Just ordered HP Compaq nw8240 - Will receive it in a day or two

Tommi - congratulations! I will be waiting for your review. Should be a great graphic card you will get I hope....

Tommi
AFAIK the nw8240 is the very similar to the nx8220, which I have, with the main differences being the warranty and the graphics card (FireGL V5000 vs X600). If the screen is the same 1920x1050, I think you'll be very happy - I am! No pixel anomalies and no 'sparkle' effect.

Have fun with your new laptop!
John

Be sure to post a review

Congrats Tommi !

Guess who's also picking up their nw8240 tomorrow ..yep, ME ! I ordered on Thursday and it's already arrived from Toronto. Thought for sure I'd be waiting till next week since the guy said it takes 2-4 business days and that usually means 4-6. Can't wait, I've been researching these things for a month now and think I made the right decision.

I'm interested to see what wireless solution it actually has, since the Canadian website lists both the Intel 2915ABG and the Intel 2200BG being used on the Promo model. It'd be nice if it's the 2915 for greater range but I bet it's the 2200BG. I'm also biting my nails a bit as I've never seen it in person and have no idea what the screen looks like. I've read a couple comments on it (there's almost no reviews for it out there) and they've been mostly positive.

I'll definitely be taking pictures since the web is sorely lacking high-rez pics of this machine (don't know where I can host them though) and giving a little review as well. It'll be cool to compare reviews since we're both getting it at the same time. I'll be using mine for 3D animation,web surfing, DVD's and a bit of gaming.

Tommi, Vermitrex! Hey guys! Congrats!

I should be receivng my nw8240 tommorow or Thursday as well.
I am very excited!

I have looked at a nc8230 and I can't wait to see the screen with the FireGL.

I am sure this thread will get a few pictures and comments in the next week.

I ran HL2 on a nc8230 with the x600 with 64MB, 1.86 Ghz and I was very impressed. I looking forward to seeing what this baby can do.

Just curious where you guys ordered from? I orderded from buy.com on 5/8 and it's on back order. I checked several other sites and they're also on back order. Directly from HP appears to be in stock of course. I only paid $2045, so I guess $150-$200 cheaper is worth a little more waiting.

Post a review with lots of pictures guys!

I bought mine from HP here in the UK. I phoned them because their web price was about £170 dearer than all their resellers, and they actually matched the lowest price I had found, and threw in free shipping too! Maybe it's worth a try for you too.....

I'll agree with everything Tommi has said so far, although I wonder if the "grainy" look to the screen he is describing is inherent in all LCD's as I don't find it to look any different than all the other screens I've seen in the last month of research.

My screen had a couple spots with a slightly gummy substance was stuck to it, perhaps a type of glue used in the lcd manufacture or install process. It came off after very carefully and lightly wiping it with a camera lens cloth. A little disappointing considering it's an HP. The other niggly thing is my battery doesn't seat perfectly tight. At the #1 battery latch there is perhaps 1-1.5mm of play allowing the battery to shift slightly. I've noticed the casing around the DVD/CD-RW is very thin and is the only place so far where I've found the case to flex significantly. To be expected giving the thinness of this notebook, but something to be aware of when picking it up or moving it.

The glossy screens I've seen lately definitley have a wider viewing angle and seem to allow the screen to be backlit more evenly, although I don't think the trade-off screen glare is acceptable for professional use.

I ran Super-Pi and the 2M test finished in 1m 39s right out of the box, and that's without my second stick of 512mb ram in yet. My desktop P4 2.4ghz overclocked to 2.9ghz with a gig of ram dual channel finished in 1m 59s, so I'm definitely happy with the 1.86ghz mobile.

Keyboard is fantastic. It's solid, doesn't rattle and has a nice amount of key travel. The trackpoint "eraser" device is cool, although takes a little getting used to and needs some setup for personal tastes. The touchpad is fine, not much different than most others I've played with, although I haven't got scrolling working as consistent as I'd like.

It got a little warm after popping a DVD in, but nothing to be concerned about. It's very quiet on battery, and even plugged into AC it doesn't have very noticable fan noise.

That's it for now till I get some real software loaded and stress test it. So far it looks to be solidly built. I'll try to get some pic's posted soon.

I am going to buy more RAM. (512 or 1GB).
I have looked at the spec for the nw8240 and the spec calls out PE831A for the 512MB. Is this part PC-4200 or PC4300? I have seen conflicting information and I want to make sure I buy the right RAM?

Any clarification would be great!

Thanks!

P.S. My nw8240 did not show up by the time I left work, so I will have to get it tommorow.

Have any of you guys reformatted and reinstalled XP yet ? The machine comes with a XP reinstall disk, although it's a HP branded disk not a MS Windows XP retail version, and a HP Drivers cd. I notice that the entire XP install cd also resides on the hard disk, presumably because XP is "almost" installed on the notebook out of the box, just needing personal info to complete the install during the first power-up.

I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to do a traditional reformat/reinstall using the XP install disk provided, or if this disk is somehow crippled or modified by HP in some way. I want to be able to do a clean wipe and not have to worry about retaining the I386 cd folder on the C: drive or any of the HP security/bios control software and partion the drive to my hearts content.

Also, if you've gone into the BIOS setup during boot-up (F10) it bears almost no resemblence to the BIOS's I'm accustomed on motherboards I've used building my own desktops. Is this normal for notebooks ? It gives the user very little control over the machine. Perhaps this is a good idea for the average user, but I want full control of my machine. Is there a way to expose more of the BIOS ?

Anything else I should watch out for ? I don't think reformating/reinstalling viods warranty, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks,

vermin

I reinstalled the OS on a nc8230 here at work and all I used was the HP Branded XP disk that came with the laptop. You will want to use the drivers CD after the install as well, but if I remember correctly, it gives you the option of what to install.

I did not try to partition the drive, but the HP Branded XP install acted just like a regular install of XP. It did not ask me for a product key, but one of my co-workers has had to enter that before during one of these types of reinstalls.

I have not checked the BIOS yet, but HP has a custom BIOS with very few options on all of the HP equipment I have ever seen. I don't like it either, but that's what it is!

I hope this helps!

Tommi - What has been your experience?

Thanks scottwmp, that definitely helps. If it's a regular XP install then I can partition the drive during the install. That sucks about the BIOS but I somewhat expected it from a pre-built, business computer.

Thanks again,

vermin

Thats one thing that HP\Compaq has had over the years in its business lines, minimal BIOS options. It's nice when you are shipping a lot of them, you want consistancy. But for personal use and tweeking, it does not work at all.