My HP Compaq 8510p Review

Hey everyone. I finally finished it! Enjoy


HP Compaq 8510p review

The HP Compaq 8510p is a member of the latest revision in Hewlett Packard’s business line. HP labels the 8510p as a performance model, little sibling to the aptly named 8510w (workstation); the question burning in everyone’s minds of course, is whether the 8510p, and especially the relatively untested ATI Radeon mobility HD 2600, can live up to the expectations surrounding these new computers.

Reasons for Buying

Back in April of this year my previous laptop, an Acer Travelmate 800, finally bit the bullet as I wrote the last words of a massive term paper. None too pleased with this I decided that regardless of whether or not I could fix it, the relationship was over. The trust was gone! She served me well for four years but with the warranty expired and my games running slower than paint peeling, it was time for a change.

So, pulling my old desktop out of retirement, I spent the summer trolling the NBR forums and the web for my next machine…

I considered many other laptops, such as the:

- Asus G1s-A1, F3Sv, F8sv, V1s
- Dell Inpsiron 1520, Vostro 1500
- Sager 2090
- Thinkpad T61p

But each and every one of these machines had problems I couldn’t accept, be it a grainy screen, audio jack problems, Core 2 Duo whine, two year warranty only, three month delay, or otherwise.

I had heard rumours of a mysterious new notebook HP was set to release: the 8510p. As an update to the fairly well-received nc8430, I was quite interested. Several friends and co-workers use HP business notebooks and always have good things to say. In the end it came down to the T61p and the 8510p, but unable to wait past the beginning of school, time forced my hand. Sorry, Lenovo.

Where and How Purchased, Customer Service

(As this is slightly complicated and involves international purchasing, I decided to give the full story to help out anyone who’s ever contemplated doing what I did.)

Sadly being a Canadian means more than just eating lots of back bacon and maple syrup. Technology releases are generally delayed up to two months from their US release dates. Knowing HP was notorious for this (I waited 3 months for the original HP Compaq X1000 to come out in Canada before giving up and getting the Acer), I decided to pursue other avenues of acquiring my new machine.

First off, I dealt with HP Canada several times before buying. I had questions about the warranty and the model itself. Customer service via email was not very helpful, and directed me to phone in with all my questions. Phoning customer service was a pleasant experience however; there was a 30 second wait and after that I talked to a well-spoken young lady at length. She answered all of my questions even though the 8510p was not even available in Canada at the time.

I then found a company on the Eastern seaboard ( http://www.shopblt.com) that would accept an international credit card with a domestic shipping address added to the card.

Although HP delayed their initial shipment to the reseller by 7 days, I was able to ship it to a friend in Washington State, cross the border and return by August 28th, only 2 weeks after HP effectively ‘launched’ shipment of the 8510p (but almost 4 weeks after their paper launch).

Dealing with Bottom Line Telecommunications was, in a word, excellent. I emailed them often with questions and always received an answer within one hour during business time. The staff were prompt polite and helpful. The ordering process was painless and effective. I received updates every time something happened, and indeed my laptop was shipped 45m after I placed my order.*

*I should note I did purchase 2 day FedEx shipping to get the laptop before the Labour Day weekend, as at that time the border turns into a maelstrom of insanity for 3 straight days.

The only qualm I have is that the shipping prices on their site are automatically calculated based on weight and nearest warehouse. Normally this is fine, but on the day they received the units, neither was updated to reflect the higher weight and the fact that Texas had the only shipment of the new computers.

Thus at first my shipping price was quite low, but suddenly leapt upward at the last minute of the ordering process as the weight and origin of shipping were actually taken into account. However, considering they just received the notebook that day and I was already jumping at the gate to order, I can’t really blame them. The shipping costs are now accurate on their site.

Also, when my unit arrived it was packed inside a larger box with only some flimsy cardboard shredding for packaging. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged but the laptop box was able to move about freely inside the larger shipping box. I’m now sure if this was BLT or FedEx, though.

I brought the machine across the line myself. Taking advantage of the fact that laptops are covered under the technology category at Customs Canada and thus exempt from fees, I did not pay any duty or brokerage costs. I paid $200 CAD in taxes (PST+GST).

Specifications as Reviewed

I was lucky in that I purchased a pre-configured model (RM269UT#ABA), and so there was no delay in shipment. I know there are several frustrated souls on the NBR forums who just recently received their customized laptops, but who ordered far before I did.

In the end I paid:

$1395 USD ($1450 CAD)
$50 USD for express shipping (hey, I was in a hurry!)
$200 CAD in taxes
= ~$1700 CAD. An extra gig of ram was $40 CAD.

When compared to purchasing in Canada (if I had waited), HP advertised the price at $1600 CAD before taxes and shipping. They do not sell direct in Canada and you must buy from a reseller. I saw several of the latter taking pre-orders for my model for upwards of $1800 CAD at that time however. In the end I figure I saved $200 or more by heading south to purchase, but I realize this isn’t an option for everyone.

Anyway on with the show!

(A note about pictures…they were taken at different times, different days, with different cameras. Yes I know one camera makes everything way too blue.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pbuild01small.jpg

HP Compaq 8510p (RM269UT#ABA)
• Windows Vista Business
• Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 GHZ 800MHz front side bus 4MB L2 cache)
• 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1GB installed myself)
• 160GB 5400rpm SATA, HP 3D DriveGuard
• 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600, 256MB
• Intel 802.11a/b/g (4965AG), Bluetooth 2.0
• Intel Gigabit Network Connection (10/100/1000 NIC), 56K v.92 modem
• 8-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (73WHr)
• 3/3/0 HP business warranty

Initial Impressions, Build & Design

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pcomparison01small.jpg
[An HP Compaq nc6120 alongside the 8510p]

Upon returning home with my new machine it was already 11:30pm but I decided to start it up to at least take a look around (and check for any dead pixels!).

The first thing I noticed was how light and sturdy the laptop seemed while closed. My old 14.1” Acer was about 5.5 lbs and I was worried upgrading to a 15.4” chassis would be a large weight increase. Not so! The 6.1 lbs weight and dimensions (1.1" x 14.0" x 10.2") of the 8510p make it very comfortable; my old Acer would creak and groan even when being handled. The 8510p didn’t make a noise as I carried it around, picked it up by a corner, flipped it around, stuck it over the edge of my table, etc.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pcomparison02small.jpg
[HP nc6120 on the left, 8510p on the right]

As my last notebook was also a business model, it looked almost identical to my new computer. Clean lines, dark underside and inner area, lighter coloured lid, etc. However, the 8510p’s finish was much more polished and refined than that of the Acer. I did notice that the lid immediately picked up several fingerprints though.

On the body itself, the only place I can produce some minor flex through standard pressure is right at the top middle near the screen. On the keyboard, I can produce flex through light-moderate pressure right above the DVD drive, but nowhere else. This is of course facilitated by the fact that HP has changed the keyboard in this revision to include giant plastic spacers right above the DVD area drive to fill up the spots on the keyboard they didn’t have any keys for.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pcomparison03small.jpg
[8510p on the left, nc6120 on the right]

Regarding the screen chassis, there was an issue in the older revision nc8430 where the screen bezel could be separated. I am happy to report this is NOT an issue any more as I was unable to reproduce the problem even after 15m of attempts (ugh HP/Vista setup… let me get to that in a minute). I can twist the screen to produce rippling, and push it from behind to get the same effect, but the pressure required is such that unless you drop a book on your LCD you should be fine

The hinges do not seem to have evolved since the 8430, as bumping the laptop jiggles the screen. On the other hand, it is quite resistant to actually moving so in this aspect there should not be any issues.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pcomparison04small.jpg
[8510p in the foreground, nc6120 behind]

Just below the keyboard on either side of the space bar are two rubber spacers. I’ve been told these are to prevent the screen from impacting the keys during transport when the laptop is closed. They’re kind of annoying in that you have to keep them relatively clean or they will mark up the LCD, but I suppose the alternative is seeing your whole keyboard mark up the LCD. The lesser of two evils!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pscreenmarkssmall.jpg
[These screen marks were present upon opening, but easily cleaned off]

Upgrading the RAM was easy as pie, as both slots are located on the underside of the laptop, one screw away. I love how HP did this, as I’ve wasted quite a few hours digging into laptops to install RAM for friends and family.

As reported by a few other 8510w/p owners, I can jiggle the battery slightly when it is in place. But the movement is nothing extreme and the battery is actually kind of difficult to get out until you get used to the mechanism.

My unit does have some imperfections—there are two bumps on the lid, one near the HP logo and one at the top near the printed icons which rest on the front of the lid. There is a blotch of plastic in the middle of the spacebar at the bottom, as well as inside the hole the right lid ‘claw’ snaps into when closed. But considering my old Acer first showed up DOA, and the reseller took six weeks (!) to make things right again, I wasn’t going to complain.

Finally, the light indicators on the machine are thankfully located on the front, so they’re hidden when you are using the computer. I don’t know about any other 8510p users but I find the bright blue wireless light rather annoying.

Screen

When I first turned on the machine, the screen was very bright but unevenly lit. There were dark patches in each bottom corner as if the backlight didn’t work there. However upon booting into Vista for the first time these anomalies disappeared and have not returned.

The viewing angles are decent enough horizontally and vertically. I can read text horizontally to 90 degrees, but of course the colours wash out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/scfront.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/scleft.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/scright.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/sctop.jpg

In terms of brightness, it’s “bright enough” as many other 8510p users will attest. I think it could be brighter, but the screen is still very usable. The maximum brightness is good, but it seems the screen gets dark very fast below higher brightness levels. I can use it at say, 80% and above, but anything below is too dark for me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/islandfront.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/islandleft.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/islandright.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/islandtop.jpg

Also, as it's a matte screen I haven't had any reflections at all, which is quite nice when watching my friends struggle to see their glossy screens in class.

I have some backlight bleed on both sides of the screen as (I assume) there’s a backlight on either side; it’s about a fifth of an inch, and not really noticeable unless you're looking for it. You can see it quite easily at extreme viewing angles but dead on it’s almost impossible to notice.

In regards to the quality of the LCD, I quite like it. The colours are vibrant—there is not a hint of graininess. Like other 8510p users I’ve disabled ambient light sensor control, as my screen constantly changing was just too weird.

I have one dead pixel, in the far bottom left corner. It’s black/grey and disappears in the taskbar, thankfully. The screen appears to be a Quanta.

Update (09/25/07):

My screen developed a stuck pixel a few days ago, and in trying to fix it I seem to have added another.

One is light blue and the other is a kind of a transparent red. They're both on the left side around the middle. They still change colours sometimes but are often stuck. Thankfully both are so light they're pretty much invisible even when I'm looking for them. Regardless, considering the fact that everyone else has raved about the quality (not the brightness!) of their 8510p screens, I wouldn't take my experience to be the norm.

Speakers

The speakers take up almost the entire front of the notebook. I’m assuming there are only two tiny ones in there, so I’m not quite sure why they decided to make a speaker grill which covers the front of the notebook almost completely. Either way, I would call them decent; no better, no worse. They’re functional for business activities and pretty much anything non music. However as with all notebook speakers they are tinny, with no bass and very poor highs. The mid range isn’t bad though.

Set-up and Operating Systems

As I mentioned earlier, the first boot was uh, not a very good experience. Between Vista and HP setting up the computer, the total initial start up time was 70 minutes. Now I don’t know if that’s the norm with new laptops these days, but that much time seems rather excessive.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pwaitingsmall.jpg
[Still waiting, zzz…]

Upon first loading Vista I was struck by the sheer resource requirements of the system while running the default HP setup. HP only installed their own applications and some anti-virus stuff but there were 77 processes on the go, for a total of 800mb RAM used.

Right away I was bombarded by Intel Active Management Technology, Bluetooth, HP SecureGuard, User Account Control, and a few other rather annoying programs. Half of these are Vista’s problem but I was less than impressed with the software at first boot. A novice user would be completely overwhelmed with all the activity going on.

HP SecureGuard would ask me if it wanted to remember all my passwords every time I went to a website. UAC would jump all over me whenever I tried to install something. Intel AMT, Bluetooth and HP SecureGuard leap at my face every time the system rebooted to tell me various things they thought were of the utmost importance. In short, I was unhappy with the invasiveness of Vista and HP’s software. I was of course able to disable all of this in the end but it took a few minutes to find the right way for each program.

XP vs. Vista

As someone used to a streamlined Windows XP Professional install, seeing almost half my 2 GB of ram used at idle was just too much. Desperate to revert to my beloved XP, I immediately stuck my own SP2 installer CD in. Of course, I completely forgot you need to slipstream customized SATA drivers in beforehand…

…Skip ahead three hours, and I’m installing XP Pro once again, with the proper SATA drivers. Everything went fine until I went to install the Radeon HD 2600 XP drivers. No one even supports it yet! No modders, not ATI, nada. I had to use HP’s default drivers, which although relatively new, are in no way guaranteed to continue to be updated in any frequent fashion. Acer was years behind on driver updates, and frankly I wasn’t about to take a chance on HP’s diligence.

To my great surprise, HP included actual Vista install DVDs (32/64bit) with my 8510p. Despite the fact that these DVDs are plastered with the HP logo, they are in fact clean installs of the OS. A fresh Vista 32bit install made my system much faster. I then used the HP drivers/programs CD that came with the machine to reinstall the essentials. While I'm not really happy with my tweaked-to-there-and-back install of Vista using 550mb of ram as compared to XP @ 200mb...I guess I'll take it for now.

Performance

Under the hood of my 8510p is the latest Core 2 Duo revision, clocking in at 2.0 GHz with a 4mb cache.

Super Pi results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510psuperipi.jpg

PCmark05 results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/pcmark05small.png

The hard drive is a Hitachi Travelstar 5400 160 GB SATA. I’ve noticed a few other 8510p owners have received Seagate instead, which is kind of disappointing as I prefer Seagate.

HDTune results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/hdtunesmall.png

Windows Experience Index:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/weismall.png

At least we come to what you’ve all been waiting for—a test of the elusive ATI Radeon HD 2600 256mb. Of course, I’m still not quite sure about this GPU myself. Everest and every other program I’ve used so far (O/C apps, other ID programs, etc) all list my GPU as GDDR3. Everest even clocks me in at 500 core/400 memory. But both ATI Tool and ATI Tray Tools claim it runs at 300 core/400 memory!

Regardless, some HD 2600 owners with DDR2 have posted their scores on the NBR forums, and as you’ll see they’re a few hundred points lower than mine. Sticking with my assumption of GDDR3 then, it’s underclocked either way (stock is supposedly 500/600 according to ATI), so bear that in mind when viewing these results!

Anyway on to the benchmarks; these were all done using the Catalyst 7.8 drivers.

3dmark05 results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/3dmark05small.png

3dmark06 results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/3dmark06.png

Gaming

Unfortunately I don’t really have any recent games nor have I had the time to acquire any newer game demos. Until I can find the time to pick up a copy for myself, here’s the best I can do:

Counter-Strike Stress Tests

Recommended settings and results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/CSS_normalsettings.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/CSS_normalresults.gif

Highest settings and results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/CSS_highsettings.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/CSS_highresults.gif

Half-Life 2: Lost Cost Stress Tests

Recommended settings and results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/hl2LC_normalsettings.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/hl2LC_normalresults.gif

Highest settings and results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/hl2LC_highsettings.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/hl2LC_highresults.gif

World of Warcraft

All tests done at 1680x1050, with all video settings maxed.

Shattrath City (bank + main building area)

24bit color 24bit depth 1x multisample = average 45-50 FPS
24bit color 24bit depth 8x multisample = average 17-20 FPS

Flight
(tested on nether ray and netherwing drake around Terrokar Forest...no it's not my account!)

24bit color 24bit depth 1x multisample:

Flying at horizon level = 65-90 FPS while rotating the camera around
Flying at ground level = 27-42 FPS while rotating camera around

Max possible FPS (facing a wall...did this for fun) = 127.1

Doom 3

High Quality, 1680x1050, no AA = 63 fps regardless of where I was
High Quality, 1280x1024, 8x AA = 35-60 fps - average high 30s mid 40s

[The results were lower in open areas, higher in corridors; never any real lag though]

Ultra Quality, 1280x1024, 8x AA = 15-60 fps - average high twenties low 30s

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/doom3-01.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/doom3-02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/doom3-03.jpg

[The system hiccupped a few times in the massive underground portion of Mars City, especially the maintenance areas, but was relatively playable inside the compound]

Heat and Noise

In all honesty, after spending a summer reading about new generation laptops running excessively hot and loud, I was worried about the 8510p. Coming from a 5+ year old notebook which was whisper quiet and cool except for the fan (which whined like crazy), I had my doubts. But the 8510p really does deliver in terms of both heat dissipation and quietness.

The unit doesn’t really get too warm anywhere except the underside, where the RAM and the wireless create quite a toasty combination. Other than that, I’ve been benchmarking and gaming for hours now and have had little issue with heat anywhere on the unit. As other owners have noted, the left wrist rest does get warmer than the right, which is rather paradoxical as the right side has the hard drive.

Depending on the power scheme and whether idling/under load, the temperatures varied as follows:



While sitting in front of the computer, the fan is only really noticeable at high RPM. At medium speed you can just barely hear it, and low is basically inaudible. It pumps out pretty warm air but you can put your hand in front of the vent and not experience any real discomfort.

The hard drive is noticeable during high activity when the fan is at low or medium RPM, but otherwise is drowned out by background noise. I must say though, as this is my first Hitachi, I’m not too impressed with the overall noise level. It clicks up a storm quite often; my Seagate drives (2.5” are nowhere near as loud.

One disconcerting issue with my 8510p is that the fan runs all the time. I’ve checked the bios and that feature is disabled, so I’m not quite sure what the problem is.

Keyboard, User Interface

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pkeyboardsmall.jpg

The keyboard itself is quite nice to type on. The keys have good depth and respond nicely to touch. I really wish HP would have done something with the extra space on the right side above the DVD drive. There’s an annoying bit of empty keyboard area filled only by plastic panels, especially right around the arrow keys.

The touchpad is quite nice to use, although I normally hate anything but a mouse. Unlike my last machine it responds quickly and accurately; having a third button in the middle does takes some getting used to. The same goes for the pointing stick buttons. I’ve personally always preferred pointing sticks to trackpads, and this one is pretty good.

While I haven’t completely activated the finger print reader features yet, I’ve begun the process accidentally now so many times that I’ve had quite a bit of time to play around with it. Provided you don’t swipe too quickly the sensor seems to work well enough, but often it will ask me to swipe a few extra times just to be sure.

The built-in microphone is actually fairly decent. I can turn up the receiving volume and it can hear me fairly clearly from a sitting position, even if it is a little quiet. Moving closer produces a recording with clear quality and good volume. Of course, bending over to speak every time you want to use voice chat or record something isn’t that feasible.

Above the keyboard are two pre-programmable touch sensitive buttons and a touch-sensitive volume control. I find the volume control too finicky for my taste, and the programmable buttons sometimes don’t respond either.

Ports, Wireless, Battery

The HP 8510p has four USB 2.0 ports, a DVD drive, HDMI, VGA, headphone/line out, microphone port, firewire, Ethernet and modem connections, a docking connection, power connection and even a secondary battery connection.

From the front: screen latch and indicator lights.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pfrontsmall.jpg

From the left side: memory card reader, PC card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, fan vent, firewire, Ethernet port, and security lock slot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pleftsidesmall.jpg

From the rear: VGA out, power connection, battery area.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pbacksmall.jpg

From the right side: modem connection, DVD drive, two USB 2.0 ports, microphone port, and audio port.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510prightsidesmall.jpg

From the bottom: you can see the hard drive, RAM, and wireless slots all clearly, as long with the battery and docking station connectors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pbottomsmall.jpg

The only issue I have with the port arrangement is that, as a right handed person, I like my mouse pad right by the laptop on that side. When I have external audio and/or other USB devices connected on that side, I have to move the pad away or the cables run right over the pad. Furthermore, when there are items connected on that side, it’s often annoying to open the DVD drive as there are cables running right in front of it. One or two USB ports in the back would have been nice.

Finally, when rebooting my DVD drive will randomly clunk and make strange noises. It doesn’t happen every time, but still very strange.

Wireless

I haven’t had any issue with wireless connections at this time. The wireless interface is one of the few areas where I quite like Vista so far. It picks up networks quickly and effortlessly, connecting is a breeze, and there’s quite a bit of information available if I’m looking for it. The only downside is that it takes a few more clicks to get to the advanced wireless information when compared to XP.

Battery

With screen at 80% brightness, Bluetooth off, wireless on, set to power saver mode, I seem to average about 3.5 to 4 hours battery life, depending on the office/school/work tasks I’m doing at the time.

A movie watching yielded around 2:15.

Documentation, Warranty

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/Ackeron/8510p/8510pdocumentationsmall.jpg

The 8510p came with a start-up manual, warranty card, and a few other small documentation pieces. There is easily enough documentation to get a novice user going. Considering most full laptop manuals are rather thick, I’d rather save a few trees than have every single unit come with a real manual anyway.

The HP restore DVD comes with all the software and drivers needed for Vista 32/64bit. As noted above, HP also supplies clean Vista install DVDs, which is a real bonus!

The laptop also comes with a standard three year international warranty. Wherever you are HP will service the machine as long as they operate out of that country and can support the model. If not then you'll have to go to the nearest country where they can do the repairs.


Conclusion

Although I had my doubts, the HP Compaq 8510p has certainly lived up to my expectations, and even exceeded them in some cases. While there are some minor drawbacks, they are acceptable given the overall quality of the notebook. The 8510p will please anyone looking for a new computer, regardless of whether they’re a gamer, businessperson, student or otherwise. Considering all the positive aspects of this notebook as well as the low price, there can be no doubt this is a top tier machine.


Pros

- Excellent performance for the price.
- Sturdy reserved design, light and small.
- Beautiful screen other than brightness issue.
- No Core2Duo whine! (Or grainy screen, or audio problems…
- Standard three year international warranty, business class support.
- Runs very cool and fairly quiet.
- HP supplies clean Vista DVDs.
- Overall very good user interface.
- Excellent battery life.
- Good selection of ports.


Cons

- Cooling fan runs constantly.
- Screen could be brighter.
- HP SecureGuard software is intrusive and bothersome.
- Lid picks up fingerprints.
- Rubber bumpers on keyboard have to be kept clean unless you want marks on the screen.
- Touch sensitive buttons, especially sound, are finicky.
- Wasted space on keyboard.
- Somewhat awkward arrangement of USB and sound ports on right side.
- DVD drive randomly clucks during some reboots.
- HDD can get loud during high activity

 

Excellent, detailed review!

 

Great review, nice pictures (althought i was quite shocked by that one: nice blue..
thanks a lot! Makes the waiting time even harder...could order it on monday but the notebook show at the university (to see it personal) is on friday..

 

Ugh yeah, that was my brother's Nikon SLR camera. He was playing around with the colours and forgot to change the settings back the night my laptop arrived...

 

Thanks for such a helpful review -- as you probably saw in the 8510p thread, I'm going to be ordering it soon.

The only thing that has me swaying is the Vista vs. XPP debate. Having no personal experience with Vista myself, I can't decide whether to just go ahead with it or cling desperately to the remains of XP until the time comes to upgrade.

.. You stated earlier..

Are you referring to the underside of the notebook, or under the actual keyboard?. (Ie. Removal of the keyboard to access RAM slots?)

 

Thanks for the detailed review!

 

Err, yeah Jitsun what I meant to say was opposite the keyboard under the notebook. Thanks for catching that!

 

Thanks for the in-depth review. I just replaced my (stolen) T60 with one of these today.

 

yea excellent review , the gaming scores are very good (although as some people have mentioned AA enabled seems to hurt performance).

 

I just remembered one question that has been on my mind.. what type of AC power connector does this one use? I used to have a second hand zd7010ca that suffered from that dreaded solder cracking and had to get a friend to affix a new socket on it.. turned me off of HP hard back then and up until recently when I discovered their business class is within my price range.

The T60 had a very rugged system, and I haven't seen any pictures yet of the new methods that HP employs. Can you shed any light on this?

 

Great review, though I've only skimmed it so far. I agree on a lot of things on that review, such as that wasted space to the left of the arrow keys, the fan running non-stop, and those annoying rubber pads (they mark up the screen on my nw8440 also).

A tip on the volume control (though I don't know if this will work on your machine; I know it does on the pavilions): Instead of sliding your finger across the control, you can tap either extreme to increment the volume one "notch" at a time. So if you want to lower the volume, just tap on the leftmost end of the "slider" (where the low speaker icon is), and ditto for raising the volume, but on the right side (where the high speaker icon is).
It's something I noticed with the pavilions; I wouldn't be surprised if it worked on the business models, too.

 

Thanks for your review, have been waiting for it for a long time ! I'll be getting mine this friday @ ten o'clock, can't wait to test some world in conflict multiplayer on it!

 

Nice review Ackeron, I guess you finished your paper I might have missed it, did you use modded ATI drivers from driverheaven or stock HP drivers?

LOL - On my ZT1000 I've had to re-solder my DC port 3 times. It looks like it is only secured at 3 points instead of 4, which is a very bad design.

 

I have one simple question. Does the AC adapter support 120/240V and 50/60 Hz? It probably does, but it would be great to know!

 

Yes it does

From the HP website http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12713_na/12713_na.HTML


HP 90W Smart AC Adapter Dimensions 5.24 x 2.28 x 1.1 in (13.3 x 5.8 x 2.9 cm)
Weight 0.86 lb (390 g)
Input 100 to 240 VAC
Input Efficiency 83% min at 115 VAC
Input frequency range 47 to 63 Hz
Input AC current 1.5 A at 90 VAC, 0.75 A at 180 VAC PFC Version

 

Ackeron: could you post a everest test on 8510P's gpu? because I saw that the H2600 in 8510P solden in HongKong is core/mom:300/400*2=800

 

Thanks for the help!

So I assume now that a transformer is not necessary, just a plug adapter internationally?

 

No transformer necessary - you just need the right adapter to plug it in (depends on which country you are going to). You can get a plug adapter at Radio Shack for a few bucks.

 

Thanks again for your help!

 

Also on the GPU clock, modern chips like nVidia down the clock when it's not needed and crank it back up when it is.
The 570m for examle is 400/700, but when not needed it's down to like 100(?)/83. Punch the graphics and it'll crank back up.
I would assume ATI does the same.
This saves battery power

Get your clock monitoring utility running and launch some graphics intensive application, watch the monitor. You should see your rated clock speed.

 

Thanks! I actually found this out by accident while typing the review too I don't know if my fingers suck or what but sometimes tapping once yields a 2 bar volume increase, other times nothing happens. I like idea in principle but in practice it's not very good on my machine.

I used this mod ( http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool/) from driverheaven.

--------[ Debug - Video BIOS ]----------------------------------------------------------------

C000:0000 U.y...........................IBMJ.............. 761295520......
C000:0040 ................07/12/07,17:42:34................c..4s......<..0
C000:0080 PA`@.................M76.PCI_EXPRESS.DDR3...HP VB 1.0 M76M GDDR3
C000:00C0 256MB 500m/450e ..... ..
C000:0100 .(C) 1988-2005, ATI Technologies Inc. .ATOMBIOSBK-ATI VER010.056
C000:0140 .000.007.025912.BR25912.bin .354833 .44751 . .HP_VB1_0
C000:0180 \config.h...$...ATOM..\.P..........@<..0..x.....PCIR............
C000:01C0 y.8.....ATI ATOMBIOS..Y.?............................V....S..LP.
C000:0200 .^..fPfQfRfSfUfVfW..........'..&....f......f.(....n.2.......)..
C000:0240 )..)........).B).c).......DP. u......c..d.......LP........f.....
C000:0280 ..fP. .....fXt.. f.R.......f_f^f]f[fZfYfX.........F.f3..F...F..R
C000:02C0 .....#CZ..........f......t.f.\.f.L.;.u...f.^.f.N............>n..
C000:0300 [email protected].............|..k..~......o.....
C000:0340 ....e.......l.....e..e..f...PMID...K......................f.....
C000:0380 ...................fPfR.1f...f....fZfX.fPfR.1f...f....fZfX......
C000:03C0 ..t..:&..u$<.u .W....:&..u..K.....Ou...F....Q.....p...N....t.<.u

Is that what you mean?

I tried this with one of the O/C programs I installed but there was no change. I'm not sure if it's real-time though...

 

Try using ATI Tools. It is by far my favorite program to use. I like it much better then rivatuner.

 

No change weeeeeeeeeird...oh well.

 

Update:

My screen developed a stuck pixel a few days ago. In trying to fix it with some pixel repair program another one got stuck! Damn

One is light blue and the other is a kind of a transparent red. They're both on the left side around the middle. They still change colours sometimes but are often stuck. Thankfully both are so light they're pretty much invisible even when I'm looking for them so oh well.

Also, considering everyone else has raved about the quality (not the brightness!) of their 8510p screens, I must have bad luck with screens...

 

you should post

 

Ackeron - What pixel repair programs? Did you run dead pixel buddy? http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Benchmarks/Dead-Pixel-Buddy.shtml

 

Dead pixel buddy is a testing tool, not repairing from what i remember.

 

You can't repair a dead pixel anyway or am i wrong?

 

I've heard that gently massaging it can fix it sometimes, but I've never tested it so I have no idea. It could be just one of those stories you hear. For me, I don't really like the volume touch pad. I'd prefer just having a set of buttons. The slider on mine frequently makes the volume jump too much and tapping on the ends doesn't work. I have to really push down to get it to register and when I do that it usually goes up too many notches. Honestly, these are small concerns in the big picture.

 

I've found that using scented oil and a candle lit room does wonders for her...

 

What ive noticed about the volume touchpad is you are supposed to keep your finger close to either left or right end and the volume will go up or down. It is not supposed to be a swipe/slider [it works but it is not precise].

 

Crimson: I used links because it's my own bandwidth, not NBR's

Everyone else: Yeah I tried massaging, repair programs, everything...nada. The upside to all this (in addition to not really being able to see the stuck pixels) is that if another pixel or two goes its a free screen for me

Destiny: Honestly for me the volume thing is really dumb. Sometimes tapping it at either end works better, sometimes running my finger along works better. It all depends on whether my 8510p is having a good or bad day I think !

 

bumping this up

 

Yeah, I thought the review seemed familiar...

 

Great review this might just be my next notebook!

 

The white balance was set wrong I bet. I also have a bad habit of not checking my settings on my Nikon DSLR .

 

uve been using point and click cameras for too long

 

Ackeron, If you don't mind giving up a bit of performance, Hitachi has a program that lets you silent the hard drive. You can also control it using NHC, changing the situation by your current preference of silence or performance.
(Though I assume you know this, for people who don't).

 

Does anybody else have the same problem? My HDD doesnt show temps in NHC... well, it shows 0 degrees.

 

well, i ordered mine, it says its shipping on the 19th, but i hope its earlier

 

Good review, however I would like to point out one thing I found rather disturbing which seemed to bias this review IMO.

You stated you looked at several alternatives prior to this purchase. Most of those alternatives have been reviewed on NBR, but they were conspicuously missing from your benchmark numbers. If you want to be credible and unbiased, an inclusion of at least one or two of of those in comparison would have been nice. Many people look at the performance numbers along side quality when purchasing. You clearly stated you looked at others in the beginning, if the numbers for those are available, then you should have included them as well. I too was in your boat and looked at all of the same systems you did prior to purchase. In the future, if you are going to say outright you looked at XYZ in the beginning, then you should include XYZ in your comparison and benchmarks in the review if you have them available. No doubt if you reviewed for NBR, you have access to their numbers.

For reference:

T61p
Dell 1520
Asus G1S-A1
Asus F3sv
Asus V1S

 

Actually I didn't put the comparison numbers into the review, no one does. Review writers simply give NBR their data and the NBR team edits the review and adds comparison information in. So your beef is with them, not me

 

Yeah, would have been nice, but... Maybe a metastudy will all the 2007 notebooks would have been even better... and publish it in... Science?! Yeah, sounds like good to me...

 

I think it's a nice review anyway. I agree that it would have made more sense to include the benchmarks from notebooks with similar configs for easy comparison, but it was still nice to see the benchmarks for the HD2600 card.

 

Well you guys can always drop them an email and request to have more accurate comparison data put in

 

Nice review Ackeron. I was just wondering, is the warranty still valid in Canada? I'm asking because I read the HP warranty agreement and it wasn't exactly clear, (ie. Buying in Country A and shipping it to Country B but repairs have to be made in Country A.)

 

Yeah hobo, it's an international warranty. I called HP USA and Canada to make sure. I know people have talked about there being exceptions in Europe and outside of North America, but HP will service your business notebook pretty much anywhere on this continent, regardless of where it was purchased.

 

I can confirm that. HP Germany has answered me the same.

 

Don't get me wrong. It was a very good review. I just would have liked to see the other numbers on the same page

 

You are correct in your assumption. This is directly from the HP site,

Taken from this link, http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/MiddleFrame.asp?page=config&ProductLineId=539&FamilyId=2625&BaseId=23339&jumpid=re_R2515_store/smProdCat/PSG/notebooks/HP_8510p_notebook


Excellent review!

And this notebook is very tempting to me right now!