HP Unveils Latest Spring 2010 Laptops
by Balraj Sandhu and Jarred Walton on May 5, 2010 5:28 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- IT Computing
- AMD
- Intel
- HP
HP Business Notebooks
Rounding things out are a selection of new business orientated notebooks. These products fall into the premium HP ProBook S and B Series products and the entry level 425/625 models. The ProBook computers provide various business targeted tools, such as HP Day Starter, HP QuickLook 3, and HP QuickWeb that provide instant access to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and the internet. HP Power Assistant also serves to conserve power and provide the user with an accurate representation of remaining battery life.
The HP ProBook B-Series are available with Intel processors (models 6450b and 6550b) or AMD processors (models 6455b and 6555b). The 6450b and 6455b feature 14” LED backlit displays while the 6550b and 6555b feature 15.6” LED backlit displays. The AMD models feature AMD VISION Pro technology with Phenom II, Turion II, Athlon II, and V-series processors, with availability in June starting at $780. Meanwhile the Intel models feature Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, with the i5 and i7 versions available with Intel vPro technology. They are also available with onboard Intel HD graphics or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 540v discrete graphics. The Intel models launch in June, starting at $860.
The HP ProBook S-Series consists of three models coming in at 13.3” (4325s), 14” (4425s) and 15.5” (4525s), all of which have LED backlit displays and brushed aluminum chassis. They include the same VISION Pro technology and processors as the B-Series notebooks, and will have either ATI Mobility HD 4250 integrated or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 530v discrete graphics. HP claims these machines are 69% faster than the previous generation of AMD notebooks. The notebooks also feature touchpads with gesture support. They are available in May starting at $620. Finally, HP have launched two entry level business models, the HP 425 with a 14” LED backlit display and the HP 625 with a 15.6” LED backlit display. Both are powered by AMD processors and are available in May starting at $550.
Wrap-Up
In summary, there are a lot of new products from HP, most of which won’t set your pulse racing. However, we noticed two interesting aspects with the announcements. First, the large number of AMD VISION/VISION Pro equipped models is a break from the norm, and some of these are in the same product space as their Intel counterparts. They will inevitably fall a little short on performance and battery life (judging by other AMD-equipped laptops), but they do have a price advantage. That may be the most important factor in the buying decision, especially for cost-conscious business users.
The second thing, something that perhaps does set the pulse racing, is the new ENVY models. The previous generation models were generally dismissed as poor MacBook Pro copies; one glance at the spec sheet and photos of these models shows these machines look to be every bit as good as the MacBook Pros—and perhaps even better. The price is a good place to start, but we await final hardware and testing results before we can declare a victor.
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Belard - Friday, May 7, 2010 - link
"That's fanboy language."... Huh? I said I liked AMD, I like the pricing on the product, I didn't say I wanted to marry them. AMD is a company, blah blah. I also buy Intel's SSD drives because (A) the perfomance (B) reliability and (C) price ratio is better than anything else on the market.The rest of your post about the 6-core CPU, battery life, etc... Gee, didn't I pretty much say that?
The last line of my post was "After these past 10 years, AMD has never been aggressive with their mobile CPUs power usage." - its a fact, their CPUs aren't great for the mobile market. A fanboy would buy AMD Mobile just because its an AMD.
Fact, the notebook & netbook markets continues to grow and AMD is going to miss out and it will be mostly their fault. For a notebook, intel CPU is the way to go - and getting one with an ATi GPU is best of both worlds... oh, the Envy has such a set up.
If intel is still paying OEMs to not use AMD, then they are breaking the agreement from earlier this year and open themselves to another lawsuit. May intel lose more money.
KorruptioN - Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - link
That 14" Envy - the right side. Why would they put the Kensington lock port smack dab in the middle like that? What if you're using an external mouse? The (stiff) cable is going to end up right where you're supposed to use your mouse. Same goes for the wired ethernet.Furthermore, the power and HDD activity LEDs... why would HP put them there? I like to keep an eye on those LEDs from time to time.
It all seems like an afterthought...
smartalco - Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - link
They aren't even trying to hide the fact that they are trying to make a macbook. Silver body, black screen bezel, black chiclet keyboard, single surface trackpad/mouse. At my first quick glance, I actually thought the home page image was a macbook.FATCamaro - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link
I thought they were Macbook Pro's as well. It was hilarious to read the first few comments saying how they really liked the look without acknowledging that it was a copycat look.caseyschwab - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link
It may be your opinion that it is a "copycat look" but It is not mine. The macbook pros completely lack color and finish which IMO one of there biggest downfalls, aside from their exorbitant pricing. HP offers greater performance, better looks and a lower price tag to boot.erple2 - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link
It's got a metal case (good for heat dissipation, and looks much nicer than flimsy plastic), it's got chicklet island keys (like a very large number of keyboards today), and it has a black bezel (like a significant number of other laptops). I have both laptops (Envy 15 and early 2009 unibody MBP) so am speaking a little bit from experience.So does that them imply that all of the hundreds of other laptops that do that are copycats of the MBP? I don't know. The metal is very different than the MBP (and gives it a nice texture), the keys feel a little bit better than the Macbook Pro. The screen is much nicer than the MBP (higher resolution, and non-shiny). The trackpad is similar (I'll give you that), but if something works well, why not try to improve on it? The bezel is black, but so what? There were a lot of laptops before the MBP that had black bezels. E2E glass - I don't care about that - at least not with a matte screen. My Envy does not have e2e glass, so there's no comparison.
I don't think that it's a clone, so much as simply a "metal case modern laptop".
Roland00 - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link
During the first generation of the hp envy's several hp reps, and an official hp training were specifically comparing the hp envy to the macbook pros. The old envy 15 with the I7 option is faster than the 17 inch macbook pro, and the old envy 13 coupled with the LV processor with the second battery that latches onto the chasis gets better battery life than the macbook pro (for they are using two batteries) and it runs windows natively.ExodusC - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link
Why would they try to hide the fact that they are making what is arguably a better notebook for the price? I would definitely purchase the Envy 14 over the 13 inch MBP. Moreso, I would think the Envy 14 will likely be a better buy than the 15 inch MBP.GullLars - Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - link
It bothers me a bit they only offer SSDs for the high end models, and then only x25-M 160GB.If i designed laptops, I'd insist any laptop released in 2010 with 15" screens or more would have 2 2,5" slots, and have 30-80GB SSDs optional as boot-drives for all models, with 40GB x25-V and 32GB Indilinx as recomended for lower end models, x25-M 80GB for middle range, and x25-M 80/160GB or SF-1200 50/100GB for higher end models, and the possibility for the buyer to specify other capacities for all models. After all, changing (or inserting) an SSD is not much work (can easily be done in the electronics store/etailer in a minute or two).
I also have an issue with buying the laptops without OS (for a lower cost) not being an option for a lot of models.
MadMan007 - Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - link
I'd like to see them ditch the optical drive on smaller models (14" and below,) possibly as an option, and include a second hard drive instead. An 80GB SSD with a mechanical hard drive of your choice would be fantastic.