HP does it again! Reading through a recently posted Service Manual of the spanking new HP Envy 17, I’ve spotted three, new and upcoming Intel Core i5 and Core i7 Mobile processors that will be coming to HP Envy’s near you in the coming months (and presumably in other performance notebooks as well). The new processors include:
Intel Core i7 840QM Quad-core processor – With a ‘native’ clock speed of 1.86 GHz and the ability to go up to 3.20 GHz using Turbo Boost, the i7-840QM is the new flagship processor of Intel’s non-Extreme line of processors. This processor is a wee bit faster than the 820QM, while maintaining 8 MB of L3 cache and 45W TDP rating. Another interesting fact is that the i7-840QM appears as an option alongside, instead of replacing, its 820QM sibling.
Intel Core i7 740QM Quad-core processor – This looks like the love child of the existing Core i7 720QM and i7 820QM processors, sporting the 1.73 GHz clock speed of the latter and 6 MB of L3 cache of the former, and 45W TDP shared by all the existing Quad Core i7′s (except the i7-920XM). Maximum Turbo Boost speed is 2.93 GHz: that sits somewhere between the two (i7-720QM and i7-820QM).
Intel Core i5 450M dual core processor – This is a very strange new processor indeed. Strange because it appears like a clone of the i5-520M processor with the same specifications and info on paper. 2.4 GHz dual core, with the ability to go up to 2.93 GHz via Turbo Boost, 3 MB of L3 cache and 35W TDP.
There are also a couple of implied new processors with the appearance of the three above. Here’s what I expect to also arrive (in other notebooks) at the same time:
Intel Core i7 940XM Quad-core Extreme processor – With the i7 840QM able to hit the same 3.20 GHz ceiling as the i7 920XM via Turbo Boost, expect to see an upgraded i7 940XM mobile processor with 2.26 GHz clock speed and ability to Turbo Boost to 3.33 GHz or more.
New Intel Core i5 500M series processors (i5 530M and i5 550M) – These new processors will maintain their 35W TDP, while giving an increase in clock speed/Turbo Boost max clock speed.
Well, go right ahead and check out that Service Manual to see those new processor options yourself, along with a wealth of information related to the Envy 17 (like how there’s no battery slice available, the fact it uses the GDDR5 version of the ATI Mobility Radeon 5850 and not DDR3 [rejoice!], how the hard drives and RAM slots are now “customer accessible” and more!). The new processors also make an appearance in the HP Envy 15 Service Manual, hinting that the Envy 15 (and it’s rather not-so-nice keyboard) is not so dead yet… well, there’s always wishful thinking that a redesigned 2nd gen Envy 15 or Envy 16 will come out this fall, right?
Don’t say we didn’t tell you something big was coming in mid-end March, because we did! And now it’s here: the HP Elitebook 8740w has just appeared on HP’s USA website – complete with a profile picture, half a dozen pre-built configurations and specifications, including ATI FirePro M7820 professional workstation class graphics appearing in its full glory. You can have one for yourself (the most basic model, of course) for a fairly affordable $1,999, while the almost-fully kitted out Core i7 quad model will cost you $3,899.
We expect prices for certain configurations to be able to hit the $5000 mark and over once more pre-built or configure to order models are released, especially with options for up to Core i7 Extreme (no word yet on whether it’ll be last year’s Intel Core i7 920XM quad core or the forthcoming Core i7 940XM quad core), backlit keyboard, Dream Color 2 and up to 16 GB of DDR3 RAM.
What puzzles me at the moment is why the seemingly high-end ATI FirePro M7820 is available only in the two lower end/cheaper configurations featuring regular Intel Core i5 processors and just 2 GB of RAM… I mean, ATI has always been affordable (versus Nvidia) in most cases, but the huge $1,000 price difference we’re seeing on the pre-built models? That’s just because you’re not getting Core i7 and loads of RAM that the Nvidia Quadro 8740w models have… and that sure makes one wonder WHY?!
And the magical question asked by people who DON’T want/need a 17 inch workstation-class laptop – will HP share some of the Core i7 Extreme and ATI FirePro love with the existing HP Elitebook 8440w and 8540w models? Quite likely.
Today is the premiere day of Lady Gaga’s new music video + mini-drama (is that the word?) combo for her single “Telephone” featuring Beyonce, as you might have already noticed if you saw “Lady Gaga” and “Telephone” popping up as two of Twitter’s top trending topics several hours ago, or around the net. I would’ve posted this earlier had I not been busy completing my review of the HP Elitebook 8440p and another notebook.
And look what we have here… the HP Envy 15 Beats Edition (which, oddly, seems to have disappeared from HP’s website… hmmmm? I wonder why) makes another appearance in yet another Lady Gaga music video (a troop of Envy 15′s first appeared in “Bad Romance“)!
HP Envy 15 Beats Edition seen in Lady Gaga and Beyonce's Telephone music video
In “Telephone”, the HP Envy 15 Beats Edition appears for roughly 5 seconds in between 4:23 and 4:28 when Lady Gaga is bailed out of jail and a police officer, slacking on the job, is seen using the notebook to surf the net. See that big red Beats logo in the center… and also the small silver HP logo to the bottom left side of the notebook?
HP Envy 15 Beats Edition shown running Windows 7 and Firefox in Gaga's "Telephone" music video
The camera zooms into the screen of the HP Envy 15 Beats Edition at around 4:27, showing some dating website the old lady is visiting. Okay… Moving on… While the “dating website” is obviously some fictional site oops, turns out even the dating website is real and part of product placement in this almost-ad-filled music video (thanks, Robert!)… we can also spot other things in the HP Envy 15′s screen in Lady Gaga’s music video; notably using Windows 7 (and the default Windows 7 background) and Mozilla Firefox!
HP Envy 15 Beats Edition product picture
Oh, and before you skip off to watch “Telephone” by Lady Gaga, and featuring Beyonce, two things you have to keep in mind are… One, not recommended for kids to watch it (if you read gossip and celebrity tabloids and the news in general, you’d probably understand why Lady Gaga is a somewhat controversial woman) and two, the music video is filled with product placements from various companies/brands scattered throughout its nine-and-a-half minute length… which might actually scare people because of the sheer amount of product placement in the video is the most I’ve ever seen in a music video.
Looks like HP and Adobe are turning out to be pretty good friends… unlike Adobe’s…sour… relationship with a certain fruit company. HP feat. Adobe have recently put on a new video about the HP Slate and its support for flash (among other things). Perfect timing eh? Just as the first Apple iPad ad made its appearance at the Oscars earlier today…
Here’s HP + Adobe’s 5 minute 26 second video on the HP Slate!
I’ve already reviewed Modern Warfare 2 and Left4Dead 2, and partly the HP Pavilion dm3 this fall, and there’s not much left as we approach the quiet news season AKA holiday season. However, things from the rumors department are heating up with more and more news of 2nd gen Elitebook models pouring in. Let’s not get too tied up with premium, business notebooks that not everyone will/can buy, shall we? Here’s the latest scoop from the consumer product area – with the slew of new netbooks sporting Intel’s Atom N450 processor with an integrated basic graphics chipset announced last/this week, and HP seemingly quiet, a reliable source/reader has news that HP will be releasing their Mini 200 series of netbooks “soon”. They will feature 10 inch glossy displays, Windows 7, 1 RAM slot, HP’s “almost full-size” keyboard, the latest Intel Atom N450 processor and an affordable netbooky price tag. Other than that, not much is known about the Mini 200 series but presumably they will have the usual netbook affair of features and likely make their appearance during/after CES 2010.
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