HP EliteBook 8540w
Got a new laptop at work: an HP EliteBook 8540w. Quick specs:
- Intel Core i7-620M (dual core, 2.66GHz)
- 4GB DDR3 at 1333 MHz
- 320GB 7200rpm HDD
- 15.6″ 1600×900 LED-backlit screen
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M GPU with 1GB GDDR3
- Ports (the important ones): DisplayPort and VGA, USB 3.0 (!), eSATA
- Full keyboard
Brushed metal
Still installing Windows 7 64-bit on it so no idea about performance yet. Build-wise it’s very satisfyingly sturdy. It’s easily the most confidence-inspiring build quality I’ve ever had in a laptop, but it’s also my first business/pro laptop, so take that for what it’s worth. I’m generally very careful with my laptops anyway so I don’t anticipate really putting the construction to the test, but it’s nice to feel like it could withstand some knocks if it had to. The brushed metal lid and hand rest are luxurious. Makes me think of high-end audio components. Cold to the touch too–this ain’t no faux metal finish.
Would’ve preferred a quad-core with 8GB, but beggars can’t be choosers. The deal on this preconfigured laptop with a free docking port (2 DVI, 2 DisplayPort, and more!) was too good to pass up, but adding on options got expensive in a hurry. I have a feeling this guy will be plenty fast for my needs.
Added 3/26/2010:
I’m posting some info to a discussion thread on the notebookreview.com forums, so might as well stick the pictures here too. Here are some shots of the screen taken from straight on, 30 degrees off-axis, and 45 degrees off-axis. At least as close to those positions as I could figure without measuring. Photo nerd details: f/5.6, 1/30s, ISO 400, 42mm equivalent focal length (21mm on an Olympus E-P1).
Straight on
30 degrees off-axis
45 degrees off-axis
30 degrees off-axis
45 degrees off-axis
30 degrees off-axis
45 degrees off-axis
The camera really exaggerates the viewing angle issues. It’s not nearly that bad or objectionable in real life, but it’s clear that this is not the best screen ever. Still, in practical use it’s pretty uniformly lit when viewed straight on (which, duh, is how you’d typically use the screen). Text looks crisp and colors are vibrant. It’s more than acceptable for a laptop screen.
That laptop is very nice. Please recommend me some good netbooks. Kthxbai.
I glanced at your comment and almost deleted it because it looked like spam with your lolcats nonsense
Netbook? I recommend this: don’t bother. Save for another couple months and get a low-end laptop. Netbooks are frustrating to use for anything more than browsing, and even for browsing they’re crappy with their small screens. Skip ‘em.
But I want something smaaaaaaall! I don’t need anything heavy duty, but I want something I can travel with. I have issues with big electronics!
Well, big electronics have issues with you, so the feeling is mutual! If you absolutely must have a small computing device for browsing, checking email, and such on the road, the Asus Eee PC 1001p netbook is getting a lot of good press. There are 2 different models with the more expensive one providing more hard drive space and better battery life. Might as well shell out the extra few bucks for it–only $329 or so at Amazon I think.
If Scott Spivey were here, he would say: “I-Pad”
Question for you regarding the 8540W: How far open does the screen open up. 0 degrees is with the unit closed; 90 degrees is where its straight up. What I’m curious about is if it will open up flat like the Dell latitudes do. Yes obviously you wouldn’t normaly run it wide open but I have broken the hinges off a notebook that was open fully and then accidentally over extended by a fumble-cluts coworker.
Spivey would say, “iPad,” while gently stroking and consoling his neglected iPhone.
Timbo,
It actually opens a little more than flat–let’s say 185 degrees. Solution to fumble-cluts coworkers: don’t hand your notebook to them!
Thanks Yohan, thats exactly what I wanted to hear.
aack! I was just checking to see if there was a new top post and saw how cluttered our table is in the laptop photo! It’s like an indoor microcosm of the ‘white trash yard’ I grew up with!
(You know, like the all the yards in that neighborhood our realtor told us not to buy a house in, even though the house for sale there was totally awesome on it’s own without the neighbor context.) Next time, I would like the chance to clean the table off/up before you take pictures so that we can present a false but pretty image of what our home is ‘normally’ like. 
I’m just keepin’ it real, babe.
But to be fair, any clutter in the house is almost certainly my fault anyway.