HP Fansite

Mobile phones – Dual to quad microSD/microSDHC slots

You know, I’ve always wondered with today’s kind of technology, why nobody has come out with such an implementation yet… with the availability of high capacity microSD/microSDHC memory cards, why not have two to four individual slots for them in a single phone (I think just about all phones currently have only one memory card slot or just a big chunk of internal memory with no expansion slot). This way, consumers and users can decide how much memory they want for their phone and, at the same time, will be able to ‘upgrade’ memory in the future as they see fit. No more dilemmas whether to buy the 16 GB or 32 GB variant of X Phone from Company A, no more having to buy the highest capacity variant of a phone in case “# GB isn’t enough”. And best of all, no more worries whether the repair guy will take a sneak peak at your phone’s contents, or if you’re the paranoid type, having to empty out your entire phone before sending it in.

I have a friend who sent in her Apple iPhone 3G last weekend (for repair) because the speakers malfunctioned and couldn’t work. Besides ranting about how she can’t survive without her iPhone (facepalm), she’s also been worried for all her personal stuff and data she keeps in there. Sure, she has the phone password-protected (which makes me wonder how the Apple repair guy is gonna diagnose the problem and test if the replacement speakers function), but the thought of having all your data in a device in someone else’s hands, away from you, would make anyone shudder, no?

From the side of a manufacturer, having multiple memory card slots in a phone along with perhaps a measly 512 MB or 1 GB (by today’s standards) of built-in memory for the phone’s core; OS and applications, would eliminate the need to market and sell multiple memory variants of a single phone (not to bring them up again, but the biggest example is what Apple is doing with their 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB various iPhones). Essentially having a one phone fits all solution, no pun intended. First-time/casual users can “choose” to put just a single 4 GB microSDHC card in one slot, while power users can stuff in something like 16 GB microSDHCs into all available slots.

Sure, probably the most lucrative things about having phones with built-in memory and no expansion is that manufacturers can charge whatever they like for their 8 GB phone, 16 GB phone, etc. because THEY decide the capacity and price, you only get to choose which size you’d like to purchase. But not everyone can pull off such a trick and having big profit margins pouring in. By NOT having a large amount of built-in memory, a manufacturer can probably lower the price of a phone significantly and let consumers outfit their phones with whatever amount of memory (from microSD/SDHC) they feel that they need. Now, you’ll probably be wondering why, why would a company let go of something with high profit margins like overcharging for internal memory? Simple – Market share. By making a phone more affordable to the masses, you get more users. More users mean more chatter about your brand and product, even if it’s just “average”, and if they become satisfied with your product and the user experience it brings, you might just be getting an additional sale from a repeat customer during the next round of phone announcements.

I personally think this is one of many great ways Windows Mobile phone makers (especially HP with their so-so iPAQs lately) can pull up their sales and market share once Windows Mobile 6.6 or 7.0 hits the streets. Make a good mobile phone that offers an intuitive, hassle free user experience along with versatility and expandability… while bringing “memory wars” to a totally new level, among other things (imagine a phone with four microSDHC slots; users can outfit them with 16 GB cards far cheaper than a manufacturer who builds in their own 64 GB module). Not everyone would want or need so much memory, but sometimes the features that sell are those that people think they need but don’t really use in reality.

HP puts up Elitebook specifications pages

I’ve just gotten info that HP has put up specifications pages for their recently announced Elitebook models! [Thanks Allan and kj for the heads up]. No pricing or (pre-)order pages just yet, but you can still drool over the specifications and start saving up now! HP is currently offering five Intel Core i5/i7 processor options at the moment (four options for the p-professional variants), and notably some options mentioned by closet owners are missing. On the positive side, the current choices are still pretty darn powerful and surprise, surprise, HP is using Nvidia’s latest 2010 Quadro FX cards on the 8440w and 8540w, as well as making Quadro NVS graphics available as options on the 8440p and 8540p.

What are you waiting for, here are direct links to their individual specifications pages:

• HP Elitebook 8440p
• HP Elitebook 8440w
• HP Elitebook 8540p
• HP Elitebook 8540w

HP launches new Elitebook 8440p, 8440w, 8540p and 8540w business notebooks

HP announced four new high-end business notebooks today. The Elitebook 8440 and 8540, with their respective p-”professional” and w-”workstation” variants, are HP’s latest 14 and 15 inch notebooks respectively. The Elitebook 8440 comes with a 16:9 wide 14 inch matte display that goes up to a spectacular resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels (available as an option on the w- variant), partial-chiclet full-sized keyboard, new Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processor options, two DDR3 RAM slots, single hard disk bay and optical drive bay (optional Blu-ray available). HP Fansite has been trying out the Elitebook 8440w extensively for several weeks now and we have a review online for you to find out more.

The Elitebook 8540, on the other hand, is a 15.6 inch 16:9 widescreen (matte display standard) sporting notebook. Screen resolution options go as high as full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) for vast on-screen working space. And the notebook has a partial-chiclet full keyboard with a built-in numeric pad on the right side. Like the smaller Elitebook 8440 series, you’ll get to choose from Intel’s latest 2010 Core i5 and Core i7 processors. What makes the Elitebook 8540 different besides its super-sized keyboard are its FOUR (!!!) DDR3 RAM slots so you can boost memory up to 16 GB and it is one of the first few notebooks in the industry to have the latest USB 3.0 ports (Elitebook 8440 apparently has USB 2.0 only).

The p- variants of the two notebooks will have Intel integrated graphics to conserve power while the more powerful w-variants will feature Nvidia workstation class graphics (including the newly announced Nvidia Quadro FX380M and Nvidia Quadro FX780M cards).

Did I mention a solid metal chassis, spill-proof keyboard, HP keyboard Night Light,  3 year warranty,VGA and Display Port out all come standard with HP’s Elitebooks. And the starting prices? Glad you asked… from their mouth-watering specifications, it’s obvious these notebooks are not going cheap but for those who can afford them, you’ll be pleased with both the low-profile business design and sheer performance of the Elitebooks (well, at least the ones with dedicated Nvidia/ATI graphics)

• 14 inch HP Elitebook 8440p starts at $1100
• 14 inch HP Elitebook 8440w starts at $1300
• 15 inch HP Elitebook 8540p starts at $1250
• 15 inch HP Elitebook 8540w starts at $1500

HP updates business notebooks page; prepping for new products?!

I gotta admit, I’ve  been obsessively visiting HP.com’s business notebook page ever since word of the new generation of Elitebooks surfaced (I make it a point to check at least once a week, but usually it’s more). Anyway, I noticed today that HP updated their business notebooks page, pushing the Probook series one step higher, just before the Elitebook series (Probook used to be in the 3rd column, where “essential” notebooks are now present). Seems kinda odd that HP would update THAT specific page at this time of year. I mean, what’s the rush/need? Who gifts business notebooks, which are really pricey anyway, for Christmas?

Well, that’s why I suspect three things:

1. HP is going to release their next gen Elitebook models soon (plausible, but why would they update the FRONT page of their notebooks page?)
2. HP might create another new, entry-level business notebook line to succeed the old HP Compaq b-variants (ie 6510b, 6530b, etc) that sits below the Probook line (likely, seeing they reshuffled their notebooks positioning). It’s likely that this new line will go under the “essential” series.
3. HP feels that their business notebooks page is getting old and stale, and decided to update it just for the kicks (hmmm…)

The screenshot above is what the HP business notebook page used to look like. See the diff? I guess time will tell what’s coming up.

Spotted: Next-gen HP Elitebook 8440w/8540w in real life and online

Photo sent by reader Michael K; next-gen Elitebook using HP's 'round' logo

One of our readers, Michael K, recently sent in two pictures of what seems to be one of HP’s next generation Elitebook models. Clad in a dark gray, and what seems to be metal/magnesium alloy, casing – this mysterious machine seems to be either the 14 inch Elitebook 8440w model or 15 inch Elitebook 8540w (judging by the amount of real estate on the palm rest area, it’s unlikely that this is the 17 inch Elitebook 8740w). UPDATE: Fellow Tweeter and owner of 8510w/8530w notebooks, Nicholas C, notes that the picture below is indeed the 14 inch Elitebook 8440w because of its mouse buttons – the larger 15 inch Elitebook 8540w would have an additional ‘center’ mouse button like its predecessors. Thanks Nicholas! =)

This ties in with the yet-to-be-announced ‘Elitebook 8440w, 8540w and 8740w’ models, which are strangely listed on HP’s own website. There’s also some blurry-looking text inscribed on the left palmrest area but knowing several people who own Elitebook 8530w and 8730w notebooks, I’m pretty sure it says “Mobile Workstation”.

Photo sent by reader Michael K; next-gen Elitebook (pretty sure that text on the left says 'Mobile Workstation')

This Elitebook is HP’s latest – because any HP fan (such as myself) would know that HP has been using their ’round’ logo on Winter 2008-onwards models (HP started replacing their ’square’ logo with the ’round’ one with the Mini 1000, if I’m not mistaken). All of HP’s current 2008 Elitebook models feature silver bodies and their ’square’ logo.

HP's OLD 'square' logo on a friend's 2008 Elitebook 2530p

He also goes on to mention a few juicy details on what “standard features” to expect from HP’s next-gen, 2009 Elitebooks:

• Core i7 “will be available for all models”
• “New” Nvidia Quadro FX Mobile workstation graphics for “w”-variants
• HP DuraCase, DuraKeys, 3D Drive Guard
• 7200 RPM hard disks standard
• Single HP Night Light (no backlit keyboard)
• VGA and Display Port output ports; no HDMI
• HP Power Assistant power management software
• Same batteries from current generation Elitebook models; 2nd extended battery available

Michael also points out that the new Elitebooks will feature yet-to-be-announced Nvidia workstation-class graphics cards for notebooks.

Core i7 will be available as an option for “all models”, I wonder if that includes the 8440p/w 14 inch model? Will this year’s generation of Elitebooks feature incremental upgrades or will they be ‘category crushers’ that blow away the competition?

Screenshot of HP's official website showing Elitebook 8440w (click for larger)

In other news, another one of our readers, Dana, has just pointed out that driver and support pages along with profile pictures (!!!) for the HP Elitebook 8440w and Elitebook 8540w Mobile Workstation models are already online on HP’s OFFICIAL website! Check them out here for the Elitebook 8440w and here for the Elitebook 8540w. No news on announcement date but seeing those pages are already up on HP’s website, I would imagine that it won’t take long before they become official. I would also infer from the tip about Nvidia’s new graphics cards that HP’s announcement of their 2nd generation Elitebook models will come after or at the same time Nvidia makes their announcements, I guess?

Elitebook 8440p, 8440w, 8540p, 8540w and 8740w models listed on HP's official site (Click for larger)

Either way, I can’t wait for official news (and an official announcement date?). Do YOU know something that we all don’t? Post tips in the comments section.