HP Elite 8730w Notebook
While writing an article the other day about HP laptops, I came across a very interesting business notebook which deserves some more attention from us. The HP Elite 8730w notebook is a very expensive laptop. Even if the starting price is somewhere around $1700, to get the best model with the top configuration, you have to pay a bit more than $4000.
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For this price you will get the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 processor, 4 GB of RAM, another 250 GB of disk storage space and the nVidia Quadro FX 3700M graphics card with 1 GB of video memory. Since this unit is meant to be a business workstation notebook, the 8730w needed some very specific requirements in order to achieve performance, power consumption and durability. You can rest assured that this notebook has every quality we mentioned above so will not waste a dime on a useless notebook. Aside of being made from solid plastic, this notebook also has been reinforced with aluminum alloy. The chassis is remarkably strong and it resists flexing even under heavy pressure. HP 3D DriveGuard will now protect even your hard disk in case of different shock (like dropping the notebook on the floor). The 17 inch display can render 16.7 million colors. That’s 64 times more collr than a regular LCD supports. With a 1920 x 1200 resolution, you will be amazed with the high definition display that shows even the smallest and finest details. Now you can enjoy a nice Blu-ray movie.
The horizontal and vertical viewing angles are quite impressive so if you want to gather around some people and show them that new document you’ve been working on or just want to enjoy a video playback with a couple of friends, this notebook is not going to disappoint you. The speakers produce acceptable sound except for when you place this notebook on your lap. Since the speakers are located on the front edge of the notebook, the sound is somehow blocked unless the 8730w is placed on a table or desk (in that case, there should be no problems). The keyboard also received some reinforcements. These “HP DuraKeys” have a texture finish applied so they can preserve that matte appearance. The keys offer positive feedback when you type and they don’t make any kind of annoying clicking sound. You will also find a numerical touchpad, which is a common feature for desktop replacements. Above the keyboard you will find touch sensitive multimedia control buttons. The touchpad received the same treatment like the keyboard. Aside from the touchpad, you also get a pointing stick which may come in handy at times. You will find that both of these features have 3 mouse buttons instead of 2. If you are used to having long and rectangular left and right mouse buttons, you will probably end up in the situation where you press the wrong button on the 8730w.
You will definitely be satisfied with the huge number of ports and connection. We never even thought that HP would disappoint us at this point when everything with this notebook seems to be running smoothly. You have 4 USB ports, a HDMI port, one VGA out, one FireWire port, an Express Card slot, an Ethernet plus a modem port, a multi card reader, a smart card slot plus the usual headphones and microphone jack. If you carefully read the specs of this notebook which we mentioned at the beginning of this article, you can imagine that this unit is somewhat of a power horse. This means that most applications will load in a matter of few seconds and multi tasking is something that the HP Elite 8730w notebook will handle with ease.
When you use this notebook for regular work like browsing the internet and writing a text document, you should have no problems with excessive heat or disturbing fan noise. As we sort of imagined, this notebook does hot after some other heavy activities. If you choose to do some video watching and stress this notebook with some serious graphics, then you will notice the temperature at the bottom of the machine rising. However, even the fan is somewhat noisy, it keeps the 8730w under acceptable temperatures and this helps to extend the life of your notebook. Overall, we have no complaints about the temperature of this notebook, especially since the specs keep reminding us constantly that this is a desktop replacement.
I don’t think battery life is a very important aspect since the size and weight of this notebook is going to discourage you if you had any thoughts of carrying it around. However, as has as the battery drain test goes, this notebook managed to stay turned on for 3 hours and 20 minutes with the display brightness set at medium level and listening to some music with the wireless function turned on. Remember that the more you lower the brightness of the display, the more your notebook will stay turned on. The battery’s life performance is not that bad if we think about the powerful components inside.
In conclusion, HP does not give you many reasons to complain about the 8730w. It is one of the best business workstation we have seen so far and even the price is a but high and not everyone can afford one, you can rest assured that every dollar you pay is going to bring you true performance out of this notebook. If you really need a good business notebook, you can go with the main and simple configuration which costs $1700. The $4000 model is for those who need absolutely the best performance. We are talking about people who work with 3D programs. The basic model is going to save you a lot of money in case you don’t need all those top of the line components. You will fall in love with the performance of the DreamColor display but let me tell that it’s also is “fault” that this notebook is so expensive. I suggest a big round of applause for HP because we really like this notebook.
