HP/Compaq :: HP ProBook Vs. Thinkpad W500
May 12, 2009
I intend to use it primarily for some fairly intensive gaming (Fallout 3, etc), media (music, movies), and general work stuff (web surfing, word processing, etc)
I have had an IBM for the last four years and it has served me quite well. My experience with IBM tech support was always good, and the one time I had to get it fixed it was returned promptly, no questions asked.
However there is an HP ProBook that looks quite appealing.
It costs $1865
It ships with Windows XP (important to me)
It has a 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor
It has a 512 MB ATI video card
3GB of DDR2 Ram
It has a 320 GB 5400rpm HD
It has a 17.3" widescreen 1600x900 display
And here's the kicker: a Blu-Ray drive
The Lenovo is a Thinkpad W500. It is generally quite similar in specs, and a bit cheaper, but it has a 15.4 inch screen (albiet a higher resolution one) and lacks the Blu-Ray drive..............
View 15 Replies
ADVERTISEMENT
Feb 22, 2009
I was all set to buy an M4400 last week until I started reading about all the bios/driver/software issues people have had with them. Is the W500 a better choice for someone looking for stability out of the box?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jan 3, 2012
I've got thinkpad W500 and the PrtSc  key is not capturing screen I want to copy.  It doesn't require the Fn key because it's labeled on top row ("sysrq" is below it on 2nd row on same button key). Â
-I also tried pressing Fn + prtsc just to see if that would work. Â Didn't work.
-Then I tried pressing Alt + prtsc... nothing.
-I even tried pressing Ctrl + PrtSc.... nothing.
Â
I've looked all over Forum, no one addresses this, or at least not for the W500 (which is different from the other W510 through W540 series laptops. Or other ways to capture a screenshot?
Â
Windows 7 (64) W500 4061-BV3
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jul 4, 2010
I have a W500, ATI Mobility FireGL V5700, Windows 7.
Â
When I press FN+Home and FN+END to regulate brightness up or down, the brightness symbols turn on and goes up/down, but the screen brightness is not regulated up or down but stays constant somewhere in between.
Â
What can I do to get "brighness" working?
Â
It has never worked, the computer is 2 months old. I have upgraded from Windows 7, 32 bit to 64, but brightness is still not working.
View 6 Replies
View Related
Jun 14, 2014
I have a thinkpad W500 and I'm reinstalling Windows 7 after years of running linux (I got tired of my video drivers being unsupported due to the age of the card). Â However, when I attempt to install system update, I get the message "an error occured while gathering user information" and I cannot continue. Â How can I get the switchable graphics, power, and keyboard drivers properly installed? Â I don't really care about the rest of the software, it just that system update is the only way I know of to get it.
View 2 Replies
View Related
Jan 6, 2013
In fact, my W500 is over 5 years old but I do not have any complaints on its performance except the WUXGA display is rather dim which makes it hardly useable on open-air. I do not recall that problem at purchase time. When googling around I see different reasons for a dim display
Â
a) cabling - would not consider this beacuase the screen is not flickering and does not show any discrepancies - it's just dim
b) inverter - this is not a real inverter, is it?
c) display panel - it does not seem very difficult to replace
d) motherboard - I am unsure whether I would challenge a replacement
Â
Is there a way to find out which way to start working around? I mean buying a panel if it comes out at the end that I had needed a new motherboard would rather make me blue.Â
Â
Or should I accept the fact that time has gone and I have to look for an other computer because it does not worth bothering. What do you think?
View 9 Replies
View Related
Jan 3, 2012
I have Thinkpad W500, Windows 7 Professional, 64bit. Â When I turn on laptop, i forget when (before or after Windows loading) it brings me to the FingerPrint icon. Â This part is ok because the laptop seems to continue booting without my clicking it which I prefer. (I don't even have my own FingerPrint saved in laptop and I find that strange. I bought this W500 used). Â After FingerPrint icon disappears, the User or Admin Icon is shown on screen. Â That picture needs to be clicked for laptop to continue booting up or loading up. No password required, just click the icon. Â I'd like for laptop to just bootup without doing anything, and go to the desktop page automatically (like all my other thinkpads).
Â
How can I turn off that second Icon or feature? Â Is it a User or Admin icon? Â I'm only user of laptop so I don't need feature to use a password or to click the Icon.
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jun 10, 2014
I have a W500 running Windows 7 which unexpectedly turns off, usually when asleep but sometimes also while on. The turn off happens as if the power is lost (say, the battery/AC cord are yanked out). After a turn off like that, I sometimes need to reconnect the battery and the AC cord. Did some reading here and elsewhere on the web and came upon the electrostatic suggestion. Was able to get it to turn back on at least a few times by touching the underside of the laptop, but that worked inconsistently.
Â
Since it mostly happens when the unit is asleep, I pretty much ruled out the temperature and software issues.
Â
Decided to check out the memory section pin bending solution. My laptop has to have it's palm rest taken off to access the RAM modules. People kept referring to some RAM door pins but since mine doesn't have a special RAM door, I bent some pins on the bottom of the palm rest and so far, not power loss but too early to tell.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Mar 25, 2009
I am looking around for a replacement for my 4 year old Precision M70. It has it is well-built, has a fantastic keyboard, lovely 15.4" WUXGA screen, and strong (for then) but power-hungry gpu. The obvious replacement would be the Precision M4400, but in Australia the WUXGA screen is only available on the lower-gpu'd version the Latitude E6500. I don't really need an awesome gpu anymore, but do want a quiet machine, a great keyboard, good build and WUXGA. I have read so many unfavourable reviews of the E6500 that I am now considering the Lenovo W500. Can anyone comment or help me choose between the E6500 and the W500?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Dec 20, 2008
Well I was trying to buy the M4400 a few days back and the call dropped with the rep and she never called me back. So this gave me time to take a look at the W500 again and I was pleased to find that they had the P9500 offered, so now I am having difficulty deciding which to get.
I will be using the laptop for a lot of CAD work. I do finite element analysis, CAM programming, and part design using CATIA v5r17. I also use MATLAB and Simulink. So CPU, memory, and videocard performance are quite important to me. However I also travel around a lot and I would be bringing this laptop around from the office to the machine shop several times a day, so it needs to be rugged.
What I like about the W500 is that it has the switchable graphics so that it will run cooler and save battery life when graphics power is not an issue. I also like the fact that it has the lower power consumption and higher performance DDR3 memory. Finally, I like that it can be configured with the low power P9500 processor (2.53Ghz, 1066Mhz FSB, 6MB L2, 25W).....................
View 10 Replies
View Related
Apr 27, 2010
Can't seem to find any users of the Probook 4720s yet, it got a nice review over at: HP ProBook 4720s Review - A Review of the HP ProBook 4720s - the viewing angles looks amazing from those pics, but I wonder if it's a trick?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Mar 11, 2010
I recently ordered a dm3t with pretty much all the upgrades during one of the sales.
Pretty much the same day I did that, the probook 4320s showed up on their website.
I'm trying to decide if I should return the dm3t and order one of the probooks. Right now the probook doesn't offer the discreet 512mb graphics card or 64 bit OS as choice but the customer support people say it will become available soon.
Basically I just dont know if it's worth the extra money for things like a better cpu, gpu, DVD, and fingerprint scanner.
View 9 Replies
View Related
Apr 17, 2010
impressions on the ProBook 4320s? I've scoured the web trying to find reviews on the laptop, but I've come up with no luck.
View 10 Replies
View Related
Nov 4, 2009
I have recently purchased a HP Probook 4415 s. I have a problem with the key pad. The key strokes are misplaced , I mean when I press shift 2 - instead of typing @ , it types " . When I press shift 3 - instead of typing hash sign, it types £. I am confused and discomforted by this, Please suggest corrective action to resolve this.
View 4 Replies
View Related
May 14, 2010
so today i was driving and i braked abruptly and i had a can of sunkist in the rear seat. it flew to the back of my seat and exploded all over my Probook which was on the floor of the rear seat. i know that the laptop is spill resistant, but thats only on the keys! my laptop got soaked all around and in between the lid and the keys.
so i let it dry a couple hours [it was in hibernate] and now when i press the power button and it lights up for a couple seconds and goes off.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Mar 23, 2010
Comparing the specs, it looks like the probook 4420s is great value compared to the elitebook 8440w. the latter costs 70% more !
If the build quality of the probook is anywhere close to the elitebook, I am puzzled as to why there isnt more attention on the probook.... Just Too NEW?
View 4 Replies
View Related
Mar 4, 2010
I've got an issue with the card reader on my hp.
It just won't hold the SD cards in place.
If i hold it with my finger it reads the card, but it won't fixate in there.
If i release the finger the card comes out. On my m1730 i put the card inside, it locks in, i press it, it goes out. So i assume it's a problem with the reader.
View 10 Replies
View Related
Mar 4, 2010
the excitement didnt last long when i found out that the available memory is 'merely' 2.6gb out of 3.86gb total physical memory.
i dont know where the 1.2gb is being used. im hoping the tech gurus here can enlighten me...
windows 7 home 64bit
i5-520
ati mobility 4550 512mb
4gb ddr3 1333mhz
bios date 1/27/2010
more info from resource monitor:
hardware reserved: 139mb
in use: 1451mb ( why this big?..)
modified: 44mb
standby: 978mb
free: 1484mb
one more thing: i can not find memory remap in bios...
View 10 Replies
View Related
Apr 30, 2009
In the hp.com configuration options for the ProBook 4710s, they show 3 options:
1. 17.3-inch diagonal LED-backlit HD+6 (1600 x 900) without camera
2. 17.3-inch diagonal LED-backlit HD+6 (1600 x 900) with camera (must select NQ004AV)
3. 17.3-inch diagonal LED-backlit HD+6 (1600 x 900) BrightView with camera (must select NQ004AV)
I thought LED-backlit was good enough, but option #3 is LED-backlit BRIGHTVIEW... Is this a brighter, "better" screen than option #1 or #2? I'm afraid of ordering this and getting another lemon of a "Brightview" screen like my dv7t screen.
What's "HD+6" ... what does "plus six" do for me ?
I don't see an "NQ004AV" option on the order page, either...
HP is just terrible at explaining these things.
Regarding the keyboard ... it's hard to tell from the pictures at Engadget whether this new chiclet keyboard is backlit or not ... HP doesn't say it is backlit, would be awesome if it was.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Apr 5, 2010
The specs seem great. Magnesium chassis (compared to ABS plastic for Thinkpad), durable aluminum finish, and a coated keyboard.
How is the sound compared to the Thinkpad (My W500 is VERY quiet)?
How is the track point and keyboard compared a Thinkpad?
How is the screen compared to a Thinkpad (I can't imagine it is worse!)?
View 8 Replies
View Related
May 13, 2010
I really like the new EliteBook 8450w and 8470w and I think it is time to replace my Thinkpad W500. Can anyone clue me in on how my experience might be different? I know plenty of people with consumer HP laptops but I don't expect it should be anything like that.
How is the noise (my Thinkpad is very quiet)?
How is the "feel"? The plastic body on my Thinkpad makes it feel cheep for what it is.
How are the hinges?
How is the keyboard? I absolutely love that they fit a num pad in the 15"
How is the trackpoint?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Jul 22, 2011
My HP probook was working fine till this morning it just turned itself off and now wont power up at all no lights etc. I then tried another battery I had and when plugged in the orange light will now show to say charging with this battery unlike my other one but still no power or anything, keep pressing and holding the power button but nothing happens?
View 9 Replies
View Related
Oct 20, 2014
I have a HP Probook 4540s Notebook PC. I reinstalled the operating system (Windows 7 Ultimate) recently and installed all the necessary drivers required for the PC. But now as I connect a USB 3.0 hard disk into the USB 3.0 ports ( the left two ports), i get an error message. The message is shown below:
Â
"Device can perform faster : This USB Mass Storage Device can transfer information faster if it is connected to a Super-Speed USB 3.0 Port"
Â
The speed of the data transfer also seems to be very low, in the ranges of 20-30 Mbps.
Â
I'm not sure if I have installed the correct driver for the hardware. As for now, as shown in the Control Panel, I have installed "Intel USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller Driver".
View 2 Replies
View Related
Sep 24, 2014
I have a HP probook 450 with 4gig of ram. So today I bought another 8gig of ram and installed it. When I boot up my pc it says the hardware is not supported, but when it boots up and I play a game, for example, I can see my pc performing better. note new ram card= Adata DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 8gb
View 3 Replies
View Related
Apr 10, 2014
Bought this ProBook, with SSD, because I specifically wanted an SSD and Windows 7.I figured that 128Gb would be enough to run Windows and some of my graphic software, but when I booted up the computer I noticed that of the 128Gb just over 100Gb was filled with pre-installed software, much of it HP stuff.I only installed Adobe CS6, Lightroom 5 and some really light stuff, and I'm running everything else off external drives. But with continuous updates from Windows and HP software my C drive has filled up and I'm now looking at only 6Gb free space anymore. Which software I can safely delete and which is absolutely necessary to run the system?It's slightly misleading to buy a computer with 128Gb SSD only to find it nearly full with pre-installed software.
View 1 Replies
View Related
Oct 10, 2014
I was parchased HP probook battery before 4 months. But now it responed me that it is not charging. The battery is not damaged. what are alternative solutions?
View 2 Replies
View Related
Aug 18, 2010
I just bought 2 weeks ago new ProBook with Windows 7 Professional in it. Laptop itself is nice but I'm having constant struggle with my internet connection. I'm having Wlan in the house and I have my old Sony Vaio, This ProBook and one Axus tablet using it. (not at the same time). Router itself is from local internet/sky chanel provider with their own covers so I dont know the manufacturer/model and in this case it does not matter. Internet works totally fine with Axus and Sony but not with this. I can see problem is not Windows7 or router.
Problem is some HP own Client security setting program. Nice to have one but I can see there is some firewall that is turning the connection down and after some "resetting", "let windows solve the problem" and restarting etc it lets itself get back up and after a while disconnects it again. Yellow ! sign turn on the connection bar and it says "limited connection". I have almost full signal all the time so even that is not reason.
And again, I do not have any problems with other devices. It is OFF several minutes 80% of the times when windows starts. Then with some fighting, it turns on. Sometimes even without me doing nothing. I just can't find the way/link to turn off the HP "security program". I do use F-Secure Internet Security 2015 to secure my HP against spyprograms and viruses so it is enough for me. HP security program is nice but if it turns so much problems for me I will turn it off.
View 1 Replies
View Related
Sep 24, 2014
I just bought new HP Probook 470 G1 computer, and I can't make the FN button working with F7/F8 or F9/F10 which is useful for brightnes and volume. When i press FN + F3 computer goes to sleep mode, but other functions doesn't work.
I have been trying to download HP Quick Launch Buttons (International) , HP Softpaq Donload Manager, trying to change options in BIOS and still nothing...How to make these buttons work?
I'm using Windows 7 ultimate x64.
View 3 Replies
View Related
Aug 22, 2014
My hp probook 4530s DVD/CD ROM can't read dvds when i insert them am running on window 7 32bits.
View 3 Replies
View Related
May 15, 2012
I have a ProBook 4720s laptop, Windows 7 64-bit
The problem is that the fan on my computer always stays at minimum speed and as the computer heats up, the fan will not speed up to its full speed. The computer gets really hot ~70°C. The problem occurred when I upgraded bios to its latest version F.20. I believe that there is a bug with this bios- that the bios will not control the fan properly. This type of notebook has a history of bios bugs: its original bios made the fan run all the time at full speed which was fixed with a bios upgrade.
Â
This bios came with a note that I cannot downgrade to a previous version that worked well. So my question is, can I expect a bios upgrade for this computer that would fix the error.
View 9 Replies
View Related
