Face Off: Toshiba Tecra Z40 vs. Acer TravelMate P648 vs. HP EliteBook 840 G3
More millennials are preferring thin-and-light notebooks for both office work and home use. While this jack-of-all-trades solution has its perks, dedicated business notebooks are still superior when it comes to connectivity options and serviceability. We compare the core features of the business-centric Tecra Z40, TravelMate P648, and EliteBook 840 G3 in the popular 14-inch category to see which is a better fit for pure office tasks.
We encourage users to check out our dedicated review pages below for more data and detailed analyses of each of the three models. This comparison is by no means a replacement, but a condensed aid for those on the fence.
Case
Build quality is above average for each of the notebooks. The Toshiba utilizes magnesium from top to bottom and has been tested to survive drops up to a certain height with a water-resistant keyboard. In comparison, the Acer system is mostly carbon fiber and plastic and the HP is largely plastic with an aluminum finish on the outer lid. Their bases are rigid and not easy to twist, but we find the display lids on all three notebooks to be rather easy to bend and, in the case of the Toshiba, can even creak from the warping.
Beyond the build, these notebooks weigh nearly the same with almost identical dimensions. We can't objectively crown one model over the other in terms of workmanship and quality.
Ports in Comparison
Connectivity
As business notebooks, all three models come with dedicated docking ports and SIM slot options. Users will also appreciate that the aging VGA port is still present for supporting older external outputs. Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is that the Acer notebook is the only one out of the three to carry a USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 3 compatibility. This essentially future-proofs the notebook, though the model is lacking a native SmartCard reader in return.
Toshiba Tecra Z40 | Acer TravelMate P648 | HP EliteBook 840 G3 | |
USB | 3x USB 3.0 | 3x USB 3.0, 1x USB Type-C + Thunderbolt 3 | 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.1 Gen. 1 |
Video-out | 1x VGA, 1x HDMI | 1x VGA, 1x HDMI | 1x VGA, 1x DisplayPort |
Other | SD reader, SIM slot (optional), RJ-45, Kensington Lock, SmartCard reader, 3.5 mm audio, Docking port | SD reader, SIM slot, RJ-45, Kensington Lock, 3.5 mm audio, Docking port | SD reader, SIM slot, RJ-45, Kensington Lock, SmartCard reader, 3.5 mm audio, Docking port |
Storage Bays | 1x M.2 | 1x M.2 | 1x M.2, 1x 2.5-inch SATA III |
Input Devices
Unfortunately, all three notebooks have just average keyboards at best. When compared to the keyboards of the ThinkPad T460s or Latitude E7440/E7470, the Toshiba, Acer, and HP fall short in terms of feedback and travel. The keys even clatter more loudly, so the experience is far from ideal. This isn't to say that the keyboards are bad, but their shallow feel may take some time to become accustomed to.
As for the touchpads, they all offer a smooth glide with no issues specific to any one model. Users will likely find the HP to be more comfortable if no external mouse is present due to its Pointstick and four dedicated mouse keys when compared to the Toshiba or Acer. Note that the Toshiba is the only one with integrated mouse keys (clickpad functionality) while the Acer carries no TrackPoint/Pointstick at all.
Display
The notebooks all use different matte panels with very different contrast and color gamuts each. Our HP is even equipped with a TN panel compared to the IPS panels on the Toshiba and Acer for more limited viewing angles.
The EliteBook carries the brighter display, but colors are inaccurate without calibration. The TravelMate carries the deeper contrast ratio by over twice that of the Toshiba and HP, but its color gamut is inferior. Lastly, the Toshiba carries the wider color gamut and more accurate colors, but its brightness and contrast are both average. There are pros and cons for each model, so no one display is objectively better than the rest. The EliteBook, however, utilizes PWM for brightness control and should be avoided for those who are sensitive to screen flickering.
Toshiba Tecra Z40 | Acer TravelMate P648 | HP EliteBook 840 G3 | |
Size | 14.0-inch IPS | 14.0-inch IPS | 14.0-inch TN |
Native Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
Pixel Density | 157 PPI | 157 PPI | 157 PPI |
Panel ID | Toshiba TOS508F | AU Optronics B140HAN02.1 | Chi Mei CMN14C0 |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-106 | Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD | |
---|---|---|---|
Display | |||
Display P3 Coverage | 64.8 | 35.53 | 48.93 |
sRGB Coverage | 84.4 | 53.3 | 73.7 |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 61.7 | 36.72 | 50.5 |
Response Times | |||
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 32.8 ? | 44 ? | 43 ? |
Response Time Black / White * | 25.2 ? | 25 ? | 25 ? |
PWM Frequency | 204 ? | ||
Screen | |||
Brightness middle | 269 | 254 | 366 |
Brightness | 257 | 243 | 336 |
Brightness Distribution | 86 | 90 | 87 |
Black Level * | 0.52 | 0.19 | 0.65 |
Contrast | 517 | 1337 | 563 |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.45 | 4.93 | 10.26 |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 9.34 | 10.14 | |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.28 | 2.71 | 11.51 |
Gamma | 2.38 92% | 2.36 93% | 2.4 92% |
CCT | 6230 104% | 6914 94% | 12725 51% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 55.24 | 34 | 47 |
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 84.32 | 53 | 74 |
Total Average (Program / Settings) |
* ... smaller is better
Performance
CPU Performance
Toshiba, Acer, and HP all offer multiple CPU options beyond what we have here, so this comparison is only between the configurations on hand.
The ULV Skylake processors for these notebooks perform very similarly in both single- and multi-core processes while sharing the same integrated HD Graphics 520 GPU. In fact, the i5-6200U in the Toshiba is able to slightly outperform the i7-6500U in both the Acer and HP according to CineBench and 3DMark Fire Strike Physics.
Serviceability is simpler on the Acer and HP compared to the Toshiba. Note that two SODIMM slots are available on the Toshiba and HP while the Acer only has one slot with 4 GB soldered onto the board.
See our dedicated CPU pages on the Core i5-6200U and Core i7-6500U for more benchmarks and comparisons.
Toshiba Tecra Z40 | Acer TravelMate P648 | HP EliteBook 840 G3 | |
CPU | 2.3 GHz Core i5-6200U | 2.5 GHz Core i7-6500U | 2.5 GHz Core i7-6500U |
TDP | 15 W | 15 W | 15 W |
RAM | 8 GB DDR3L, Single-channel, 2x SODIMM | 8 GB DDR4-2132, Dual-channel, 1x SODIMM (4 GB soldered) | 8 GB DDR4, Dual-channel, 2x SODIMM |
GPU | Intel HD Graphics 520 | Intel HD Graphics 520 | Intel HD Graphics 520 |
Cinebench R15 | |
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD | |
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
Cinebench R11.5 | |
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N |
wPrime 2.10 | |
1024m (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
32m (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F |
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - 32M (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F |
3DMark | |
1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Physics (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Physics (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Physics (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
PCMark 7 | |
Score (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
Lightweight (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
Productivity (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
Entertainment (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
Creativity (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
Computation (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
System Storage (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N |
PCMark 8 | |
Work Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD | |
Creative Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
Home Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 | |
Pass 1 (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Pass 2 (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F |
* ... smaller is better
GPU Performance
Surprisingly, raw graphics performance is slightly faster on the Tecra Z40 compared to the TravelMate and EliteBook according to 3DMark and CineBench benchmarks despite the fact that the Toshiba is carrying the weaker processor. In a real-world test with Bioshock Infinite, however, the Toshiba outputs fewer frames per second than its two competitors with faster processors.
See our dedicated GPU pages on the Intel HD Graphics 520 for more gaming benchmarks and comparisons.
Cinebench R15 - OpenGL 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
3DMark | |
1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Graphics (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-11F | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
BioShock Infinite - 1366x768 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-106 | |
Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N | |
HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD |
Stress Test
To test system stability, we run both Prime95 and FurMark to simulate maximum stress. These unrealistic conditions do not represent daily workloads, but are instead meant to put both the CPU and GPU at 100 percent capacity. Our reviewer for the Toshiba provided no screenshot or GPU information when subjected to Prime95 and FurMark, so this data has been omitted below.
The three systems perform very well when under extreme stress. Both the Toshiba and Acer do not throttle their CPUs and can even maintain a small level of Turbo Boost each. The HP notebook throttles its processor just slightly from its base clock rate of 2.5 GHz to a more stable 2.4 GHz. Core temperature is much warmer on the Acer at just over 70 C compared to 60 C or cooler on its two competitors.
Toshiba Tecra Z40 | Acer TravelMate P648 | HP EliteBook 840 G3 | |
Rated GPU Core Clock (MHz) | 300 | 300 | 300 |
Stable GPU Core Clock on FurMark (MHz) | -- | 1000 | 1000 |
Rated CPU Core Clock (GHz) | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
Stable CPU Core Clock on Prime95 (GHz) | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
Average CPU temperature | 55 C | 71 C | 60 C |
Emissions
System Noise & Temperature
The three systems are essentially silent when idling or running very low loads, though the fan in the HP appears to be slightly more sensitive to onscreen loads. Fan noise is quieter on the Acer at just over 33 dB(A) when under stress compared to 37 dB(A) on the Toshiba and HP, which correlates well with its higher core temperatures as mentioned above. Average surface temperatures are subsequently warmer on the Acer, though the difference is not significant enough to be distracting during regular use.
Toshiba Tecra Z40 | Acer TravelMate P648 | HP EliteBook 840 G3 | |
Fan Noise when idling | 29.8 dB(A) | 31.2 dB(A) | 31.2 -33.1 dB(A) |
Fan Noise under high loads | 32.6 - 37.2 dB(A) | 32.4 - 33.3 dB(A) | 36.2 - 37.8 dB(A) |
Average surface temperature when idling | 26.3 C | 27.8 C | 24.9 C |
Average surface temperature under high loads | 30.9 C | 31.8 C | 32.1 C |
Ambient temperature | 21.5 C | 22.4 C | 21.4 C |
Battery Life
Users can expect 9 hours of real-world WLAN use from the Toshiba and Acer compared to 7.5 hours from the HP. The Toshiba carries the larger battery capacity followed by the Acer and HP, so we were expecting the Tecra Z40 to last a bit longer than the Acer. The internal battery packs are all non-removable and cannot be easily swapped.
Winner: Tie -- Toshiba Tecra Z40
Acer TravelMate P648
Toshiba Tecra Z40-C-106 64 Wh | Acer TravelMate P648-M-757N 54 Wh | HP EliteBook 840 G3 T9X59ET#ABD 46 Wh | |
---|---|---|---|
Battery Runtime | |||
Reader / Idle | 1045 | 1083 | 1020 |
WiFi v1.3 | 539 | 543 | 453 |
Load | 164 | 110 | 146 |
Verdict
Some core features of the Tecra Z40, TravelMate P648, and EliteBook 840 G3 are so evenly matched down to their price points that it's difficult to suggest one over the other based on quality and system performance alone. Instead, their main differences stem from their displays, connectivity features, and battery runtimes.
The Toshiba makes an excellent choice if more accurate colors are a concern, but its backlight brightness is too dim for outdoor use and its serviceability could have been easier. The Acer includes the all-important Thunderbolt 3 port for a wider range of docking and peripheral options than both the Toshiba and HP and its display carries deeper black levels as well, but its display backlight and colors are average and there is no integrated SmartCard reader. Additionally, the system runs quieter at the cost of warmer core temperatures. Lastly, the HP notebook has the brighter backlight and a secondary 2.5-inch SATA III bay, but battery runtimes are poorer since the storage bay takes up valuable space away from what could have been used for a larger battery.
Toshiba Tecra Z40 | Acer TravelMate P648 | HP EliteBook 840 G3 |
---|---|---|
+ Magnesium chassis + Spill-resistant keyboard + Wider color gamut + Good CPU and GPU performance + Cooler core temperatures | + Carbon fiber chassis + USB Type-C Gen. 2 + Thunderbolt 3 + Deeper contrast levels + Quieter fan noise | + USB Type-C Gen. 1 + 2.5-inch SATA III option + Four dedicated mouse keys and TrackPoint + Brighter display backlight |
- Difficult serviceability - Weak display lid; creaking - No USB Type-C - Average display backlight | - Weak display lid - No SmartCard reader - No TrackPoint - Narrower color gamut; average display backlight - Warmer core temperatures and surfaces on average | - Weak display lid; very thin - Only 2 USB 3.0 ports, no HDMI - Average contrast levels; TN panel - Very slight CPU throttling under extreme stress - Louder fan noise under stress - Shorter runtimes; smaller battery capacity |
Toshiba Tecra Z40
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Acer TravelMate P648
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HP EliteBook 840 G3
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