*HP EliteBook 8440p/w Owners Lounge*

[MattScho]

Just a heads-up. Bios revision F.0B is now available.

Edit: The high speed fan on wake from sleep issue is fixed for me.

[MattScho]

Still having some minor Virtualization Technology issues. On bios revision F.07, the system became unstable and threw a lot of glitches with VT enabled (did anyone else experience problems?). It was really unusable despite becoming more stable once I got to the bottom of the Memory moduly problem I mentioned previously (I was still getting random driver failures).

On bios revision F.0B, the system is 100% stable and performance is great with VT enabled, but the fan speed is higher on idle than it is with VT disabled, and revs up very fast on the least intensive of tasks (opening my Favourites menu in IE8 for example). Not a big problem I know, but tedious in the environment I work in. With VT disabled, the fan is much quieter at all times (although more audible than many lesser laptops I've used) and only on intensive tasks does it rev up as you would expect. Requiring a new chipset driver perhaps? Something isn't sat right with VT. Is anyone else experiencing VT related issues on either bios revision?

[mkouk]

Hi guys,

I am interested in buying the 8440p but I have a question before i click on that buy button!

Why this model HP EliteBook 8440p Notebook PC (VQ663EA) specifications - HP Small & Medium Business products is much more expensive that this one HP EliteBook 8440p Notebook PC (VQ664ET) specifications - HP Small & Medium Business products ?

Is this purely for the SATA optical drive? because it seems that in a few other specs the more expensive model has slightly lower specs (i.e. RAM, Screen resolution etc.)

Many thanks in advance.

[sandro_f]

Hi guys,


I'm a recent owner of a 8440p, and a very proud one...

And as most of you, I have that fan question, when plugged, the fan does not stop... so as I read, I should update the BIOS.

The thing is, I never did that by myself, and I'm kind of afraid of doing it.


Can someone give me a step-by-step of how to do it?


Thanks in advance

[MattScho]

Hi sandro_f

To install the new bios, download the latest release from HP's website for your laptop model. Double click on the downloaded file and follow the onscreen instructions to update your bios directly from within your operating system.

The problem you mention of the fan always being on when the laptop is plugged in... There is an option within bios that is enabled as standard (from the factory) that you'll need to turn off if you don't want the fan to run at all times when plugged in. When the laptop boots up and the HP logo appears, press F10 to enter bios. Click on the System Configuration tab, then click on the Device Configurations option. In there, you will see "Fan always on while on AC Power" and a tick in a checkbox next to it. Click on the checkbox to clear/remove the tick. Click on Exit, and when asked if you want to save changes, select "Yes". The laptop will restart and the fan will no longer always run when plugged in.

Hope that helps

[sandro_f]

Hi MattScho,

Thanks a lot for the help. It worked perfectly.

[polarlinks]

Hey all. I received my 8440w today and also have the fan always on issue, even though I'm on the latest bios, and selected the option to not always have the fan on when on a/c power.

I do have VT enabled...I'll turn it off and see if it helps. Eventually I'm going to want to use it.

My fan sounds a little gritty, like it's dirty or something, at some point I will open it up. How does it sound for you other owners?

On another note. VS my soon to be sold 8530W.

8440w(i820cpu)
-More of a fingerprint magnet.
-screen res. I don't mind it too much since my laptop spends most of it's life docked.
+handles alot of tasks at the same time. Even when using a display link adapter for a 3rd LCD (takes cpu to run the usb->lcd adapter).

Dock hasn't arrived yet so I have one LCD hooked up to vga, one to the displaylink via dvi, and one via usb. Working great! I mention this because a lot of owners don't realize you can run dual display without the dock. I run hard drives in raid 0 and the upgrade bay from my 8530w took a little massaging to get in...it's supposed to be the same upgrade bay for both models.

I stuck both hard drives in, enabled raid in the bios and booted straight to windows 7. Installed some drivers and that was it. No need to re-install everything from scratch. So far so good.

[polarlinks]

With regards my above post (permalink 82).

An additional memory module I puchased a week or more before the error I reported above physically failed yesterday. Details: 2GB Corsair DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10666 (1333) Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24

Memtest threw 30 failures per pass on that module. With it removed, the factory installed Samsung 2Gb module sailed through all tests without error.

I checkout out Intels website to see which modules they have validated for this chipset before visiting the shop for a replacement/swap today - DDR3 1333 Non-ECC SODIMM Validation Results 2DIMM/ch

No Corsair modules are on their list. Thankfully, the shop also supplied a Hynix 2Gb module that is on Intels validation list, so I exhanged my faulty Corsair module for that.

I've been playing for a few hours with the new module installed, and performance is light years better. I've also re-enabled Virtualization Technology in Bios, and what do you know, there are no problems whatsoever.

What I did observe were these results from Sisoft Sandra that may be useful for information in this thread.

The Samsung module shows it's running at 7-7-7-20. The product spec on Samsungs website show's it as 9-9-9-24. My guess is that Turbo mode on the i5 processor is overclocking the RAM. Would I be right in thinking that?

In which case, I guess the Corsair module just couldn't handle the overclock so failed. With the Corsair module installed, both modules (Samsung and Corsair) gave Cas readings in Sisoft of CL8.

With the Hynix module installed today, both modules read 7-7-7-20. A few stress tests, and all is good.

Happy days.

My experience on both desktop workstations and laptop workstations with HP is that memory from Crucial (RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com) has always been the most stable and reliable. I don't know if it's the fastest (haven't bought corsair and done comparisons), but the fact that I never have any issues works for me.

For custom built PCs I will buy corsair/other brand.

[adamdipardo]

Well, I got my 8440w (part # FN093UT#ABA) just under a week ago. So far I really like it. First thing I did with it was install Windows 7 64-bit with a retail disk that I had and the product key off the bottom of the computer. Install was fine and so was installing all of the drivers, although I had to download them on another computer and transfer them by USB since the wireless and ethernet was not working without any drivers.

Biggest pro about this notebook in my mind is the keyboard, it is really solid and is great to type on. Biggest con is probably the touchpad, but only because, as noted by others, it is on the small side. It is responsive though and works well, it's just sometimes I may run out of space (especially when I am scrolling with two fingers).

One thing I notice though is that the computer seems to hang for about 10-15 seconds when booting up. This occurs after the "Please Wait" message disappears but before the user accounts actually show up. Does anybody else experience this?

[dap_pad]

One thing I notice though is that the computer seems to hang for about 10-15 seconds when booting up. This occurs after the "Please Wait" message disappears but before the user accounts actually show up. Does anybody else experience this?

I've gotten this too and actually, whenever this happens my Aero theme turns off and my custom skin disappears. It's quite bizarre and happens randomly. I usually just restart the laptop since it starts up so quick when startup works normally (under a minute at most). This always fixes the problem and it returns back to normal (both the startup speed and Aero theme). It's not a big issue since normal restart happens so quickly but it's just slightly annoying to have to restart every time it happens (I would say, once every two to three weeks?).

Does anyone know how to fix this problem?