HP EliteBook 8570w Notebook Review: The Other Side of the Coin
by Dustin Sklavos on December 18, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Systems
- AMD
- HP
- Mobile Workstation
- Ivy Bridge
- GCN
- FirePro
Display Quality
The HP EliteBook 8570w is capable of being outfitted with a 10-bit IPS display that HP dubs DreamColor, and the high color gamut can be a sight to behold. On top of that, we're looking at a 1920x1080 display in a 15.6" form factor, a pixel density much appreciated in notebooks. It appears that LG Philips is manufacturing the majority of these high end panels that are being used, as Dell's Precision M6700's PremierColor display is also using one of their panels.
The 8570w's display isn't particularly bright, but it's bright enough, and the colors are incredibly vibrant and crisp. Note that we had to calibrate the M6700's display at a gamma of 1.8 instead of our typical 2.2, and its test results do suffer as a result. I'd argue that, size notwithstanding, the M6700's display quality is actually comparable, and you benefit from their PremierColor software which allows for changing color gamut on the fly.
You can see, though, the 8570w is able to produce almost the entirety of the AdobeRGB 1998 color gamut, with fine contrast and good (though not exceptional) color accuracy.
Battery Life
As many of you pointed out in the last review, the use of a 10-bit IPS panel precludes any kind of switching graphics technology. The result is a notebook that takes a substantial hit to running time. Unfortunately, that hit is exceptionally evident with the HP EliteBook 8570w.
As you can see, you're just not going to be using the 8570w on the battery that often. Even the normalized results are pretty poor, inexplicably ranking below the results of the larger Dell Precision M6700 despite that notebook's larger display and hotter CPU and GPU. In this day and age, a useful running time below three hours is almost inexcusable.
Heat and Noise
You remember how I mentioned that heat was the primary weakness of the HP EliteBook 8570w's design? It's finally time to check in on it, and as you'll see, it's not a happy picture.
While the FirePro M4000 doesn't heat up that much (and shouldn't, really), the i7-3720QM's cores encroach on the high 90s, just too high for comfort. When we opened up the bottom of the 8570w, you saw how modest the cooling system design was, and now you see how that plays out. Because of the high temperatures, the 8570w is also capable of producing quite a bit of fan noise. At idle, the fan is almost constantly spinning, albeit quietly. Under sustained load, it begins to develop a high-pitched fan whine and becomes increasingly audible, easily peaking above 40dB.
The CPU itself actually overheats a little and starts to throttle. Under AIDA64's stress test, the CPU throttled by as much as 14% after just five minutes. It's no surprise HP elected not to offer the 55W Ivy Bridge quads in the 8570w; the notebook can barely handle 45W.
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Stuka87 - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
5 displays? The docks only have up to two outputs. I am technically running triple head as I have the laptop (M4600) open, and then dual Dell 2412M displays.And as I said int he comments for the 6700, I love my precision, its a bit heavy but great otherwise. It works hard and does what I need.
DanNeely - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Has Dell issued a new, less capable dock? My E series dock has 1 each DVI, DP, and VGA ports; using both the sandy bridge IGP and the Quadro I can drive all 3 external outputs and my Latitude's built in LCD at the same time.I'd like to try running a 4th external display from one of the laptop's video out's instead; but haven't managed to finagle a 4th monitor at the office.
blue_falcon - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
They have an Eport plus that has 2 DVI, 2 DP, and 1 VGA and has the legacy ports (if needed).http://dell.to/UHZTE5
Kevin G - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Is the DP port support v1.2 of the spec? If so, you may be able to daisy-chain some displays or use a DP MST hub. Unfortunately, I've only seen one monitor capable of DP chaining to date and MST hubs are AWOL but continually promised 'soon'.DanNeely - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
No idea. Without a daisychainable (or a DP capable 2560x1440/1600) monitor; how would I check this?Goodstorybro - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Agreed - with the heavy discounts from Dell and Lenovo, I don't see how the HP is attractive.You can really get a pretty good system for the price if you do some of the upgrades yourself. I got my build at under $2100 shipped:
Thinkpad W530 with : 3820qm i7, K2000m Quadro, 32gb RAM, 15.6 FHD, 240gb SSD + 750GB 7200 HDD, WP8, fingerprint reader, ultimate N wifi, 2yr accidental coverage
Doesn't get too much better than that in the 15.6" workstation market.
deamon0 - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
I have seen a couple examples and a lot of stories that HP manufactured laptops are not as reliable as Lenovo or Toshiba. The HP's heating issue seems to be common among many laptops. I thinks this laptop is not worth the price at all!I think we have better options from other better brands for a better price.
By the way it'd be much interesting read if you could review the Toshiba Qosmio X875-Q7380 laptop. There aren't any reviews of it elsewhere.
Hrel - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Can you guys please review this Lenovo?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Honestly looks like the perfect combination of features for a balanced gaming rig at a VERY fair price from a company that, based on every time I've worked with their business offerings, has a flawless record of reliability.
joos2000 - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
With that PGU it's hardly suitable for workstation duties.Hrel - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
yeah, that consumer laptop is totally designed for that. *sarcasmI have no interest in work station duties.