HP Laptop for work

B

Blakor

Gawd
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
Messages
543
I currently have a 3yr old Dell e6420 for work:
2520m (dual core 2.5GHz, turbo to 3.2)
14" 1600x900
4GB
80GB SSD

The battery is about shot, and the warranty is almost up, so I have the choice to replace it with either of these:

HP Elitebook 840 G1
4300u (dual core 1.9GHz, turbo to 2.9)
14" 1920x1080
4GB (hoping I can upgrade this)
180GB SSD
~3.5lbs + 0.6lb AC adapter

HP ZBook 15
4800MQ (quad core 2.7GHz, turbo to 3.7)
15.6" 1920x1080
16GB
180GB SSD
Quadro K1100M
~6.2lbs + 2lb AC adapter?


I'd really like a mainstream enterprise laptop like I have, but that's not an option at my company. So I need to either go with the underpowered Ultrabook or the monstrous CAD workstation. I'm a network engineer, so I don't really need the 3D horsepower. However, I can't help but feel that the 4300u CPU is a downgrade from the 2520m I currently have.

Concerns with Elitebook:
-Will the 4300u feel fast enough 1 or 2 years from now? I've read HP only allows it to run at 2.1GHz on battery power.
-I'm a network engineer which means I'm plugging a cable into the RJ45 slot to test routers and stuff. I'm really concerned about the resiliency of a flip-down door to access the Ethernet port several times a day.

Concerns with ZBook:
-Weight. Zomg, 2lb AC adapter. That'll be fun bringing to meetings and packing in the suitcase.

Has anybody used either of these, and if so, what are your thoughts about them?
 
The 4300u performs pretty good for a low voltage processor. For general office use it should be fine. There is a bios option that lets the processor use turbo mode while on battery (DC) power which should let it go all the way to 2.9Ghz (for short bursts) and sustained around 2.5-2.6Ghz. This will be less if you load the integrated graphics, as it shares the TDP with the cpu.

The hinge design on the ethernet port can take some getting used to, however you should be able to use this dongle with the docking station port if the hinge is an issue.

The elitebook can be upgraded to 16GB of ram very easily. It uses standard 1.35v sodimms and the access cover doesn't even have a screw to be removed.
 
820 G1 user here, which is really just a smaller version of the 840. I have deployed 6 840 G1s here as well. We also have ZBook 15s for engineers (only 3 right now as they were recently introduced), so hopefully I can offer some sage advice.

As you know, the form factor difference between the 840 and ZBook is significant. With that said, both feel extremely solid and high quality. I could get you a picture of both side by side if you'd like.

The flip down RJ45 port on the new EliteBooks have all been "beefed" up and I'll just say that it feels like I could handle the weight of my whole body off of it and it wouldn't break. It's pretty impressive. Way better than any others I've seen.

The 4300u will probably be fast enough. I have an i7-4600u in my 820, but the 840s that I've deployed are all 4300u units. With SSDs and lots of RAM, I don't think it's a bottleneck for quite a while. Like you said, you're not really doing anything that intensive anyway.

ZBook: It's huge, definitely not thin and light, and the AC adapter is gigantic, as you noted. It's definitely not a portable machine but actually pretty sleek looking. Our engineers bring them to meetings and don't complain.

One of the cool things with all of the new G1 series laptops is that the bottom cover slides off revealing the battery, SSD/HDDs and 2 RAM slots. My 820 has 16GB of RAM in it currently.

The ZBooks are cool because they have 4 RAM slots. My engineers with laptops have 24GB of RAM in theirs.

My vote: 840 G1.
 
G1, no contest. The RJ45 port would be a warranty issue, tell HP to fix it if it becomes a problem. You can't call HP and have someone come out and carry around the Zbook for you every day.
 
Look at what just showed up today...

20140422_135526_zps5631c3c1.jpg


20140422_135553_zps86061ad5.jpg
 
Looks nice, I miss actual buttons on the track pad, I dislike that so many manufacturers have gone to the silly buttonless pads.
 
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