HP EliteBook 8540p Review

I believe on NBR, someone tested the 720QM and 620M. Extrapolating the data for the 820 and 920, one would see some performance benefit but the price goes up exponentially and so does power consumed. If money and power (battery life) is no object, then I'm sure the 920XM would be the best choice, but at $999+, majority of users wouldn't see a significant benefit from the much cheaper 540M.

 

Interesting...When I looked at the specs for the 720 and 820 I almost feel like intel wanted to just charge the public extra for more L3 cache but knew they wouldn't give a crap about a MB or two difference with such a big cost difference so they threw in an extra 173 MHz and decided that would make people bite.

 

hook...line...and sinker!

it does work, Altoid. I would be part of that population since I honestly don't know what 1 MB of L3 cache difference would make...actually, anyone got an answer to that?

 

It would increase performance. How much depends on what you're running.

I'm a developer and I work on a CPU/memory intensive application and I've seen big speed ups (20-30%) running the app on machines with more cache. This is mostly because my app has bad "locality" (a measurement of how fat data structures are, how close in memory related data structures are, and how much code jumps around). Bad locality means that the apps needs to load memory from lots of different places in memory, and that increases the chance of cache misses, which stalls the CPU, which kills performance. There's quite a bit of software out there like this now because of the languages and runtimes they use. If you have a multicore CPU (and you're using all the cores) the problem gets worse because the different apps are now competing for the cache. How much benefit any given app will see is difficult to say though, and apps that have really good locality may not benefit at all from extra cache.

I'm personally going for the 820QM because I know I'll see a benefit from the extra cache, plus the Turbo Boost steppings for the 820QM are bigger than the 720QM. For the 720QM the Turbo Boost steppings are 1/1/6/9 (in groups of 133MHz) when there are 4/3/2/1 cores in use. For the 820QM the steppings are 2/2/8/10. So adding up the numbers you get:

i7-720QM: Base 1600MHz, with Turbo Boost at 4/3/2/1 cores: 1733/1733/2398/2797MHz
i7-820QM: Base 1733MHz, with Turbo Boost at 4/3/2/1 cores: 1999/1999/2797/3063MHz

They're both going to drain battery under heavy load but I'm going to be running mine plugged in most of the time.

 

The configurable models are available but you need to go through a specific webpage. See my post here.

 

It looks like the price goes up by $4-500 just to have a configurable model. The added options also seem a bit more expensive than what I've seen from other companies. I bet this gets more reasonable in a few weeks when they are configurable through the main site.

 

I just went back and read the review on the 8530W and realized the significant improvement in battery life with the 8540P

8530 = 3.5 hours
8540 = 5 hours

Just wondering what might have contributed to the increase? LED backlit screen? Lower current consumption with the NVS 5100m? Core i5-520 that much more energy efficient than T9400?

Thinking about making the jump to the 8540P, anybody know if the UpgradeBay from my 6930P will work with the 8540P?
nevermind, found the answer for this
http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=216
according to them, it's the same part

 

My guess is the LED screen and the new GPU are the main improvements - the T9400 likely does not consume significantly more power than the i5 520 on idle.

 

I'd agree, the screen is typically the biggest power consumer in a notebook, followed by the GPU...

 

Hi,

I have just purchased a HP Elitebook 8540P.

Very nice laptop apart from one thing. When using the laptop with the power adaptor, the metallic surface feels slightly electric giving this tingling feeling when touching it. Not an explicit electrical shock, but you can definitely feel some sort of lov-voltage electricity going through your fingers. It is the entire metallic frame above and below the keyboard.

This is when the computer is used in an electrical socket which is not grounded - when unplugging the power adaptor or using a grounded socket at work, everythings fine.

Is this normal or should I complain about the Elitebook? When working at home, I dont have access to grounded sockets, so Im a little concerned about using the computer with the lov-voltage feeling.

 

I have the same feeling with a Dell at work, and haven't really found a way to change it.
It's really annoying actually.
That could be a deal breaker for me.

 

hang on to it for now. it prob took you ages to get it. after a while complain. by then it shouldnt take them that long to replace if they have to replace the unit.

 

IIRC the Dell XPS 1530 had the same problem. Contact HP and ask for a replacement as that shouldn't happen.

 

Does anyone know if the touchpad has multi-touch functionality, most importantly two finger right click and scrolling?

 

Actually, it looks like a tingling sensation is "normal" for metal laptops without grounding -- this makes sense, if you consider the fact that the DC voltage of the system, relative to "ground", will be undefined. The best course of action would be to add a ground -- even if nothing but a tie-in to the house plumbing.

Document title: Metal Surfaces and 3-Prong Grounded AC Adapters
http://bizsupport.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01524741/c01524741.pdf

Edit: also: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread228390.html

Edit again: ... and this: http://amasci.com/amateur/whygnd.html

 

Is there much difference between 8-cell (68 WHr) and 8-cell (73 WHr)?

 

Yes, about 5 WHrs.

Seriously though, the 68 WHr comes with a 3 yr warranty. One would assume the battery technology is different to increase number of cycles that the battery can withstand before wearing out. But obviously when both are new, the cheaper 73 WHr should last about 7% longer under identical conditions. Then at some point in the future, the 73 WHr battery will have worn down faster than the 68 and hold less charge. That's my guess anyway.

 

Excellent review, but can somebody rate normal hd screen quality (1366x768)- is it good as hd+ one..

 

Is this one any lighter than the 8510P?

How does the graphics card perform?

 

I tried to provide feedback on this product directly on the HP site but for some reason it hasn't shown up after several weeks, so I figured I could post this here...

----------

Having worked with computers for over 30 years now, I have used laptops on a daily basis for about 15 years; at work, at home, helping others, including Macs, etc. When the time came to overhaul my existing personal/professional system, I looked around quite a bit before settling down on a newer HP EliteBook 8540p (exact model wh252ut).

In March, there was essentially no supply. I ended up receiving my machine mid-April and was told I was lucky, since the ETA had been mid-May (apparently Core-i7 related). Anyway, I have now used the 8540p for about one month.

The first impression is that the machine is well built, strong with a nice fingerprint-resistant finish. Weight is well balanced. There is limited documentation included but a pointer to online help. My machine came with 5 media, XP + drivers, Windows 7 (32 and 64 bits) + drivers.

The initial software load (XP) took about 20 minutes. At the end of the disk, there is a 2GB partition (25% occupied) for HP software, with a trailing 9MB empty (why?), resulting in 296GB of usable space. The disk is fast and noiseless.

I ended up reformatting the drive and installed Windows 7 (64 bits), which took about 30 minutes, plus drivers, plus some bundled software. I tried to load the latest ubuntu 10.4 and that failed (the display comes up and shows progression but seems to hunt around for information and starts over). I had no problem loading that software (32 bits) on another older HP and a recent Dell, so the media is not at fault. I will have to research this issue further.

General comments:

1. noise level is barely audible when idle, a slight breeze when under reasonable load (I haven't yet tried pushing the box with 3D);
2. keyboard typing (slightly softer / less rebound than previous HP) is good - pressure sensitivity is uniform throughout;
3. numeric keypad offsets main keyboard a bit to the left - takes some getting used to;
4. trackpad is small (same aspect as screen), scroll zone barely usable, no multi-touch;
5. rubbery pointing stick is a little large and somewhat prone to accidental touch for <gbh> keys;
6. three trackpad buttons (top and bottom) have a rubbery finish and soft touch - better than I expected feel;
7. speaker sound (reasonable for midrange and treble for this speaker size, loud enough) and controls (visual feedback) are good;
8. dvd opens on right, elevated just enough to clear and rest on mouse pad (be careful otherwise when pressing down on platter);
9. screen brightness (good) sharpness (very good, no pixel defects) and viewing angles (moderate);
10. top light provides little help, a lighted keyboard may have been better;
11. general responsiveness is very good but with no software "aging", fragmentation, etc. Clearly, this configuration is still above the current generation software bloat;
12. stays cool to touch;
13. software bundle is clean and useful for the most part.

Conclusions:

Pros:
1. connectivity: usb3, esata, firewire, displayport, GigE, wireless, etc - this was a main selling point for me... this machine has everything included;
2. processor and graphic chips are excellent;
3. bright display with anti-glare;
4. large 7200rpm drive (with a dual drive option, for SSD, once the offering and prices become a little more practical and affordable - this will be excellent).

Cons:
1. port placement on both sides (I would have preferred the back to keep working area uncluttered), but this seems an industry tendency because of long duration battery design extending in the back;
2. display format for a business computer is not practical (I would have preferred a "taller" aspect, 16:10 or better), limited vertical resolution - begs for a second screen. Again, this seems to be a sad consumer-industry induced practice but I would have hoped a machine of this stature could have avoided falling for this trap. After all, what is the intended market?

All in all, a very good machine so far. Really no bad surprises to point out. I almost gave it a 5/5 but I am picky for excellence...

 

I waited a lot to get mine but at least here I am. This is the best Laptop I ever used. My only complain is for the spacebar, at list on mine sample, it needs to be hit with the right angle a take care that the result was the desired one.

 

Does the 8450p have a backlit keyboard or other method of lighting?

 

The 8450p, as well as all other Elitebooks, use a pop-out keyboard light mounted in the upper display bezel that they term the "Night Light."

 

Thats a shame. I'd have gone for one of these if it had backlit keyboard.

thanks for the reply.

 

The 8740w Elitebook comes with a backlit option. Of course, that's a much higher grade of beast.