They’ve done it! They’ve finally done it! Earlier today, the 17 inch Elitebook 8740w appeared in its full unofficial glory on HP USA but the good news keeps on coming – seems that in the midst of all the 8740w madness, HP has also quietly added the new 1 GB ATI FirePro M5800 workstation graphics card (the one discovered 2 months ago in a service manual) as an option for the existing 15 inch Elitebook 8540w. They’ve also added a little note on the same specifications page (here) stating that DreamColor display options for the Elitebook 8540w will be available in May.
The listed “DDR3″ ATI FirePro M5800 suggests that it could be based off an ATI Mobility Radeon 54×0 or 56×0 card, instead of the Mobility Radeon 5800 series rumored earlier, which means that it won’t be a whole lot more powerful than its Nvidia Quadro FX counterparts, but will still offer two main advantages – DirectX 11 support and power-sipping efficiency.
HP Elitebook 8740w FINALLY makes its appearance
Don’t say we didn’t tell you something big was coming in mid-end March, because we did! And now it’s here: the HP Elitebook 8740w has just appeared on HP’s USA website – complete with a profile picture, half a dozen pre-built configurations and specifications, including ATI FirePro M7820 professional workstation class graphics appearing in its full glory. You can have one for yourself (the most basic model, of course) for a fairly affordable $1,999, while the almost-fully kitted out Core i7 quad model will cost you $3,899.
We expect prices for certain configurations to be able to hit the $5000 mark and over once more pre-built or configure to order models are released, especially with options for up to Core i7 Extreme (no word yet on whether it’ll be last year’s Intel Core i7 920XM quad core or the forthcoming Core i7 940XM quad core), backlit keyboard, Dream Color 2 and up to 16 GB of DDR3 RAM.
What puzzles me at the moment is why the seemingly high-end ATI FirePro M7820 is available only in the two lower end/cheaper configurations featuring regular Intel Core i5 processors and just 2 GB of RAM… I mean, ATI has always been affordable (versus Nvidia) in most cases, but the huge $1,000 price difference we’re seeing on the pre-built models? That’s just because you’re not getting Core i7 and loads of RAM that the Nvidia Quadro 8740w models have… and that sure makes one wonder WHY?!
And the magical question asked by people who DON’T want/need a 17 inch workstation-class laptop – will HP share some of the Core i7 Extreme and ATI FirePro love with the existing HP Elitebook 8440w and 8540w models? Quite likely.
HP Elitebook 2540p priced by HP
The recently announced 12 inch ultra-portable HP Elitebook 2540p has finally received a starting price tag and is now available for order. HP’s official website mentions the Elitebook 2540p will start at a fairly affordable $1,100 for the regular Core i5, optical drive-less model, while prices can rocket as high as (but still fair price, for a premium/business ultra-portable) $1,600 for the pre-built low-voltage Core i7, optical drive equipped model. No word on CTO (configure to order) units yet, nor any sound about the Elitebook 2740p tablet’s price, but if one of the three pre-built Elitebook 2540p models right now fit your needs, you know what you can do…
HP Elitebook 8740w listed for order on HP UK website!
Disappointed that you didn’t see any sign of the Elitebook 8740w last weekend? Well, let’s turn that frown upside down because the HP Elitebook 8740w (sans press pictures) has recently appeared on multiple country-specific HP websites. On HP’s UK website, the Elitebook 8740w is listed from 1949 pounds for the Core i5 540M equipped version right up to just shy over 2300 pounds for the Core i7 720QM quad core model. The Elitebook 8740w has also appeared on HP’s websites for other countries around the globe, from HP Saudi Arabia to HP Bulgaria. Oddly enough, there hasn’t been an official announcement from HP yet, neither has the 8740w Mobile Workstation appeared on HP’s USA/Main website yet… but from today’s events, you can look out for an announcement before March is over!
For those who want all the news right here without clicking any links, HP’s UK website seems to provide the most info about the Elitebook 8740w Mobile Workstation, but nothing that we don’t know about already thanks to tips from a trusted source several weeks back.
- Processor choices: 1.73 GHz Core i7 820QM quad core, 1.60 GHz Core i7 720QM quad core, 2.66 GHz Core i7 620M dual core, 2.53 GHz Core i5 540M dual core and 2.40 GHz Core i5 520M dual core
- 4 DDR3 1333 MHz RAM slots for up to 16 GB total RAM
- 7200 RPM hard disks are standard; capacities available range from 320 to 640 GB
- 17 inch 16:10 full HD+ (1920 x 1200) display with optional DreamColor (looks like DC1 at this point in time); ambient light sensor for display is standard
- Choice of 1 GB ATI FirePro M7820 GDDR5, 1 GB Nvidia Quadro FX3800M GDDR3 or 512 MB Nvidia Quadro FX2800M GDDR3 workstation-class graphics cards
- 2 MP webcam
- Optical drive/upgrade bay for secondary hard disk
- 2 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports; other ports remain the same as 8730w except HDMI which has been replaced by DisplayPort
- Weight: 3.57 kg
- Dimensions: 39.75 x 28.55 x 3.65 cm
What’s missing at the moment, but are confirmed to become available in the future, include the DreamColor 2 display panel, backlit keyboard option and solid state drive options.
ATI FirePro M7820 confirmed on HP UK Elitebook 8740w page
P.S. Anyone noticed that HP has placed the ATI FirePro M7820 above the Nvidia Quadro FX3800M?! Hint hint at graphics card positioning there…
So the Elitebook 8740w didn’t exactly appear to the hungry masses last week as rumored… but there’s word that orders have already been placed for this elusive notebook, from those who know the right people.
On the consumer side of things, there have been sightings over the past week of a certain notebook melding together Envy with Touchsmart tm2 style, plus some sort of “3D” imprint and is rumored to boast the title “smallest powerful notebook”. More on that to come…
