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Is the massive hp 8740w mobile workstation still capable of rendering 1080p video today?
I am a beginner video editor who cannot afford a modern rendering workstation. I found someone selling the legendary hp 8740w mobile workstation. This laptop is a massive 17 inch beast that weighs a ton and looks like a military briefcase. I know it was the absolute pinnacle of power over a decade ago. Does the hp 8740w still have the raw graphics processing power to render 1080p videos in Adobe Premiere Pro smoothly? Also does the legendary DreamColor display on this model still hold its color accuracy after so many years?
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3 days agoThe hp 8740w mobile workstation is a legendary piece of computing history. When it was released it was the most powerful and expensive laptop HP manufactured designed specifically for Hollywood animation studios and elite engineers. To answer your rendering question: Yes despite its age the massive dedicated graphics cards inside (like the Nvidia Quadro 5000M or ATI FirePro) combined with an extreme edition Core i7 processor still possess enough raw CUDA cores to render 1080p videos smoothly in older versions of Adobe Premiere Pro. However if you try to edit heavily compressed modern 4K footage from an iPhone the ancient processor will stutter and drop frames continuously on the timeline. It is capable but strictly limited to standard high definition 1080p workflows.
josh
3 days agoThe legendary DreamColor display on the hp 8740w remains its greatest asset even a decade later. The DreamColor screen was an incredibly expensive factory upgrade offering a true 10 bit IPS panel that could display over a billion colors covering 100 percent of the Adobe RGB color space. Unlike cheap modern TN panels that wash out over time high end IPS panels retain their color accuracy remarkably well. If you find a unit with the DreamColor screen it is still vastly superior for professional photo editing and color grading than 90 percent of budget laptops sold today. However this machine is a desktop replacement. It weighs almost 8 pounds and draws massive electricity meaning the battery will last barely 45 minutes unplugged.
josh
3 days agoI still use my 8740w for AutoCAD and 3D modeling. It looks like a military weapon. It has more ports than a modern desktop computer including display ports FireWire and eSATA. It is a brilliant workstation.
josh
3 days agoBe very careful with the power adapter. This beast requires a massive 200W or 230W charger. If the vendor tries to give you a standard 90W HP charger the laptop will refuse to charge the battery while running heavy software.
josh
3 days agoThe DreamColor screen is beautiful but it consumes so much battery power. This laptop must be treated strictly as a desktop that you can occasionally move from one table to another. Do not buy it if you need portability.