HP Compaq 8710w User Review

$2500AUD=$2400 USD.

Thats a good price, esp since laptops seem to be priced higher outside the US.
What is wierd is that if I bought the laptop in US as you configured (and applying an 18% discount code), the final price is around $3400 USD after tax ($3200 before tax).

Same thing in europe (the HP is priced reasonably there).
Maybe they dont want to sell laptops in the US ??

Well Lenovo/IBM were targetting enterprise customers before. So I dont think advertising has been their problem.
IBM/Lenovo has been building up a rabid fanbase for a LOOOOONNG time; in that their laptops have been the best for a long period of time.
The T2x/T3x/T4x etc, all winners. The best keyboards etc.
I own an HP NC8000, and there are some parts that feel real crappy (compared to thinkpads). There is silver paint on parts of the bezel that wears off, and the hinges are covered with cheap lookiing plastic. Thinkpads on the other hand, have been lookiing like classy well built machines for a long time.

I think the gap now has closed. You say the HP is better built than the thinkpads, and the newer dell D820/D830 are also very good looking and close in quality to the thinkpads. But this is all in the past two years. They havent had time to build up a fanbase yet. And they have to overcome the stigma of many years of not so classy machines.

 

Well said and I agree completely. However, HP and Dell's efforts are futile when they are not recognised because I find most people don't spare a second look at them (because they equate HP with Pavillions and Dell with Inspirons). Lenovo probably executed the best business decision in this industry by acquiring the Thinkpad brand and using it to spearhead its expansion into global markets. The brand image and aura that IBM has created over the years is just priceless.

Compared to HP, Dell is actually doing slightly better in brand perception among enthusiasts. HP generates little interest among enthusiasts and I attribute that to its lack of a "premium" consumer product lineup like Dell's hugely successful XPS brand. HP does do better in terms of regular "Mom & Dad" PC sales.

70% of HP's current revenue are from markets outside the US. HP does not seem to be as aggressive in the US market and I don't know why.

 

HP is doing quite well in the consumer laptop arena. It has taken away market share from dell. I too dont get why they are not being more agressive in the higher end laptops.

 

@chrixx , you make a very good point. HP`s build quality is more than impressive in the bussiness class, I`ve had my Nx9420 stand next to a T61 last year and well,the HP won the beauty contest, even if it`s squared and all lol.

 

My brother owns a T61p and we've spent hours checking out eachother's machines...They're basically on par with one another we figure. My screen beats his, but he's got a crappy WUXGA with the horrible backlight. His GPU > mine of course, but not by much. His T61p creaks vs mine's solid feel (although both are built like rocks). His hinges absolutely own any I've ever seen though. And the T61p's keyboard >>>>>>> any other laptop I've used.

It's funny, most people I talk to don't even know HP makes business laptops. They open their mouths to ridicule my 8510p, thinking it's a consumer machine. So I whip it out and slap them with it. Then boot up. Ohhh yeeah.

 

Yeah, I've owned a number of HP business products. Most good, one or two bad. Overall though its been a very positive experience and I'd consider buying again.

However, if I even think I'll end up selling it at some point in the future . . . I won't buy HP. I had such a difficult time getting a fair market price out of mine when selling it, because HP has zero recognition for quality thanks to the Pavilion line.

 

Is the screen protected by a metal housing ? Is the lid of metal ?

Also, anyone know what was the [revious 17" model ?


chrixx and Ackeron, could you guys post some glamor shots of the HP laptops ?
Eg., something like:
http://extra.newsguy.com/~roach7/ebay/t43p-1.jpg
http://extra.newsguy.com/~roach7/ebay/t43p-2.jpg
http://extra.newsguy.com/~roach7/ebay/t43p-5.jpg
http://extra.newsguy.com/~roach7/ebay/t43p-6.jpg

 

The top side of the lid is magnesium alloy..so...kinda metal? And the bottom (inner laptop side) is plastic I believe.

I'll see if I can dig up some pictures; in the meantime my review has a bunch (see my sig)

 

Our local store sells them with product code GC124EA (compared to this new KE191EA) with T7XX CPU. Is that what you mean by previous model?

Hilarious looking white background. Is it toilet paper? It little bit looks like it

 

No that is still the 8710W, I mean what was the previous model in the 17" HP business line, like the previous model to the 15.4" 8510W was NW8440

 

The predecessor is the nw9440.
The lid is a composite metal material and it is very sturdy and well-protected.

 

Wow. The 8510w is one of my top choices in a laptop, and this one looks nice as well, but it is 17".

*shudders*

I mean, just look at that comparison photo. I'm about where the middle laptop is in my size preference.

 

Isn`t it the same thing as the rest of it, a magnesium based alloy?
It looks as if it`s the same thing as my NX9420 is made of.

 

Yes it is.

 

Then it`s rock solid.
The only thing it will get in time are some minor scratches on the lid, and that,only if youll abuse it like I did
You gotta love HP for that...

 

I love magnesium alloy. Totally recommend it.

 

i am in love with this lappy now.

 

With the 8710w? you should, it`s built to last. I cannot praise HP enough for their bussiness class.

 

My understanding is the 8710W, the DVD is not in an internal multi-bay slot, but some kind of a proprietary slot? Do you know if HP will be offering a second hard drive that can be inserted into the DVD drive slot?

 

Whoah, don't quote my entire review (as it makes the post unnecessarily long).

To answer your question, there is no MultiBay/UltraBay support, so the optical drive is fixed. It's not a proprietary connector though, so you can upgrade to any 12.7mm optical drive.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking about replacing my Sony VGN-A600 with one of these.

Have you seen the 17" WSXGA+WVA BrightView? My eyesight isn't that good for 1920x1200 resolution

Also, did you get a docking station with this? Which HP ones do you recommend?

 

The 17" WSXGA BrightView display is covered in the 8710p review here. ( http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4053).

I do use a docking station (EN488AA), which is one of the reasons I bought this laptop (because it supports a docking station). I love the convenience and organisation it provides.
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/au/e...1697741-1697741-1697783-1697783-74520577.html

The nice thing about HP's business range is they have a long life cycle, so my 3 year old docking station still works perfectly fine with the current laptop. It works on your nc6400 too as they utilise the same connector.

 

Which is the better graphics card?

The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 320M?

Or the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M?

Both I believe are 512mb dedicated.

I’m not really interested in gaming but I do want something that’s visually good that’s also NON-dedicated.

 

Judging from the benchmark reports I've seen, both are the same cards, with the 1600M having 512MB vs 256MB of memory in the 320M. You should get similar performance for both.

 

Love the laptops, but I'd prefer the smaller model.

 

Good!

I think I'll put my order in this week. I want to get it in on time before Microshaft pulls the plug on XP

 

You told us in your review that HP is putting different LCD inside the 8710W

You are perfectly right ... the problem is that Samsung LCD (SEC3448) is of
very low quality ... big light leakage an grainy

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=262075

I would warn future buyer ... just avoid if you canot see the screen before

 

Did you just get it?

Send it back. Have 'em replace it.

 

Well it this the second one I get with a bad screen .. and there is
no more stock at my resseller.

What I try now is to get the exact references of AUO and LG LCDs
used in the 8710W by HP buy one and replace it.

Do you know them ?

Is it AUO B170UW02 or B170UW02 V0

 

I wonder why they haven't added a built in camera? That would make it almost perfect.

 

Can this laptop drive two external monitors?

I have a nx9420 and when it is in my docking station I can using two external monitors. It would be nice to have the functionality again.

 

Works for me.

 

Thanks for your speedy reply.

I think I'll go ahead with this one.

 

I have the HP Compaq 8710w on order and the first accessory I want to buy for this notebook is an additional hard-drive with matching specifications. I'm assuming its a SATA type drive (?). However are there any higher capacity drives out there on the market with the 7200 rpm speed that will be compatible with this unit?


T9500 2.6GHz | Quadro FX 3600M | 2GB RAM | 200GB 7K200 | WUXGA WVA | WinXP

 

The fastest and biggest available on the market now are the 320GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA hard disks from Western Digital and Seagate. The notebook will support it.

 

Please, let me know what is the difference between these two mem modules: HP 2-GB (DDR2 667 MHz) SODIMM (EM995AA) and HP 2-GB (DDR2 667 MHz) SODIMM (EM995UT).
Thank you!

 

Same modules, just by different vendors. Don't buy memory from HP, get it from 3rd party vendors as HP RAM is overpriced.

 

thanks, could you be more precisely, which one?

 

Check out some good RAM deals here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=121363

Basically, any DDRII-667/800MHz notebook ram (SODIMM) will be fine.

 

Thanks you!

 

Hey guys. First off great review! I made the decision to buy my 8710W because of the great reviews on this site. Now... I have the FX 1600 and am running XP 32Bit. I am not a huge gamer but do my share and have been having lots of issues with various games crashing. I have had the same thing happen with Rainbow Six Lockdown, Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat, and Battle Field 2: Mercinaries. When I am playing the game all of a sudden the game will lock for maybe 5 seconds. When the game comes back all of the graphics are pixilated. Any idea what is going on? Of course I made sure all of my drivers were up to date. The games does allow me to keep playing but the graphics are so bad you cant possibly see what you are doing. I have to exit out of the game and restart. It does it at different times through out the game.

Thanks guys,
Glenn

 

hallo grobinson2. i'm also an 8710w user with win xp. several tips for you:
install the newest graphic driver from the hp homepage. after this install the newest direct-x package. also make an bios update (download hp homepage). this should help you to play this games without these problems.
sometimes it is recommended to play the games in "window mode" (this options should be available in the graphic option menu of the games).

hope it helps, greetings matthew

 

Tried all of the above and still no luck. Starting to really **** me off though. hahaa

Thanks again,
Glenn

 

When you say build quality has not failed to disappoint wouldn't that be implying that it has disappointed?

Other than that, sweet review, cool notebook

 

The best drivers to use for the 8710w is the Nvidia 175.12 drivers available from LaptopVideo2Go. These are WHQL-certified and keep the notebook quiet.

I've tried the subsequent new drivers (175.16) and while they fix the annoying tendency for Vista to switch my dual displays about on a reboot, the drivers increase the fan speeds significantly and hence were underperforming. Those with fan noise problems should give 175.12 a try.

 

Try to install a normal geforce driver instead of the - official - quadro one.

This topic is for the quadro nvs 320, but the principle is the same:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171213

Im sure this will do the trick. But dont forget this will give you crippled openGL performance under 3d editing softwares (wireframe editing etc.).

 

Nice review btw.

Hmm its a shame that there is no 8710p with a 8800M GTS (but with 'banned' quadro fx capabilities) as an option...

8710p -> 8700M GT based quadro nvs320 (no qfx openGL capabilities here - hence its much cheaper than the 8710w with 1600M, but the same speed at games)
8710p -> 8800M GTS based quadro nvsXYZ <- Im talking about this, where is it???
8710w -> 8700M GT based quadro fx 1600M (openGL acceleration here) //dont buy this if you only want to play games ... get the 'p' instead (much better price).
8710w -> 8800M GTS based quadro fx 3600M (openGL accel.)