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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 M4×00 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?

ATI FirePro M5800 to be based off ATI Mobility Radeon 5850?

I’m a curious person who likes doing a lot of thinking and analysis of things. And after yesterday’s revelation of an unannounced ATI FirePro M5800 card, I’ve been thinking… which consumer ATI card would be the mysterious workstation-class FirePro M5800 be based on? The answer, I suspect, lies with HP and their Elitebook 8540w. See, their current Elitebook 8540w makes available two Nvidia Quadro graphics options: the 512 MB Quadro FX880M and 1 GB Quadro FX1800M. Both are 40 nm chipsets. All of ATI’s new Mobility Radeon 5000 series graphics cards are based on the 40 nm process, plus the fact that ATI (with their recent reputation of coming out with all the good stuff) is very unlikely to use their “old” 4000-series designs for a new product… first part solved – the FirePro M5800 will be based off a card in the 5000-series.

Now, which specific card in the ATI Mobility Radeon 5000 series? The Nvidia Quadro card options for the Elitebook 8540w have bandwidth figures of 25.6 to 31.2 GB/s and TDP values of 35W and 45W respectively. So the ATI FirePro M5800 card HP has chosen should sit with specifications somewhere near those ranges. Also, the Nvidia Quadro FX1800M is a DDR3/GDDR5 card. So at first guess, one would probably suspect the ATI Mobility Radeon 5470 as the “base” of the new FirePro card, but no… it has a lower minimum bandwidth (12.8 GB/s) and significantly lower TDP (13W-15W) than the Nvidia cards.

Under the fairly accurate assumption that HP would like to keep power consumption/heat output/TDP similar to Nvidia’s cards, so to get the most out of the Elitebook 8540w’s design, the ATI FirePro M5800 will likely (with high probability) be based off the ATI Mobility Radeon 5850. The Mobility Radeon 5850 ticks all the boxes for being the perfect candidate for creating a workstation-class graphics card which matches/bests Nvidia’s top offering (FX1800M) for 15 inch notebooks – bandwidth (28.8-64 GB/s), DDR3/GDDR5, manufacturing process, TDP (30-39 W) and all are a closer match than any other graphics card that ATI has. So I’m almost 99% certain this will be it – the FirePro M5800 will be based off the ATI Mobility Radeon 5850, and time will tell if my guess is correct.

HP Elitebook 8440w Review (Quad-core i7 model)

No this is NOT an article written from the CES floor. Not too long ago, I was kidnapped and dragged into a secret location to play with this gunmetal gray little toy. And the minute I lay my hands on the chilly cold keyboard deck and powered it up, I was in love. I confess I’ve been hugging this thing for quite a while now (and yes, its real owner wants it back!). Like many people around the world (I know because they sent in plenty of tips), I was not bound to anyone or anything, so I could’ve posted this earlier but I was in a dilemma whether to go ahead.

Now that it’s official, I’m really happy for HP and I’m now posting my review based on my time with the HP Elitebook 8440w Mobile Workstation!

Main features:

• 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7 Extreme 920-XM quad core processor
• 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (2 slots)
• 512 MB Nvidia Quadro FX380M graphics (not to be confused with the high-end FX3800M)
• 14 inch 16:9 matte widescreen, super-high res option (1600 x 900)
• 4 USB ports, VGA out, Display Port out
• 6 cell primary battery with HP 8 cell secondary battery

Based on emails from sources and readers I’ve been receiving since September last year, there are a variety of different configurations floating around. I believe a Core i5 option exists, along with “gaming” graphics (I think those are more recent units).

1.73 GHz Intel Core i7 820QM quad core processor - looks like majority of “closet Elitebook 8440 holders” have their Elitebook 8440w’s configured with this processor. I’ve gotten word from a few people that they’re getting similar battery life numbers to what I’m getting (about 9 hours of light use on 9 cell and 4+ hours on heavy loads).

Design

Besides offering improvements in performance, Core i7 spells out sheer power, HP also evolved the design of this year’s Elitebooks a little. The changes are subtle but well appreciated. Unless you have a keen eye or are extremely familiar with HP notebooks, you might not spot them at first. So let me point them out to you.

The fingerprint reader of the latest Elitebook 8440w is a lot more low profile than the silver colored one on previous Elitebooks. It blends in with the gray design… just like that.

Left side of the Elitebook 8440w

Over here, you can see the Elitebook 8440w’s airflow vent, three USB ports, firewire port, Express Card slot and dedicated headphone/microphone jacks. Although there’s word the larger 15 inch Elitebook 8540p and 8540w models will get USB 3.0 ports (personally I just received the latter, but have no USB 3.0 devices to test out on it), the smaller 8440w here is stuck with your everyday USB 2.0 ports as far as I can tell.

Right side of the Elitebook 8440w

On this side of the notebook, we have the optical drive (see that logo, ooh Blu-ray!), combined USB + eSATA port, LAN port and modem jack. There’s also a smartcard reader cleverly hidden between the palmrest and optical drive area (that very thin slit).

Ports on the back

The biggest surprise (or not, if you read our “Spotted: Elitebook” article in November 2009) is that HP ain’t putting HDMI ports on their latest Elitebook models. Instead, they’re jumping straight over to using Display Ports (those wanting to hook up the notebook to their TV shouldn’t fret, as there are various HDMI adapters available). HP has also included a more traditional VGA output so business users can easily connect the notebook to a projector without the hassle of an additional adapter.

Battery life: Isn’t this everyone’s concern when a Core i7 Mobile processor is used in a notebook? First off, I was amazed at the battery life of the Elitebook 8440w considering its powerful processor. Unplugged and working on documents/surfing the web, I managed to clock in 6 hours of work using the primary battery (6 cell) and another 8 hours with the secondary battery (screen at medium brightness). And using it for CAD work and gaming at maximum brightness slashes those numbers into half.

24 hour battery life: You read that right, but only the Elitebook 8440p models will manage that. The p “professional” variants run on less powerful (hence, less power consuming) processors and have other power saving measures, while the 8440w “workstation” variant here trades some battery life for power.

Fan noise: The Elitebook 8440w is almost silent when idling and doing light work. Under heavy stress (gaming and CAD), the fan spins up noticably to an audible level but as I observed, it’s still quieter than the 8530w/8730w’s respective fans at full tilt.

Display: The Elitebook 8440w I played with had a marvelous matte 1600 x 900 display. Simply put, the resolution alone makes the Elitebook 8440w’s 14 inch widescreen display feel bigger than it really is. I have more good things to say here: I love matte displays (and have an apparent dislike for glossy ones, as they’re hard to see under bright lighting) which the Elitebook 8440w has, and the LED backlit display is on the bright side. I had no problem viewing the screen indoors under living room lighting with brightness at the lowest setting.

There’s also an ambient light sensor below the display which you can opt to enable or disable by pressing Fn + F11.

HP Night Light: This is an Elitebook standard feature. The change in current generation Elitebook’s Night Lights is that the light pops out by pressing the light itself (kinda like the spare change compartment in your car), compared to the old Elitebooks which required a press of a separate button next to the Night Light. The brightness is decent – sufficient to illuminate the keyboard in low-light, but it’s certainly not blinding or overly bright to the point that it’s distracting. Despite the centralized location, the Night Light is able to provide sufficient illumination even to the edges of the keyboard. The photo above was taken in total darkness with exposure adjusted to reflect what my own eyes saw.

Touch sensitive controls: The Elitebook 8440w has a reworked set of touch sensitive controls above the keyboard. The “Info” and “Presentation” buttons of the old Elitebooks have been replaced with more useful controls to launch your favorite email application and internet browser. That’s followed by a wireless on/off control and touchpad lock button (turns red when touchpad is locked). The touchpad lock feature is new to this generation of Elitebook models: previously only the Elitebook 2530p had one. It basically disabled the touchpad itself and lower mouse buttons to prevent accidental presses. However, it does NOT lock the pointing stick and upper touchpad buttons (which is great news for pointing stick fanatics).

Keyboard: There isn’t much change in the keyboard layout of the Elitebook 8440w. In fact, the layout is exactly the same as that of the Elitebook 6930p: full-sized keys with Page Up/Page Down/Home/End buttons positioned at the very right side with a small gutter separating that row with the rest of the keyboard. The full sized right Shift key remains, as with the decently sized arrow keys. There is a change, however, to the keyboard’s design. HP has shifted from the traditional keyboards found on earlier Elitebook models to a partial-chiclet styled one (first seen here on HP’s Touchsmart all-in-one PC keyboard). I know people who own 1st generation Elitebook models of all sizes (from 12 inches to 17 inches) and some of them have been kind enough to let me use them extensively from time to time =). I didn’t find any issue with the keyboards on any of the 1st generation Elitebooks, but I must say the new keyboard here on the Elitebook 8440w is even more comfortable to type on. Keystrokes are softer (but still stiff enough to prevent accidental presses) and more responsive, but not really quieter when typing.

The keyboard is apparently spill-proof, but I was not fortunate enough (or not unfortunate enough, depending on how you see things) to spill anything on the keyboard during my time with the Elitebook 8440w. In fact, I pampered the little thing like a baby for the obvious reason it does not belong to me (see below for the paragraph about owner’s durability demonstration though)

Elitebook 8440w’s pointing stick

The Elitebook 8440w’s pointing stick is an improvement over that of previous Elitebook models. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I personally know several Elitebook owners, and some of them do complain a lot about the hassle of their pointing stick coming off after a lot of typing (especially using the G, H and B keys) and need to be plugged back in (believe me, they are indeed a small challenge to reattach firmly). The new partial-chiclet keyboard gives the pointing stick a bit of breathing room around the G, H, B keys and using the pointing stick itself is a breeze – responsive and accurate.

Elitebook 8440w’s touchpad

Gaming performance (Plugged in): I managed to play Left4Dead 2 at native 1600 x 900 resolution at 4X anti aliasing, 2X AF and all Medium settings with an average frame rate of 30-40 FPS. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 worked just as well with similar frame rates at Medium settings. The older Elitebook 8530w manages roughly the same frame rates, but with a mix of Medium/High settings at 1920 x 1200 as it has a higher end graphics card (FX770M) versus the FX380M on the 8440w.

Display lid: The Elitebook 8440w has a lid locking system which LOOKS similar to that of the old Elitebooks, but there’s yet another small improvement here. The small ejector “stubs” (see the small black circle near the touchpad in the photo above) now don’t have a catch point half-way through. Press the button on the front of the Elitebook 8440w and it instantly ejects the lid. On old Elitebooks, there was a chance the lid would not fully open if you didn’t press hard the button enough.

CAD work: It takes around 5 minutes to encode 20 minutes worth of HD video in AVI format using Adobe Media Encoder CS4. Graphics rendering using AutoCAD is faster than the last gen Elitebook 6930p/Elitebook 8530w models. The 8440w can usually do the same job in 60-70% the time it takes for a 8530w. This is due to the 8440w’s quad-core processor – it gives this machine a large advantage in many day to day tasks (and sadly, there aren’t as many GPU reliant applications versus those that rely a lot on CPU). However, in the graphics department, the older Elitebook 8530w still wins in terms of smoothness and crispiness with its older but higher end FX770M.

Speakers: There’s a SD/SDHC/MMC card slot on the front of the Elitebook 8440w. Although not 100% centralized, the Elitebook 8440w’s speakers performed well in terms of sound quality (they produce some sort of “spatial” effect with a slight bit of bass). In fact, it’s one of the better speakers I’ve heard on a business notebook (Elitebook 8730w takes 1st place in my mind). They definitely sound better than the tinny speakers on my own Pavilion dv4. Music playback was good, and they sounded just as impressive when gaming.

Size: The Elitebook 8440w is a hair wider but very slightly shorter versus the old Elitebook 6930p due to its slightly wider 16:9 display.

Durability: I was treated to a surprise, scary demonstration by -anonymous-, the owner of this Elitebook 8440w, when he first offered to let me have a go at this notebook. I won’t say names, but this dude is about 6′ 2″ and 200 lbs, powered on the notebook, closed the lid and lay it down on the carpet before proceeding to stand on top of the notebook (!!!), and he didn’t even bother to take off his shoes. Needless to say, it held up, if not I wouldn’t even have been able to test this thing out anyway. Warning: Don’t try this at home, this advice applies to both kids and adults! HP Fansite is not responsible for your actions should any mishaps occur.

I’d say build quality is right up there with the Thinkpads and more solid than the unibody MacBook Pro’s.

Final thoughts: The HP Elitebook 8440w is a nice step up from the Elitebook 6930p and definitely a worthy successor. Compared to the Elitebook 6930p, the main improvements include a far more powerful processor, much better graphics, higher resolution screen (+160 pixels to the side), slightly better keyboard, 1 additional USB port, added Display Port, touchpad lock and very good battery life (if you want to stretch things a bit, go for the dual core Core i7 or i5 processor options).

Me: I’m thinking of replacing my aging Pavilion dv4 this year, and I’m torn between this smaller Elitebook 8440w and the more powerful Elitebook 8540w. Aaargh, decisions, decisions.

Why don’t I have a similar review available for the Elitebook 8540w? One main reason: because the 8440w arrived earlier (I feel that I haven’t spent enough time with the 8540w to write a user’s perspective, in-depth review)

If there’s anything else you wanna know, drop me an email or preferably, post in the comments section below and I’ll gladly answer.

MORE PICTURES AND WRITE UP COMING UP SOON!

Dell Precision M6500 + Nvidia Quadro FX3800M appears; HP Elitebook 8740w imminent?

Quadro FX3800M in Precision M6500, as seen on Dell's order website

Just as focus began changing last week from ‘product rumors’ to ’seasonal shopping’, Dell decided to bust out the first ever entrant into the ‘Mobile Workstation’ category for 2009/2010. Meet the Precision M6500 – specification and design wise, it sounds and looks a whole lot like its predecessor. The main changes are Core i7 under the hood (same 1.6 and 1.73 GHz variants we’ve been seeing in things such as the HP Envy 15) and, more interestingly, a new Nvidia Quadro FX3800M graphics card. I’m not sure if bringing up word of the FX3800M is a mistake or deliberate move on Dell’s behalf, as Nvidia has neither made an official announcement nor does their website show any ‘Quadro FX3800M’ card (not to be confused with the existing Quadro FX3800 for desktop) – the latest high-end mobile workstation graphics card shown on Nvidia’s website is the Quadro FX3700M.

But anyhow, this is surely a sign of things to come. Upon seeing this (Dell Precision M6500 specs), I think almost any person with some computer know-how and ability to make predictions will say that Core i7 and Nvidia Quadro FX3800M are almost definitely appearing in the upcoming HP Elitebook 8740w (future competitor to today’s freshly announced Dell). The Elitebook 8740w will probably also have the rumored standard features for HP’s next-gen Elitebooks. Since we’re discussing hardware here, I mind as well throw in my guess for the Elitebook 8740w’s display – I bet it will most likely re-use the same matte, 16:10, 1920×1200 17 inch panels from the 2008 Elitebook 8730w because 1) people wanting a ‘workstation’ would also want the most screen resolution they can get (a 16:9, 1920×1080 display would probably be glossy, and are geared towards movie watchers who don’t want black bars above/below their video) and 2) it’ll probably be expensive and a hassle for HP to re-develop another DreamColor display if they were to cut down to 16:9 ratio, and 3) the Dell Precision M6500 has a 16:10, 1920×1200 screen (and who wants to lose out to the competition?

In other Elitebook rumor news, another reader by the name of Juggs says the HP Elitebook 8440w/8440p (14 inch) and HP Elitebook 8540w/8540p (15 inch) notebooks will be announced on January 25 and January 26 next year respectively. Hmm, I’m not sure why HP would split them up into two separate announcements seeing they’re both similar products. Even more strange, no mention of the announcement of the Elitebook 8740w? Juggs also goes on to confirm that Core i5/i7, DDR3 RAM and LED backlit displays will make their appearances on the next gen of Elitebooks

Spotted: Next-gen HP Elitebook 8440w/8540w in real life and online

Photo sent by reader Michael K; next-gen Elitebook using HP's 'round' logo

One of our readers, Michael K, recently sent in two pictures of what seems to be one of HP’s next generation Elitebook models. Clad in a dark gray, and what seems to be metal/magnesium alloy, casing – this mysterious machine seems to be either the 14 inch Elitebook 8440w model or 15 inch Elitebook 8540w (judging by the amount of real estate on the palm rest area, it’s unlikely that this is the 17 inch Elitebook 8740w). UPDATE: Fellow Tweeter and owner of 8510w/8530w notebooks, Nicholas C, notes that the picture below is indeed the 14 inch Elitebook 8440w because of its mouse buttons – the larger 15 inch Elitebook 8540w would have an additional ‘center’ mouse button like its predecessors. Thanks Nicholas! =)

This ties in with the yet-to-be-announced ‘Elitebook 8440w, 8540w and 8740w’ models, which are strangely listed on HP’s own website. There’s also some blurry-looking text inscribed on the left palmrest area but knowing several people who own Elitebook 8530w and 8730w notebooks, I’m pretty sure it says “Mobile Workstation”.

Photo sent by reader Michael K; next-gen Elitebook (pretty sure that text on the left says 'Mobile Workstation')

This Elitebook is HP’s latest – because any HP fan (such as myself) would know that HP has been using their ’round’ logo on Winter 2008-onwards models (HP started replacing their ’square’ logo with the ’round’ one with the Mini 1000, if I’m not mistaken). All of HP’s current 2008 Elitebook models feature silver bodies and their ’square’ logo.

HP's OLD 'square' logo on a friend's 2008 Elitebook 2530p

He also goes on to mention a few juicy details on what “standard features” to expect from HP’s next-gen, 2009 Elitebooks:

• Core i7 “will be available for all models”
• “New” Nvidia Quadro FX Mobile workstation graphics for “w”-variants
• HP DuraCase, DuraKeys, 3D Drive Guard
• 7200 RPM hard disks standard
• Single HP Night Light (no backlit keyboard)
• VGA and Display Port output ports; no HDMI
• HP Power Assistant power management software
• Same batteries from current generation Elitebook models; 2nd extended battery available

Michael also points out that the new Elitebooks will feature yet-to-be-announced Nvidia workstation-class graphics cards for notebooks.

Core i7 will be available as an option for “all models”, I wonder if that includes the 8440p/w 14 inch model? Will this year’s generation of Elitebooks feature incremental upgrades or will they be ‘category crushers’ that blow away the competition?

Screenshot of HP's official website showing Elitebook 8440w (click for larger)

In other news, another one of our readers, Dana, has just pointed out that driver and support pages along with profile pictures (!!!) for the HP Elitebook 8440w and Elitebook 8540w Mobile Workstation models are already online on HP’s OFFICIAL website! Check them out here for the Elitebook 8440w and here for the Elitebook 8540w. No news on announcement date but seeing those pages are already up on HP’s website, I would imagine that it won’t take long before they become official. I would also infer from the tip about Nvidia’s new graphics cards that HP’s announcement of their 2nd generation Elitebook models will come after or at the same time Nvidia makes their announcements, I guess?

Elitebook 8440p, 8440w, 8540p, 8540w and 8740w models listed on HP's official site (Click for larger)

Either way, I can’t wait for official news (and an official announcement date?). Do YOU know something that we all don’t? Post tips in the comments section.

Left 4 Dead maxed out on Elitebook 8730w

BUSTED! Left 4 Dead works nicely with all settings maxed out on the HP Elitebook 8730w Mobile Workstation PC. The unit I used for testing had a T9400 2.53 GHz Intel Centrino 2 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 1 GB of graphics (Nvidia Quadro FX3700M), Windows Vista Ultimate and a lovely 17 inch Dream Color display. And the game settings were as follows:

• 1920 x 1200 full HD resolution, played on full screen
• Film grain – Maxed out
• Anti-aliasing – 16X MSAA
• 16X anisotropic filtering
• Vertical sync and multicore rendering OFF
• Shader detail – Very high
• Effect, model/texture and paged pool memory – All high

The game ran smoothly at around 30 to 40 frames per second. In “normal” scenes, things were buttery smooth and in “horde” scenes (Where tons of zombies rush at you), frame rate dropped to 20-24 FPS – depending on your eyes, you may or may not notice it – but the difference wasn’t large and the game was still more than playable (I could smoothly spin round and round while spamming my machine gun without much frame stuttering).

I did notice, however, the graphics card would take a little “breather” now and then – the screen image would freeze for about 2 seconds before going back to normal. On the positive side, it doesn’t happen often; around once or twice per entire campaign (with 5 scenarios).

After 3 hours of non-stop gaming (using a gaming mouse + notebook keyboard), the Elitebook 8730w did feel slightly warm around the palmrest area and upper left side of the keyboard, and very hot at the bottom. Core Temp reports processor temperature hovers around 58 to 64 degrees Celcius when gaming but don’t worry, the magnesium-alloy casing does a good job at keeping the exterior deck comfortable warm (versus blazing hot).