MobileWorkstation
Latest
Lenovo refreshes its ThinkPad T, W, L and X lines with Ivy Bridge processors, retooled keyboards
Now that Intel's Ivy Bridge specifications are finally out of the bag, you may as well resign yourselves to a deluge of PC refreshes over the coming months. Today Lenovo's up at bat, unveiling a slew of products under its business-friendly ThinkPad brand. If you were looking for a wholesale redesign, we'll kindly direct you to the X1, which was just reborn as a 14-inch Ultrabook. Otherwise, if you were just holding out for a little Ivy Bridge, we've got your refresh right here. All told, the upgrades span Lenovo's ultraportable X series, mainstream "T" lineup, budget "L" models and the W-series workstation. In general, you'll find Ivy Bridge processors (natch), Dolby audio and, in some cases, optional 4G radios. Additionally, the company tweaked its famed keyboard ever-so slightly and added a backlighting option to almost every system, save the newly available T430u Ultrabook. That's the abridged version for those of you not actually in the market for a new system, but folks craving more nitty-gritty details can follow past the break for a more detailed breakdown of pricing and specs.%Gallery-155303%
Eurocom Racer 2.0 laptop receives Ivy Bridge, offers Radeon HD 7970M graphics
Eurocom calls its Racer 2.0 a small form factor mobile workstation -- by which it means it's a rather sizable laptop, but with plenty of power and decent aesthetics. Known for designing its rigs to be upgradable, the Racer 2.0 is such a recipient, which now offers the Intel HM77 Express chipset and support for both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs. It offers a 15.6-inch, 1080p display (in both glossy and matte configurations), which is powered by a 1.5GB GeForce GTX 660M GPU as the basic option. Those desiring even more oomph may opt for the 2GB Radeon HD 7970M, and even those in need of true workstation graphics may select from a lineup of NVIDIA's Quadro GPUs. The four SO-DIMM slots will accommodate up to 32GB of RAM, and it'll even accept two hard drives (in addition to an mSATA SSD), so long as you're willing to fill the optical drive's slot. Naturally, all the upgrades can make the price soar in a hurry, but the base configuration starts at reasonably palatable $1283. Ready to be sold a new laptop? You'll find the PR after the break.
NextComputing wants you to take your desktop for a stroll, preferably a short one
After watching NextComputing dance around the definition of mobile computing for so long, we're not all that surprised to see the firm tease its first suitcase-desktop sporting an internal battery. The headlining promise of two to four hours of battery life, however? We'll take the whole salt shaker, thanks. NextComputing's half-minute demo shows an unnamed workstation disconnected, unplugged, and lugged off. We're not really sure where it's going, or why it needs to be left on for the trip, but hey -- a desktop with a battery still beats a laptop without one.
HP EliteBook 8460w, 8560w, and 8760w mobile workstations all go on sale
If Dell's latest 17-inch powerhouse is too beastly for your next business trip, HP has begun selling its trio of new EliteBook mobile workstations, with screen sizes as small as 14 inches. In the case of both the 14-inch 8460w and the 15.6-inch 8560w, you get discrete graphics standard and can choose a $1,000 Core i7-2820QM processor, among less pricey options. (With the 15-inch iteration, you can also opt for a 1 billion-color DreamColor display.) Admittedly, you will have to step up to the 17-inch 8760w if you want a Core i7-2920XM CPU, AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro graphics with up to 4GB of memory, and up to three hard drives with RAID 5 support. As promised, they're going for $1,299, $1,239, and $1,899, respectively -- in case your corporate card's just begging for its next hit. [Thanks, Fuzzball]
Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 specs emerge in leaked manual
Since we first peeked the new Sandy Bridge-equipped Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 back in February we haven't heard much about these mobile workstations. We still don't have prices or a release date, but a leaked manual has finally delivered some specs -- and CAD enthusiasts won't be disappointed. Both the 15.6-inch M4600 and the 17-inch M6600 can be configured with up to a Core i7 Quad Extreme 2920XM and 32GB of RAM. The smaller, 6.3-pound M4600 comes standard with a 1GB AMD FirePro M5950 and can be upgraded to an NVIDIA Quadro 2000M with 2GB. The more beastly 7.5-pound M6600 starts with a 2GB FirePro M8900 and has options ranging all the way up to a 4GB Quadro 5010M. Both machines also come packing two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of USB 2.0 connectors, an eSATA jack, and an IEEE 1394 port, giving you plenty of room to plug in all the external drives, cameras, scientific instruments, and cat-shaped mouse cozies your little heart desires. [Thanks, Wolf]
HP crams Fermi-based Quadro 5000M GPU inside 17-inch EliteBook
Gotta live up to the name, right HP? NVIDIA's new pro graphics solution for mobile creatives, the Quadro 5000M, was unsheathed only yesterday but HP appears to have been first in line to get some of that new 40nm goodness. Electronista reports that the world leader in PC shipments is readying a 5000M solution for its 8740w EliteBook, which will bring 320 CUDA cores and a jumbo 2GB of dedicated memory to the party. That comes replete with the latest DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.1 compatibility, naturally, as well as a bunch of pro-friendly computational enhancements. Dell's also going to be offering a 5000M-equipped rig, but lest you get too excited, bear in mind that getting the current best Quadro-equipped 17-incher from HP costs north of $3,000, so affordability is clearly not a priority here. Skip past the break for NVIDIA's joyous press release announcing the new Quadro chips.
HP's 8440 and 8540 EliteBooks ready to ship with Core i7 inside
HP promised us a mobile workstation refresh in February, and sure enough, today we are staring down the retail pages for its quartet of upgraded business laptops. The new top of the line EliteBook models come in 14- (8440p/w) and 15.6-inch (8540p/w) varieties, with the w-appended models sporting appropriately beefed up NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics with up to 1GB of dedicated GDDR5. If you want to grab one for under a grand, you'll have to make do with the reasonably powerful Core i5-520M / 2GB DDR3 RAM combo, but we're most excited by the future customization options, which include a low-voltage Core i7-820QM CPU with 8MB of internal cache, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 256GB in SSD storage. Course, we can't put prices to these spectacular beasts just yet, as HP is still only offering preconfigured rigs, but we think it'll be less than five figures. [Thanks, Jared]
HP EliteBook 8440w lives up to its "workstation" title, says the reviewing masses
Since the royal unveiling of HP's six new Elitebooks and ProBooks last week, the Elitebook 8440w (w standing for workstation) has been making the review rounds, and receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from the chaps at Notebook Review, LAPTOP and Computer Shopper. All were impressed by the Core i7-620M and NVIDIA Quadro FX 380M power that's been crammed into the 14-inch chassis, but unsurprisingly that causes some warm underside temperatures. Other than that, the 8440w received high praise for its durable gunmetal-build and "exceedingly" comfortable keyboard, but the touchpad was noted as being too small. Actually, the guys over at Notebook Review even go as far to say that the laptop would be "absolutely perfect" if that pad and its buttons weren't so squished. Now that's quite a bold statement. All in all, the 8440w seems like a solid and very mobile workstation, but hit up the sources if you're dying to know more about the $1,650 rig.
Dell Precision M6500 mixes Core i7 with business savvy
In typical Dell style, the new Precision M6500 17-inch workhorse laptop has shown up on the company's website with nary a peep of self-congratulatory PR from Round Rock. Notable as the successor to the well-juiced M6400 and its even gaudier Covet variant, the M6500 boasts wallet-busting specs like a Core i7-920XM allied to a maximum of 16GB DDR3 memory speeding along at 1,333MHz, a choice of ATI FirePro M7740 or NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M workstation graphics chips, support for up to three storage devices with optional RAID configurations, and a 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display. The machine is not quite yet available to purchase, meaning it's safe to go beyond the read link without fearing any heart-stopping sticker shock. [Thanks, Jonty]
Dell lets loose Precision M6400 Covet mobile workstation
Hmmph. And we thought the Precision M6400 was hardcore. Check out the unapologetically named Precision M6400 Covet Mobile Workstation, a hotly colored beast that can't be procured direct from Dell for less than $3,859 (stackable coupons notwithstanding). Aside from the sweet orange paint job, this one also comes packing a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo T9400, Vista Business, a dual-layer DVD writer, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 160GB 7,200 RPM hard drive, NVIDIA's 1GB Quadro FX 3700M GPU, a 2-megapixel webcam, WiFi, 9-cell battery and a 17-inch WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) LED-backlit display. Those who don't mind throwing in a few extra hundies can spring for an optional SSD, WWAN, a Core 2 Quad CPU and 16GB of RAM. You're due for a new lappie at work anyway, right?[Thanks, dualboot]
Dell teases with 17-inch quad-core laptop sporting 16GB of memory
This is going to be huge. Unfortunately, we're talking size not marketplace impact when Dell's 17-inch Precision "mobile workstation" rolls out this fall. This portable desktop replacement promises up to 1TB of storage configured in a dual-drive RAID configuration, quad-core processor, and 16GB of graphics memory (1GB for graphics) with enough oomph to power a pair of external 30-inch displays. It also includes a number of unidentified media slots and an integrated jog shuttle controller -- a pretty good hint at the mobile media types this laptop is targeting. Watch it all go down in the video after the break.Update: Heh, this is the same Dell leaked last month carrying the M6400 moniker.[Thanks, Gaurav S.]
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]
Lenovo announces ThinkPad Z61p mobile workstation
Lenovo has just announced a new addition to its Z61 series of ThinkPad notebooks -- which currently consists of the Z61t and Z61m -- in the form of a "mobile workstation" called the Z61p. Like the other models in this lineup, the 15.4-inch Z61p offers consumers several Intel Core processor options (maxing out with the 2.0GHz Core Duo T2500), but improves upon the graphics setup by including a Mobility Fire GL V5200 chipset from ATI with 256MB of VRAM. Other features include 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM (expandable to 3GB), up to 100GB of hard drive capacity (in either 5,400RPM or 7,200RPM varieties), a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel display, WiFi, Bluetooth, an ExpressCard slot, and the popular ThinkVantage suite -- though you're not getting the 3G WWAN or titanium case options found on the other Z61 models. While all the pricing details are not immediately clear, it looks like a well-configured system will be going for around $2,400 when these become available next week.[Via laptoping]
HP Compaq nw9440 and nw8440 Mobile Workstations
It looks as if Lenovo isn't the only student of IBM laptop engineering these days, since the new HP Compaq nw9440 and nw8440 business laptops sure seem to "borrow" a few elements from that vaunted ThinkPad design. Other than the displays -- a 17-inch 1680 x 1050 LCD for the nw9440 and the same resolution for the nw8440's 15-inch LCD -- the two laptops pretty much share specs across the board. They both feature 1.66GHz Core Duo processors, 1GB of RAM, up to an 80GB 7200RPM SATA HDD, and 256MB ATI FireGL V5200 card for the nw8440 compared to the 256MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M in the nw9440. Both laptops have a smattering of connectivity, including Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g WiFi, Firewire, USB 2.0, 7-in-1 card reader and a mini D-sub port for external displays. The nw9440 throws in a numeric keypad, and both laptops have a pointing stick for business mousing purists. At 7.5 pounds, 1.3-inches thick and 6 pounds, 1.1-inches thick respectively, neither laptop is a total lightweight, but they definitely land on the compact side of their categories. There's also a decent 4+ hour battery available for both models. Coming to Japan in July, the nw8440 is going for around $2,175, while the nw9440 manages for $2,266. Both models can be bumped to 2.16GHz and 2GB of RAM for $1,500 more and $2000 more respectively. Hopefully the pricing model is a bit more reasonable by the time these get to the States.Read - HP Compaq nw9440Read - HP Compaq nw8440
