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HP Folio 13 finally official

HP Folio 13 Ultrabook

HP finally came up with their own Ultrabook model yesterday, officially, after that initial preview spotted in Australia. The 0.81 inch thin notebook, now officially named the HP Folio 13 sports a 13.3 inch display and an EliteBook-esque design. The Folio 13 looks like a mashup of HP’s Pavilion models with the ProBook 5330m, and overall, it does look pretty slick.

The HP Folio 13 features two USB ports in total (one 3.0 and one 2.0), Ethernet port, SD/SDHC (and presumably SDXC) card reader, HDMI port and combo headphone/microphone jack… nothing new if you’ve read the our news article from earlier this week. There aren’t any surprises under the hood either: you get a choice between two Intel Sandy Bridge low-voltage processors, 128 GB mSATA SSD comes standard as does 4 GB of RAM (user replaceable), the 13.3 inch comes at a fixed resolution of 1366 x 768 and there’s a buttonless trackpad too. Good news for folks who like working in poorly lit or dark places: the Folio 13 comes standard with a backlit keyboard.

Now, the new information here, now that HP has officially revealed the Folio 13 on a worldwide scale, is that the HP Folio 13 will be making its way to the US, and will be available on December 7th, starting at $900! Just in time for holiday shoppers! There’s also a fancy claim of up to 9 hours of battery life, which is excellent news if you’re working long days away from a power outlet.

Spotted: HP EliteBooks and business monitors at BMW AppCenter China

HP EliteBook spotted with BMW (Picture by BMW Blog)

Well, we’re decidedly alive and kicking once again, with HP seemingly upbeat about their computer division (PSG) by being the sponsor/partner of several popular TV shows that kicked their new seasons off earlier this month/late September. In particular, I’ve spotted quite a number of HP products (including the now-dead HP TouchPad) being used by various characters in several CWTV shows (anyone care to take a guess?) but more on that later. As long as HP shows signs that they won’t be doing bizarre things to their PSG division and make HP computers… well, not HP computers anymore, we’ll continue bringing to you the latest about HP stuff. We can hope for the best with their recently appointed new CEO right?!

But back to the topic at hand… I’m personally an avid reader of the BMW Blog (though I wish I can one day actually afford a BMW!) and one of their latest articles today talks about BMW setting up a new AppCenter in China. And what do you know, evidence that BMW and HP are still good pals (hardcore HP fans will remember BMW had a hand in the design of HP’s Z-series Workstations and HP has been a close companion in supplying servers and tech in the past). We can see an admittedly not-so-new 2009 HP EliteBook 6930p in the foreground, a HP monitor (either ZR22W or ZR24W) in the middle, and another EliteBook with its lid closed towards the background.

And speaking of EliteBooks and HP laptops, will we see HP come up with new models of laptops and desktops soon? Like before the holiday season/year end for the consumer line? And/or after CES and the new year in 2012?!

HP updates Pavilion and ProBook models with AMD Llano APUs

The news is out, HP has just announced the addition of AMD’s brand new APUs (a combination of a traditional CPU and graphics processing unit) in some of their existing notebook models.

First a little about AMD Llano chips: they’re made as an answer to Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors. Made using the 32 nm process, they are available in dual and quad core variants that the system can dynamically and automatically scale and overclock when needed, what AMD calls Turbo Core (Think Intel’s Turbo Boost). The processors support USB 3.0, stereoscopic 3D and AMD Wireless Display; certain models also can take 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM (which is fairly fast on a laptop), while the others will go up to 1333 MHz.

They also have built-in AMD HD 6000G series graphics that are quite a bit more powerful even versus Intel’s HD 3000 Integrated graphics, support DirectX 11 and Open CL/Open GL.

TDP ranges from 35W to 45W, with AMD naming their dual core A4 chips (not to be confused with Apple or Audi’s naming conventions!) as direct competitors to Intel’s Core i3 series, A6 chips as competitors to Intel’s Core i3 and lower tier Core i5 while their A8 chips will take on upper tier Core i5 and Core i7. The AMD A6 and A8 chips also feature quad core as standard, with clock speeds ranging from 1.4 to 1.9 GHz (boostable to a range of 2.3 to 2.6 GHz). AMD is claiming very ambitious battery life numbers, ‘up to 10 hours’, for their new chips thanks to improved efficiency and power management.

And now, on to the notebooks… HP has named several notebooks ranging from 14 to 17 inches in screen size to begin sporting these new AMD processors. From the consumer side, we have the updated Pavilion dv4, dv6 and dv7 (starts at $550) as well as more affordable Pavilion g4, g6 and g7 laptops (starts at $450), which will be available with AMD’s new goods beginning July.

If you’re looking for a business-class notebook, HP has updated their ProBook 6465b and 6565b series as well as ProBook 4535s, 4435s and 4436s series ‘entry-level’ business notebooks. Availability of AMD’s new Llano A-series chips in these notebooks should begin June 27.

As for their Intel variants, no worries, they aren’t going anywhere. This is just in-line with HP’s trend of giving folks a choice between AMD and Intel processors. For years, AMD has been more of the ‘affordable’ choice while Intel has been known for better and more stable performance. But looks like AMD is planning to change that this time… I wonder how these new processors will fare because they sure look good, on paper at least!

HP sneaks out 3105m and 630 business notebooks

HP 3105m super entry-level "business notebook"

In one of their more low profile moves (and for a good reason too!), HP has quietly added two new models to the “Essential business notebook PC” range, which is the most basic form of HP business notebooks you’ll find after their ProBook series. The plain-named HP 3105m and HP 630 models are essentially clones of their consumer counterparts, the HP Pavilion dm1z and HP G6t notebooks. The HP 3105m is a model sporting an 11.6 inch display, dual core 1.6 GHz AMD E350 processor and AMD Radeon 6310M entry-level integrated graphics, and will start shipping on May 5 starting from $449. The HP 630, a larger 15.6 inch model gives you a choice between an Intel Core i3, Core 2 Duo and Pentium (ancient much?!) processor, Intel integrated graphics and basic specifications, will also begin shipping on May 5, but with a slightly lower starting price of $439.

The only difference we can tell between these two models and their respective consumer counterparts is they come without HP Mediasmart software (which I’m sure business users would not quite care for anyway and give you the option to choose between different versions of Windows 7, Linux OS or FreeDOS (the consumer models limit you to either Windows 7 Home Basic or Home Premium)… and I can’t say there’s much else going for them. Comparing the HP 3105m with the Pavilion dm1z, both have the same starting price and specifications, but the most basic Pavilion dm1z has the upper hand with 3 GB of RAM to start with (thanks to the “free upgrade”) while the 3105m starts out with just 2 GB of memory.

All you need to know about the EliteBook 8460p and EliteBook 8560p

HP EliteBook 8460p vs HP EliteBook 8560p: A summary

Hey, remember those new EliteBooks released yesterday? Sure you do! I think it’s interesting that the EliteBook 8460p and EliteBook 8560p are even closer together than the previous pair (EliteBook 8440p and EliteBook 8540p), with the only differences being:

• Larger screen (obviously) on the EliteBook 8560p
• EliteBook 8560p’s 15.6 inch display has three resolution options, which top out at 1920 x 1080 (Full HD), while the EliteBook 8460p’s 14 inch screen size gives you a choice between 1366 x 768 and 1600 x 900 panels only.
  From what I’m told, these are the same LED backlit, matte displays used on their respective predecessors. Also, do note the lack of a DreamColor screen for the EliteBook 8560p; I’m also told DreamColor is still reserved for HP’s Mobile Workstation notebooks, so expect to see it make a comeback on the EliteBook 8560w
• EliteBook 8560p has a serial port (8460p doesn’t have one) and an additional USB port over the Elitebook 8460p

I think many are going to be hard-pressed trying to justify the bigger EliteBook 8560p over the EliteBook 8460p, seeing they now are so similar. While the old 8540p had an upper hand in the graphics department over the 8440p, the two descendants launched last night now share the same AMD Radeon 6470M graphics card.

Also, I’ve got some even BIGGER news: The EliteBook 8560p now shares the same battery type as the EliteBook 8460p (which is the same battery used by HP’s 14 inch business notebooks for the past several years). Big-time HP fans (me, for instance) will know that HP’s 15 inch business notebooks have always used the same battery type as the larger 17 inch models; so you got an 8-cell battery that was flush with the notebook. Now that there’s been a change, you’ll only get a flush battery on the EliteBook 8560p if you go with the 6-cell option; a 9-cell battery is available, but it sticks out the back quite a bit.

Here’s a run down of what’s available for the EliteBook 8460p and EliteBook 8560p:

• Intel’s 2nd generation “Sandy Bridge” Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 mobile processors (choices range from the really basic 2.1 GHz dual core Core i3-2310M, to the beefy 2.3 GHz quad core Core i7-2820QM processors)
• Two DDR3 RAM slots for up to 16 GB of memory (using two 8 GB sticks)
• Choice of discrete graphics (1 GB DDR3 AMD Radeon 6470M graphics card) or integrated graphics (Intel HD 3000 built-in graphics)
  The discrete graphics card supports AMD Eyefinity, which allows you to connect up to 4 (yes, four) external displays to the notebook. Neither EliteBook has switchable graphics: You either go with discrete graphics or you don’t, so pick wisely when purchasing your notebook!
• 5 USB ports (two of which are USB 3.0) on the EliteBook 8560p, 4 USB ports (two of which are USB 3.0) EliteBook 8460p
• VGA and Display Port built-in, so you can connect two external displays. To connect the maximum number of screens possible (4), you’ll need to have AMD graphics mentioned above, and HP’s optional docking station
• As expected, the usual connectivity options: WiFi, mobile broadband and Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
• SD/SDHC/MMC card reader, no word about SDXC card support so far, and my contacts are mum about this too
• 2.5 inch built-in hard disk bay (HP will officially be offering hard disks from 250 GB to 750 GB sizes, 7200 RPM standard, and 128 GB/160 GB solid state drives)
  Optical drive bay takes conventional DVD drives, Blu-ray drives, a secondary 2.5 inch drive or HP’s “weight saver” (a blank filler which slots in the bay)
• Stereo microphones and stereo speakers; speakers have “SRS Premium Sound” branding
• Choose between having no webcam, a ‘standard’ webcam or a HD webcam. The latter is a new option, where the HD webcam can do 720p video at up to 30 frames per second and promises improved low-light image quality and dynamic range
• HP QuickWeb and Day Starter ‘instant boot’ modes for quick access to internet browser and your email client respectively
• Fingerprint sensor

I’m finding it weird that HP is offering a “3 cell battery” for both notebooks, seeing the 6 cell battery already sits flush in the notebook… would a 3 cell battery be undersized and sit recessed in the battery bay?

If you’re into diagrams, labels and full blown technical details, HP has published a data sheet on the EliteBook 8460p and EliteBook 8560p. I think HP is indirectly acknowledging the similarity and closeness of both these notebooks, since they share a single data sheet PDF.