HP EliteBook 8540p Review

The EliteBook is HP’s business-rugged notebook family aimed squarely at the Lenovo ThinkPad and Dell Latitude. Offering an attractive brushed metal finish, excellent build quality, and high-end processor and graphics options, the EliteBook-series is targeted at business users who need the power of a desktop in a mobile package. We took an in-depth look at the HP EliteBook 8540p to see how it stacks up against the competition.

Our HP EliteBook 8540p Specifications:

• Intel Core i5-520M (2.4GHz, 6MB L2 cache)
• Microsoft Genuine Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)
• 15.6-inch LED-backlit HD+ anti-glare (1600 x 900)
• NVIDIA NVS 5100m graphics with 1GB GDDR3
• 2GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM (16GB Max)
• 320GB 7200RPM HDD
• Intel Ultimate-N 6300 AGN WiFi, 1Gb Ethernet, Modem, and Bluetooth Connectivity
• 8-Cell 73WHr Battery (14.4V)
• Dimensions: 14.7” x 9.90” x 1.28”
• Weight: 6lbs 7.9oz
• Price as configured: $1,299 with 3-year onsite warranty

Build and Design
The HP EliteBooks have a very stylish brushed-metal exterior that adds a splash of sophistication to what is usually a dull or boring business notebook. The metal cladding gives the notebook a bright eye-catching design, helps to hide fingerprints, and really pulls together the look that the notebook could stand up to the rigors of daily abuse. HP even went as far as putting matching silver trim pieces around the screen hinges, showing no design element is too small. The brushed-metal finish really flows well with the black chassis and black inlays around the keyboard and touchpad. While I am usually partial to all-black business notebooks, the HP EliteBook-series really makes me want to jump to the other side.

The EliteBook feels as hard as a rock when you first pick it up. The alloy chassis and brushed metal body panels have very little give under a strong grip. The screen cover has some mild flex but nothing we haven’t seen in other business notebooks. Even with its small about of flex the screen cover does an excellent job of looking good and protecting the display housed within. The brushed metal finish resists scratching and fingerprints, keeping a pristine appearance long after most painted notebooks might be looking a bit worse for wear. Screen protection is excellent with no distortion of the LCD-panel even with strong pressure applied to the back of the cover.

When you open the notebook and start squeezing on the palmrest and surrounding panels the first thing you notice is how strong the entire chassis feels. The thin brushed-metal panels have excellent support underneath, with absolutely no flex at all under a strong grip. The keyboard has minimal flex if you squeeze it hard, showing maybe 1-2mm of movement before it stops dead like you were pressing it into a rock.

On most notebooks the strength of the lower chassis is usually overlooked, especially around the optical drive which is the widest open bay. Pressing on the edge of the opening it flexes slightly until it makes contact with the bezel of the DVD-recorder. As you move away from the edge it feels like you are trying to squeeze a wood board.

Screen and Speakers
The 15.6” HD+ panel on the 8540p EliteBook looks very nice compared to most of the business displays that have come through our doors. Colors saturation is excellent, contrast is above average, and black levels are great. This screen would be perfect for anything ranging from editing photos to watching the latest HD movies. Backlight brightness is more than adequate for viewing the screen in bright office conditions but still falls short when trying to use the notebook outdoors on a sunny day. Finding shade from a tree or getting a screen hood would probably do wonders though since the panel offers an anti-reflective coating to minimize glare. Viewing angles are above average but still fall short compared to some of the PVA or IPS panels we have seen in the past. Vertical viewing angles have a broad sweet spot of 15-20 degrees before colors start to significantly invert. Horizontal viewing angles are much better, staying true even while viewing from the far edge of the screen.

The onboard speakers fall short when compared to most consumer notebooks of the same size but when compared to other business notebooks they are par for the course. For listening to streaming music or an online video the speakers are more than adequate, but if you want to enjoy a movie while traveling a nice set of headphones is a good investment.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The HP EliteBook keyboard is designed to feel like a Chiclet-style keyboard but offer the look of a traditional keyboard. The key tops are flat with a sharp edge which drops off to reveal a surrounding border that acts as a spacer between all the keys on the keyboard. Coming from a traditional keyboard that has cupped keys the flat tops can feel off-putting at first, but it has the same learning curve as a Chiclet-style keyboard. After a few days you adapt and you produce fewer typing errors. The keyboard design is very good with a strong support-structure that resists any significant flex. Under strong pressure you can slightly bend the tray directly underneath the specific key you are pressing, but it stops once you compress it against the chassis.

Individual key action is smooth with mild pressure required to trigger each key. Noise is minimal at worst, making this keyboard great for typing in areas where people might not want to hear you clacking away on a term paper or report.

The EliteBook 8540p offers a moderately sized Synaptics touchpad that is easy to use and has no noticeable lag. The touchpad responds quickly to inputs and has a fast enough refresh rate where it never experiences any “cursor-trails” when quickly drawing or moving towards objects. The touchpad surface is a mildly-textured surface with a fine-matte finish that is easy to glide across even with a damp finger. The EliteBook also offers a pointing-stick interface if you chose to use that style of input. The pointing-stick interface was quick to respond to movement and didn’t have any problem with movement when not in use.

One cool feature that I love about the EliteBook 8540p is the addition of a middle mouse button for the touchpad and pointing-stick. Most notebooks only include a left and right mouse button, which can be annoying if you frequently use a tab-interface. The middle mouse button when properly set in the control panel can be used as a middle-click button that lets you open links as new tabs or quickly close opened tabs without activating a context menu.

Ports and Features
The HP EliteBook offers a wide range of ports, including a few we have not seen on any other notebooks in for review. The 8540p offers two USB 3.0 ports which are perfect for connecting high-speed storage devices without needing a second cable to connect to an eSATA or FireWire port. In addition to the USB 3.0 ports the notebook also offers three traditional USB ports, FireWire 400, eSATA, DisplayPort, VGA-out, and audio connections. This machine easily packs more ports into the design than we have seen on any other notebook in its category. Expansion and security features include a smart-card reader, an ExpressCard/54 slot, and a SDHC-card slot.

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Performance and Benchmarks
System performance was excellent with its dual-core Intel Core i5 mobile processor and NVIDIA NVS 5100m dedicated graphics with 1GB of DDR3 memory. Users looking for even more power can upgrade to the 1.66GHz Core i7-720QM processor depending on how much mobile processing power they need. In our tests we found the dual-core2.4GHz i5-520M processor to be more than enough for the average daily tasks of browsing the web, decoding multiple 1080P videos at the same time, or just playing some of the latest video games. Our configuration included a 7200RPM hard drive to keep program access times and load times to a minimum. For even greater performance and durability two SSD options are offered with capacities including 160GB and 256GB.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
The HP EliteBook 8540p does a good job of handling the thermal output of its fast processor and graphics card, but compared to other notebooks we have reviewed it does run a bit loud. At a distance of 6-inches from the exhaust vent we measured the fan noise at upwards of 50dB during our stress test. Under normal daily activities fan noise isn&rsquo;t as loud, roughly the same noise output as a whisper. Heat through the chassis is minimal even under stress thanks to the high fan output. This is very important since the metal cladding can sometimes act as a heatsink on some notebooks and transmit more heat into your legs or wrists.

Battery Life
With the 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor and NVIDIA NVS 5100M graphics the EliteBook 8540p wasn&rsquo;t exactly the best case scenario for extended battery life. In our battery tests with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 set to the Balanced profile the system stayed on for 5 hours and 5 minutes. This is still plenty of time to get a movie or two in while traveling with a conservative backlight level, but if you are looking for impressive battery life figures you need to look towards notebooks with smaller screens and more conservative graphics options.

Software
HP includes two new applications worth mentioning on the new EliteBook. One is a video conferencing package called SkyRoom and the other is the new power management suite called HP Power Assistant. SkyRoom gives users a way to communicate with video and audio to other SkyRoom users as well as share desktops to collaborate on projects even if you are across the country. Testing it out in the office we ran into a few problems if you were behind a network address translation (NAT), since SkyRoom really wanted each user to have a directly accessible external IP address. If you are behind your company&rsquo;s firewall this could be a problem, but for most users on a 3G connection or at home there are ways to work around this.

HP Power Assistant helps users realize the impact of the notebook running in various power configurations. Not only do you get the standard power profiles, time remaining figures, and power usage in watts, but you can also have it graph out what that works out to in cost per day, week, and year. You input your local cost per kWh and it estimates the costs based on current power usage. Another cool feature is you can work out how much that translates into CO2 output to estimate your carbon footprint. This looks like a fantastic tool for IT managers who need to provide total system costs to company accountants ... or for bosses who need to explain why it's important for employees to shut down their computers at the end of the day.

Conclusion
The HP EliteBook 8540p really gives the competitors a run for the money. The design leans heavily towards the trendy side with a strong emphasis on excellent build quality. While I still have strong feelings for the ThinkPad brand I have to say the brushed metal finish is really something else. Gripping the notebook in your hands it feels like a solid block, having very little flex anywhere. Performance was great with a wide range of configuration options, including the Intel Core i5 and i7 processors with NVIDIA NVS 5100M dedicated graphics as well as optional SSDs. For the business professional always on the go the battery life is just over five hours which should give enough time for most tasks away from a power outlet, but if you expect to break 9-10 hours look for a smaller system. Overall you really have to look hard to find anything wrong with this notebook. The only area that I could see being improved is the price but that is wishful thinking especially when it comes to business notebooks.

Pros:

• Excellent build quality
• Stylish design
• Above average display

Cons:

• Not offered in all-black

Related Articles:

• HP EliteBook 8440w Review
• HP ProBook 5310m Review

 

Awesome minus the chiklet like keys. Can't wait for the 8540w review!

 

excellent review! Any chance that you will also review w model?

 

20 degrees vertical, is that not a little too small?

At what resolution was the 3DMark06 test done?
I find that the touchpad is extremely wide and small...sorry, but the 8530p was better looking IMHO (I dont like the numpads in general...)

Forgot to ask, very important, is the Intel IGP working? What is the chipset used?

 

Thanks for the review, I am also hoping for a review on the w model.

A few questions:

1) It appears the color of the 8540p is lighter than the "gun metal" color of the 8440w. Is this true? (internet pics always make this hard to see). Also, if the color is different, do you know which color the 8540w will be?

2) You measured the noise level (thanks, you guys rarely do that, or at least you tend not to report the number). Can you specify your measurement conditions?
-were you measuring dBA-weighted, C-weighted or un-weighted
-was this measured in a quiet room (do you measure background noise first)
-is your meter able to measure 1/1 or 1/3 octave bands

3) Can this actually be upgraded to 16 GB RAM as reported? The HP literature I've seen specified that 16 GB RAM is only available with quad-core CPU's.

 

What actually is this NVS 5100m?

 

I noticed the graphic benchmarks scored better than the dell studio 1747, are you sure that nvidia card is better than the ati hd4650? Or did I mis something...
It would be very nice though if the gpu was in fact better than the ati hd4650, which is good enough for my needs, especially considering the sturdy design.

 

NVIDIA Quadro NVS GPUs are professional, made for multiple monitors in theory and 2D enhancements. Little is known yet, as they are new: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Quadro-NVS-5100.24946.0.html

 

I love how they have the numpad used instead of wasted space.

 

You can't get much better than that without moving up to a higher quality PVA or IPS panel.

3DMark06 was at 1280x800

1) The 8440w was gunmetal grey, the 8540p is silver, much lighter in color.

To give a car example, this is the grey



This is the silver



I only bring up the VW's since my 2007 GTI was the lighter silver and my 2009 Rabbit is the darker grey. The colors are very similar to the notebooks

2) This was the sound meter being used. On the lowend it reads at 40dB, with a A+C weighting. http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=18&prodid=233

We normally don't use it in reviews since most notebooks in the past 2 or so years are well into the 30db range where it mixes in with background noise or can't be picked up unless practically touching the notebook. In the case with this notebook the reading was taken in a quiet basement office that was dead silent at the time. You could have heard crickets

3)Good question! The 8540p supports 16GB of memory in some configurations. In our review model it only offered 2 memory slots, but had surface connections for another set to be soldered in place for a total of 4 slots. I am guessing the higher configurations include the 4 slots to support a total of 16GB of memory.

 

Was wondering when this would show up since you guys dropped the little hint in the 8440w review.

NVS cards have been around. The NVS 5100m is new though. It looks like the new version of the 9700M GTS/FX 2700M. Nvidia cards basically fall into these categories - Office certification for Quadro NVS, CAD/CAO certification for FX and gaming oriented for Mobile GeForce. More info refer to -> http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1597704#post1597704



Hmm, I'm surprised though. How is 5 hours on a 15.6" dedicated graphics machine with wireless and other stuff running not considered very good?

 

A and C weightings are different settings, do you know which setting you used? It probably doesn't really matter that much for fan noise (mid-to-high frequency noise). A-weighting greatly discounts the low frequencies similar to what are ears do...C-weighting has a small amount of low and high roll-off but is very close to flat. A-weighting is by far the most common setting.

So will the 8540p offer quad cores?

 

It defaults to A-weighting when turned on.

HP lists the Core i7's as options so all signs point to yes.

 

Any chance you can post a cpuz capture for this mysterious video card? I am interested at what frequency it is clocked at. Also how are the black values and contrast on this laptops panel? Are they better than ones offered on lenovos t500 and 400 models?

 

Great. The 16:9 Craze has spread to professional workstations....

Better snap up an 8530p/w before they're gone....

 

Already happened to the Thinkpads.

I'm just waiting on Dell, since the M6500 came with 16:10.

 

According to notebookcheck it is probably a GT 330M derivative.

 

Great review! However, I find the 8540p to be a bit of a letdown. There is very little change between the 8540p and the 8530p (but sure, why mess with a design that works?). From what I can tell there are three main changes:

- the components (CPU & GPU) have been updated;
- the screen now has a 16:9 ratio, which cannot be considered an improvement (has been done out of need, really);
- because of the 16:9 screen, new keyboard with keypad, which may or may not be a plus.

The noise is an ongoing problem that has been going on for a long time with the EliteBook series. That's a pretty big con in my book; it is annoying that HP did not fix that problem yet. High-end business notebooks have no business (no pun intended) being noisy (see Lenovo's great efforts in that area).

The 8540p is also more of the same; they didn't introduce anything new. They could've added:

- a bigger, multitouch touchpad: this is far from being a mere gadget -- you wouldn't believe how comfortable a big, multitouch touchpad is;
- a backlit keyboard (ala Dell): I've heard nothing but praise for Dell's Precision backlit keyboard;
- please bring back the hot-swappable media bay.

Something innovative might be in order? The T510 has a "third-generation fan", making it quieter than ever, the T410 has a touch screen, the Latitude Z has a touch-sensitive side panel (not that useless; has potential, really).

So, the 8540p is an incremental improvement over the previous series, which is all very well and good, but at such a high price, the HP 8540p should have some added pizazz, and not just what is now a given for all expensive business notebooks (eg good build quality, good keyboard, and so on).

Also, what's with the new fad of putting screen rubbers on the palmrest? The Precision M4400 has that too and it's just terrible, design-wise. (Well, at least HP still has screen rubbers.)

 

I wonder how loud they'd be with a quad core and how Lenovo's W510 deals with the heat.

Looks more like parts of the lid locking mechanism. Not too pretty I must say.

 

I was thinking about the three rubber pieces right under the keyboard, but you're right that the black round lid locking mechanism bits are a bit jarring on that light gray palmrest.

 

Yeah. the the circles on the front edge of the notebook are part of the lid locking mechanism. Not pretty, but also very solid from what I experienced with my 8730w (almost too solid, they need a few days of break in time to close smoothly). The rubber on the edge above the touchpad is to prevent grease marks from the keyboard on the screen (though the rubber marks do show up, it's better than having the entire screen covered with grease marks).

I like the number of ports. They somehow managed to put more in than my 8730w.

 

GPU must be the equivalent of a 250m, eh? IMpressive gaming potential from a business notebook. Not that I would ever game while on a biz trip....

 

Unless, of course, you were in the business of gaming

 

This machine has fairly decent benchmarks. Alas it has wkstn graphics chip but it should work well with Flash 10.x and Adobe CS.

The price is pretty decent but a FullHD option would have been more to the liking.

2 USB 3.0 ports is a definite future-proofing.

 

Well it's not terrible battery life, but it is an 8 cell at 73 W*h, along with a LED backlit screen, and Core i5 processor (the quad i7's will have worse battery life, that's for sure). Since it's 73 W*h and lasts for 5 hours, that means it's consuming 14.6 watts on average, which I consider to be on the high end. The T400, although it is a 14 inch laptop, consumed 7-8 watts according to the NBR review and got more than 7 hours on a 6 cell.

 

That's still pretty impressive battery life for a lot more power and bigger screen, all which consume quite a bit more power. Quite understandable.

 

Pretty nice. The Elitebooks are what Thinkpad used to be before Lenovo ruined them. Even better actually.

 

From this review, I think I'll like the 8540p just as much as I like the 8530p, but I'm kind of disappointed in the machine's heat management/noise again. Hopefully, the new Thinkpads will be better at that, as in the previous generation. Otherwise, it looks like a very solid machine - thanks for the review!

 

I was just realizing that the fully upgraded 8540p will be able to match the base W510 with i7-720QM, NVS 5100 and 16 GB RAM. That's odd considering the 8540 w is supposed to compete against the W510...then again, I can see the need for some overlap plus there is still doubt about whether Lenovo knows what GPU they are actually using in the W510 (apparently Lenovo's web and marketing teams know nothing about computers).

 

I looked back at the T400 review and it quoted 5h58m of battery life on a UMA system. Discrete graphics will reduce battery life up to several hours.

Quad-core will reduce battery life about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the exact configuration. Quad-core configurations have 4 SODIMM slots while Dual-core configurations have 2 SODIMM slots.

 

yah, but the Elitebook is still leaps and bounds better than the Thinkpad, for one the screens on Thinkpads for the last few years have horrible to say the LEAST! not to mention there support is also put in question by many costumers, HP has a good rep when it comes to supporting there business computers.

 

My bad, but in my opinion it should be a little better, the T400 even with discrete graphics on was consuming about 10.5 watts, while this HP did 14.6 watts, both on discrete graphics and both with LED backlit displays and 35 watt CPUs. Maybe the bigger screen is responsible for the extra power but it still should be a little better.

 

How about comparing it to other 15" business models? The T400 is also substantially less powerful.

 

The screen IS the major power consumer on a notebook...

 

Well 5 hours isn't bad. But it's not really great either. I guess the extra screen real estate is responsible for much of the difference. I did look at the 15" Macbook Pro and the T500 and they both consume a similar amount of power when on discrete graphics. Shame about no switchable graphics though.

 

There's a major difference in the entry-level GPU used in the T400 and the mid-high-level GPU used in the HP. The T400's GPU consumes 12 watts of power under load, the HP's is rated at 35 watts. Of course the idle values are not these, but it still suggests that there's a serious difference here.

Seems to me that this HP would benefit a lot from switchable graphics, but it seems only ATI Radeon cards have that -- no professional GPUs have had that extra. Anyone know why?

 

The Lenovo Thinkpad W500 had the ATI FireGL V5700 switchable (with Intel GMA 4500MHD). I also don't get why more OEMs don't implement switchable graphics.

 

Lenovo finally has new screens with the forced switch to 16:9. Whether these new screens are any good has yet to be seen.

 

awesome review thanks!!! I'm looking forwards to the 8540w review for sure

also is feb still the release date?

 

How come the IGP is not working? Was it tested in the review?

 

I suspect that this model, like many of the other early i5 adoptees that can upgrade to an i7 quad, does not have the proper connections to use the on-die IGP.

 

Nice review - good news about the GPU performance and screen, while somewhat disappointing about the noise. Certainly a contender in the price range, especially with USB 3 available with i5, unlike the Envy 15 which only offers it with i7.

However, I don't think the middle button on the Synaptics touchpad was really necessary - on my Synaptics touchpad (on a Dell Inspiron 1520), if you push where the left and right buttons meet, it acts as a middle click on a mouse. I'd imagine that this would be the case on all Synaptics touchpads since mid-2007. Granted, the third button is easy to see whereas the other technique isn't obvious, but if you've already got a Synaptics touchpad, you probably don't need to get a new laptop for middle-click functionality.

 

If it uses the PM55 chipset then it won't support integrated graphics.

 

Are HP business laptops higher quality than their consumer ones? I like the design but my previous HP pavilions have all failed and had to be serviced on numerous occasions. Anyone know if these systems are more reliable and whether the technical support is better?

 

That depends on what you mean by higher quality? All manufacturers business notebook are more heavily constructed. Which is the primary difference. The other difference are warranty and support. And lets not forget price.

As for the review, speaking purely on aesthetics, the chassie my may have a nice covering but it's design is butt ugly. I see no practical reason why a business notebook has can't have more attractive design cues. After all, even a work truck (to hearken back to your car analogy OP) can have some pretty sleek lines nowadays But that doesn't make municipalities refuse to purchase them. It's time to set a new paradigm.

 

I see no problem at all with the EliteBook design. It has straight lines that give it an industrial tech look. Sure the hinges are absolutely ugly, but that's in the name of durability. I personally don't like many curves in tech design. The EliteBook is by far my favorite design in laptops, either business or consumer. It has an understated simple style to it that I just can't describe.

 

This EliteBook being reviewed comes with a three year warranty vs. a one year warranty on a consumer notebook.

 

Contrast and black levels are great and well above any of the T400's or T500's that I have reviewed. I have not had a chance to look at the newer T410 or T510 screens for very long yet so those might be improved.

Attached are the CPUz and GPUz shots as requested

 

Have we been given any indication on a release date for the 8540's?

 

There is significant overhead involved with a switchable graphics implementation. This overhead consumes additional power, and you end up with shorter battery life with a switchable graphics system running discrete graphics vs. a only discrete solution. You do end up with longer battery life when running UMA graphics on a switchable graphics system, but you sacrifice battery life when using the discrete GPU.