Good news folks, they’re finally up for order! Yes, I’m talking about HP’s new Elitebook models. The Elitebook 8440p, 8440w, 8540p and 8540w notebooks have just appeared on HP’s official website, are up for order and have the following base list prices:
- HP Elitebook 8440p starts at $979
- HP Elitebook 8440w starts at $1425
- HP Elitebook 8540p starts at $1299
- HP Elitebook 8540w starts at $1399
I currently have access to three of the Elitebook models above (don’t ask!) and I’ve been very impressed with them, each with a unique strangth: the 8440p for very cool (temperature-wise) and silent operation, 8440w for portable power (the only 14 inch notebook with quad-core Core i7 in the market) and 8540w for sheer power (more versatile than HP’s own Envy 15 and more powerful than some Elitebook 8730w configurations!)
So far only pre-built models are available, with “configure to order” models that you can customize expected to become available soon, later this February.
Impressed by ATI’s new Mobility Radeon 5000 series graphics cards?! Want plenty of power in your new Elitebook 8540w? Well, apparently someone listened to my plea/bright idea… because the new Elitebooks available today were initially planned as “Nvidia Quadro exclusives” but now, there’s word that ATI’s new (and currently, unannounced) FirePro M5800 workstation-class graphics card (a professional variation of one of the consumer Radeon 5000-series) will be making its way to the Elitebook 8540w some time in the future. This is according to a PDF document spotted by one of our readers, Domiel, on HP’s support page for the 8540w, one of the graphics options listed for the HP Elitebook 8540w was a “ATI FirePro M5800″ card.
I have also received confirmation from several trusted sources that ATI’s new line of workstation class graphics will indeed be coming soon for both the Elitebook 8540w and currently unannounced Elitebook 8740w. Yay for the world! Stay tuned
The 8540p clearly has some pricing errors. But even ignoring the obvious mistakes it is unclear to me why anyone would even bother with the 8540p when the 8540w is priced only tens of dollars above the 8540p with same CPU/RAM/HDD but includes higher GPU, wireless card and on-site warranty. For example see the 8540p @ $1609 vs the 8540w @ $1679.
anybody noticed that they can be custom built now?
Yup, but not in all regions/countries. But I wonder what’s up with their pricing; speccing out an Elitebook 8540w costs around $4000 which is way, way, way out of my reach. My ‘dream’ config is estimated to be $3000, which is still a tad too high.
*holding out for ATI Firepro*
If you have touched these babies, can you tell if 8440p laptops fit in the same docking station with 6930p? Officially the model number is different but the layout seems quite the same.
Yes, the 8440p, 8440w, 8540p and 8540w all use the same docking station connector and also secondary battery connector as previous generation HP laptops (ie 6930p), and are thus compatible with the same accessories.