HP Mixes Consumer Features into New Business Notebooks

SAN FRANCISCO—Hewlett-Packard debuted a set of 14 business and consumer notebooks May 5, all ranging in screen size from 13 to 17 inches, which borrow heavily from features normally associated with consumer notebooks only.

These new Envy, ProBook, Pavilion and Mini laptops are powered by either Advanced Micro Devices or Intel dual-core processors and feature notable improvements to screen quality, graphics, bundled business applications sets and sound. Choice is the operative word here.

"That's exactly it. We provide a long list of [feature] choices for the enterprise, prosumer and consumer, because that what it takes to drive this business," Mike Hockey, an HP spokesperson for the Personal Systems Group, told eWEEK. "We basically custom-make these machines on demand."

For a look at the new HP notebooks, click here.

Pricing on these new portable PCs also is choice-driven. They start as low as $549 and can run up over $2,000, depending upon the feature and hardware choices the buyer makes.

The first clue to this consumer-enterprise notebook cross-pollination is their appearance. While you can still buy standard silver, black or white models, HP's designers also have conjured up almost every color in the rainbow—even with patterns—for the notebook casings.

"In business, coming into a meeting with a classy-looking notebook says a lot about you as a business individual," an HP product manager told eWEEK. "This is true anywhere you go in the world. Your laptop speaks volumes about you. If you have a classy-looking one, people like to check them out. Can't hurt your image!"

ATI graphics cards and high-end Beats sound systems are two of the high-end features included in this launch. Most of these machines also feature direct connections (HDMI ports) to high-definition monitors so that users can play movies and video games without hassle.

Next: Highlights of the May 5 Launch >>