HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation Review

While HP has changed the name of its mobile workstation notebook line, the HP ZBook 17 remains a traditional workstation device. Sizeable with strong performance levels and ample connectivity the ZBook is the perfect work horse of users looking to tackle demanding computing tasks. However, with our test unit priced well over $3,000 that performance comes at a steep price.

Does the HP ZBook 17 warrant its high-end costs? Read the full review to find out.

Read the full content of this Article: http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/hp-zbook-17-mobile-workstation-review/

 

You seem to have missed or chose to not address some important points regarding graphics cards in this review.

No, this is not the top-notch performance I expect from a 17 inch workstation. Specifically, the K610M is terribly underpowered. The entry level GPU on the 8770w was Firepro M4000 (which was also underpowered for a 17 inch workstation…it was actually intended for a 15 inch laptop). More importantly, the only competitor on the market is Dell’s M6800 which offers Firepro M6100 as entry level graphics. So how do these 3 cards stack up? [important note, the M6100 hasn’t been bench marked yet, so I have to resort to using the last generation M6000 as a baseline].

In 3DMark11, the M4000 will perform 60-70% better. The M6000 is 100% stronger (and one can safely conclude the M6100 will be better than this).

Now this should not surprise anyone as you do state in your review that this card is not so good at gaming and the benchmark results show how dismal this card is. But you do try to gloss over this by making unsubstantiated claims about performance in professional applications.

Specifically you cite those applications which use OpenGL. So let’s look at Cinebench R11.5 (OpenGL 64bit). The M4000 is ~95% stronger while the M6000 ~140% up on the K610M.

I’m sorry to be so confrontational, but I can’t believe how no reviewers are calling out Nvidia and HP on this. The K610M would be a satisfactory option for someone who has GPU as their 4th or 5th criteria (or ideally don’t need a GPU at all). Certainly there are professionals who need a great CPU and lots of RAM but no GPU. And for them this should be great, it should be cheaper. But starting prices on the Z17 are no better this year than last year's 8770w, so all cost savings by selling this weak card are going to Nvidia and HP, not being passed along to the customer. And this is being swept under the rug by reviewers who don't notice or just don't care.

 

Thanks for the review.

I was considering this notebook as a replacement for my 2010-era HP EliteBook 8740w. Now I'm less sure.

-No notebook w/ a display larger than 15.6" offers a resolution higher than 1920x1080. My 8740w has 1920x1200 and there's no way I'm accepting less vertical space.
-One of my complaints with my 8740w is the idiotic location of the USB ports on the right side. These are quite inconvenient if you use a mouse right-handed. The ZBook 17 has exacerbated this by putting the headphone jack over there too.
-Lame GPU as the previous poster noted.
-Design - the ZBook 17 looks less high-end than the previous HP EliteBooks but has the same pricetag. And it's more boring.

Hmm ...

 

Also the GPU comparison make no sense here. If you are going to review this you should do so with the higher end cards from Nvidia since otherwise you can get the same graphical power in 15.6 if not better.

Also, the few reasons to get this particular model is to get the better GPU k4xxx or k5xxx series options. You can get the dreamcolor in the 15.6. At this weight/size you get none of the higher end options for a very heavy notebook with terrible battery life. So I don't even understand the options chosen on this review model since there graphics card choices / non dreamcolor panel on much cheaper similar quality machines. With your choices you are overpaying for chassis design ... which frankly looks much worse than the 8770.

Secondly why in the world do you compare this to the m4800 as the lightweight alternative? Compare it to the m6800 which is the same class of notebook (i.e. 17in). FYI ... m4800 from dell is relatively heavy for a 15.6 class workstation.

 

For those considering purchasing the Zbook, I think their review model actually has a dream color display, which unfortunately is not compatible with NVIDIA optimus technology. Because of this the battery life is significantly reduced. If you purchase a model without the dream color display you should be able to get close to 6 hours of battery life.

I think the reason why the NVIDIA k610m is being used is because it is the cheapest Quadro card offered by NVIDIA and closest in price to the previous M4000. The k3100m is a very nice bump in performance for about $500 after you take the 20% CTO coupon into account. These models do also have a thunderbolt port which accounts for some of the price difference between the 8770w.

 

Reviewers don't get to order laptops. They get whatever the OEM sends them. So all configuration complaints should be directed at HP.

 

Point taken on the review model. But the review is really lacking in any kind real analysis. The comparisons to the m4800 are a non sequitor. The video card chosen is "not powerful" by any stretch. How can he say stuff like the k610 is powerful choice for non-game applications??? It's the bottom end card in the line -- he does not bother mentioning this.

The performance section is completely useless and actually saying these components don't come cheap has no comparison basis to the dell, lenovo or much of anything that has similar components at a lower price.

This review needs to be updated to contain relevant and more accurate comparisons. And the assertions on pricing fail to mention alternatives. Other than the limited measurements provided this is almost marketing material and not a review.

 

You saw my post above, no? Preaching to the choir

 

I can tell you that this review is pretty bogus.

I own the ZBOOK 17 with the core i7, 32gb of ram, 128gb SSD, and the Quadro k3100m in it and let me tell you.. This is the fastest laptop or desktop I have ever used. The build quality is second to none, the screen has great viewing angles, and the color is very accurate after calibration. If you are looking for a mobile workstation I would not have a second thought about the Zbook.. I have had alot of machines over the years and I am very anal about things, I always have some kind of complaint about a system. My only complain with the zbook is that well.. I have none.

tehy are expensive yes, but I believe that the quality and performance you get are worth the price.

 

With zbook being a workstation i see one fatal flaw. Cleaning, you need to do quite a bit of disassemble to access fan to clean it up properly.

 

As an owner of the 8770w - and of an M6600 and an M6700 - I can tell you that appearances can be (somewhat) deceiving. Yes, the fan is not easily removable, as with the Dells - though it can be cleaned adequately without removing anything except the screwless back plate. And yes, you have to disassemble most of the machine to take the fan apart. On the upside, however, the Elitebook is quite a bit easier to disassemble than the Dell - considerably fewer screws, many of them captive, simpler procedure.

Overall, the Dells have the upper hand because of easy access to the fans (especially on the M6700, where they can both be taken out after removing the back plate). But if you like constant tinkering with the system the HP is easier to pull apart and put together.

The Dells have another advantage: they are silent in idle, with no fan moving at all. The HP starts its single fan at much lower temperatures, and though quiet, there's still the light hush of moving air. Dell is more tolerant with temperatures, and a pleasure to use. (BTW, the HP fan is equally capable when it comes to cooling fully loaded CPUs + GPUs.)

If only there was a best-of-both-worlds alternative...