*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 2*

[RampageII]

Jobs: Active duty military, graphic design on the side
Hobbies: Digital photography (12mp DSLR + Photoshop CS5), video creation/editing, painting, programming, and of course, gaming

You mistakenly assumed causation because of correlation. A common mistake, but one that people really should stop making; it makes them look foolish.


Oh and I watch a lot of tv/movies on my computer, which definitely benefit from the wide viewing angles and 100% sRGB.

Yeah, OK.....

You like to watch movies at extreme angles on your laptop?
I'll have to try that some time.
RGB and 110% adobe color gamut to watch movies?.... right on.

@RampageII, did you try the SSD power management tweaks discussed in this thread. I am almost getting close to double the 4K values in SSD benches and real world.
Attachment 55735

No, not yet.
I've been meaning to try that.

[Koshinn]

Yeah, OK.....

You like to watch movies at extreme angles on your laptop?
I'll have to try that some time.
RGB and 110% adobe color gamut to watch movies.... right on.

Way to straw man.

You ignore my primary reasons for purchasing the screen, ignore the fact that you claim that people purchased DC2 to play games and change your argument to something akin to "watching movies is a waste of an IPS screen," without realizing that, maybe unlike you, I don't watch movies alone.

You do realize that probably 95% of HDTVs do NOT use TN panels, right?

[RampageII]

Way to straw man.

You ignore my primary reasons for purchasing the screen, ignore the fact that you claim that people purchased DC2 to play games and change your argument to something akin to "watching movies is a waste of an IPS screen," without realizing that, maybe unlike you, I don't watch movies alone.

You do realize that probably 95% of HDTVs do NOT use TN panels, right?

haha,

See, this is the part where after reading this "(not all)" from my original post, you would have paused for a moment and said to yourself; 'He's definitely not referring to me' and simply dismiss my comment.

But what do you do instead?
You get defensive about it.

If my comments do not apply to you why do you get defensive? LOL

[Aikimox]

from the wide viewing angles and 100% sRGB.

It's ~ 150% sRGB

Yeah, OK.....

You like to watch movies at extreme angles on your laptop?
I'll have to try that some time.
RGB and 110% adobe color gamut to watch movies.... right on.

After you almost ordered the "DC2 screen" from eBay for 450$, it's somewhat strange to hear those "anti-good-screen" comments. It almost sounds as if you regret not getting it in the first place.

Another thing is, how can you dare to comment on a screen you haven't seen???
The difference between the DC2 and regular laptop TN LED screens is so enormous that if money isn't a big issue (and that's the case here if I understand the question correctly) one absolutely must have it.
You'll notice it in everything: movies, photos, gaming, you name it...
Needless to say that returning to my M17X RGB LED (the second best screen up to date) was impossible. I simply can't look at TN screens now.

[NotebookGrail]

For a moment i thought i went back in time...

Same arguments- no one willing to give up

[HiddenUser]

@RampageII:

In fact, the DreamColor screen is not the best partner for the hardcore gamer. Despite of the "bring your games into life" feature with its real 8-bit per color component output, and assuming the game supports that color depth (that is, up to 16.7M colors simultaneously, when normal latop screens only can output up to 262,144 colors at the same time), it suffers from quite a bit lag. Koshinn made tests before and he realized that 50ms lag is the average for this screen. This is not acceptable for hardcore gamers, but for the occasional gamer it is, of course.

All in all, the DC2 screen is an 'all rounder' IMHO. Manly focused for working with graphics, you can benefit from its technology watching movies with superb color reproduction (I'm pretty sure this baby puts almost all other laptop screens to shame) and playing colourful and rich detailed games (if you're not a hardcore gamer), but gaming is not the intended use. After all, HP isn't going to create a top notch professional notebook only for gaming, or is he? LOL

@Aikimox: I think you should add to the DC2 screen features the average lag measured by Koshinn and put a note similar to this: *this screen is not intended for hardcore gamers*

[RampageII]

It's ~ 150% sRGB

Even better! Thanks Aikimox.

After you almost ordered the "DC2 screen" from eBay for 450$, it's somewhat strange to hear those "anti-good-screen" comments. It almost sounds as if you regret not getting it in the first place.

You're right, I was tempted. You know me, I can't resist a good deal.
Oh, and it would have been $400 in my case.
But then I came to my senses. lol

Another thing is, how can you dare to comment on a screen you haven't seen???
The difference between the DC2 and regular laptop TN LED screens is so enormous that if money isn't a big issue (and that's the case here if I understand the question correctly) one absolutely must have it.
You'll notice it in everything: movies, photos, gaming, you name it...
Needless to say that returning to my M17X RGB LED (the second best screen up to date) was impossible. I simply can't look at TN screens now.

Where have I ever said that DC2 is not a better display?

@RampageII:
In fact, the DreamColor screen is not the best partner for the hardcore gamer.

Where did I say it was the "best partner for the hardcore gamer"?
I only said it would make the colors look pretty.

For a moment i thought i went back in time...

Same arguments- no one willing to give up

Well, we gotta do something if we ever wish to reach 300+ pages again right? LOL

[Aikimox]

@Aikimox: I think you should add to the DC2 screen features the average lag measured by Koshinn and put a note similar to this: *this screen is not intended for hardcore gamers*

If I remember correctly, the lag wasn't discovered in games but in some music instruments simulator program.
I was trying to see that lag in FPS online games and never encountered it.
The only mild lag was discovered in 2D games and apps (credits to Gaah) and is only related to immature drivers.
There are no games (at least in my library) that suffer from the the input lag, and I game enough to claim it.
So, let's call this subject "Under Further Investigation" before we come to some firm conclusions.

@RampageII,
I understand. It's just that the original question was about a very good screen when money isn't an issue and since the guy works in software development (as I do) I can definitely say that it is worth the upgrade.

[RampageII]

@RampageII,
I understand. It's just that the original question was about very good screen when money isn't an issue and since the guy works in software development (as I do) I can definitely say that it is worth the upgrade.

Are you talking about the post from "improwise"?
Did you miss the part where he said;

"I want a screen that looks and feels really good, but since I dont do any graphical work, color matching, oversaturation etc. really isnt a problem. Is the DreamColor mainly intended for these requirements, and so isn't really worth paying extra for in my case?"

I would say the standard WUXGA or even the WXGA displays are great candidates for what he needs.

[Aikimox]

(I searched but could not find a "buyers guide" thread so this one seemed the most appropriate, please let me know if this post is not in the right place. Thanks.)

Hi guys, need som buying advice. I am a software developer looking for a 17" laptop with best possible performance spec which makes me interested in the 8740w. A few things has me thinking though:

GPU.
I very seldom do any gaming or any other kind of work that requires any serious GPU power at all, which graphics card should I go for? If it was only a matter of price, I wouldn't mind buying the most expensive one, but I guess that it is also a matter of battery life, power consumption, heat and need for a larger than life charger etc. I *NEVER* do any AutoCAD or similar.

Screen.
I spend more hours in front of my laptop that I wish to think about, so I want a screen that looks and feels really good, but since I dont do any graphical work, color matching, oversaturation etc. really isnt a problem. Is the DreamColor mainly intended for these requirements, and so isn't really worth paying extra for in my case?

HDD
I notice that HP doesnt seem to have SSDs in even their most expensive pre-configurations ($US4000+) even though the laptop itself must be targeted at customers willing to pay, is that something that should make you considering not going for an SSD, which would otherwise seem like a logical choice if performance is a major concern, and price really isn't (meaing, I'm prepared to pay for stuff I really need/want, but no point in paying to much of course)

Thank you in advance for any comments, pointers etc in regards to this

I guess, we should ask him to clarify this point but my impression from his post is that he's not so worried about paying extra.
In fact, the most expensive GPU option (FX5000M) is 1.5k above the price of the M7820 and was willing to pay for the most expensive one.
Anyway, let him come and speak his mind again
Still, I'd go for DC2 even if needed to sacrifice the performance.