HP Launches First Ever Workstation Ultrabook

Today, HP has launched three new mobile workstations, including ZBook 14 which it calls the industry’s first workstation ultrabook.

The supercharged laptops are arriving under the Z-series branding usually reserved for professional desktops, as HP tries to differentiate the newcomers from the rest of its products.

ZBook 14, ZBook 15 and ZBook 17 are all rugged mil-spec machines dressed in brushed aluminium, and offer plenty of compute, using Intel’s latest Haswell dual- and quad-core processors while being 10-30 percent lighter than the previous generation mobile workstations.

HP has also announced updated specifications for its range of desktop workstations, and launched two new professional-grade monitors – the Z27i and Z30i.

Higher than hi-end

In 2010, HP launched industry’s first small form-factor workstation. Two years later, it released industry’s first All-in-One workstation, the Z One. And today, the company has introduced the first ever workstation ultrabook, with ZBook 14.

And it’s no wonder HP continues to experiment with portability. EliteBooks constituted about 27 percent of all HP workstation sales, and this number has remained pretty constant throughout the years.

The new ZBook 14 features a 14” full HD display with optional touch capability, enough space for two hard drives, AMD FirePro workstation graphics and up to 16 GB of RAM, all in a chassis that weighs just 1.62 kg. It comes with four USB 3.0 ports, including one which can charge devices even when the laptop is switched off, and can be upgraded with optional backlit keyboard. The first ever workstation ultrabook, it is due to appear on sale in late October.

The ZBook 15 increases the number of available hard drives to three, features NVIDIA Quadro graphics and an option for a QHD+ 3,200 x 1,800 display. ZBook 17 can fit up to four hard drives.

Both top-tier mobile workstations are compatible with up to 32 GB of RAM, feature Thunderbolt connectors with 10Gb/s bandwidth as standard, and come with three USB 3.0 ports, including one charging port. HP’s professional DreamColor displays, designed for 100 percent coverage of the sRGB and Adobe RGB colour space, can be added as an option.

Just like their desktop cousins, all ZBooks offer simplified serviceability – once you remove a few security screws, access to all sockets and expansion slots is tool-free.

“A Mobile workstation doesn’t replace the biggest, baddest PC. But the mobile workstation capabilities get so high that you can have a lot of that experience when you get on the road. We believe mobile and desktop will continue to live alongside each other. Over time, as mobile processors get better, add cores, offer better graphics in lower power envelopes, we’ll deliver more performance in thinner, lighter designs,” Jim Zaffarana, HP’s VP and GM of Commercial Solutions at PC Global Business Unit, HP told TechWeekEurope.

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