HP EliteBook 8460p: Everything But The Screen
by Dustin Sklavos on May 10, 2011 5:50 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- IT Computing
- Intel
- HP
- EliteBook
- Sandy Bridge
Second Worst Matte Ever
What may be the biggest crime about HP's EliteBook 8460p is that for how attractive the rest of the notebook is, the screen is quite terrible. While I appreciate the matte finish, this screen is easily the third worst I've ever tested personally, behind the Gateway ID49C's awful color and my own Lenovo ThinkPad X100e's absolutely dire matte panel. It's devoid of color, contrast, and halfway decent viewing angles.
You read that right: the EliteBook 8460p's 1366x768 matte panel has a contrast ratio well under even 200:1, and believe me, it shows. Color gamut and accuracy don't fare a whole lot better, with a Delta E over the minimum 2.0 we like to see and a gamut of just 42%. To add insult to injury, look at these viewing angles.
They really are about that bad in person. HP offers models of the 8460p with a 1600x900 screen and I can't conceive of a world where that wouldn't be a smart upgrade to make. The higher resolution would be much appreciated, and viewing angles, color, and contrast can't be any worse than this. Just to put some stank on it, the whole screen in practice seems to skew slightly green. We hope customers are planning to use the 8460p for business, because the stock screen is useless for most other tasks.
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Robberbaron12 - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
I own a 8440p with the 1600x900 screen. It was the only decent notebook on the market with a high res. screen smaller than 15 in. It is very bright and clear, but the contrast and viewing angles are only fair, not great. Having said that they are so much better than the screen reviewed here.MonkeySnax - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
In regards to the default screen have you disabled the ambient light sensor? I don't personally own the laptop but I'm in the market and have been looking at the HP 8460 (along with the Sony Vaio SB) for a few weeks now. I did read somewhere that a user turned off the sensor which improved screen brightness. Might be worth a try, also found some pictures of the 1600 x 900 screen, owner seems to like it:http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-business-class-...
Pessimism - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
plastic internal chassis != elitedan0512 - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
As long as they don't make the Elitebooks with 16:10 screens again.ebolamonkey3 - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
When will Anandtech do a review on the Thinkpad x220??ahmed25 - Friday, May 13, 2011 - link
Hi...Any chance of a review ofr the sandy bridge envy 17 3d from you?It seems like a wonderful all in one multimedia lappyCutControl - Friday, May 13, 2011 - link
With all the sandy bridge going around I think it's time for another buyer guide! =)Belard - Saturday, May 14, 2011 - link
Considering the ThinkPad X100 is a pretty low-end ThinkPad... and the screen shots makes the Elite notebook appear to be pretty much useless! Worse than my OLD ThinkPad R61 (almost 4 years old).The ThinkPad T420 can be had with a 1600x900 and similar config for around $1100. The screens are still matte, but are bright and look pretty good (not as much as glossy - for obvious reasons). To get it up to $2000 is top end with a T420... maybe the 1" think T420s.
(A full load out with SSD 160GB, i7-2620, 8GB, WifiMax, GPS & WAN is $2100)
Both Dell and HP copy ThinkPad with the tracking-stick as well as two sets of mouse buttons.
So for $1100, might as well get a ThinkPad with the roll-cage (Its not plastic under the case), spill protection for the keyboard and easily a FAR FAR better keyboard than the crap they put on that "professional HP" notebook.
Here is the standard ThinkPad keyboard (not on the lower end Edge or L series): http://www.studentbuyingguide.com/wp-content/uploa...
The extra large DELETE key is handy. With only thing that degrades the keyboard is the fn & CTRL keys are still OLD-Style backwards. :( At least it can be switched in BIOS.
The T420s is a thinner version of the T420, looks even slicker - but I don't think its worth the extra $300 and loss of a USB port and drive options. http://www.lenovo.com/shop/americas/content/img_li...
For the most part the body of the HP Elite does look very nice... a cross between an MacBook Pro and thinkpad with s goldish color.
wigglz - Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - link
I just got a 8440p and love it. Upgraded to 4gb of ram, seems stable enough to run a few vms.. I just need to get xoskins to make me a <a href="http://xoskins.com">screen protector</a> for it and ill be set. I tried a privacy one, but it drives my eyes crazyMuhammadIbrahim - Monday, April 6, 2020 - link
helloI have one ddr3 4GB, can I add another one 12GB in the other slot or I should have the same memory size on both slots?