*HP EliteBook 8740w Owners Lounge - PART 2*

[justdreaming]

Hi everybody

is it true that its not possible to connect more than one external monitor on my Quadro FX 2800 M?

[Siorah]

no its not true.

with a display port adapter you can have more.

i've managed to get 3 externals working - 2 on displayport via DVI and 1 via VGA. (plus laptop screen)

i didn't test the third, because i ran out of monitors to test >.>

this is my source

i have one of these puppies

http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com.../dp/B003GS7ILW

worked no problems.

the card actually supports 6 displays in total - according to the nvidia control panel.

[HiddenUser]

So, is this the way it has to be? Is there no solution for the bandwith fighting?

Maybe that connecting an ExpressCard USB 3.0 host adapter and plugging the other drive in it, we could solve the 'bandwith fighting' issue, but I don't know for sure.

RampageII: What do you think of this?

[knight427]

My new 8740w is here! The DC screen is awesome. I have lots of stuff to do though. I'll be benchmarking tonight. Get your requests in. Also, I'll take some pics comparing the normal screen to the DC while I have both.

[Siorah]

thats good news! congrats

[Wizman]

I'm getting ready to buy a new 8740w. Just noticed that HP has added the Intel® Core™ i7-940QM Extreme Processor to the on-line configurator.

Now a couple of concerns I hope you can help me with:

(1) Which 256GB SSD does HP provide with the 8740w as an option?

(2) I have read several surveys that indicate that HP continues to have the worse product support and repairs of all laptop manufacturers.

- Is this true? Is this what you have experienced as 8740w owners?

- If so, should I select one of the optional service plans to protect me compared to the standard 3yr warranty?

Your feedback would be much appreciated before I make my purchase.

[RampageII]

I'm getting ready to buy a new 8740w. Just noticed that HP has added the Intel® Core™ i7-940QM Extreme Processor to the on-line configurator.

Now a couple of concerns I hope you can help me with:

(1) Which 256GB SSD does HP provide with the 8740w as an option?

(2) I have read several surveys that indicate that HP continues to have the worse product support and repairs of all laptop manufacturers.

- Is this true? Is this what you have experienced as 8740w owners?

- If so, should I select one of the optional service plans to protect me compared to the standard 3yr warranty?

Your feedback would be much appreciated before I make my purchase.

* Yup, it was only a matter of time before the 940xm showed up. Very expensive though. No surprise of course.

* Do not buy the RAM and HD upgrades from HP. You can buy those things from 3rd party for a lot less.

* I can't speak for their consumer line of laptops, but the business class service is excellent.
My tech guy is pretty good. I just wish he would stop breaking tabs on my laptop every time he has to open it up.
First he broke a tab on the touch control panel so he ordered me a new one. And now a 2nd tab, which is also for the control panel. The only problem is that unlike the 1st one he broke, this one is on the chassis. So the only way to fix that is to replace the whole upper half of the chassis.
The guy has been pretty cool so I don't want to complaint and get him in trouble. But, HP is probably not going to want to replace the upper half of the chassis just for a broken tab.
So now the top right corner of the touch panel is loose.

[Aikimox]

My new 8740w is here! The DC screen is awesome. I have lots of stuff to do though. I'll be benchmarking tonight. Get your requests in. Also, I'll take some pics comparing the normal screen to the DC while I have both.

Congrats!
GPU benchmarks, PLEASE!!! (Vantage, 3DMark06, Tom2D, and the pro test).
Enjoy the new beast and the DC especially!

[RampageII]

So, is this the way it has to be? Is there no solution for the bandwith fighting?

Yes.

I have an ASUS RIIX Mobo which doesn't have USB 3.0 ports. I was about to buy one of those 1x PCIe cards that have two USB 3.0 ports, but then I realized that 1x cards just don't have enough bandwidth to run two 3.0 ports at full speed. Really those 1x cards should only have 1 port because that's all they can handle.
What I did is I bought an ASUS U3S6 4x PCI3 card which has 2 3.0 ports AND 2 SATA6 ports and has a dedicated bridge chip to control traffic. Two extra SATA6 ports and cables for an extra $5... it's a no brainer.

I suspect our laptops have a similar setup, which is why you can't use both 3.0 ports on the 8740w at full speed. Hell, sometimes I can't even have an external HD and mouse receiver at the same time because the moment I connect the external HD, the mouse has connectivity issues. As soon as I disconnect the external HD, the mouse works fine. That whole set of 3 USB ports on the right side of the laptop is a big bottleneck.

[ProdTog]

Looks like there's a new BIOS update for the 8740w available now. Details listed in the HP support post are as follows:

DETAILS OF CHANGE

New features:

- Added a "DriveLock password on restart" option to allow users to enable or disable a prompt for the DriveLock password when restarting the computer.

- Added an option to disable the ability to boot from USB devices, a notebook expansion bay, or a dock upgrade bay.


Field issue fixes:

- Fixed an issue where the computer does not boot from a bootable CD if an external USB CD/DVD drive is used.

- The time it takes for the Disk Sanitizer process has been shortened.

- Moved the System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) table to accommodate the way certain third-party programs addess the SMBIOS memory.

Here's a link to the support notice, as I didn't see it linked from the main support page yet: F09 BIOS

I think I'll wait this one out until the time comes that I need any of those specific features.