Hey HP (yes, you, Hewlett Packard), guess what? Your new Elitebook 8440 and 8540 notebooks are already awesome. But you know what would put a smile on the faces of consumers, gamers and even some CAD/graphics professionals alike? Well, here’s a hint, AnandTech have got a set of benchmark numbers for the ATI’s new Mobility Radeon 5650 and 5870 graphics cards for notebooks. And well, if you make at least one of ATI’s latest 5000-series mobile graphics an option for the newly launched Elitebook models, I bet they’re gonna fly off the shelves once they’re available for order (and I’ll probably be one of the first in line!)
Those numbers practically blow the socks off Nvidia’s high-end GeForce GTX280M, and I bet things aren’t going to be very different if you compare those ATI cards to Nvidia’s new GeForce 300M series – ATI still wins.
My plea comes on behalf of all the people who enjoy high performance mobility (see the comment by a very power-hungry user). True, most would already settle for a great notebook like the Elitebook 8440 or 8540. But how about something super jaw-dropping awesome for those who crave absolute power. Using ATI’s new graphics cards would make the new Elitebook models so edge bleeding, they’d be at the very top in their class – relatively thin, versatile and extremely powerful. Food for thought.
So far none of HP’s websites (including international ones) list specifications or product pages for the new Elitebook 8440 and 8540… so there’s still time to consider/re-consider ATI if you haven’t already, and quickly slot them in before those product/specifications pages come online! It’s not too late, HP! Now just do it…
HP Pavilion dv4i as seen on HP's official site
During one of my obsessive visits to HP’s notebook pages, I have just spotted that they’ve just added the Intel Core i5 boasting Pavilion dv4i to their consumer product line. Strange, because there wasn’t any official announcement made during yesterday’s flood of CES product announcements by HP. Anyway, here it is – the appearance of the dv4i from $799 on HP.com (the official website) squashes earlier internet rumors of a “gold” colored dv4i and $949 retail price.
The Pavilion dv4i gives you a choice of Intel’s Core i5 520M (2.4 GHz) or 540M (2.53 GHz) dual core processors, whose Turbo Boost feature can speed them up to 2.93 GHz and 3.06 GHz respectively. Other improvements versus the previous Pavilion dv4 include DDR3 RAM (up to 8 GB), hard disk options up to 500 GB (with 7200 RPM standard) and a 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4550 graphics card, which replaces the Nvidia GeForce G105M on the old model (hurrah??). Cosmetically, nothing has changed on the Pavilion dv4i, right down to the all-black glossy case with circular-spiral patterns on the lid and palmrest.
HP Pavilion dv4i main features:
- Intel Core i5 Mobile
- 2 DDR3 RAM slots
- Hard disk bay (up to 500 GB), 7200 RPM is standard
- ATI Mobility 4550 graphics (512 MB)
- 14 inch glossy display (1280 x 800)
- Optical drive (Optional Blu-ray)
- 2 headphone output jacks; 1 microphone jack
- 3 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI out, VGA and LAN ports
- Expansion Port 3 for optional dock
HP Envy 15 Beats Edition in Lady Gaga's music video
So I had meant to post this ages ago but due to a combination of Christmas, lots of HP notebook rumors this month and other things that take precedence in terms of priority, I’m only posting this now. Four HP Envy 15 Beats edition notebooks were recently featured in Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance single video.
Camera zooms into two Envy's at 2:45
The Core i7 Mobile packing, ATI Mobility Radeon 4830 blazing luxury/premium notebooks had about three seconds (2:44 to 2:46) of screen time. The Beats by Dr Dre headphones also made its appearance, draped on the third Envy 15 Beats notebook in the video at 2:44. This same pair of headphones is part of the “limited edition” HP Envy 15 Beats package.
Another better view of the HP Envy 15 Beats in the Bad Romance video
Compared to the “regular” HP Envy 15, the Envy 15 Beats Edition is essentially the same notebook inside with “Beats” branding, black casing design (regular Envy is silver/beige-ish) and includes the mentioned Beats by Dr Dre headphones and Traktor DJ software for… well, DJ’s to do their thing with music tracks.
HP Envy 15 Beats Edition product picture
Oh, before you rush out there to place your order for one “just because Lady Gaga has four”, the Envy 15 Beats Edition also gets a $500 price premium slapped on top of the price of a regular Envy. Food for thought. Okay, given not everyone’s a fan of Lady Gaga, at least you can relate to playing games like Left4Dead on full HD/max everything at 60 FPS on HP’s slimmest Core i7 notebook. Right? Have a great New Year’s eve folks!
