Review: The HP (Compaq) 8710w Mobile Workstation

Santa is a tease. What Santa giveth, Santa taketh away. Ever notice that Santa is a malformation of Satan? Well, either way, I was on the losing end of this stick. Not because I was forced to use a new HP 8710w Mobile workstation, but because I couldn’t keep it longer than 2 weeks.

For that reason this review will be somewhat limited to my experience using for 3ds Max specifically. I recently spoke at Autodesk University and for my presentation I was lucky enough to get hold of this HP rig from my office.

Lets begin with the easy stuff. The specifications were a delicious mix of efficiency and brute force.

• Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz (the slowest model available)
• 2GB RAM, 667Mhz
• nVidia QuadroFX 1600m with 512MB
• 120gb Hard Drive
• LightScribe DVD/RW Burner
• 6 (!) USB 2.0 + 1 1394 (mini)
• Wireless Everything (B/G/N, bluetooth)

The visual styling of this box is really refined, HP has done a nice job with this considering past models (specifically the NX9600 behemoth that will not fit in any laptop carrying bag I own, nay a back pack). It also easier on the shoulders as it is a tight 7 lbs. HP/Compaq has never had a problem with their laptops feeling as though they were cheaply made. This is no exception. It feels solid- but isn’t a doorstop.

Speaking of doorstops. Even though HP has the business end of the power cable figured out, the power brick at the other end remains an unsightly reminder that, alas, this is a PC. Apple has figured out that people want to feel good about every part of the computing process, even plugging it in. Why has a company like HP not figured this out? This brick ruins the mobile experience because its big, heavy, and has heavy duty cables. Thud! I know its supposed to go beneath the desk, but its a part I see and touch every day. Hello HP? Are you listening? This, I feel, has gone beyond personal taste and is now a mainstream part of the mobile workstation experience. Its like buying a Ferrari and putting House brand tires on the car. (full body shiver)

Ok, I’m off my Soapbox now. Just because this thing has a brick for a power supply, its not a good enough reason not to get this machine.

The brick aside, there are only a couple of other negatives to report. There are touch sensitive controls across the top of chassis above the keyboard, by the screen hinges. These easily get brushed (and therefore activated/changed) when hitting the F-keys or the delete key. I kept muting my music while working, drove me crazy. They have added a finger print reader for securing your files, apps, and uh… photos. I really like the idea of this feature. Had I been able to keep the rig, I would have definitely used this. But its placement put it occasionally in the way. It is on the top of the wrist rest area beneath the keyboard. In the outer right corner of the surface. Certainly not a deal breaker, but why not put it up with the other touch sensitive controls? I might remember they are there and not brush them so easily.

Ok, we put the bad news in the middle, now on the good stuff.

This is a very capable production rig for 3ds Max. I used it for doing my demos and mental ray rendering before and during my presentation. This included lots of high res poly models zipping around the screen and tons and tons of Mental Ray rendering with Final Gather and HDR lighting. It rocked. Even with the slowest processor, it has decent render times. I can only imagine the faster processors would really set this thing afire- but it might just kill the budget. With the added power of the QuadroFX 1600m graphics card, I was way more efficient than I would be with my MBP,– it was relegated to a support role playing itunes and email. The MBP just sat on my desk looking pretty, like my cat (though, my MBP can’t lick itself– yet).

The 17″ screen a gorgeous at 1680 x 1050 (also better than Apple). There is a 1900×1200 option on a more expensive configuration. But it does support 1900 x 1200 out of the VGA port (as does the MBP). So I could hook up my smokin’ hot Gateway 2485w (here’s the review of that) and get crazy silly.

Bottom line; this is a way better mobile workstation than my Mac Book Pro. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know how I feel about that. If not, read this. I didn’t pay for this system (of course I don’t get to keep it either). So I configured (on 12/1/2007) the exact same one on HP.com and it came out to be about $2830.00. I then stopped by Dell.com’s small business site and configured a Dell Precision Mobile Workstation m6300 as the same laptop (as closely as I could, the Dell had 2.0 Ghz processor, they don’t offer a 1.8Ghz) and got about $2450. ($2100 after a $300 dollar instant rebate). So if it were my coin on the table here, I’d not buy this HP unless they matched the price and configuration of the Dell. I have not test driven this Dell yet. But I did have a M60 a couple of years ago and it was the best laptop I’ve ever had (for production-like duties) so I have warm fuzzies for Dell. I feel the same way about this 8710w as I did about the M60.

Here’s the wild card though. I know people at HP (hi Molly!). I know their stuff is seriously engineered for DCC (Digital Content Creation). I know, like for real, they support their stuff and they take your business seriously. So if its a onesy-twosey production studio, and HP matches Dell’s price, I’d probably get the HP. If they don’t, go Dell. If I were hooked into a really big company or studio. Get HP for sure. They are thinking about the artist when they are geeking out. (Plus, I bet in volume HP is pretty competitive against Dell).

The guru gives the HP/Compaq 8710w 4 out of 5 polygons.

Image courtesy of HP.com

Advertisement

~ by learn3dsmax on December 2, 2007.