W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

A question to buyers of the W701's. If you looked at the 8740w as potential competition, what made you buy the W701? Any regrets?

Reply 1 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

a) better keyboard

b) 2 hdd bays

c) liked chassis layout more overall (ports, etc)

d) better speakers

e) open parts/service guides info available

f) better cooling system design



no regrets

Reply 2 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

I use to have HP nx8220 for a couple of years - it was good but not great. Then I moved to x200s - the greatest small laptop I think.

So... the W701 (note - with the embedded calibrator and tablet) was no brainer when it came to choose between Lenovo and HP

Reply 3 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ingvarr e) open parts/service guides info available

Not sure what you mean by "open parts", but HP has excellent service and maintenance manuals available online.

Reply 4 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

I meant that you can buy any part number directly from Lenovo parts webshop.

Reply 5 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

Was the Dell Precision M6500 not an option when you considered the W701 or 8740w?

Reply 6 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ingvarr a) better keyboard b) 2 hdd bays c) liked chassis layout more overall (ports, etc) d) better speakers e) open parts/service guides info available f) better cooling system design no regrets

a) I doubt it. The non-backlit keyboard of 8740w is far less flexible than that of the W701. It's down to your personal likes/dislikes but the overall quality of the keyboard goes to the HP (I own one but also am a 10-years long TP user and typing this on a W510, lol). Notebookcheck is very biased towards the ThinkPads but even they rate the W701 kb as 82% vs 92-94% for the Elitebooks.



b) true, if you really need two bays.

c) very personal, I liked the 8740w ports layout more.

d) not so sure, checked both and didn't find much difference, both are mediocre at best.

e) Here I don't agree at all, there are very detailed guides available and the DIY part of the Elitebooks rocks. To replace the CPU and GPU takes less than 5 min for an average rookie.

f) How did you check that? My 8740w always stays under 85C on both CPU(840QM) and GPU(M7820 with GDDR5) under Furmark+Prime95 (ambient 26-27c). In fact, if I had the control over the fan and let it hit the max burst at 75C instead of 85C as set in the BIOS- the machine would never even reach 80C. The cooling potential is enormous, almost like in my M17X.



I like both ThinkPads and ELitebooks, but did go for the later this time around simply because I really am into good screens and the 30-IPS panel is just perfect and, IMHO is way better than even a RGB LED TN offered by Dell in M17X and M6500.



My 2 cents of course, so far no regrets on the Elitebook...

Reply 7 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

if 8740w has DC2 screen, it definitely surpasses W701's one

Reply 8 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

Technically, it's about 400$ more expensive than a RGB LED TN option offered by Lenovo. But yes, you're right.

Reply 9 : W701 vs 8740w - why did you buy the W701?

I have answered first question, "what made you (e.g. me) buy W701 instead of 8740w"

I believe I can judge for myself, what I deem better for myself or not.



I liked keyboard on W701 more. I dislike flat keyboard. Maybe W701's flexes somewhat, but it didn't enough to annoy me (maybe I don't press too hard when typing, not sure).

I liked speakers on W701 more. They both lack bass, but W701 speakers have better freq separation and cleaner sound.

W701 has two separate fans, for CPU and GPU. Elitebook have only one common fan. Therefore even on full CPU & GPU load temperature never went above 75 for me and fans stayed very quiet, perceivably more quiet than on HP's. That also influenced my decision.

With parts & DIY its not only down do guides. How easy to actually purchase parts is another factor for me.



I don't doubt greatness of IPS screen, however at price of 8740w equipped with it and all above personal preferences... Well, still W701 was decided for me.