor at the time to actually mention Thunderbolt 3 in specification as supported input.

 

Do other owners also experience a massive performance degradation with the HP Z Turbo Drive SSD?

When I received this machine early February, the SSD read performance (as measured with hdparm on linux) was over 2200Mb/s, now it's slighly over 1500 Mb/s and it seems to degrade continuously, based on past weeks' measurements. I did a manual trim on the drive using fstrim now and it trimmed 1.5Gb of data, but read performance is still "only" around 1600 Mb/s..

 

I bought the T7W04EA model but I had to return it because of issues with noise during boot process. The noises were extremely loud and unbearable.
I upgraded to T7W05EA with Xeon and the UHD 4k display (non DC) however I am not happy with the display at all. The colors look a bit washed out and the whites look truly off white. Comparing with my zbook 14 and external samsung Syncmaster sa850, I am not liking the display colors at all.
https://goo.gl/photos/1E4r1h4K5tN26GsV7

 

I would wait for the dreamcolour display

 

If you are looking for workstation for graphics/photo editing etc. I would definitely not recommend this machine. The display is just horrible. I have been told by HP (I had to call them to get an answer) to return my 2nd machine as well now and get a 3rd one. How many returns until I get lucky and get a flawless machine?

 

they are going to release a dreamcolor display, the best display in the world in may for it.

is the disply the only issue?

 

Before ordering my ZBook Studio I was talking to some technician who answered me the following questions:

1. The two Thunderbolt ports are full TB3 ports compatible with USB 3.1 (not the other way around)
2. Both are connected independently so they will both give you up to 40Gb/s even if both are in use
3. The battery is user-changeable (not glued)
4. External displays connected by TB are run by the dedicated nVidia graphics
5. As far as he said, it'd be possible to build in a SATA3-SSD without tools or carrier cages next to my configured PCIe

By the way, as a student in Europe you'll get 20% discount as well as 15% in addition with the coupon code HPUNIGLOB15 (don't know when it'll expire). Unfortunately you won't be able to combine those two discounts if you configure the notebook with the configurator. Once received mine I'll post my first impressions as well as a display and battery test with the FHD panel.

 

Dreamcolor news... and surmise. The new DC panels for the ZBook G3 models should be the technology used for HP's new DC displays, the Z24x and Z27x. Those features include selectable sRGB, Adobe RGB, Rec. 709, Rec. 2020, and DCI-P3 color spaces. In high-end post and color grading houses, HP DC displays dominate (if not monopolize). The video post and pro photo reviewers love the Z24x and Z27x. The old DC was great. The new DC will be awesome. I'm waiting.

Here's where it gets interesting... the Z24x and Z27x have a max res of 2560 x 1440... but the ZBook G3 UHD DC will be 4K, so the ZBooks will have 4K before HP's standalone DC displays (unless HP has another standalone display product intro before May 2016, which is doubtful... the Z24x and Z27x are so new that HP doesn't have a webpage on them yet, but Amazon, B&H, etc., are selling them).

 

Awesome, thanks for that.

Which country?

I'm in the UK, wondering if I can buy from another EU country.

 

I tried to buy one from the HP store UK cause they offer the configuration I was looking for (Xeon, 256GB PCIe, FHD) but when I tried to checkout they'd show me an error message. Guess it's due to IP localisation so I'm afraid you can't officially order from other stores in the EU. I don't know why they don't offer this configuration here in Germany.

If you want the 20% education discount you'll need to sign up as a student. I called the hotline and the guy even gave me 5% discount on top of the 20% and the 15% voucher. It was a steal

 

pretty good review

http://www.zdnet.com/product/hp-zbook-studio-g3-mobile-workstation-m6v81av1/

 

Thanks, will check it out.

Posted this in other threads, but in case it gets seen here instead...

What's the word on how the thermals compare?

HP Zbook vs Dell Precision 5000 series vs XPS 9550?

And fan noise?

The M1000M is 10 Watts less. Does that lead to less fan noise/throttling in the Precision compared to the XPS?

I heard the HP has quite a bit of fan noise, which is off putting. Not sure how it compares to the Precision or XPS.

And if the Xeon in the Precision runs hotter/noisier than the i7 for example, or it's no different as it's the same wattage?

 

Another interesting review:

http://www.develop3d.com/hardware/review-hp-zbook-studio

 

How well does the 15 inch version of this compete against the Lenovo P50?

 

Zbook Studio benefits:

• Smaller form factor
• Lighter weight
• Dreamcolor display option
• Faster M.2 factory SSD options
• Centered keyboard
• Dual thunderbolt 3 ports

Thinkpad P50 benefits:

• Faster GPU
• More storage options (2x M.2 SSD's + 1 2.5 inch SSD / HDD)
• Larger battery
• Thinkpad keyboard
• Cooler while sitting on lap due to thickness
• Potentially higher / longer max turbo due to thickness
• Legacy docking solution