My Full HP zBook x2 Review (Video)

Cheers for the reply. I've had a look in BIOS today and found the graphics hardware settings, but unfortunately, there's no option to disable the discrete graphics.
As an alternative, I tried disabling the Quadro in device manager, but that removed the ability to detect an external monitor (through HDMI) which is super weird as my 4 yr old Vaio doesn't do that!

 

That's really interesting. When I owned a non-dreamcolor model there was an option to use on-board graphics or discrete graphics (Which made no difference in terms of color btw, so don't bother if anyone has a non-dreamcolor model). Maybe the dreamcolor models remove it? My only other suggest is check to see if your bios are up to date. Sorry! Didn't mean to mislead, I'm surprised they removed it.

 

I can only conclude that the BIOS must've changed since you looked then, as this is a non-Dreamcolour model and I've run all the updates via the HP tool since buying it, including a BIOS update.

You haven't mislead, you've been a great help, I just wish I could find out for sure if there is a way to disable DreamColour. I'd rather not have to disable the Quadro to do it, since part of the reason I want to turn DreamColour off is to give the best battery life whilst doing graphics intensive work on the move, like CAD, so I could do with the GPU!
I've asked HP too, but won't hold my breath..

 

<<...When I owned a non-dreamcolor model there was an option to use on-board graphics or discrete graphics...Maybe the dreamcolor models remove it?..>>

...Other owners have reported that the DreamColor screen requires the M620 for its operation. Therefore, it would make sense that a ZBook with a DreamColor screen wouldn't offer the option to turn the M620 off. I think that's likely what's going on here...

 

Hi Steve.
The machine I've got is non-Dreamcolour and it doesn't have the option to turn the Quadro off - it might have with an earlier BIOS version but not the latest one. Unless there is a different BIOS for different CPU chipsets, mine is 7th gen..
I'm not really looking to turn the Quadro off anyhow, I'd like to find a way of turning Dreamcolour off when I don't need it, that way, Windows can decide when the Quadro is needed and conserve battery by just using intel graphics when the workload doesn't need the Quadro.
I'm about to return the preconfigured unit I bought and order the spec I really need. I would like Dreamcolour, but don't like the fact that it kills the battery life by using the Quadro all the time!

 

<<…The machine I've got is non-Dreamcolour and it doesn't have the option to turn the Quadro off...>>
<<...I'm not really looking to turn the Quadro off anyhow, I'd like to find a way of turning Dreamcolour off when I don't need it...>>

...OK; I'm confused. If you have a non-DreamColor ZBook, then you don't have the capability to display full Adobe RGB ("DreamColor"), M620 or not. (DreamColor is an attribute of the display, not the M620; however, to drive the display at full Adobe RGB color depth, the M620 is required.)

Looking at your earlier post, you might have the option to turn off the M620 by selecting "Hybrid Graphics." How that selection differs from "Auto" certainly isn't clear, but I'm using process of elimination...?!?? God only knows why OEMs can't label software switches with labels that make sense!

 

Hi @Steve S you're right to be confused by me asking questions about Dreamcolour, when I don't have a Dreamcolour machine!

I bought it to test out under the EU 14 day cooling off law. I wouldn't normally do such a thing, but the workstation sales guy I was talking to at HP suggested it!
It's booked in for return to HP on Tuesday, then I'll have to make up my mind on the configuration of the machine I am going to buy! (Dreamcolour or not?!)
The unit I have was the only preconfigured option on the HP UK store, which is practically useless for anyone, as it's only got 128Gb SSD and 8Gb RAM, but it's been very handy to test out. The processor is a 7th gen i7-7500U incidentally.
https://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=2ZB79EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB

As for turning off the Quadro, I've tried the 'Hydbrid Graphics' software switch in BIOS, but it doesn't make any difference - you can still see the Quadro working in the Task Manager performance tab. I tried just disabling it in Device Manager, but that stopped my external monitor being detected for some bizarre reason! (It's connected via HDMI if that's relevant) My old i7 Haswell machine doesn't flinch when I do the same thing.

Anyhow, all that is academic, because I don't really want to disable the Quadro, I want to disable the Dreamcolour when it suits me!
The rationale behind this is that I want to preserve the battery life when I'm out and about and having the Dreamcolour working the Quadro all the time just to process colour is detrimental to battery life. So, unless I particularly want amazing colour, I'd rather turn Dreamcolour off and therefore allow Windows to do it's normal job of deciding when to enable and disable the Quadro based on application load.
I'm also suspicious that using the Quadro for Dreamcolour duties might reduce the graphics processing cores/capacity left over for CAD and I'd really rather get the most out of the card when I'm doing CAD, esp as it's not the most powerful in the first place..

I hope that's clear now, I'm amazed that HP wouldn't have thought about this scenario and provided some means for users to switch DremColour on and off in software or hardware (they did it for touch after all, which I used to have to do in device manager on my Sony Flip 15a).

After all this time talking and investigating, I'm no closer to being able to decide which option to buy!

I even borrowed a colorimeter from a friend and spent quite a bit of time experimenting, but I'm not convinced the standard display can be calibrated to look really good (just as @carnageX12 found).

 

I believe you meant Happehlemons or Selofain, both were mentioning trying to calibrate non-Dreamcolor display units. I've only had a Dreamcolor machine. I totally understand where you are coming from with not wanting to waste graphic power on colors when working on a CAD model, when I'm working in SolidWorks I don't care about the color of the model. From what I read on the other thread I believe the only way to turn off the M620 is to disable it, and the the only way to do that is to have a non-Dreamcolor display or disable the Dreamcolor option, it was an option in the BIOS, but only in the BIOS so if you wanted to turn off the Dreamcolor you'd have to reboot the computer, want to enable it then reboot the computer. Since I also do a fair amount of graphic work it just didn't seem worth it to me. I'd say if you are okay with the colors on the unit you are going to return, you could stick with a unit that doesn't have the Dreamcolor display, save a bit of money and know that when you do enable the M620 less of it is being used to drive the display. If you never could get the colors of the display to achieve a look you liked, then Dreamcolor all the way.
I will say, I really do like the Dreamcolor display it's a ...dream... to work on >.> But for full disclosure, I do have one problem that occurs on one specific website, Deviantart, where dark images have random blocks of forest green. It's the only website that has this problem and the only device I've had this happen. Not sure what the cause is, whether the it's the screen, graphics card, or something else, and like I said I've only encountered it from images on that website, I can even download an image that looks messed up, open it and it looks fine. Still waiting to hear if any other people have encountered the problem.
EDIT: After writing about the problem I was having I got to thinking if it was the browser, so tried a different one. It seems the green color block problem only occurs in chrome, the edge browser shows the images from Devianart without problems.