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
In and Around the HP EliteBook 8570w
The HP EliteBook 8570w carries over the design language HP introduced with their 8x60 refresh, and it's a very sound one. The old 8740w was, frankly, a pretty hideous tricolor mish-mash of different styles that didn't go together well. While I'd like to see HP refresh and refine this design a bit more, it definitely still has legs.
For this, one of HP's top-of-the-line enterprise notebooks, it starts with a gunmetal-colored aluminum lid with an illuminated HP logo when the system is powered on. There's a strip of plastic along the top for the antennas colored to match the rest of the lid, and then the hinges of the notebook are silver. It bears mentioning that HP reinforces the hinges of the notebook with a bar built into them, and the hinge itself is incredibly sturdy and not the least bit prone to wobbling.
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Pressing the latch and opening the 8570w reveals a black matte plastic bezel for the display along with the gunmetal-colored brushed aluminum interior surface. The white LED backlit chiclet keyboard is the same color. It's my understanding the keyboard was a point of contention in my review of the M6700 (among other things), but I'm still adamant that this more standardized layout is much more ideal. The keys themselves are responsive with no flex, but HP's double-high left and right arrow keys, while aesthetically appealing, still feel odd. HP makes good use of the available real estate in the palm rest for a sizable touchpad with a smooth, very pleasing finish. Above and below it are the trio of dedicated mouse buttons, and in the center of the keyboard is the orange trackpoint nub.
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The trim of the notebook is a single band of aluminum with the necessary ports cut out of it, while the bottom is matte plastic. HP continues to use the quick release panel here in the 8570w; slide the lever to the left and the large bottom panel pops off. It's secure but also convenient for servicing the notebook.
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I continue to be bullish on HP's current enterprise notebook aesthetic. Much as Dell's current desktop workstation line very clearly has a lot of thought put into it regarding both usability and overall looks, the HP enterprise notebooks balance an attractive, professional style with comfort and ease of use. It's very easy to upgrade the internals of the 8570w, although you'll notice the cooling system isn't particularly robust. As you'll see, this is going to turn out to be the notebook's biggest weakness.
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Oskars Apša - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
It matters a lot, none of these menchmarks represent use of 32 megapixel textures for instance?And i'll repeat my suggestion, Anandtech has to use real world 3D interior and architectural scenes, with high res. textures.
lx686x - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
And I'll also repeat again, it needs to be a benchmark where you can reproduce the exact same environment for all the platforms.And you still haven't provided any suggestion of which benchmark/software to use.
And you bashed SPEC in your first post for not having textures (textures are only part of the story), it's geared towards 3D, and it does a good job of providing valid numbers for comparison.
Oskars Apša - Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - link
The use of real life interiors and objects is my suggestion. Why is it so hard to fathom? :PYou are right in that sence. Those benchmarks may be good for industiral oil rig piping models, bet the problem is - no High res. textures are tested, they should.
If there is no such convinient test then Anand can try and make one if they see fit. Anandtech is a review site, not a hobby site that tries only standart tests.
So they have the obligation to upp the ante if they will continue to write workstation previews but calling them reviews. Really sad considering the work that is put in some gaming gear.
P.S.
I'm a reader, and so are you - ask for more, this is not comunism ;)
Grennum - Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - link
Making a benchmark like this is no simple task. SPEC is not perfect but it is a standard which is important because you can compare your own personal results to those of Anand's.When I read a workstation review I am interested it's workstation 3D design and analysis/simulation capabilities, I could care less about textures.
To write a proper benchmark would require a very high competence with whatever software you are trying to benchmark. For example with Solidworks when you access the software via the API(which you would need for benchmarking) you get very different results than through the standard UI. You would need to account for that. Now in particular Solidworks has a built in benchmark which could be used. However a license of Solidworks is pretty expensive for a review site, and it would need to be kept up to date to be viable.
As for your comment about Siemens, Siemens owns the parasolid core, which is used by a huge number of 3D modelling programs. So its benchmark is very valid.
Oskars Apša - Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - link
If you don't care about textures - good for you, I care. ;)Review sites usually dwell on companies wanting them to review their gear, but why not arrange a sponsoreship from soft companies? I'm almost certain the reason is not that AnandTech couldn't arrange free softs but the inconsistant number of reviews of proffesional gear to justify such an agreement for the other side of the table.
Thanks for the info on Siemens, but the only somewhat popular program that uses its instructions is Solidworks, so... irrelivant for me.
dwatterworth - Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - link
A note on your request for high definition textures...I am an architect and do quite a bit of 3d modelling and rendering in a Autodesk Revit and 3DSmax. I am fortunate enough to work for an office that lets me build and maintain my own workstations along with others for power users in the office.I have no idea why you would really need high res textures FPS figures. Conventional programs limit the texture previews in the viewports and only make use of the full image at time of render.
The 3d benchmarks provided DO give a very good idea of how the performance would scale. Maybe benchmarks don't give you the exact FPS of each program but it will provide solid comparisons between the hardware.
If you are concerned about how the hardware can handle such high textures at time of render it would really bring up the question why would you being rendering such scenes on a laptop? It would seem more effective to get a mid-level laptop for mobile/modeling and make use of a dedicated render node(s).
Oskars Apša - Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - link
A continuous pattern for multiple wooden panels is an example where i would use a high res texture (2x6m). Wery convinient in such and other cases.Of course one can use continuous mirroring function, compress the textures into smaller ones, but that is not the remedy for me all the time.
Why a laptop? I employ myself and i spend weekennds on the country side, and often i have to render a few additonal frames at that time. For stable electricity feed i'd rather have a laptop with its own battery, and not a second stationary machine with a huge ups.
Gunbuster - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Where is the value here? I have a M4700 on the way for $2025.03 (W/Shipping & Tax)32% lower cost on the Dell and the only thing missing is the upgraded LCD but the HP will probably get the corner tint issue and you'll have to return it anyway.
Lets look at the config:
3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3740QM (2.7GHz, 6M cache, Upgradable to Intel vPro technology), Dell Mobile Precision MX700 ***BETTER***
16.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMM, Dell Mobile Precision ***BETTER***
Internal English Dual Point Backlit Keyboard, Latitude E
NVIDIA Quadro K2000M with 2GB GDDR3, Dell Mobile Precision M4700 ***BETTER***
750GB 2.5" 7200rpm Hard Drive, Dell Mobile Precision M4700/M6700
No USH, No Fingerprint Reader and No Contactless Smartcard Reader Mobile Precision M4700
15.6" UltraSharp FHD (1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare, Premium Panel Guarantee, Mobile Precision M4700
Windows 8 Pro, 64-bit, Latitude, OptiPlex, Precison, English
Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth 4.0 LE Module, Dell Latitude E4/Mobile Precision
180W 3P, A/C Adapter, Mobile Precision M4700
6-Foot, 3-Pin Power Cord,Mobile Precision M4700, US
Slot Load DVD+/-RW Drive, Dell Mobile Precision
Integrated HD video webcam and noise reducing array microphones , Dell Mobile Precision M4700 ***You don't mention it at all even though it appears to be in your photos***
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 802.11n 3x3 Half Mini-card, Dell Mobile Precision ***BETTER***
6-cell (65Wh) Primary Lithium Ion Battery, (2.8Ah) ExpressCharge Capable, Dell Mobile Precision M4700
blue_falcon - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
You forgot to point out one more item that is ***BETTER***. The M4700 can use the same docking station that every E-Family Latitude can (for the past 4 generations). That way if you have to, you can use someone else's dock when visiting another building, or site.blue_falcon - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Also, you can drive 5 monitors (if you choose to) when docked. I think the Elitebook can only do four (or that is all that is supported).