HP Fansite

2012 HP ProBook line released

2012 HP ProBook s and ProBook b series

HP basically updated their entire laptop range, from their consumer range to business class laptops and from their Pavilion models to their EliteBook notebooks. The HP ProBook line isn’t excused from this mass updating. HP has updated their simple business ProBook s-series and middle-range business ProBook b-series.

The simpler ProBook s series have been redesigned with cues from the ProBook b series and EliteBook models, and now wear HP’s standard business notebook uniform, complete with aluminum construction. They now have chiclet style keyboards (the ProBook 4340s and 4440s have full-sized keyboards with dedicated Home/End/Page Up/Down keys while the ProBook 4540s and 4740s tack on numeric pads) which are also resistant to spills. The 4 new ProBook s series will be available on June 4 starting at $580 with a choice of Intel and AMD processors. Here are the model names and screen sizes if you wanna pick up a 2012 HP ProBook s series business laptop:

• 13 inch HP ProBook 4340s
• 14 inch HP ProBook 4440s
• 15 inch HP ProBook 4540s
• 17 inch HP ProBook 4740s

HP also updated their ProBook b series laptops which are a notch up from the ProBook s series. These notebooks feature a lighter gray casing to distinguish themselves from their cheaper breathen, though they don’t quite look like the EliteBook line just yet. The HP ProBook 6470b and 6570b sport the latest 2012 Intel Ivy Bridge processors, Intel vPro management and SIM card support for 3G and 4G connectivity; the ProBook 6470b has a 14 inch screen while the ProBook 6570b has a 15.6 inch screen. Prices start at $770 with the same June 4 availability as the ProBook s series.

HP has also launched an AMD processor variant of the 14 inch ProBook 6470b, called the ProBook 6475b which will have a lower starting price tag of $670. No word about AMD processor choices for the 15 incher yet but we’re expecting the AMD variant of that to be aptly named the ProBook 6575b if it is released.

HP to continue making computers as they are now

Everyone's happy with HP now!

Whew, after much confusion as to what HP was thinking and what would happen to HP Fansite if they did, and a sprinkle of hope when they swapped out CEO’s, the verdict is in this week. According to HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman, they’ve looked at the idea of spinning PSG (HP’s computer division, essentially) off, but have decided against it, saying it was the right thing to do for just about everyone (from customers to employees) if they just kept things as they were right now.

To add a little disco ball for us party-goers who are going out to celebrate not having to buy a Dell or Lenovo as their next machine (or icing on the cake if you will), HP will also be making Windows 8 PC when Microsoft’s revolutionary operating system (versus the Vista to 7 jump) debuts next year, along with the fact they’re gonna be making Windows 8 tablets to keep costs under control (yup, if you’re still hopeful about WebOS, you should really stop now).

Alright HP, now that you guys have ironed things out, how about finally launching them Ultrabooks soon after missing the initial rumored due date? And updated Pavilions and Envy’s sporting Intel’s very latest Sandy Bridge processors (those seen in the recent MacBooks and stuff)? And perhaps updating the rest of the Z-workstation line after just doing the Z210 updates earlier this year? How about an EliteBook refresh for those of us who like stepping on our notebook screens or have been using those reliable old-school models for too long?

But we’re just happy that HP has decided to make this decision, probably one of their smarter moves since making blunders with WebOS and such. Hopefully a sign of better things to come for HP indeed!

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 EliteBook 2560p vs ProBook 5330m: Cousin against cousin

ProBook 5330m vs EliteBook 2560p

I’m not sure if anyone else noticed but the release of the HP EliteBook 2560p and ProBook 5330m notebooks has certainly intrigued me, since the latter now is dressed like an EliteBook (not sure if actual build quality is the same though) and the EliteBook 2560p has downshifted to a 16:9 aspect ratio display, has a reshuffled right side of the keyboard that kicks away some important dedicated keys and seems to have done away with the upgrade bay. Had these main changes not occurred, the reasons to pick the pricier EliteBook 2560p would have been almost brainless (‘taller’ display and ability to add a secondary storage drive), but with the current set-up by HP, the EliteBook 2560p and its supposedly lower-tier cousin, the ProBook 5330m are closer than ever. Let’s take an in-depth comparison between these two silver machines:

In favor of the EliteBook 2560p:

• Smaller surface area/footprint
• More battery options (3, 6 or 9 cell batteries available, ProBook 5330m only has a 4 cell default battery)
• Smart Card reader and Express Card 34 slot
• Built-in optical drive (None on the ProBook 5330m)
• Slightly better Core i7 processor option (Options max out at 2.7 GHz Core i7-2620M on the EliteBook 2560p, versus 2.5 GHz Core i5-2520M on the ProBook 5330m)
• Lighter weight (1.5 kg/3.4 pounds on the EliteBook 2560p versus 1.8kg/4.0 pounds on ProBook 5330m)
• Physical lid latches (Those used to latchless lids on laptops like Apple’s MacBook Pros and HP’s consumer Pavilion/Mini notebook models may digress but a latch-equipped lid like the one on HP’s EliteBooks make things feel a lot tougher and allow the hinges to be designed to let the screen open all the way 180 degrees back)
• More durable (maybe… well, HP doesn’t say anything about the ProBook being business rugged, but we wonder if it has the same construction as an EliteBook since they do mention the ProBook has a ‘anodized aluminum display enclosure and magnesium alloy bottom case’)

In favor of the ProBook 5330m

• Larger display (13.3 inch on ProBook 5330m versus 12.5 inch on EliteBook 2560p)
• Dedicated Home, End, Page Up and Page Down buttons on the keyboard
• Slimmer profile (ProBook 5330m measures under an inch thin, EliteBook 2560p measures 1.1 inches)
• Lower starting price ($800 for ProBook 5330m versus $1100 for EliteBook 2560p)

Features in common:

• Intel HD3000 Integrated Graphics for standard voltage Intel Sandy Bridge mobile processors
  Both the EliteBook 2560p and ProBook 5330m will run games like Left4Dead 2 on native 1366 x 768 resolution at a mix of low/medium settings at around 30 frames per second
• 3 USB 2.0 ports (one standard, one eSATA+USB combo and one ‘always on’ port)
• Two-in-one combo headphone + microphone jack
• VGA display output port (for connecting VGA cables, a must for business notebooks as long as VGA-using projectors prevail, and until they’re phased out with new cable technology)
• HD webcam with 720p video
• SD/SDHC card slot
• Matte displays with 1366 x 768 resolution

It’s a tie:

• HDMI on the ProBook 5330m versus DisplayPort on the EliteBook 2560p
  More devices such as TV, consumer displays (and usually upper tier enterprise displays) support HDMI but Display Port is more of ‘the’ business/corporate display port of choice. There’s a catch to this though: The EliteBook 2560p will have the upper hand if its Display Port supports daisy-chaining of multiple external monitors, but no word from HP on this so far.
• Beats Audio on the ProBook 5330m versus SRS Premium Sound on EliteBook 2560p
  Two fancy-sounding brand names for marketing the notebook’s speakers (which would otherwise be brandless). The ProBook 5330m might have an upper hand here if it has dedicated, separate left and right speakers… the EliteBook 25xxp-series have traditionally had a single ‘central’ speaker placed directly under the touchpad area and audio quality has only started to sound good starting from last year’s 2540p.
• Your mileage may vary warning: Backlit keyboard on ProBook 5330m versus HP Night Light on EliteBook 2560p
  The HP Night Light is more practical in cases when you want to read documents in the dark (like in an airplane or hotel room) without switching on a bunch of lights that would annoy people around you. But this depends on whether you do this often or at all, because that backlit keyboard surely looks stylish on the ProBook 5330m (if this comes as a surprise, hearing this from me, I must say the backlit keyboard seems to complement the Probook 5330m’s design very well, better than other notebooks)

A preconfigured ProBook 5330m on HP’s website with a maxed out 2.5 GHz Core i5 processor, 4GB memory and 500 GB hard disk comes in at $899, while a similarly equipped preconfigured EliteBook 2560p comes in at $1499! A big difference there. I can foresee it being a bit of a challenge trying to justify that difference in price for some buyers, since the three features in favor of the ProBook are quite appealing AND the fact it’s cheaper, while the EliteBook’s features over the ProBook are more like ‘nice to haves’ (unless you absolutely must have a top-notch mobile Core i7 processor). Of course, enterprise and big time buyers who order these laptops by the truckload might already know what they want and/or need the Smart Card reader of the EliteBook. Food for thought.

Meet the HP ProBook 5330m: MacBook Air killer and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 fighter?

HP ProBook 5330m: when a ProBook goes on a diet and dresses up like a pricier EliteBook

Not wanting to be one-upped and left out by Lenovo and their rumored ThinkPad X1 ultra-thin laptop, HP has busted out the doors with their new ProBook 5330m ultra-thin business laptop. The ProBook 5330m appears to have a slight costume malfunction in the identity-crisis sense of the word as it carries HP’s ‘ProBook’ branding while at the same time, sports a design similar to HP’s upper-tier EliteBook series of notebooks. But at least it’s super-thin and is visibly so, because HP’s 2011 EliteBook design has the tendency of bringing out the “fat” side of their notebooks when viewed from certain angles.

If you’re looking for an alternative to, or just plain sick of, the Apple MacBook Air’s (extremely dated Core 2 Duo) low voltage processor, lack of a backlit keyboard and proprietary flash storage, and looking for a ‘real’ notebook that’s both ultra-thin in form-factor and powerful under-the-hood (though you can’t exactly hit the pedal once to make the floor shake like a real EliteBook can), then the HP ProBook 5330m might be for you!

Here’s what’s brewing with the HP EliteBook 5330m:

• Intel Sandy Bridge full-voltage dual core processors: choose between the basic 2.1 GHz Core i3-2310M or the more powerful 2.5 GHz Core i5-2520M.
  Not sure why they left it out, but I’m sure HP could have easily slipped in the powerful Core i7 dual core mobile processor in there (the 2.7 GHz Core i7-2620M) since it doesn’t draw more power or run hotter than its Core i3 and i5 siblings
  Unlike previous EliteBook models, these are ‘full voltage’ Intel processors and HP has dropped the option to equip the notebooks with ‘low voltage’ (slower but less power hungry) processors
• Intel Integrated Graphics HD3000
  And for those who enjoy frowning upon integrated graphics, wake up! Times have changed and the Intel Sandy Bridge IGP can give the MacBook Air’s Nvidia 320M and some other dedicated graphics options from Nvidia and AMD a run for their money
• Two DDR3 1333 MHz RAM slots up to 8 GB of memory (no word whether the ProBook 5330m will take 8 GB RAM sticks, but 16 GB of RAM in a super-thin notebook would be sick!)
• 2.5 inch user-accessible storage bay lets you select between a 500 GB hard disk or 128 GB solid state drive from HP (of course you’re welcome to swap it out for your own hard disk, 250 GB Intel SSD or something, since the drive IS accessible without undoing a bunch of screws and dismantling the notebook… unlike Apple’s MacBooks!)
• No built-in optical drive
• 13.3 inch matte (anti-glare) LED backlit display (1366 x 768); 16:9 ‘widescreen’ ratio
• Port selection: Three USB 2.0 ports total (one ‘standard’, one ‘always-on’ and one combo eSATA/USB port), HDMI port, VGA connection, two-in-one combo headphone/microphone jack, RJ45 LAN port, SD/SDHC card slot
• “Beats Audio” branding for the notebook’s speakers
• HD webcam
• Full-sized backlit chiclet style keyboard (yes it’s backlit!)
  Big multi-touch trackpad with dedicated left and right click buttons
• About one inch thin (2.52 cm) with consistent thickness around the whole notebook
  Weighs in at 1.82 kg (or 4 pounds)
  Removable/replaceable 4 cell battery

There’s also support for ‘business’ security features such as TPM and Intel vPro. The HP ProBook 5330m basically screams “bring it on [insert competitor with ultra-thin notebook here]“, while giving its own cousin, the HP EliteBook 2560p, a run for its money and looks (In fact I’m surprised HP didn’t rebrand this as the EliteBook 2660p or something!).

Starting price for the HP ProBook 5330m is $800 and you should be able to pick one up (or at least order one) later this month!