CES 2010: Arrandale Arrives

HP Laptops and Netbooks

Like Dell, HP is a huge OEM and has a ton of new products to announce, among them Arrandale and Pineview laptops, netbooks, and notebooks. This is a mobility focused article, so we'll stick to those areas and leave desktops, displays, printers, and other devices for another time. So far, HP's CES laptop announcements have focused on netbooks and business laptops, though looking at their web site shows some new consumer laptops as well.

The most interesting netbook option we've seen so far is the new HP Mini 210. You can already configure a system on HP's website, though it could take a few weeks for it to arrive. What makes the Mini 210 interesting? The base model Mini 210 is your typical Pine Trail netbook, and there's a business model Mini 2102 coming as well; both are black and the main difference appears to be mobile broadband support on the 2102. Yawn. What you really want is the Mini 210 HD Edition. The exciting part isn't the choice of four different colors; rather, it's the 1366x768 resolution LCD and the ability to add a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator for $35. The base price is $330, and Win7 Starter and the Broadcom chip will push the price up to $395, but you can finally get an HD capable 10.1" netbook. Add the 6-cell battery and the price ends up at $425 for around 10 hours of battery life. Our one big complaint (beyond the higher than usual price) is that HP currently only allows 1GB configurations; 2GB RAM should definitely be an option.

Next up is the consumer HP Pavilion dv4i series, a Core i5 14.1" laptop. It's available in black or white with an i5-520M (2.40GHz + 2.93GHz Turbo) or an i5-540M (2.53GHz + 3.06GHz Turbo). The base price is $800 and unfortunately the only GPU upgrade available right now is an HD 4550 - no 5000 series GPU yet. The display is 1280x800, though, so people that dislike the 1366x768 trend will be a bit happier with that (even if 1440x900 would be preferred by many). There's no word on battery life, but we expect it to be in the 3 hour range (without the HD 4550).

If you're looking for something a little more stylish and powerful then move on up to the new ENVY 15. Again, battery life is going to be around 3 hours (6 hours with the optional battery slice), but this laptop is looking more towards performance. Core i5 and i7 CPUs are available, you get 4GB (max 16GB!) of DDR3 RAM, the chassis supports dual HDDs (or an HDD + SDD arrangement), and it comes with a discrete ATI HD 5830 GPU. We'd recommend the i5 configuration, since you should then be able to use the integrated graphics for improved battery life when you're unplugged (though we haven't confirmed if the i5 IGP is enabled yet). LCD options are also available: choose between the default 1366x768 15.6" LCD, or upgrade to a 1920x1080 anti-glare display for $75 more ($100 more if you prefer glossy LCDs). With the i5-520M and 1080p anti-glare LCD, the ENVY 15 will set you back $1375 and provide a very capable gaming and HD experience.

An alternative to the typical HP Mini is the new HP Mini 5102 business class netbook. It has your typical Pineview N450 spec sheet and comes with a 10.1" 1024x600 LCD. The twist is that it has a touch-screen option and a carrying handle, along with mobile broadband support. It should be available for order in the near future.

Building off the TouchSmart tx2, the TouchSmart tm2 is a 12.1" Core 2 Duo tablet with an ATI Mobility Radeon GPU (we're not sure which one yet). It supports multi-touch and gestures, with several HP TouchSmart applications that offer enhanced UIs. Availability is scheduled for January 17, with prices starting at $950. Tablet fans should definitely keep an eye out for this one.

Finally, HP has several new business notebooks coming out. The ProBook 6440b and 6540b are 14.0" and 15.6" notebooks, respectively, with support for Core i7 CPUs and "Future Intel Core Processors". We're not sure if that means i3/i5 CPUs or upcoming mobile i7 CPUs. Both models come with 1366x768 LCDs standard, but with 1600x900 anti-glare LCDs available as an upgrade. (Hooray for non-glossy! Why is it that anti-glare is now considered a business-only option?) Both ProBook models start at $950 with availability this month.

The next step up are the HP EliteBook 8440w/8440p and 8540w/8540p. These notebooks are the workstation equivalents of the ProBook series, with a few upgrades like discrete Quadro graphics solutions. The EliteBooks use QM57 chipsets while the ProBooks use HM57, and the 8540 models provide two USB 3.0 ports and the option to go with a 1920x1080 anti-glare LCD. All four models are scheduled for release this month, with the 8440p starting at $1100, the 8440w at $1250, the 8540p at $1300, and the 8540w at $1500.