HP ProBook 4540S upgrade

It has been a while since I was doing some computer related work. Just today, the CPU which I ordered form my ProBook 4540S dropped in.

I bought the ProBook some years ago. It was equipped with an Intel Core i3 Sandy Bridge (HD3000), 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD.

It did not take long and I replace the HDD with a 1TB WD Black drive.

Some time ago, I upgraded to OS to OS-X 10.10 Yosemite. I did actually not write about this upgrade. It went very smoothly using clover as boot-manager. I can only recommend that route!
This upgrade got me to using the ProBook more often, so, I decided to add another 4GB of RAM.

Lately, I was using RawTherapee and the GIMP a lot. Image processing is really demanding on CPU-power, so, I finally decided to give the ProBook a real upgrade: a new CPU!

My choice fell onto an Intel Core i7-3612QM.

The Core i7-3612QM belongs to the Ivy Bridge generation of Intel CPUs, the most power efficient generation. It seems that the Ivy Bridge i7 has got the same power ratings as the Sandy Bridge i3.

For reason of the observation, that the battery seems to drain quicker, I am not sure about this. However, it also needs to be said that the laptop seems to stay much cooler, with no additional fan activity.

Beyond thermal and power considerations, the Ivy Bridge HD4000, contrary to Sandy Bridge, is genuinely supported by modern versions of OS-X.

All in all, quite some money went into the upgrades. Still I believe that my ProBook was a lot cheaper than a comparable MacBook Pro.

Quick Tip: Calibrate Your Monitor!

If you are using your Hacktintosh to just check email once in a while, this post is not further importance to you. However, if the computer is used for any sort of visual work, such as processing of video or still photography, artwork or design, you may want to consider calibrating you screen.

Of course there is the relatively pricy option of screen calibrators which you connect via USB and all the magic happens.

As to Apple's OS-X, there is a calibration mode provided for free, which uses even more precious sensors, namely your very own eyes.
For using this tool, you want to open the "Displays" option in "System Preferences". Go to the "Color"-tab. Now you want to click on "Calibrate...", which will open another window. Be sure to check the "Expert mode" box! As of now, lean back (as the instructions will tell you) and follow the instructions!
My experience told me to do this exercise a couple of times in order to get the hang of the tool and a  precise calibration. Mind you, you are using parts of your very own body to calibrate an electronic device. Using your senses always involves learning.

HP ProBook 4540s

Guess why I bought this particular model?

Of course I like keyboard, very Apple-like, and the mat screen and further the ease of accessing the HDD and other stuff. However, the main motivator was, that it was the successor of the ProBook 4530s, which, allegedly, is the best laptop computer to be OS-Xed.
I tried the traditional route, i.e. SnowLeopard DVD, and the further steps. I got as far as Lion, and than things stopped working out. Finally, I sort of gave up, installed a linux on the laptop and was happy!

Just lately, something told me go give it a try again. Potentially it was the availability of the latest Probook installer 6.1.11, which motivated the second attempt.
All data securely put on an external disk, I tried my luck. Now, my HP Probook 4540s (Sandy Bridge) is happily running OS-X 10.8.5. Even the dared first TM-backup went straight through.

You may ask, why I am not trying to install Mavericks (OS-X 10.9.1) on the laptop. Well, first of all, I like Mountain Lion in a way. And yes, I was tempted by the fact that 10.9.x seems to incorporate power-handling more deeply. Hence, I tried to boot 10.9.1, but it failed in the first attempt... so I just decided to leave things as they were.

We'll see what the future has in house for the last laptop member of the Sandy Bridge family.

BTW, in order to get WiFi, I exchanged the laptops WiFi-card to one that is supported by OS-X genuinely. This set me back by about €8.-

When I bought it, the ProBook 4540s cost me about €600,- and came with MS Virus7. I replaced the 320GB HDD with a 1TB WD blue (which was about another €100.- at the time).

All in all, I am really glad to have bought this computer. It served me fine under Linux and it seems to be doing a great job with OS-X right now.