Comments on: DreamColor 2 Full HD displays coming to Elitebook 8540p/8540w

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:10:11 +0000

DreamColor 2 is expected to become official soon, once HP announces their Elitebook 8740w, so they can go around trumpeting about their new flagship business notebook AND DreamColor 2.

By: David

David — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:01:17 +0000

So when is the DreamColor 2 option going to be available? I’m interested in ordering an 8540w, but there’s no way I will yet.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:50:21 +0000

The colour quality of the DreamColour when not at full brightness is nice.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:30:49 +0000

Alright, let’s speculate about the difference between the 8740w and the 8540w for a minute. How likely would a higher resolution screen on the 8740w be in your opinion? Will we possibly see the next step of high resolution laptop screens, such as one with WQXGA (2560 x 1600 pixels) resolution?

In order to distinguish the 17 inch model from the 15 inch one, this could be a fantastic option, couldn’t it? I would immediately replace my WUXGA 8530w with a WYXGA 8740w Elitebook. I simply like high resolutions and the pixels per inch rate would be similar.

The market has seen more than just WUXGA before, for example in the 15 inch NEC Versa P700 from 2003 (screen resolution: 2048 x 1536 pixels). Some people would certainly state that WQXGA were too small just as with the WUXGA resolution in 15 inch laptops, but on a 17 inch laptop, I would definitely love to see WQXGA.

By: J_A

J_A — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:42:10 +0000

re: Dreamcolor screen…

And, even with all these color matching features, some of us just buy it because the screen is so nice and bright! I’ve got an 8730w with DreamColor almost exclusively for the combination of speed, trackpoint-like pointing stick, WUXGA res (1920×1200), and screen brightness (300 nits, according to the specs, as I recall).

- J -

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:58:53 +0000

@Domiel DreamColor is a type of [matte] display with higher color bit display rates than average panels, meaning they can show a much wider (and more accurate) color range than average displays, making them very color accurate and useful if you work with photo/video/graphics and want consistent color output. Apparently using a DreamColor-compatible HP printer can output a print with the exact same color and accuracy as displayed on your monitor. As hinted by the name DreamColor, the guys at DreamWorks [who make a lot of animated films] supposedly contributed to the existence of this screen and they use it a lot in their studios. Oh, it also adds a couple of hundred quid (at least for the 8730w) to your price and is optional

@Chema USB 3.0 will definitely make an appearance in the Elitebook 8740w, so will Dream Color (whether it’s DC v1 like the 8730w, or DC v2 like this 8540w, I’m not sure). I know a few people walking around with 8740w’s with cavities above the screen (including a ‘webcam placeholder’), so they might be stuffing a new camera module in there. Darn, I need some snapshots!

By: domiel

domiel — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:40:02 +0000

OK so I’ve been hiding under a rock or something… what is so special about “DreamColor”? (And more importantly is it glossy or matte?)

By: Chema

Chema — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:20:56 +0000

Wow! It seems HP did the homework very well!

Now, Dell has refreshed its Precision M6500 with USB 3.0 ports and a 3.0MP web camera. Do you think HP may include a 3.0MP web camera in the new 8740w? Have you got any news on this?

BTW, I think the 8740w will be a super-laptop!! I hope its price won’t be “super” too