HP's rugged EliteBook 2730p tablet and 2530p laptop for suits and Gobi squares

HP just unveiled a pair of rugged (MIL-STD 810F tested for dust, altitude, and high temperature) Centrino 2 12-inchers with the launch of its 2530p laptop and 2730p tablet. The 2730p bests the HP 2710p launched last year with the inclusion of a touchpad and new jog-dial along the side for use when the tablet is in slate mode. HP is also offering improved ULV (up to 1.2GHz) and LV (up to 1.86GHz) Core 2 Duo processor options and faster, 1.8-inch 5400RPM hard drive (up to 120GB), 80GB SSD, and Qualcomm's Gobi dual EV-DO / HSPA wireless option for near-complete WWAN support globally. The 2730p continues to maintain the legacy LED-backlit display, "Night Light" keyboard lighting, optional webcam (with business card reader), slice battery (up to 10-hours), and expansion base / docking station. Importantly, the stylus no longer slips out of the silo when carrying the 2730p through the cubicle farm.

The 2530p offers pretty much the same in a thinner (0.99-inches vs. 1.11-inches thick), lighter (3.19-pounds vs. 3.74-pounds), more traditional laptop design. See it pictured after the break.

[Via jkOnTheRun, twice]

Read -- 2730p
Read -- 2530p

[George @ Aug 18th 2008 4:57AM]

Lets see how it competes with the Latitude XT.

[Ash @ Aug 18th 2008 5:30AM]

Cool Laptops... I'll certainly buy them!

[Benson @ Aug 18th 2008 11:24AM]

If you mean that literally, i.e. one of each, you have too much discretionary cash. Grad students everywhere hate you.

[Moonbright @ Aug 18th 2008 5:53AM]

Well,E_book,Tradition Design,but look like a nice one.

[ntlam @ Aug 18th 2008 6:14AM]

wow. the tablet looks prettier than the tx2000 series. i want it now ;-)

[Benson @ Aug 18th 2008 11:26AM]

Got a tx2000 here, and it definitely does. OTOH, it costs more, too... I want one anyway, but I'll have moved on to wanting something newer and better before I can afford a new one.

[Alex Wilks @ Aug 18th 2008 7:16AM]

These look really nice! I've got a TX1000 series tablet atm and there are a few problems with it that I'd like my next laptop to resolve- namely weight, performance and the quality of the touchscreen overall. If this manages to solve them (which it looks like it does) and comes out affordable at the end (under £1k) I'd be really interested.

[huh @ Aug 18th 2008 10:10AM]

This is a nice incremental improvement. But I'm waiting to see what the Lenovo X200 Tablet looks like. They usually have a higher resolution screen.

[huh @ Aug 18th 2008 10:17AM]

Oh yeah, the Lenovo models also tend to have official or semi official Linux support, whereas I've heard it's difficult to get your OS of choice on the HP tablet line.

[Elais @ Aug 18th 2008 4:01PM]

The spec sheet says it supports SuSE 10 out of the box. I'm a Debian user personally and I believe if it supports the latest kernel it should handle most Linux distros, especially the popular ones.

[Alex Wilks @ Aug 18th 2008 5:51PM]

I'm not digging Linux at all here as I think it's a great OS solution, but Vista's tablet technology is head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd for general usage, as is OneNote for note taking. I was stunned at how well Vista managed to read my horrific handwriting when I got my tablet.

[Smileypanda @ Aug 18th 2008 3:33PM]

A whole page of relevant, worthwhile comments.
You bring tears to my eyes, dear readers.

[NAK @ Aug 18th 2008 3:54PM]

first Dell drops the joystick from their new 12.1 incher, and now HP.
kinda sucks, like the size of the bezel around the 12.1" screen

[sr @ Oct 3rd 2008 1:09AM]

Yeah I know disgusting. I'll stick with a Thinkpad then. The X200s will weigh 2.4lbs. Not as good as 2.2 lbs of the Dell, but having to move my fingers away from the home row of the keyboard to control the pointer blows. Using the side of my thumb on a feedback-less flat surface is no less attractive.