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HP Elitebook 8740w and ATI FirePro M7820 appear on multiple HP websites

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• 2 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports; other ports remain the same as 8730w except HDMI which has been replaced by DisplayPort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…

Dell announces Precision M4500; time for Precision M4500 vs Elitebook 8540w!

Dell Precision M4500; announced today

Guess what? Dell just announced their new Precision M4500 “mobile workstation”. This latest offering from Dell will come with Core i5 and Core i7 options (all the way till i7 Extreme 920XM), 4 DDR3 RAM slots for up to 16 GB of memory, a full HD 1920 x 1080 sRGB LED-backlit display with a familiar 16:9 aspect ratio, choice of Nvidia Quadro FX880M or FX1800M graphics, 3 megapixel webcam, backlit keyboard (minus numeric keypad, me thinks), Precision On instant-boot and a hard disk bay with support for an optional, additional mini card for SSD only (without sacrificing the optical drive). In terms of port selection, there’s 4 USB ports (one of which is combined with eSATA), mini Display Port, VGA port, dedicated headphone and microphone jacks, FireWire and the usual affair.

In case you haven’t gotten the point yet, this is a direct competitor to HP’s Elitebook 8540w Mobile Workstation!!! In some ways, the Precision M4500 can be considered ‘superior’ to its HP counterpart (yes, I make it a point to provide unbiased news coverage here, and will point out flaws that exist instead of the “fanboy mode” other sites go into when they try to hide the negative aspects of their favorite brand/product). Quad core 2.0 GHz Core i7 Extreme (8540w maxes out with quad core 1.73 GHz Core i7 at the moment), 3 megapixel webcam and ability to add on an SSD in additional to your main hard disk, without sacrificing the optical drive, are three plus points the Dell has over HP’s 15 inch Elitebook.

But guess what else? I STILL want the Elitebook 8540w, and so do a lot of other people. In my opinion, the HP Elitebook 8540w is an overall more versatile notebook and here’s why…

• Unless you really need the extra 0.27 GHz per core and 0.17 GHz when both are Turbo Boosted, the Elitebook 8540w’s 1.73 GHz Core i7 processor should be more than enough for most users. If you need the extra power, however, the Dell Precision M4500 might be for you with its 2.0 GHz Core i7 processor. But would it be worth sacrifici’ng all the other plus points of the Elitebook 8540w (listed below) just for that extra few megahertz? Food for thought. But until HP makes the 920XM available in their Elitebook models, the model with more processing power is obvious here. Winner: Precision
• If you’re shopping for a mobile workstation, I’m sure the number of ‘megapixels’ that its webcam has would be one of the bottom few, if not at the very bottom, of the “things that will influence my decision” list. I don’t know about you, but the 2 MP webcam of the Elitebook 8540w is more than enough for me and my web conversations/business card scanning, thanks. Winner: Precision
• For the record, you can add on a secondary HDD or SSD to all HP Elitebooks if you’re willing to sacrifice the optical drive. That goes the same for the Elitebook 8540w. The Dell Precision M4500 allows you to add on an SSD without removing the optical drive (but SSD only). Winner: Precision
• In terms of visual aesthetics, I think it’s a tie here – some may prefer the Precision for it’s Thinkpad-esque look, some may like the Elitebook better for its cleaner, modern design (and non-ugly lid, IMO). The Precision does have a slightly slimmer profile here. Winner: Precision
• The Dell Precision M4500 has a backlit keyboard, which many would consider the ‘inferior’ solution to illuminating the keyboard versus a dedicated keyboard light or two above the screen (I’m sure both Elitebook and Thinkpad owners would agree here). While a backlit keyboard undeniably does its job to light up the keyboard, an external keyboard light (like the ones on Elitebooks and some business Thinkpads) is far more versatile – you can illuminate documents, paperwork, even things around your notebook, in the dark; in addition to illuminating just your keyboard. Winner: Elitebook
• While the Dell Precision M4500 seems to have a centralized “standard” notebook keyboard from press shots, the Elitebook 8540w makes full use of all that real-estate on its lower deck with a full-size keyboard with numeric pad. If you like number crunching or a nice, spread out alternative to usually-cramped arrow keys, you’ll be especially attracted to the Elitebook 8540w. Even if you’re not some part-accountant, part-CAD designer or mad number puncher, at least you know you’ll have the number pad at your disposal anytime (or maybe even learn to appreciate its usefulness!). Winner: Elitebook
• More ports on the HP Elitebook 8540w: HP’s solution has a total of a whopping five USB ports (that’s even more ports than the upcoming Elitebook 8740w!), two of which are USB 3.0 and the other three being USB 2.0. The Elitebook 8540w also has a dedicated eSata port. Now THAT is a true Mobile Workstation! The Dell Precision M4500, on the other hand, has just three USB ports, plus an additional USB + eSata combo port. Dell has mentioned nothing thus far about USB 3.0 (and manufacturers usually like to boast about ‘new’ features), so we can safely assume the Precision M4500 has only USB 2.0 ports. Double win for the Elitebook 8540w here: Availability USB 3.0 ports and ability to connect up to 6 devices simultaneously (5 USB and 1 eSata) versus 4 devices for the Dell. Winner: Elitebook
• DreamColor 2 color precise RGB LED backlit display is coming to the Elitebook 8540w, ensuring color accurate results and amazing 10-bit color depth (that’s about one billion colors to you!) and more. The DreamColor 2 option isn’t available yet, but rumors say it won’t be soon before long. Well, that beats the Dell Precision M4500′s more conventional sRGB LED backlit display. The DreamColor 2 option may not be available yet, but at least the Elitebook 8540w notebook itself has been available for purchase for more than a month now. On the other hand, the Precision M4500 itself won’t even be appearing for sale for another few weeks. Winner: Elitebook
• The ATI FirePro M5800 workstation-class graphics card will also be making its way into the Elitebook 8540w in the near future. This DX11-supporting card will probably be based off the high-end Mobility Radeon 5850 card, but even if it isn’t, at least we know it’s gonna be just as good, and very likely more affordable, than its Nvidia counterparts. With the HP Elitebook 8540w and Dell Precision M4500 having the same Nvidia graphics card options, the ATI option on the Elitebook gives future buyers an alternative route when configuring their notebook. Winner: Elitebook
• Availability, options and price. Despite currently lacking the above-mentioned DreamColor 2 and ATI FirePro options during the order process, the Elitebook 8540w is available NOW with all other options, while the Dell Precision M4500 won’t be out for sale for another few weeks. HP also makes a more affordable, silver colored version of the Elitebook 8540w called the Elitebook 8540p with Nvidia Quadro NVS graphics (opposed to Quadro FX on the more expensive w-series). So if you want it now and want it bad, you can have an Elitebook now. If you’re strapped for cash and still want a 15.6 inch mobile workstation for whatever your reason, the slightly less pricey (but still over $1000) Elitebook 8540p is also available as an option. Winner: Elitebook

So yes, the HP Elitebook 8540w is overall a more versatile notebook for the reasons above. And that is why I’m closely eying it as my next notebook… Hope you enjoyed the little comparison I made here today, and perhaps you can now make a more informed decision when you shop for a mobile workstation this spring/summer!

Update (thanks, Frank!): I noticed claims that the Precision M4500 can last for just under 8 hours with a 9 cell battery (this is a figure people quote from Dell, so it was probably tested under light load to maximize battery life). While I don’t dispute this claim, and the Elitebook 8540w can do almost 7 hours in ‘typing and surfing’ mode with its 8 cell battery, I think it’s important to point out that the Precision M4500 may be using a 6 cell battery in press photos. I have a friend who has a Dell Precision M4400 (last-gen’s 15 inch mobile workstation from Dell), who says that the ‘flush-fitting’ battery of the M4x00 series, and also shared by a few Latitude notebooks, is a 6 cell battery. He also has a 9 cell battery for his notebook and it sticks out the back of his notebook slightly – same case might apply to the new M4500 launched today (and it’s probably true, because no way a 9 cell battery can be so “short” in length, unless it’s really deep and they’ve changed the battery type from last generation which they have probably not). So if you don’t like protrusions, the Dell Precision M4500′s 9 cell battery will stick out slightly from the notebook, while the 6 cell battery won’t (though you’ll have to sacrifice some power). The HP Elitebook 8540w, however, has a flush-fitting 8 cell battery. More food for thought, eh?

This message: Sent from my Elitebook

Hey everyone, guess what? A friend of mine got his Elitebook 8440p just last week equipped with the Intel Core i5 540M 2.53 GHz dual core processor and not-so-well known Nvidia Quadro NVS 3100M graphics. While he’s still doing some hard disk spring cleaning and organizing data from his old Dell to be moved to their new home, he’s feeling nice enough to let me have a little spin with his new tech toy. So far, the Elitebook 8440p feels a whole lot like the Elitebook 8440w I reviewed when it first came out – including the nice, spill-proof, tactile partial-chiclet keyboard. There’s an odd change to the items above the display though: the webcam has been shifted slightly to the right (but now in a position more centralized than the 8440w’s webcam) and the HP Night Light is slightly more ‘right side’  biased than that of the 8440w.

I’ll be writing up a review on the Elitebook 8440p soon, once I spend more time with this thing; with opinions and user experience input from my friend once he starts using the notebook for real. What I can tell you so far is that gaming performance has been surprisingly underwhelming – compared to the 8440w, I had to tune down Left4Dead 2 to 1280 x 720 and Low settings in order to play at 20 FPS (8440w manages almost double the frame rate with higher settings). I’ll have to do more testing on this, maybe update a few drivers or something. EDIT: Turns out Core i5 is real picky on whether the notebook is plugged in when it comes to choosing either performance or power saving. With the charger plugged into the HP Elitebook 8440p, I managed to play Left4Dead 2 with a frame rate ranging from 24 to 40 FPS – frame rate only drops down to 10 FPS if you’re running off battery power.

Up to three storage/disk drives on flagship Elitebook 8740w?!

HP has put quite a bit of effort (but not to their full potential, apparently) to spice up this year’s Elitebook 8440 and 8540 models. After pondering things over, I think making the Elitebook 8740w merely a “17 inch version” of the 8540w would be risky for HP. With 2008′s Elitebook 8530w vs Elitebook 8730w, there was plenty to justify going for the 17 inch 8730w: numeric pad, more powerful graphics card, DreamColor display and optional Quad Core.

The same can’t be done with the 8740w as two original differentiating factors: numeric pad and quad core are already standard on the 8540w, leaving graphics and the optional DreamColor display as the only reasons to settle for a bulkier, less portable 17 inch model. More things have to be introduced in the Elitebook 8740w to differentiate it from the 8540w… coincidentally, one of the negative points some critics made about the original 8730w was the lack of a second built-in hard disk bay which manycompetitors had (and whose successors still have at the moment, like the Dell Precision M6500). You could have had two hard disks spinning in your 8730w, but you had to sacrifice the optical drive for that to happen. That is why I highly suspect HP’s 2010 Elitebook 8740w will have options for up to three hard disk drives (two standard notebook storage bays; option to replace optical drive with 3rd hard disk/solid state drive).

But one of the issues would be space. The Elitebook 8730w was/is the slimmest 17 inch Mobile Workstation available (Apple MacBook Pro 17 doesn’t count because it has consumer graphics), and I get a feeling the 8740w will inherit that title from its predecessor. While some two and a half inch thick 17 inch laptops can pack two hard disks above each other or tuck them under other components, you’d have to place the hard disk bays side on the Elitebook 8740w (which is gonna be a little over an inch thin). I’ve seen what’s inside the old Elitebook 8730w before (after dissection) and if we were to assume components in the 8740w to be about the same proportions and take up a similar amount of space, HP could fit in a second hard disk bay under the left side of the palmrest. Some reshuffling would have to be done, however – relocating the Smart Card reader to above the optical drive (ala their other non-17 inch Elitebook models) is a must. The Express Card slot can remain – there is sufficient room to have the hard disk sit directly below the EC slot.

It’s good to see HP working their way “up” the model range when designing their Elitebooks. I see some manufacturers are doing the opposite, creating higher end models and then “crippling” certain features in them to create lower end variaties – I personally think this isn’t the way to go if one was to bring innovation to the table. I get a gut feeling multi-hard disk bays will be one of the many surprises HP will introduce in the Elitebook 8740w….

HP’s undercover gaming laptop – the Elitebook 8540w

It’s a weekend and I’ve been busy with spring cleaning, vacuuming the place and sorting things out, tossing out unused junk… and I’ve also been eying Assassin’s Creed 2 for PC, which is coming out in March 2010! Alienware (by Dell) recently came out with a very interesting 11 inch ‘gaming’ notebook this CES and I’ve been visiting their site to check out their M11x and M15x notebooks (not that I’m considering either, I’m just curious to learn more about various manufacturer offerings).

Okay, while I was on Alienware’s website looking at their M15x gaming notebook, I couldn’t help but to compare it to the recently launched Elitebook 8540w! No, don’t go “what the…??” just because the Alienware M15x is a dedicated gaming notebook and the Elitebook 8540w is a professional mobile workstation. I kinda figured that the HP Elitebook 8540w, despite being a business notebook and looking nothing like one suited for hardcore gaming, can in fact double as a pretty powerful and potent gaming notebook (and to a certain extent, and can put up a fight against Dell/Alienware’s heavy weight performer. Here’s why…

• The Alienware M15x has various Intel Core i7 Quad and Core i5 Dual core processor options. The Elitebook 8540w does too (except the i7 Extreme option, at the moment).
• The Alienware M15x can be fitted with a full HD 1080p widescreen display. Well, so can the Elitebook 8540w (with points for having a matte display; reviews of the M15x mention it has a glossy one).
• The Alienware M15x has two DDR3 RAM (1333 MHz) slots so you can have up to 8 GB of memory… the Elitebook 8540w has a whopping four DDR3 RAM (also 1333 MHz) slots for double the memory: 16 GB max.
• Both notebooks have 7200 RPM hard disks standard (up to 500 GB), and optional solid state drives (up to 256 GB)
• Both notebooks have optical drives with optional Blu-ray. The Elitebook 8540w has an advantage here of being able to swap out the optical drive for a second 500 GB 7200 RPM hard disk.

The Alienware M15x and Elitebook 8540w also have the exact same variety of ports (except USB). The Elitebook 8540w’s five USB ports (three USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0) beats three USB 2.0 ports that the Alienware has. But the Alienware M15x is a better entertainment notebook with two headphone jacks (versus one on the Elitebook).

The Elitebook 8540w comes with an 8-cell battery standard, with the option to add on a secondary 8 or 12 cell battery via the secondary battery connector on the notebook’s underside. On team Alienware, the M15x comes standard with a 6 cell battery, with the option to go for a 9 cell battery option (this battery sits in place of the 6 cell, and is not an add on battery). In theory, if one was to “game on the go”, you could swap batteries on the Elitebook more easily without having to power off/hibernate the notebook at all.

Sure, the advantages that the Alienware M15x has include: better built-in speakers, extremely customizable AlienFX keyboard backlight/overall lighting system, system/cooling designed specifically for gaming, gaming-specific Nvidia GeForce graphics and a striking exterior design that’s bound to intimidate your opponents at a LAN party. I mean, how’s an innocent looking Elitebook gonna have any psychological effect on the other team at a gaming tournament/gathering, at all? Well, you gotta know the Alienware M15x is also 50% heavier, 50% thicker and slightly wider/longer than the Elitebook 8540w as well!

The Alienware M15x’s current graphics card options are: the 512 MB Nvidia GeForce GT240M and 1 GB Nvidia GeForce GTX260M. Granted the Elitebook 8540w is NOT a dedicated gaming notebook and comes with workstation-class graphics, its 1 GB Nvidia Quadro FX880M and 1 GB Nvidia Quadro FX1800M graphics offerings (equivalent to Nvidia’s new GeForce GT330M and GT335M cards, I think) still hold up pretty well… you could still use them for gaming.

There’s also the HP Night Light on the Elitebook 8540w… and while it won’t hold a candle against Alienware’s advanced Alien FX lighting system, at least it still does its job of providing keyboard illumination while you’re gaming or working in the dark!

If the Elitebook was a Wall Street guy in a business suit and tie, the Alienware would probably be Arnold Schwarzenegger during his bodybuilder days. As I mentioned, the Alienware M15x and Elitebook 8540w are two completely different animals, that nobody would even think of comparing. Yet somehow, my creative mind has come up with this fairly fair and square comparison of the two. No, I don’t expect gamers to be switching over to CAD workstations used by professionals anytime soon, or vice versa… but today’s comparison does bring up an interesting revelation: the Elitebook 8540w has more ‘gaming genes’ under its hood than one would probably expect. While it wasn’t built from the ground up for gaming, I think the Elitebook 8540w packs quite a punch for a business notebook; enough to allow graphic designers, CAD professionals, students, etc (whatever you plan to use it for) to unwind with a game of Need for Speed Shift or Crysis 2 (almost) maxed out in full HD after a day’s work.

*Note to self: I should really make a video of ‘gaming and gameplay using an Elitebook’, bet that’ll be interesting…