Hewlett-Packard introduced its first all-in-one, enterprise-class PC, as part of its HP Compaq 6000 Pro line June 22. Still, as enterprise PCs go, “It’s not our first rodeo,” Kirk Godkin, HP’s manager of business PCs in the Americas, told eWEEK.
HP’s Touchsmart 9100 all-in-one, for example, has been a hit with hospitality, retail and higher-education verticals, as well as in scenarios with self-service kiosks. The new 6000, however, fits “right in the middle,” according to Godkin, who said it’s the results of many talks with many customers who expressed wanting a “mainstream product with mainstream features and all the benefits of an all-in-one” – such as long battery life and the ability to connect it to a rolling cart or wall-mount it in a nurses’ station.
The Compaq 6000 Pro features a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Windows 7 Professional (32- or 64-bit), up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, hard drives up to 1TB and an optional 80GB solid-state drive.
Its BrightView, backlit, full HD LCD screen measures 21.5 inches on the diagonal and is said to offer “crisp videoconferencing.” The Webcam has been paired with a full version of HP’s SkyRoom software, which can conference in up to six people. There’s also the option of a 16x Max SuperMulti optical drive and a slim-tray DVD burner with LightScribe. Seven USB ports are included, along with a Firewire port, a six-in-one memory card reader, while MXM graphics and a TV tuner are optional.
The 6000 – a sister product to the Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra Slim desktop, introduced in April, along with a family-geared all-in-one – is “stable, dependable,” said Godkin, meaning a customer needn’t worry about the product being changed or discontinued halfway through a major rollout.
There are also enterprise-level security features, such as HP’s ProtectTools face recognition software and Intel’s Standard Manageability, for remote management, as well as numerous customizable features. Some customers, said Godkin, “get tired of putting super glue in the USB ports – we can turn those off for them from the factory, if they’d like.”
The possible configurable solutions, he continued, don’t just apply to the choice of processors but, for example, to the optical drives, the hard drives – a PC can come with or without wireless, or with or without Bluetooth or a Webcam.
The 6000 is also Energy Star qualified, EPEAT Gold registered and offers 89 percent energy-efficient power. With HP’s Power Assistant, power use – and so energy savings – can be tracked by machine, and IT can remotely enforce power policies.
The HP Compaq Pro All-In-One Business PC will be available in the United States beginning July 16. Pricing will begin at $899, for a model with an Intel Core 2 processor, 2GB of memory, a 320GB hard drive, Windows 7 Professional and WLAN and Bluetooth support.