HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation Review Discussion

The business notebook market has two types of systems; notebooks and mobile workstations. The workstation-class systems offer faster processors, better graphics options, and sometimes additional features over the regular business systems. In this review we take a look at the HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation and see how it compares to other systems we've reviewed.

Read the full content of this Article: HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation Review

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• HP EliteBook 8540p Review
• HP EliteBook 8440w Review

 

Something is very 'odd' about this review. The reviewer writes:

And the reviewer fails to point out
a) the 8540w is available with a IPS display
b) and that the IPS panel far exceeds the golor gamut of the Lenovo on the 8540w equipped w/the 30-bit DreamColor2 IPS display.

Granted, equipped w/an IPS display it's may not be equivalent in price (unless you selct the ATI card, in which case it nearly is), but it's still worth mentioning even if the caveat in difference in price needs to be mentioned!

The DreamColor 2 display is clearly still selectable on this page:
HP's Small & Medium Business Online Store

I don't think I'm overstating that not mentioning that to be a glaring omission.


So for those that happen upon that review and then this thread, know that this display seen in the following link on the 8740w is available in 15" as an upgrade in the 8540w too: http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebook-news-reviews/503121-hp-8740w-review-full-metal-jacket.html

 

That screen option on a configurable notebook with the same options as the notebook we reviewed goes from $1,679 to a whopping $3,007. Double the price of this review model and well above the W510 even. Its not really comparable unless you throw price out the window.

 

How can a $425 option increase the end price by $1328? ...wouldn't it increase the price by $425? Did you get a discount on the base equipped model reviewed and you are comparing that price to the list price with DC2 and not counting in any discount? A 25% [-ish] average discount of a CTO 8740w is common among the owners.

It's also worth re-mentioning the ATI graphics card option. Selecting the ATI FirePro M5800 w/1Gig DDR3 VRam is a $ savings from $115 to $400, depending on which NVidia it is being compared to. That's the reason most of the owners who have the DC2 equipped 8740w opted for the ATI card. And that card is an excellent performers in 3D; waiting for the 2D drivers to be updated.

Just wanted to mention it "for the record". Any readers who happens along should know that the DC2 option is attainable at a very competitive price.

 

First, - nice review, Kevin!

M8o, -all valid points,
In addition, don't forget that HP 8540w comes with 3 year NBD warranty, while Lenovo W510 has only 1. If you get the ThinkPad with 3 year warranty and the 95% gamut multitouch screen, it would cost no less than the Elitebook.

Another word regarding the GPU performance. While M5800 is ~400$ cheaper, it's much more powerful than a FX880M (unless you're locked on CUDA)

Also, when comparing notebooks of the same class, the systems should have similar/max components. If you equip W510, M4500 and 8540w with the same CPU (i7-940XM) and the best GPU option - the HP will win in the performance benchmarks, as it has the most powerful graphics.

 

I cant find a review for the 8540w with the DC2 panel. Anyone has a link?
Nice review btw. I like the aesthetics a lot too. It's a shame we could not get the Firepro + DC2 review unit.

 

I followed your link and configured the system. Notice the base price on configurable models has a HUGE "tax" added to it. HP is notorious for this sort of thing. It might only be a $425 option, but you can only add it to a system with a starting price of well over 2000 bucks.

 

This is a great 15" workstation notebook but it would be my second choice after the W510 because I don't like the chicklet-style keyboard and prefer the inner magnesium roll cages to the outer metal shell. Plus, the W510 is better value for the money. Another thing, I prefer the cooling system on the Lenovo.

 

Having owned this system for about (2) months I would say the review is accurate. I would like to point out something out.

" In certain configurations the 8540w can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM using four memory slots. This only applies to systems with that amount of RAM configured from the factory, otherwise you get a system without those slots soldered to the board. In our configuration we only had two memory slots total; one located on the bottom of the chassis and under underneath the keyboard. Both slots were occupied."

The systems that come with (4) memory slots (2 under the keyboard and 2 on the bottom) are those equipped with quad core processors. The system board is different on these. This can be confirmed in the 8540W maintenance manual (system board 595765-001 used for quad cores"

Computers that use the system board with spare part number 595765-001 have four memory slots.On these computers, in both the expansion memory slots (on the bottom of the computer) and theprimary memory slots (under the keyboard), slot 2 cannot be populated if slot 1 is not populated.

 

Hi Kevin, in your review you said:

Although no audio device appears on the Windows control panel, still it's possible to send audio over the DisplayPort. On the 8740w owner's lounge thread, we discussed that, and our mate NotebookGrail also achieved to send audio over DisplayPort. In fact, the DisplayPort of this machine is DP++ (dual mode port). Although is not only necessary to implement a DP++, the manufacturer must support signaling audio too. In this case, it does. You need an active DP->HDMI adapter, ver. 1.1a (the 'a' revision is VERY IMPORTANT) in order to send video and audio to your HDTV though.

According to this post this can be achieved without many problems.

However, one thing pending to verify is if the EliteBooks support HDCP protection found in commercial HD movies. But this is not a major problem, because there are some programs in the market which remove this protection on-the-fly for you

EDIT: Here you have another thread about successful audio passthrough over DisplayPort on the 8540w.

 

Do you have the link to the comparisons for the GPUs? The M5800 has GDDR3 and doesn't seem much better than the FX 880M, while it shouldn't be able to tackle the FX 1800M w/ GDDR5 on paper.

 

I won't argue the cost point is going to be higher than a near base unit or pre-configured unit with entry level display; I still say not as bad as you're making it to be if you actually call HP and execute a purchase as they've been giving heavy discounts; low $2K is likely (my 8740w was mid $2K before I started upgrading the processor and other things). My point really was that if you're comparing the base-unit's WVA screen to what you've seen of other IPS screens, it can come with one and probably the best one ever in a Laptop, and if make passing mention to color gamut, I just kinda figured a sentence or two in the same location mentioning one can upgrade to the widest gamut, highest bit-depth, widest view-angle IPS screen to be had. One thereby gets the cream of the crop, pièce de résistance, indisputably best display and driver hardware to be found in a laptop to date. ...that was really my point. Sorry I annoyed.

 

Add a quad core, FHD+ and ati gpu and its the elite book I wanted. Too bad when I was buying my SXPS that config would have been well over $3000. Oh well great review.

 

Its about $3000 indeed from one of the preconfigured systems. FirePro + Dreamcolor+7X0QM+8GB ram. Only thing missing is an ssd.

 

Don't forget to take the warranty into the account. 3 years with on-site support will add 400$ to the ThinkPad while you get it with the Elitebook by default. Also, the best screen for the W510 is 95% gamut multi-touch (+400$ extra) and it still falls way behind the Dream Color IPS.

Well, I'll look for the benches from the 8540w owners lounge, but AFAIK, M5800 was on par/ slightly better in Vantage and other synthetics than FX1800M with GDDR5.
This is also confirmed by Notebookcheck here (look for the scores and compare)

 

Hi to everyone,


I have bought this laptop recently and in my hastiness to use it, I skipped the initial HP configuration. So, I would like to know how to retrieve it and secondly, how to configure the fingerprint-biometric scanner.


Thx.

 

Hmm ... kinda disappointing about the battery life and the heat it gives out, but with such components maybe not too surprising?

 

in short. the quadro fx 880m=330m, 1800m=335m(but gddr5) and the m5800=5730 hence the reason why it performs really well when on paper you wouldnt think so.

 

I'm well aware of their consumer counterparts, though I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, since on paper the GDDR5 for the FX 1800M should boost it a fair bit above the M5800 GDDR3, which is slightly better than the FX 880M GDDR3.

 

I wouldn't say that M5800 is slightly better than FX880M. From numerous gaming and synthetic benches found in the 8540w owners lounge, the gap between them is quite significant. FX1800M is very close to the FirePro in games but still is a bit behind in synthetics.
I'll dig through that thread to find you the proof...

 

For EliteBooks, there's magnesium alloy under the plastic that's under the aluminum. The aluminum panels are really just there for aesthetics, as well as extra rigidity and scratch resistance.

 

@Sgogeta4,

Here are few benches of M5800 vs FX1800M:

3DMark06:

FX1800M + 620M
M5800 + 620M
another M5800+620M .

3DMark Vantage:

620M+M5800
720QM+FX1800M
820QM+M5800

If you look here, click the GPU and then go for the details or compare of the benches - it's going to be very similar (given the same CPU was chosen).

 

Very nice review, Kevin. I am envious you got to test this one.

HP makes the highest-quality business notebooks on the market; they keep getting better. The EliteBook line is simply fantastic through and through.

Unfortunately they're kinda out of my budget. Maybe next notebook.

 

What's your budget, Charles?
You can easily get a 28% OFF on any Elitebook if ordering through a rep.
If you need my rep contact info - PM me

 

Thanks, Aikimox.

 

$0 ATM. I bought a ProBook in November '09, it's working out quite well and has more power than I need. I may be looking at a new notebook next year when I go to replace my desktop -- might as well wait for the next Intel platform at this point.

 

I see. Yeah, I'd wait till the next platform if not in a rush. Maybe even till Nvidia's Kepler which should be 10x faster than Fermi according to their roadmap.

 

Don't you think benchmarking workstation GPU's with traditional synthetic gaming benchmarks not the best choice?

If you can, would be interesting to see benchmarks of pro software. That I'd like to see considering how expensive a Quadro card in comparison to FirePro. I would also like to see as someone else has already benched a HD5870M with a FirePro softmod with pro benchmarks, be nice to see how a softmodded 5870M compares to a mobile Quadro.

Thanks in advance.

Just thinking for design or computer science students or anyone on a budget, a Sager 15" with 5870M softmodded might give this HP notebook a run for it's money, if the incredible quality of build wasn't that important.

 

Would you be so kind to provide the links to some specific tests?

A very small % of the buyers will focus on pro apps when purchasing business grade laptops. Simply because we don't just run DCC and CAD. We also game, watch HD movies and process photos.
Now, let's say you have two pro cards and both run CAD very smooth.
Would you care about benches? I wouldn't. But I would care about good gaming scores as that would mean playing my favorite titles @ higher settings.

If you read through the 8740w owners lounge, you will discover that both FirePro M7820 (5870) and Quadro FX3800M manage pro software well. There was an issue with 2D (M7820) that was fixed with the latest driver update.

Now, Nvidia's CUDA is another story. Those who absolutely need CUDA for work, will pay the extra for the Quadro GPU's.

I have a 8740w with M7820 and would gladly run any pro benchmarks if you point me to them.

 

This seems to be an easy benchmark to run. http://www.spec.org/gwpg/gpc.static/vp11info.html

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the link, downloading as we speak.






<<<<<<<<< I did a run @ 1920x 1200, same as here (those are the desktop PRO results). Now, I'm waiting for someone with FX3800M/FX2800M/5000M to do the same test in the HP 8740w owners lounge, to see the difference.

Here's is my score:

 

Anyone feeling kind enough to hook me up with a HP representative? I've called up before and only got them to give me the 24% discount.

I'm looking to get a 820QM with Dream Color and need all the help I can get

thanks!

 

Nevermind! Called up this morning and was able to get 27% with free shipping. Not too bad I guess.. We'll see how good she is in a couple weeks time. Can't wait!

 

How can you measure a contrast ratio of 734:1 for the 1600x900 screen when the HP specs sheet says it's average contrast ratio is 300:1?

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/division/10008.html

 

In the past with other HP's I've bought, it was foolish to buy through HP the full RAM it could hold, HP put such a high premium on the price they sold it at. Better to buy the extra ram from 3rd party like crucible and save 100's of $s if not more.

Is that the case here?

I am not yet ready to make my final purchase but will in a few weeks. I am pretty sure I am going for this maxed out Dreamscape screen, quad, SSD, etc.

Just wondered if people thought I should get the upgraded ram from 3rd party and any other advice. HP's own site is confusing, charging different prices for the same RAM -- sometimes from 3rd party -- other items as well.

Haven't had the time to call them as of yet to sort all of this out.

 

You're betting off getting the RAM aftermarket; I went with the minimum on my 8740w. You can get 4GB DDR3 sticks for about $70-75 on Newegg . . . if you get it with 2GB, then you could make that 6GB for the price they want for 4GB.

 

vert interesting, thanks for that.

 

give me the goods! I might order one later this month.

I need DreamColor in my life.

 

Thanks for review and all comments. Do these laptops come with 3 year international warranty standard and thanks.

Gary

 

PM sent

 

Yes they do. The warranty is supported in any country where HP has a presence:
http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/privacy/limited_warranty.html

 

Hi Aikimox -- thanks for all the great posts. I'm about to pull the trigger on an 8540w: 820QM, Dreamcolor 2, M5800 (thanks for the test results!), and 160 GB SSD. Got a quote emailed from an HP rep, but he only discounted the price 20%. I can already get the 24% online, but I'd love to talk to your rep -- sounds like he's the guy with the great deals! Would you please send me his contact info? I'd PM you, but this is my first post, and I need 4 more before I'm approved to PM. Thanks!!!

 

I updated your permissions early; you can send PMs now. Enjoy.

 

Wow -- thanks, Charles! And thanks for all the great posts. I was just reading your post about using keyboard shortcuts to launch programs in Windows 7. Terrific info!

 

PM sent

 

Why is this listed as a con under the review summary but not mentioned at all in the review? Also, is this feature even necessary? I find it hard to believe that a businessperson (or anyone) would need to be able to see their keys in the dark.

 

I work most nights in my home office. I prefer low lighting and I greatly appreciate having a backlit keyboard.

 

How low are we talking? Are they so low you can't read or make out any details? Don't excessively low levels of light increase eye strain and overall discomfort? And do you know how to touch type?

Backlit keyboards seem more like a luxury than a necessary feature and shouldn't be mentioned as a product disadvantage (it's not even a standard!). I don't think they're worth the decrease in battery life and increase in price, especially considering anyone who uses computers for business purposes should be able to touch type. Personally, I find them rather distracting as well.

 

Low enough to be comfortable for me. I don't work in the dark, but I never use the overhead lights. Just 3 lamps for indirect lighting and optionally turn on a desk lamp for task lighting. But to answer you other question, no I don't touch type. I learned in 7th grade, then never touched a computer again until 10th grade when suddenly all my papers had to be typed. Yeah I should buy some software and fix it, but I get by.

Regarding standard...Dell has pretty much made backlit keyboards a standard option on their business class notebooks. HP jumped on board with the 8740w and I'm pretty certain someone inside HP said there would be one for the 8540w but it never materialized.

 

I belong an elitebook 8540w since 6 days and one defect is the metal shell is easy to scratch by even a not so hard shock.
I wonder if there exist a product I mean something to eliminate or cover( in order not to be seen) them.
Last thing, with all of the bundle software why HP does not do not add that to activate and use the webcam? I needed to download one in order to test it.

Bye.