HP EliteBook 8440w Review

All 3DM06 scores in our reviews are 1280x800.

 

Isnt the standard 1280x1024? How do you change it?

 

Thanks because i thought that it really was equalled to a 8600m gt gddr3 at 1280x1024 when they 1st came out.....that would be such power increase from the 370m for the entry level quadro although it stilll is a good performer never the less

 

btw, when should we expect 8540 review?

 

Jerry, can I ask you something? When you tested this, did the built-in IGP of the i7 work at all?

 

In the last 4 years, this 8530w is my 4th laptop, so I have an idea of what you mean! Ebay is your friend, I've bought and sold from there at substantial discounts.

I'm sure the 8540w will be a great laptop, but I doubt it will be the leap the 8530w was. My first HP was the oldy but goody NC8430 which was just awesome for its time. Then, having found the 8510p for a good price, sold and bought that one. The 8510p really wasn't that different than the NC8430 in external design. Changed keyboard layout (for the worse IMO), touch sensitive controls, but the basic same machine. Of course, Napa vs. Santa Rosa was the big change internally with a new CPU and platform.

Now the 8530w vs. the 8510p... pretty big change there in terms of design. Brand new chassis, new port layout, new platform (Montevina vs. Santa Rosa). The Elitebook is much more substantial and stiff and you can feel it. The gunmetal looks great but the raw aluminum look on the first gen Elitebooks are pretty awesome too.

I know I5/I7 is alot faster but will have to reserve judgment until we see its GPU performance. No ATI option is a bit of a downer, but we'll see. Laptop parts don't always correlation well to their desktop counterparts.

 

I can see the point - Ultimately, the laptop vendors have to go with whatever the LCD panel manufacturers are willing to make. I, too, lament a 16x9 panel in a 15+" screen for a laptop. I'm using the 15"+ laptop to do some actual work (14"- I could see getting away with a more ... casual ... laptop). When I'm working, however, I really need the extra pixels. Text in a command line window still takes up a fixed number of pixels...

However, if I need to do some work, the 13" and smaller screens just aren't going to cut it - I suppose the 16x9 ratio works fine there. I'd consider that the "consumer" level.

 

Very impressive specs, but I give that credit to Intel, nVIDIA, et al.

I was in love with the 6930p, I really wanted to buy one ... the only thing holding me back was the lack of a WXGA+ LED-backlit screen, so I was holding out for the EliteBook refresh.

Sadly, they let me down, in a big way. 16:9? Chiclet keyboards? In a business machine? *facepalm*

Thanks for destroying a good thing, HP.

 

You get more real estate with a HD+ screen than a WXGA+ screen, so what?

I don't like them too, but tons of chiclet keyboards are used by tons of writers without problems, so it should be pretty ok for business machines. Check out the Lenovo Edge reviews - everywhere they say it has a fantastic (chiclet) keyboard.

They just didn't produce your ideal notebook - get over it.

 

1600:9 vs 1440:900
That's a bad thing?

 

You'd get even more with a 6400x400 screen, omg!

I am. I don't want their crap anymore.

 

Damn heavy, but very impressive in all other regards.

I actually want this one, though I'd get the 15" version, and the version with the Quad Corei7, which still manages pretty good battery life. I'd carry 1lb more for a quad core.

Props on the fit and finish, and the price, which seems relatively low given the features.

Now if it only ran OS X ...

 

Huh?

I don't see anything wrong with this. Like, at all. Do business laptops need 4:3 for some reason? 4:3 is like vinyl records, people just like to hang on to it for old times sake. The only people that really need it are those who run every app in a single full-screen Window. Those people need to get used to the modern world where we can have more than one Window open at a time without getting terribly confused.

Personally, I love wide screens, my workflow is adjusted to it and I'd hate to lose the sides. Have been using a chiclet keyboard for nearly a year now, it's fantastic.

 

I don't think the complaint is against 16:9 vs 4:3, it's actually about 16:9 vs 16:10. If it's actually 1440x900 to 1600x900, you don't lose anything, but for those of us at the high end (1920x1080 to 1920x1200) it's a much bigger deal.

 

Except physical size

 

Well, the physical size has never worried me as much as the resolution, but then again, I'm not in the market for a 14" anyway. I vastly prefer my 17". >.>

 

personally I really don't care about the rez as long as it's not really really low, but I do care about screen size I buy a 15.4inch screen because it's just right, 15.6 is getting a little on the small side.

oh and about the comment about people need to get with the times and have windows side by side rather than full screened - just a though but how is text orientated on the sreen? wouldn't it make sense to maximize that direction?

well I'm still a good 3years from an upgrade maybe by freak chance when OLED comes out they can bring back 16:10 (I can dream can't I?)

 

Although I'm not a big fan of HP, and am high demanding on graphics, I still might consider getting one of these just because it looks so robust. It will be a few more years untill I need a new daily portable for work, but I hope they will keep on making laptops with this quality. Since most companies are competing each other to death with low prices for consumer models and keep using cheaper materials, I see no other way then buying a laptop from the bussines segment.

 

I don't understand people who are upset about losing ~5% of the screen resolutions argument:

"I don't like that laptop, it doesn't have enough screen resolution."

Why not just look at the 15" laptop and gain ~8% over what you had previously.

Those of you in the 17" 1920x1080 vs 1920x1200 realm are really the only ones who can complain since they haven't released 2160x1215 resolution monitors.

As I have told others looking at this conundrum, all that really matters is the vertical resolution and pixel pitch. Since the resolutions are slowly going up and the pixel pitch is slowly shrinking (look at the laptop space 3 years ago where the highest res was 1280x800) then if the font is too small, just increase the font size/DPI in the OS.

In the short term we may lose some resolution, but overall we are gaining and will continue to gain resolution.

 

You just contradicted yourself there
At least HP have reduced the depth of footprint of the notebook a bit to help offset the 15.5mm shorter screen height, there is still a disparity though, the screen is 5.5 sq inches smaller yet the notebook is only 2.4 sq inches smaller, smaller screens in bigger notebooks is a common theme for 16:9.

Nobody has been complaining about the resolution of this HP...

Btw, WUXGA and WSXGA were available in 2003, 1050 vertical pixels were available in 14" notebooks of the same era in SXGA.Thats almost 7 years ago.

We might be gaining resolution [on a couple at least] but it isn't in the direction your wanting

 

Any news on this?

 

Oh, sorry, didn't unpack quite enough. For similar sizes (17" to 17.3", 15.4" to 15.6", 14" to... I don't know what the sizes for 14" are, actually. ) the resolution matters more than physical size. Losing a (relatively) small amount there doesn't bother me. For me, it's more about how much I can put on my screen and work with, and for that reason, since I like to work at the high end (1920x1200), the swap to 16:9 annoys me mildly.

 

Does anyone know what the resolution output of the external monitior is when BOTH screens are enabled (internal and external) for the 8440w and the 8540w??

Right now, my nw8440, the internal max res. is 1680 x 1050, and external is 1920 x 1080.

 

- Does anybody know when this laptop is suppose to be released (HP website shows "Coming soon")? I believe this is some time in February, but do we have a date?

- I've read a lot of concerns about the screen size, but what about the quality of the screen? Is it as bright as a MacBook Pro screen (minus the gloss?)?

- Is there any video around of this laptop?

Thanks!

 

Will the 8440W get the USB 3.0 upgrade?!

 

excellent review, thanks! I'm keen on picking up the 8540 when that hits the market...I've never bought a business class notebook before do they usually have shipment delays when they first come out?

 

You have 2 choices, customized to order or ready to shipped. Most people opt for the latter because HP charges exhobitant prices for their CTO models, and in the case of ready to ship, it comes just as any other item you would order online (about a week).

 

FYI, someone reported in another thread that HP's Canadian website shows a release date of 2/1 for the new Elitebooks. An online HP rep just told me that he doesn't know when they'll be released in the US, but that it could be as early as 2/1.

 

Deciding between the 8440p and 8440w

It seems that the major differences between the workstation and notebook
version of this laptop is the processor and graphics processor.

Can anyone elaborate on what type of work, games or use-habits would
benefit from the workstation(w) over the notebook(p) version

Thanks

 

^^ What is the price difference you are seeing between the 8440p and 8440w ?

 

At current pricing, the p models in either the 8440 or 8540 don't make sense (unless you want integrated graphics). Compare the 8440p @$1509 to the 8440w @$1649. They have the same CPU/RAM/HDD but on the w you get the following for $140:
1) gun metal gray color
2) N6300 wireless card (up from N6200)
3) FX380 GPU (up from NVS3100)
4) 9 cell battery (up from 6 cell)
5) 3/3/3 warranty (up from 3/3/0...this means the w gets on-site, the p does not)

I think that's quite a bit of value for $140, but others may not. It's difficult to know if the FX380 is any better than the NVS3100 for most applications. Certainly it should be better for 3d CAD and other similar programs due to the certified drivers installed on the FX. Here is some basic info on each card.
NVS3100
FX380

From what I can tell, they are probably the same physical card differing only in their drivers.

To me, the p series only makes sense if you want integrated graphics, then you can save some real money.

 

It's really unfortunate that they don't offer customization yet. I wanted an i7 Quad-Core (7**), not the Dual Core (620M). In addition, I think that their model with a SSD drive is overpriced.

 

from the link, I see the NVS3100 GPU is a lot faster than the FX380 in the chart, how is it an upgrade. I also just see HP post all the 8440P and 8440W price, seems to me the 8440P is more expensive than the 8440W, how come is the case?

 

You can get to the customizable models but you have to go through the This is the (current) direct link to the Elitebook page - you can get to the configurable models. Only the 8540 series have the quad cores as an option. You need a pretty fat wallet to snag one.

EDIT: I notice you can put the Quad i7s into the 8440w. My mistake.

 

The prices on the "normal" store front don't indicate which models are "Smart Buy" (discounted) models and which aren't. If you click the link I sent above, the prices make more sense.

 

The 8440 will offer i7-720qm at some point. Others have pointed out that the higher priced units are most certainly placeholders and are not the actual system specs. That $2700 8440p will most certainly be maxed out even though it currently only shows an SSD upgrade. My assumption is that only the bottom 3 8440p models are real specs, the rest are placeholders.

How do you conclude from those links that the 3100 is faster? The only comparable metric between the two pages is 3D mark 06:
NVS3100: 3294 / 3496 / 3698 (min/avg/max) - 2 test points
FX880: 3690 / 3690 / 3690 (min/avg/max) - one test point

Also, if you compare what I believe to be the real prices on the p to the w, the w is $140 more as I stated above.

I followed your link and went to the config page for 8540w...there were no drop boxes to change anything. Is it still working for you? If so, how much is the 720qm upgrade?

 

Still works for me. Click "Select>>" under 8540w, ">>Configurable" (tab), "Customize" on the model you want to start with. The 8540w model with the 720 with FreeDOS starts at $3006 eek but you can downgrade it to around $2700 if you skimp on everything including RAM.

I see a note there that says "Call 800-xxx-xxxx to get special promotional pricing on your customized configuration" - looks like boilerplate to me though.

 

Wow, that's insane...not even worth my time to look into any further for now. I hope those prices are fakes intended to prevent CTO sales until they get the production up and running. If not, I guess I'll have to settle for 620M or give up all together on the 8540w.

 

Thanks for pointing this out for me. I really appreciated.

 

New review here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR2010022305457.html
Overall positive but they say the video playback is poor. Anyone has got that laptop and experienced it?

 

Why would you want any of these. The 720QM offers really nothing over the 620M in terms of performance, outputs more heat, costs more and doesn't have the IGP. And SSD can easily be installed yourself at a fraction of the cost of their listing.

 

I originally asked this question to an HP representative but they were of no help, so I thought the educated people here could probably give me a better answer:

On the HP Canada website it lists the 8440w FN092UA and FN093UT. The FN093UT, which is the higher core i7, HD+ screen, overall higher spec'ed model of the 8440w, is selling for $1789. Unfortunately, due to my poor student budget, I really can't go over $1700 after tax and everything, so I was originally planning to go for the lower spec'ed model FN092UA. However, for some reason it's listed as $2439 on the HP Canada website, $650 more than the higher spec'ed FN093UT!

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3955549-3955549-4097189.html

I callled HP Canada to inquire about this and they just told me they don't offer the FN092UA, despite being on their website... plus hpshopping.ca does not seem to be working as well. The same model on the HP USA site is listed as $1425, which if you convert to CAD, is exactly in my price range and the specs are the exact same as the FN092UA model, despite being called the FN092UT.

Can anyone solve my dilemna? I'm literally ready with credit card in hand to buy it but if it really costs me $2439... that's a bit ridiculous...

 

Canadians always get screwed with prices unfortunately, especially by HP.

 

Yeah, except for those two additional cores.

 

The performance from the additional cores is offset by the slower clock speed, check out the NBR user review comparing them in hardware subforum.

 

Simple clock comparisons don't tell the truth. I've seen a couple of interesting (i.e. quad-compatible) benchmarks showing a stronger i7-720QM.

I'd say: if you know what you're doing, the i7-720QM offers better (however, not mind-blowing) performance in some areas. If you don't know if you need/want a quad core, you don't need one (and probably don't even need/want the i7-620M).

 

Can you link the benchmarks? In the multithreaded benches I've seen, the difference between the 720QM and 620M aren't significant.

 

dap_pad,
FYI... I've discovered that User Friendly Systems Inc. ( www.ufs-inc.com located in Burlington, ON) are currently offering the 8440w part no. FN093UT#ABA at a promotional price of $1629.00 CAD (plus GST, PST & shipping). Their shipping charge (to customers in Canada) is only $12.50. Total price for the FN093UT would therefore be $1853 CAD. I'm going to call them tomorrow to check stock and perhaps place an order.
Here's the link to the FN093UT on their website:
http://www.ufs-inc.com/workstation 8440.htm
BTW, the price for this model / part no. notebook is only slightly higher ($1634 CAD) at Directdial.com (located in London, ON), however they still haven't received any stock and their shipping charges are a little higher ($22.00).

 

Oh wow... this is perfect! It's still a bit over what my budget is but I think I could possible afford that. Plus I'm currently in Hamilton right now which is fairly close to Burlington! Thank you so much! Are there any other Canadian stores offering either the FN093UT or FN092UA? Thanks so much!

 

Glad to assist. I'm unaware of any other Canadian online store at this time offering the FN093UT (or FN092UA) - certainly not at these prices. Perhaps Buy.com-Canada will offer these new models and other new EliteBook models several weeks from now.
BTW... it is my understanding that UFS-Inc's warehouse is in Mississauga, so if you're thinking of a pick-up order to save a few $$ on shipping you'll have a bit of a drive compared to the Burlington head-office location (next door to Hamilton).

I'm not sure whether I'll buy the 8440w #FN093UT#ABA (for $1629 CAD at ufs-inc.com) or the 8440p #WH257UT#ABA (for $1484 CAD at directdial.com). Both notebacks provide most of the same features. It comes down to graphics controller (integrated vs discrete), battery (6-cell vs 9-cell) and trim colour (standard platinum vs gunmetal grey) on the two notebooks. The deciding factor for me may be the battery.. that is, opt for the 6-cell battery notebook version (8440p - #WH257UT) to save some weight (.4 lbs) vs the 9-cell 8440w - not to mention $145 + taxes.

Final point.. I'm not entirely pleased that HP have abandoned the previous 16:10 ratio for the display screen and are now going with a 16:9 ratio. This is a business notebook after all. I may just buy a full-featured 6930p and be done with it.