HP gets official with EliteBook 8730w, 8530w and 8530p

Not that these units are a complete surprise or anything, but HP's taking the time to get really, really official with its minty fresh EliteBooks. Up first is the beastly EliteBook 8730w (that's the 6830s pictured), which packs a 17-inch DreamColor display, a quad-core Intel CPU, 8GB of RAM and one of NVIDIA's 1GB Quadro FX graphics cards. Keeping things going are the EliteBook 8530w and 8530p, both of which boast a 15.4-inch display, 8GB of RAM, a Core 2 Duo chip (8530w supports optional quad-core) and HP's own brushed anodized aluminum DuraCase. As for pricing and release information? Good luck on the guessing.

[Thanks, Christopher]

[Lediur @ Aug 11th 2008 3:13PM]

I'd imagine this thing has a whole 4 MINUTES of battery life.

[Minilap @ Aug 11th 2008 3:23PM]

Why are you being so negative?

[test @ Aug 11th 2008 3:41PM]

I guess whoever posted this article didn't even read the announcement throughly...

The HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation is expected to be available later this month at the starting U.S. list price of $1,699. The HP EliteBook 8530 series is expected to be available in September starting at $1,499.

[Noiro @ Aug 11th 2008 4:06PM]

LOL4minutes. After eyeing the specs, I think thats accurate for the battery life.

BTW 8GB RAM?!

[Josh @ Aug 11th 2008 5:05PM]

$1700 seems damn cheap for those specs - in a laptop..

I would imagine that would be a stupidly basic version. At a guess, i would think the fully specced version would push $3500 perhaps even $5000. I mean, a 1GB workstation GFX card is going to be damned expensive on it's own - a simple google shows that it's well over $2000 for some models. The RAM will be expensive, simply because they've got to use either 4x2GB sticks or 2x4GB sticks. The processor is probably included in the base price though..

[Mush @ Aug 11th 2008 3:15PM]

This thing is a beast....

[DudeManDude @ Aug 11th 2008 3:28PM]

Before anyone asks...

No it doesn't play Crisis, Hell it can't even manage Doom!

No it does not blend.

Yes it actually is albeit slightly, more powerful than the iPhone.

[Major4Play @ Aug 11th 2008 4:09PM]

Actually dudemandude it will play Doom and Crysis with an Nvidia Quatro
And yes it will blend , what are you talking about ?

Ever compared an arm chip (from an iPhone) and a Core2 ? didn't think so......

[iofthestorm @ Aug 11th 2008 4:23PM]

@MajorPlay: Whoooosh...

[Lediur @ Aug 11th 2008 4:59PM]

The Quadro isn't suited for gaming, so I doubt it'll be able to play Crysis decently.

[Josh @ Aug 11th 2008 5:09PM]

It probably handles Blender quite well though :P

[bolezhinkov @ Aug 11th 2008 6:01PM]

today on "Sarcasm" : engadgeters miss it.

[DudeManDude @ Aug 11th 2008 6:08PM]

Dear Bolezhinkov,

I would like to personally thank you for being the only other person today who understands the concept of sarcasm. :)

[Varuna @ Aug 11th 2008 3:35PM]

You call this a Business Laptop ??? :O

This thing is MIGHTY !
Gosh 8 GB of RAM and 1 GB of VRAM..
Really wanna see its size !

[dbam987 @ Aug 11th 2008 3:44PM]

Woah... freakin awesome to get a quad-core processor in a laptop. While it is massively powerful, such power is better suited in a desktop where proper cooling components can be used.

[Iridium @ Aug 11th 2008 3:45PM]

I don't like seeing starting prices. I would expect a 8530 with 8GB of RAM, a fast proc. and a 512mb Quadro to cost at least $2200.

If all of that did come in under $1500 then it is a steal.

[216 @ Aug 11th 2008 3:58PM]

(from the link)

Pricing and availability(4)
The HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation is expected to be available later this month at the starting U.S. list price of $1,699. The HP EliteBook 8530 series is expected to be available in September starting at $1,499.

[Cam @ Aug 11th 2008 3:46PM]

Love It!

Woudn't mind getting one of these bad boys for Uni

[Huy @ Aug 11th 2008 4:05PM]

I wonder how Lenovo and Dell are gonna respond to this. Smart move by HP. This is gonna get gobbled up by all the businesses that need to do actual mobile work. The current Dell latitudes ain't gonna cut it.

[BIlly G @ Aug 11th 2008 5:28PM]

You're right, they won't cut it.

That's why Dell makes the Precision line.

[Sean @ Aug 11th 2008 4:14PM]

Pricing and availability(4)

The HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation is expected to be available later this month at the starting U.S. list price of $1,699. The HP EliteBook 8530 series is expected to be available in September starting at $1,499.

[Alkivar @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM]

How about connectivity? Do the workstation models have a DB9 port? Kinda useful when working with older routers and environmental sensors.

[Harley @ Aug 11th 2008 5:02PM]

Is the new DreamColor display still based on TN panels like (almost) all other laptops or could we hope for VA or IPS technology?

[lars @ Aug 11th 2008 6:44PM]

Better not be TN, the way HP pitches the displays. A friend of mine has a Thinkpad with the IPS Flexview display - what a beauty. Nothing on a laptop even comes near that one. Perhaps HP's DreamColor will.
Very cool to see LED backlighting in the specs too.

[antiq @ Aug 11th 2008 6:04PM]

Actually workstation graphics handles games quite fine with the appropriate drivers.

[smart.iphone.ph @ Aug 11th 2008 6:24PM]

another One-year-only HP...

I am never buying another HP again.

[BIlly G @ Aug 11th 2008 6:18PM]

My QuadroFX 1600m performs just like a Geforce 8700M GT... unsurprisingly.

[Vinícius @ Aug 11th 2008 7:42PM]

More specs and images:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hp-introduces-the-three-new-elitebook-pcs-8530p8530w-8730w
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4551

[xValentine @ Aug 11th 2008 9:35PM]

What kind of business does that notebook refers to ? Post Prod. Houses ?

[philcomments @ Aug 11th 2008 11:13PM]

I think many of the critical comments posted so far are possibly inappropriate. This HP is simply their latest and best "mobile workstation". Workstations are different from ordinary desktops, and mobile workstations are different from ordinary notebooks. Engineers, artists, and architects of various kinds use mobile workstations on site when their desktop workstations in the lab/office are not available. As someone noted above, previous mobile workstations in roughly the same market are the Dell Precision M90/M6300/4300, the P-series of the former thinkpads along with the new W-series of the upcoming Lenovo's, HP's recent Compaq 8710W, etc. Workstations, and mobile work stations, are not only characterized by powerful processors and video cards. One of their distinctive characteristics is ISV certification/drivers for all sorts of leading professional industry software. These workstations will perform very well at games - with or without driver adjustments - and performance shines through even more when designing buildings, machinery, advertisements, ecological surverys and impact simulations, etc.

[obie @ Aug 12th 2008 1:47AM]

Can't agree more. I have the 8710w with the Quadro graphics card and it's amazing, and when I run 3ds Max it works perfectly with almost no lag in the scene. My only gripe is that it only has a 32-bit system with 4 gigs of RAM (which isn't great for rendering...), but the EliteBook seems to solve that issue! :)

[Frank Tate @ Aug 11th 2008 11:29PM]

Kensington is CURRENTLY shipping 8GB DDR2 SODIMM kits. You can put them in any Santa Rosa laptop.

[sex panther by odeon @ Aug 12th 2008 11:00AM]

Nvidia is confusing as hell. Can someone explain to me the performance differences between a 9600 gpu and the Quadro FX770M found in the 8530w? Or for that matter, the difference between the 9_ _ _ series and the Quadro?

[Enger @ Aug 13th 2008 1:25AM]

No PC Card Slot, now what do I do with the industrial communications adapters that cost more than the Laptop? Oh well, progress.

[sudha @ Aug 13th 2008 11:52PM]

Do you need more infor on this?

http://www.mobile-computing-news.co.uk

[Lew @ Sep 8th 2008 3:12PM]

We do engineering work, and need full OpenGL for most of our applications (we run Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, Inventor, etc). We build most of our computers around the video card (usually nvidia quadro). A fellow who used to own Computer Evolutions (his business was in our building) tried out one of our machines for his gaming habit. He couldn't believe how good it was not taking a back seat to any of his machines. He played a varity of his favorite games with what he considered great performance, "testing" the computer for a few days. I don't think many people try $1000.00+ quadro video cards for gaming, because there are other choices that work as well and are less expensive. We do have the thinkpad P series laptops now, but I'm definitely thinking about an HP for our next purchase. They seem to be priced with the rest of workstation laptops.