My thoughts and impressions on the HP ProBook 6545b.

I never do see much out there about it. Personally, I think everyone's missing out...while not perfect, this is a nice machine. This is basically a thoughts summary after using it for a couple of weeks...haven't really had time to run benchmarks or anything, and probably won't for a while longer.

The HD+ resolution is perfect for a 15.6 inch, the LED screen makes the anti-glare look nearly as color-rich as one fo the glossy screens (and this is the FIRST machine I've had that 100% brightness made my eyes hurt...I usually operate at 60% when plugged in, 40% when unplugged).

The IGP, this not being an Intel laptop, is actually worth something, and so far is just enough for me for gaming...mostly somewhat older games, Wizardry 8, Empire Earth 3, Supreme Ruler 2010, and Shattered Union so far (not counting the 2d games of course). Having 4 USB ports is pretty sweet....I can wish all the world for an eSATA, but it's something I can live without. Speakers are on the loud and full side for a laptop, but I'm coming from a Compal with what may be the tinniest speakers around, so take that with a grain of salt. They're front mounted...which means they'll be a bit muffled on a lap (not much though, the laptop is really not deep enough to reach the stomach, so they fire into the air), but it also means no jacks or memory slots on the front (I hate having them on the front).

I got the Turion II Ultra M600, and for most tasks it's as fast as any C2D P8xxx series, particularly if you get 2 sticks of RAM for extra bandwidth (increases Windows Experience RAM score by 0.5). Probably the vanilla Turion II M520 would be decent too, but it does seem worth it to go top of the line here. The CPU also runs quite cool. THe base battery does go about 2.75 hours on HP's defaults, the few reviews out there had it right. That includes letting the CPU go full speed when needed, which means creating another power profile limiting the CPU to 800 MHz or 1.6 GHz should extend it further.

Oh and do you know how few laptops have a SERIAL PORT these days? Admittedly, though it's not something I strictly need, it's certainly useful (I can use it for the Ciscos at work and not have to carry an extra USB adapter or ExpressCard). And of course, there's a keyboard with a numeric keypad (which is SO incredibly useful, and anyone not including one on a 15.6 inch or larger laptop should be tarred and feathered). Said keyboard is much better than a Latitude keyboard. Comparing it with a Thinkpad keyboard is trickier: the key feel isn't as good, but there's a numeric keypad here, whereas there are non on Thinkpads smaller than 17 inches. That evens things out. The track-stick is better than Dells too, but again, not quite as good as Lenovo's. HP and Lenovo both have drain-holes too, but I'm not about to pour water on here to test it!

Ok, so that's all the stuff I'm happy with, but there are a few areas of potential improvement.

The touchpad could use an "off" button: especially when using the stick, it's easy to brush the touchpad and mess you up. Also, I wish HP would put the HDD activity light north of the keyboard where it should be, but they're frankly one of many manufacturers that needs to learn this. Oh, and they need to make it easier to find their BT update patch, which basically installs the WIDCOMM stack and profiles for them. Without it, you're stuck with Bluetooth Basics (HID mostly...no audio stuff at all). If anyone needs it I have it, and can probably find the link too.

There's also a slight delay between touching the volume keys and the volume pop-up showing up. Not quite as much with the brightness adjustment, but a bit of delay there too. That should just be a software fix, so hopefully they'll fix it at some point.

Speaking of software, this also came with the most junkware I've ever seen on a business laptop...and the Thinkpads have gotten pretty bad lately, too (Dell hardly puts any on Latitudes, maybe they've spoiled me). HP may be worse than Lenovo: I spent a lot of time yanking out unwanted items (that stupid dockbar thing comes to mind) along with demos (antivirus, WinZIP, some PDFComplete package).

Luckily, some of HP's software is good: I did keep the HP ProtectTools, and HP SupportAssistant though: the first is needed for the fingerprint reader, drive encryption, plus it has a decent file shredder. The SupportAssistant is a bit annoying, but includes the update checker for the HP software, and all of the diags, so it's at least useful. It mostly stays out the way otherwise (once you disable the scheduled TuneUp, assuming you don't want it).

I've still got the HP PowerAssistant on there too, but I'm debating whether to remove it or not. It does let you record and view your energy consumption, which is nice. Also lets you view the current estimated power consumption of system components, estimate and chart the kWh usage of system components during a particular period, and calculate the cost per day of running the machine (also estimated of course). These are some fairly cool things, but come on, how often are we going to use this stuff? That's going to be a fairly individual thing, and I'm betting a lot of people never look at it. The other thing it does is let you select power profiles, which Windows 7 already lets you do (along with letting you create and edit them with impressive granularity).

OK, at this point I'll shut up, because I did kind of drag on a bit. But despite the issues, this machine is a gem. And right now it's a hidden one, though that may be due to AMD's mobile reputation, or lack thereof. Here's a tip: if Lenovo and HP are both coming out with AMD-exclusive models in their business lines, then AMD has started to do something right with their mobile chips. Intel fanboys beware.

 

Nice write-up! I have been waiting to read some impressions of the new AMD ProBooks; the original Intel-based ones did not get good reviews due to their less-than-satisfactory build quality. Could you comment on the build quality a bit further?

I would be interested in some benchmarks of that AMD processor to see how it compares to a C2D processor. If you have time, run some of these:
-wPrime 1.55
-3DMark06 (only interested in the CPU numbers)

Also, there are very few pics of this machine. Hint hint.

I recently bought a ProBook and am more than impressed with it, especially given the price tag. HP makes a top-of-the-line product. Glad to hear you are happy with yours - thanks for posting.

 

The build quality is very good, and this is coming from someone who messes with Thinkpads and Latitudes all day. It's right up there with both of them. There is NO flex in this keyboard. Mind you, this is with the trak-stick...going without it will mean a different keyboard part. Don't know if there's any difference.

As is normal for business-class machines, this one only charges the battery when it gets below a certain level, and stops charging when the battery is full (only powers the notebook). Figured it was worth mentioning that since this is HP's "low-end" business line. I'm using my CoolerMaster universal notebookpower supply for this, and it's working just like the HP one in that regard: the "smart hardware" is in the laptop, not the charger.

Did notice something else though: the lid is pretty weak. The screen can flex a bit easily, especially if grabbed halfway between the hinges. The 15.6 form factor in general tends to place them pretty far away from each other: they should prbably be closer together or be wider. Also, pressing on the back can give you some screen ripples. You have to press pretty hard to get them, but I'd prefer not getting any. Anyway, this is not a machine you want to grab and carry by the lid. Luckily this is not something I ever do anyway: I had to conciously think of this as something to test, and it's the only real weak point when it comes to build quality.

wPrime 32M Speed test: 34.036 seconds (2 threads).

Unfortunately, so far 3dMark06 doesn't want to get past the splash screen. I'll have to keep working on that, figure out why.

Photos will be coming, but I have to charge the camera that I never use first. I want to try and get shots of the mouse-operated BIOS (nice, but harder to navigate than the one on the Optiplex 760), and the QuickWeb and QuickLook boot environments too (which I haven't even tried yet). There is a review at http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/hp-probook-6545b.aspx that has a pretty good photo gallery. They only gave the machine 3 stars though: personally I think they're either nuts or on Intel's payroll.

EDIT: Actually, slight problem with the camera. Apparently, I use it so rarely I don't remember where it was last...can't find the sucker anywhere. It's an old 3 MP anyway, with a battery that's almost shot, so I'll just head to BestBuy tomorrow and see what's on sale. My phone cam isn't real good with indoor shots.

 

If I remember right, Win7 and/or Vista with AMD/ATI graphics needs a patched version of 3Dmark06 to work properly.

However I couldn't find it last time to benchmark my nc8430+Win7 and then lost interest searching for it too

 

You can download 3DM06 here, patched:
http://majorgeeks.com/3DMark06_d4935.html

 

Ok, took a ton of photos with my new toy (BestBuy had the Canon PowerShot SX120IS on sale...kinda debated getting something less capable but this thing is REALLY sweet).

Took several photos and a couple of screenshots, uploaded them to my Picasa, but I'll link them here with my commentary, since some of them need it.

Let's start with the standard shots around the machine, starting with it open:

From ProBook_Review

Left side, exhaust vent, DisplayPort, 3 USB ports, ExpressCard/54 and audio jacks:

From ProBook_Review

Front, indicators and speakers, not that the speakers are easy to make out. That's the BIOS on the screen, more on that later:

From ProBook_Review

This shot of the right is not easy to make out, DVD/RW, SDCard slot, USB, FireWire, and serial port are here:

From ProBook_Review

Here's a better view of the port cluster on the right side. That SD card slot loads the cards flush, and is NOT spring loaded. Leave yourself some fingernail to get them back out (it's not particularly difficult, but I wish they'd have let them protrude a quarter inch).

From ProBook_Review

Rear view. Lock slot, modem, battery (I didn't bother with the extended one), LAN, VGA, and power.

From ProBook_Review

Underside. That large intake should be kept clear if possible, obviously. I noticed no hot spots while running intence stuff, just some warmth under the HDD and the area around the RAM cover in the center.

From ProBook_Review

Closeup of the pointing devices. The black-on-black color scheme makes that pointing stick fairly stealthy.

From ProBook_Review

It really gets on my nerves having the indicator lights here, especially for the HDD. Compal is guilty of this too, among many others, what can you do? That's my MoGo peeking out of the ExpressCard slot.

From ProBook_Review

Ok, so that's the outside of the machine. Now let's look at some of HP's unique software features, starting with the boot (F12) menu

From ProBook_Review

Most of this should be self-explanatory except for HP SpareKey. This is a built-in password recovery feature that can used with security questions or a USB stick as a credential. Handy if you lose your password...especially since, once you DO set your password, you need it to get into the BIOS...

From ProBook_Review

I'm not going to do every screen because there's just too many of them, and navigating is a pain. Personally I prefer Dell's method of sticking everything in a tree along the left hand side. As mentioned, this gets automatically connected to your Windows logon credentials:

From ProBook_Review

Luckily that also includes using a fingerprint swipe instead of a password. This same logon method is used for the QuickLook application, which is a pre-book Outlook work-alike environment.

From ProBook_Review

It lets you view and edit your calendar, contacts, read and send mail, etc. Unfortunately, it operates disconnected, and only processes what you did when you next log onto Windows.

From ProBook_Review

I suppose it could be handy, but personally I think anyone who has a business laptop should have a smartphone, and can do their mail and calendar there. It's certainly faster.

Of course, another option is the QuickWeb pre-boot environment.

From ProBook_Review

This takes longer to load, but is a fully operational web-browsing environment, connected via LAN or WiFi. It's faster to boot into than Windows 7, though if you hibernate, coming back from hibernation may be faster than loading this. Of course, there's other reasons to use it:

From ProBook_Review

It has a secure mode. Basically, this makes the thing read-only, so it works as in in-private browsing session (no traces) plus keeps that person who just wants to go check their GMail from messing around in the rest of your laptop. Personally, I think this will be more useful than QuickLook.

One other thing worth mentioning about the TPM in the machine: I've seen several machines come with a TPM, which can provide powerful capabilities, but not provide a good enough interface to use it fully. Most of them manage to encrypt files and hard drives, but don't let you interface well with email. HP provides some Outlook utilities:





Outlook does tend to suck at using certs with email without addons, and it's nice that HP provides the addons in addition to the TPM (you all do know that the TPM lets you generate your own certificates rather than having to get them from a CA, right? Good).

Haven't had any time to mess around more with 3DMark...but that version you linked to is the one I downloaded, and it's still not working. Might be an incompatibility...the CPU and chipset are both brand new after all.

 

LAPTOP Magazine and Computer Shopper both posted reviews of the 6545b recently-

LAPTOP Mag

Computer Shopper

 

Yeah, saw the LaptopMAG one before. The ComputerShopper one was harder to find but I found it after I ordered the machine. Thing is, they're the ONLY ones. Usually you'd see a few more here and there by now, especially for a business line machine. I'm surprised to not see more, anyway.

 

There appears to be a 14.0" companion model to the 6545b called the 6445b. The price disparity between the two is crazy- $779 for the 6545b and $1189 for the 6445b (identical configurations except for hard drive).

But the reason the 6545b hasn't garnered the spotlight (and likely won't do so) is the soon to be released 6440b and 6540b. They're the Intel-based versions of the 6445b/6545b including Core i5 and i7 processors and a long list of options...

 

Nice review! I find it abit strange HP have rebranded this low end business line to Probook. This used to be part of the HP/Compaq line, of which the highend models was rebranded "Elitebooks" last year whilst the low end parts remained as HP/Compaq, then of course HP released the "Probook" line of budget/more consumer orientated business line. Weird that they merged the two together.

It's almost like Lenovo merging the R and SL series together. Which I hope will never happen.

 

The silver plastic fooled me for a second. Nearly thought it was the EliteBook style brushed aluminum...

... which therefore brings me to the point that it's absolutely unecessary to have used that plastic. The EliteBook has a justification for the flashy silver color (aluminum reinforcement for a more rugged notebook). The plastic used here has no such reasoning, and I thus would have rather had plain black plastic.

 

do you have any older AMD notebooks to compare it to? more spacifically in regards heat on idle... my Tx2, with a RM-74 Turion ultra runs EXTREMELY hot. I'm more curious than anything else.

I tried to update my BIOS on my Tx2 and that stupid thing shut off due to heat and just about corrupted my BIOS... so yah there is a heat issue if the machine is pushed hard.

 

Yeah I wouldn't mind seeing some temperature readings and CPU bench mark for these new AMD CPUs if possible.

HP have always used similar colour scheme + design for both of their upper end business lines (HP/compaq), the palm rest of these ones probably have HP's Dura "insertword" finish just like the older HP/compaq line and the last gen 653 Xb line. Kinda like what Dell do with the E6xxx and E5xxx.

 

Yeah but "HP's Durafinish" if they are to be believed, can be non glossy in black too (they state that the EliteBook keyboard is coated in the same finish to prevent wear, and my keyboard is a matte charcoal grey). HP is getting a little confusing with their business line up (used to be Elite = top, Compaq = mid, Pro = low, but now it seems Pro and Compaq are somewhat intermixing/changing places?). I just miss the charcoal grey finish found on my nx9420 (though it did get glossy). It was nice and understated, with the right amount of style and professionalism. I like how the EliteBooks are going back to the darker color scheme.

 

Yeah I like the darker Elitebook colour scheme too. And yes the older dark grey finish was much better, I have that on my 8510p too and it was used on the 65xxb series.

 

are the newer Elitebooks still made partially of aluminum like the 8530p?

also I'm still curious about the heat production of the Turion Ultra II, the 90nm and 65nm offerings ran WAY hotter than they should have. I'm curious to see what the 45nm ones are like.

 

I think after some of the dissatisfaction with the early 4xxx series ProBooks, the newer ones have moved toward mid-range territory. Not surprising...come on, NO access panels on the underside?? Having to basically disassemble half the machine to swap a HDD or RAM stick? There's cheap, and then there's so cheap someone would rather buy a dv series. One doesn't need more than 2 levels of business-class anyway: consumer class can double as the low end without having to invest in additional designs (I'm pretty sure the HP-Compaq line is going away at some point).

Regarding the Arrandale-based versions: Yeah, they may be coming out at some point. They're also going to have Intel graphics (Admittedly improved from "worst GPU in the world"....to "second worst GPU in the world, after our last GPU."). I'm also betting the price point is going to be noticably higher once they actually do arrive. Which they haven't yet. And they might not for at least a month, probably longer. Which was a deciding factor for me, since I have a business trip early next month that I wanted to have a new machine along for. With these having a better IGP and a better price point, they may do well, especially in a downer economy. They certainly didn't skimp on the AMD version, which many manufaturers have been guilty of.

I unfortunately don't have a thermometer gun to measure heat externally. I do need to mess with the internal thermal sensor to at least read how hot the chip gets, but I'm betting it's way lower than the older Turions, and knowing the external temperature is more real-world helpful anyway. My father has one of those older Turions in a dv5...performs decently (but no better than that), but does get real toasty on the bottom at load (idle isn't quite as bad). This ProBook doesn't, it's ice cold at idle, and no more than warm at load. That may be due to differences in the cooling system rather than the CPU though: remember the dv series has had issues there. Then again, it COULD be due to both.

 

ok, it sounds like the new processors are a fair improvement. Thanks for the info.

Edit. PS you sig is about 5lines to long, they are only supposted to be 5lines.

 

Nice impressions

You wouldn't have, by chance, had the occasion to compare it to the Vostro 1520 ?

 

Looks as interest has fallen off with this Laptop. Any new owners want to report their experiences? I was considering this over the 6540b for $200 less than the Wintel version.

 

Well, I am just finishing configuring it: I have bought one with Windows 7 installed (I am not sure I would be able to buy one with Linux directly, since this time I haven't tried it --I got tired of trying to with other laptops and netbooks here in Spain, so this time I forgot to ask--), I squeezed its partition (I don't know why it shows 20GB used just after booting the first time) to 30 GB (I will consider erasing it altogether later), I erased the recovery one (I needed to create a newer extended partition so...) and repartitioned it trying to keep the HP-tools partition untouched (I haven't tried any of the two directly launchable programs) and I finally am using it with the candidate (I think it is released tomorrow) 10.4 Ubuntu (9.10 didn't recognize neither keyboard nor touchpad) 64 bits (it seems to me absurd selling this machine with 32 bit operating systems, I suppose it must be due to artificial higher costs --Windows, I mean--) system installed. I haven't tried the camera yet, but all the other usual components seems to work fine, although it took me some time to realize that the brightness control was within the ATI Catalyst Control Center program.

So, if anyone needs any Linux side information, just let me know. I am still testing it .

Best regards.

 

HP just dropped the price of the 6545b $150. I just ordered one. They also dropped the 'configurable' versions of the Wintel version, 6540b and offered a good discount (forgot the amount) on the 'stock' models.