Logikworx
The EliteBook 8730w, 8530w, & 8530p Mobile Workstations For the past several weeks, I have been enjoying the use – for my reviews –of HP’s latest and greatest in the personal workstation space. I started with The incredibly affordable HP xw4600 personal...(read more)
Yesterday, I received one of the new HP TouchSmart IQ506 systems to review.
A second generation of systems using HP’s TouchSmart Technology, this beautiful system is well-configured: fast Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, TV tuner, touch functionality, etc.
Right now, I’m filling it up with content.
More soon….
I have been reviewing the HP 2133 Mini-Note
This is a full-featured, small form-factor notebook PC is HP’s entry in the nascent sub-$500 ultra mobile PC category.
My review unit came with 2GB of RAM, a 160GB 7,200 RPM drive, Windows Vista Business, and Microsoft Office 2007.
The latest sub format in the ultra mobile PC category, the sub-$500 laptop is meant to be ultra portable and inexpensive, targeting the education and ultra-mobile professionals segments.
In fact, the lamented OLPC and the Eee PC so far have been at the vanguard here.
However, there is no way those toys could be mistaken for either business–ready systems, or taken seriously in the enterprise*.
*In actuality though, I am wrong. David Strom, in an issue of Baseline, actually advocated the use of the Eee PC as a replacement unit for road warriors, leading me to wonder when, just when, this formerly respected (by me) industry figure totally lost it!
With their usual focused approach to market segments, HP came up with the Model 2133 Mini-Note. It is a nice-sized, mini laptop encased entirely in an attractive aluminum case with a near-full sized QWERTY keyboard.
My review system came with Microsoft Windows Vista™ Business Edition, and Microsoft Office 2007 installed. With 2GB of RAM, shared with the VIA Chrome 9 GPU, this unit was configured for the ultra mobile worker.
I reviewed the Mini-Note using the following scenarios:
The general ultra mobile worker needs a system that is extremely portable, but able to make him or her very productive.
In this scenario, the user’s primary concern is (ultra)portability, connectivity, and battery life.
The Mini-Note fulfils this need easily.
Running on Windows Vista, it allowed our test subjects to create and edit Microsoft Office documents easily. Access to the Internet was brisk, and viewing of downloaded content was sharp.
With the plentiful number of connectivity options, our scenario also involved using my favorite Realtor as a guinea pig. I followed her around for a day as she went along her tasks.
She was able to pull down information from her office from Starbucks using her Wi-Fi option, and connect at homes she was showing using a USB cellular modem from Verizon Wireless.
At all times, she just closed the lid to send the unit to sleep. Resuming from sleep was also effortless.
Right now, most mobile executives carry around their primary desktop-replacement systems. While a good idea, it is almost always mostly overkill, as the horsepower required for their presentations does not require that much CPU power.
The Mini-Note allows such an executive to create the content required on the desktop or desktop-replacement unit, transfer it to the Mini-Note, and then use this extremely portable system to consume the content in the presence of the desired audience.
For this scenario, the Mini-Note’s output options allows sending information to projectors through the VGA output, or using the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi options.
In this scenario, the Mini-Note really shines.
I decided to up the ante in my test of the Mini-Note to include a task possibly outside the design parameters of this device to test for durability. What better way to test this than by giving it to a physician to use?
I went over to our friendly Physician Test Labs, installed Infor-Med’s Praxis EMR, their EMR/EHR program on the Mini-Note, and decided to watch the doctor do her thing.
He first comment was, “This is not a Tablet PC!” I proceeded to tell her that this was a new, low-cost offering by HP, and I wanted to get her feedback on it.
The size of the unit meant that it could fit into a lab coat, it was light enough to not weigh that side of the coat down, and the battery life was long enough that she only needed to charge it during her lunch. (Then again, hers is a 2-hr lunch!)
The Praxis EMR electronic medical records program worked flawlessly, connecting to the clinic’s network via Wi-Fi without any issues.
She used the .Mini-Note for a few days, liking it more each day, and at the end, asked me, wearing the day job hat, to spec the unit for the secondary medical staff in her office, the physicians having been supplied the HP tx2000 as their work laptops. I complied.
In my daily business life, I have tended to carry the HP tx2015 backed up by a Toshiba Tecra M7 Tablet PC.
No longer.
This system is a difference maker.
Why?
Display. The system comes with a scratch-resistant 8.9” display with 1280x768 pixel resolution.
Keyboard. The Mini-Note has a comfortable keyboard for a system of its size, no doubt a result of the keys being 92% the size of a normal keyboard. I am able to type as fast on this device as I do on a regular keyboard. The keyboard is also spill-resistant.
Touchpad. One of the innovative improvements I have seen in the notebook space recently has been in touchpads, first with the tx1000/2000 series of notebooks from HP, and continuing on to the system installed on this unit. It is functional and big thumb-proof. I like it.
Hard Drive. Mindful of the intended use, HP has the system shipping with (relatively fast) 7200 rpm, 2.5” hard disk drives. In tests, HP was able to see a marked improvement in performance from this ULV system when tested against mainstream laptops, where those laptops used the more common 5400-rpm hard disks.
Battery life. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on this system! With the included six-cell battery, the system is designed to give users about 4 hours of system life. I was able to consistently get nearly three hours and forty minutes of battery life on a full charge. Consistently!
Reliability. As an added benefit, again looking to the intended audiences, HP’s innovative 3D DriveGuard technology is included. This is a 3-axis hard disk protection system, helping, no doubt, to reduce the effects of bumps and jarring on the hard drive.
Windows Vista. While the Mini-Note can be configured with your choice of four operating systems, this is probably the only device in this category that can run Windows Vista. Not just the plain vanilla version of Windows Vista, but Windows Vista Business Edition.
This is one beautifully engineered and constructed machine.
From the looks and feel of the brushed aluminum case to the sleek, nicely-sloping keyboard, the bright screen, the numerous connectivity options, and the expansion ports, including a powered USB port, a very unusual but welcome addition to any notebook computer.
It has an extremely solid feel to it that most business users like, and appreciate.
It was engineered to be reliable, and durable, with magnesium alloy support around critical structures in the casing. Add the scratch-resistant display and the 25,000 open-and-close lifetime cycles on the hinges, and you have a ultraportable user’s dream unit right here.
I find myself using the Mini-Note in conjunction with the tx2015. I am able to mostly avoid using any of the desktops at the Orbiting O’Odua and at Logikworx, to create the necessary content required for visits to clients for presentations.
As a result, the HP 2133 Mini-Note has been given the AbsoluteVista.com Business Ready Award without any reservation whatsoever.
This award was a surprise, as I did not think this device could keep up, let alone make it in the business world – unlike its competitors.
This system is available now.
My immense thanks to Jeremy Prody and Jesus Garcia for this opportunity.
For the past couple of days, I have been speeding around the ‘Internet tubes’ using a honkin’, wicked-fast HP xw8600.
This is a dual quad-core system with gobs of RAM, dual high-end video cards, fast hard drives, etc, etc. The specs below speak for themselves.
I have just received from HP what I would call the Rolls-Royce of personal workstations, in a top-of-the-line configuration as well!
Sometimes, you just have to really wonder when supposedly smart folks hopelessly fall asleep at the wheel.
Case in point is the new series of ads showing real humans, not the drones at Gartner or Forrester, actually experiencing the ‘WOW!’ for the first time.
Here is the updated configuration we will be giving away:
I plan on adding the following to this already great goodie package:
I am also thinking of possibly adding a (consumer-class) 20” LCD monitor to this package, with several games thrown in.
Let me thank HP for increasing the computing power of this system from a Core 2 Dual to a Core 2 Quad.
Let’s go!
If rumors are correct, Windows 7, the next iteration of the flagship Microsoft client operating system will be publicly introduced at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in November of this year.
In order to avoid the public relations fiasco Windows Vista is today, Windows 7 must adhere to the following ten steps:
(This is a reprint from the July 2008 issue of The Interlocutor)
On Tuesday, July 8, 2008, Microsoft dropped a helluva bombshell: it would offer a complete set of SaaS offerings for $15 per user per month, with the Exchange Online product for $3.00 per user per month.
It was a jaw-dropper!
Microsoft walked the talk.
(This is a reprint from the July 2008 issue of The Interlocutor)
Previous posts:
Ognjen Brkic; Product Marketing Manager
One of the more intriguing presentations was delivered by Ognjen, detailing AMD’s new, and extremely innovative external PCIe slot‡, dubbed ATI XGP. Folks, this (the external PCIe product) is the jam!
(This is a reprint from the July 2008 issue of The Interlocutor)
This very informative opening of the kimono by AMD shows the strength of their pipeline, and the confidence they feel in whatever innovations and products they are working on.
All that is left is for them to execute! Hopefully, without any hobbling by their rival, Intel.
(This is a reprint from the July 2008 issue of The Interlocutor)
While I work out the details of how I want this to go, I would like to announce that I have been able to secure a sponsorship tat will allow me to give away one HP xw4600 Personal Workstation after a 30-day contest period.
I am completely stoked at this opportunity, and I wish all potential contestants success.
I have had a copy of the HP xw6600 Personal Workstation for review at the Orbiting O’odua for nearly a month.
The xw6600 is one of the smallest form factor dual-socket workstations on the market today. A product of HP’s over quarter-century of experience in workstations, this system came with an ultra quiet tool-less case*, dual quad-core Intel Xeon 5450 CPUs, and 4GB of DDR2-667 FBD RAM. This baby also came with a Quadro FX1700 with a whopping 768MB.
About time!
With all the talk about alternative office suites out there, Microsoft has been lagging in articulating it’s strategy for delivering a financially-competitive offering in this space.
No longer.
With the announcement of Microsoft Equipt – formerly code-named ‘Albany’, Microsoft is attempting to kill several birds with one stone.
I was just asked a couple of questions on the backchannel by a longtime acquaintance: how come you only have positive reviews, and no benchmark numbers.
I have been testing the HP xw4600 Personal Workstation these past few weeks.
The xw4600 is near the low end of a range of extremely powerful and very customizable workstations from HP. However, it is priced starting against some of the more pedestrian systems we find at mega-mart. Have no fear though, this is one serious machine
My test unit came with a Core 2 Duo processor, 8GB of RAM, and Windows Vista Business x64.
I promptly erased Vista Business and installed Windows Vista Ultimate x64
Workstations in general, and HP workstations in particular, were introduced to me as a viable alternative to the fully configured desktop computer system.
Pursuant to that, I received a couple of HP workstations to review. My review of the xw4600 follows below. The xw6600, which shares the same design and performance philosophies; as a result, that review will focus on the performance scenarios run by SmallBizVista.com.
Rampant shark jumping on the road to irrelevance.
For the past several months, InfoWorld, that formerly important IT tome, has been beating the Save (Windows) XP drum in an utterly transparent attempt to remain relevant in the collective minds of IT administrators.
A changing of the guard
For the past several years, ahead's Nero had been an essential of both my personal and corporate toolboxes.
No longer!
There is a new and highly recommended replacement: CyberLink's DVDSuite 6 Ultimate.
Like Nero, CyberLink's DVDSuite is a suite of consumer-class digital media software. However, unlike it, DVDSuite is a comprehensive and integrated suite of programs that is easy to use and become proficient in within a very short period.
For several days this past week, I was in Austin, Texas, for AMD’s Tech Day 2008, and more.
As is usual with AMD, I was given a very good look into their products, strategy, and pipeline, and as usual, I came away impressed.