HP Inc. dazzled this morning with some incredible announcements at their Workstation Global Launch Event. Videomaker was on hand in New York City to take in the unveiling of powerful and innovative portable machines as well as storage and cooling solutions yet unseen in the market. All in all, it was a day of firsts for the venerable hardware company.
On the ultra-portable side, HP introduced the ZBook Studio, which HP is calling “the world’s first quad core workstation Ultrabook”. The 15.6-inch diagonal HP ZBook Studio, is HP’s thinnest and lightest full performance mobile workstation to date, and was designed with professionals who need power on the go.[image:blog_post:58548]
When we say it’s thin and light, we mean it. The ZBook Studio clocks in at just 4.4 lbs. and 18mm thin. While many mobile workstations sacrifice power for size, the ZBook Studio can be jam-packed with robust professional components. The model features Intel Core or Xeon processors, dual 1 TB HP Z Turbo Drive G2 for up to 2 TB of storage, up to 32 GB ECC memory, dual Thunderbolt 3 ports, dual cooling fans, and options for HP DreamColor UHD or FHD touch displays. Editors and motion graphic designers will be pleased to learn that the ZBook Studio can house either the NVIDIA Quadro M1000M with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory or an Intel HD graphics 530.[image:blog_post:58549]
““As the world’s first quad core workstation Ultrabook, the ZBook Studio is a perfect combination of brains and beauty with the engineering toughness of a HP Z Workstation,” said Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager, HP Workstations and Thin Clients, HP Inc. “The ZBook Studio endures 120,000 hours of testing and features numerous first-time workstation advancements, including Intel XEON CPUs with ECC memory, Thunderbolt 3, Gen 2 Z Turbo Drives, HP Sure Start client security, and an eight million color-critical pixel DreamColor 4k display.”
The mobile workstation announcements didn’t stop with the ZBook Studio. HP also announced three three additional ZBook Mobile Workstation models. All three models are thinner and lighter than their predecessors, but with increased power and performance.
The new models include the HP ZBook 15u, which promises workstation-level performance in a compact, reasonably-priced package. The 15u, as it’s name suggests, includes a 15.6” display, and can house up to 32 GB of memory, AMD FirePro graphics with 2 GB frame buffer, HP Z Turbo Drive G2 for up to 1.5 TB of total storage, and an FHD touch display. Not a lot of compromise out of the latest with this one.
Next up, HP announced the ZBook 15, the next iteration of the world’s top-selling mobile workstation. Improving on the last version of the ZBook 15, the new model is 27 percent thinner and 7 percent lighter, and boasts a 27 percent increase in battery life. The HP ZBook 15 with a 15.6-inch diagonal display is equipped with an Intel® Core™ or Xeon® processor, 64 GB ECC memory, dual 1 TB HP Z Turbo Drive G2 for up to 3 TB of total storage, dual Thunderbolt 3, and optional HP DreamColor UHD or FHD touch displays.
Rounding out the trio is the biggest, baddest mobile workstation of the bunch. The HP ZBook 17 — which features a 67 percent increase in battery life, is 25 percent thinner and 11 percent lighter than its predecessor — is a true desktop workstation replacement. Check out these specs: packed with either an Intel Core or Xeon processor, up to 64 GB ECC memory, dual 1 TB HP Z Turbo Drive G2 for up to 4 TB of total storage, dual Thunderbolt 3, and optional HP DreamColor UHD or FHD touch displays, there is little left to be desired. Oh, except video performance, but they've got that covered, too. The ZBook 17 also features NVIDIA graphics support up to M5000M Quadro with an 8 GB frame buffer.
As with all great desktop replacements, an able dock can help greatly. Fortunately, offered with HP ZBook Workstations is the new HP ZBook Dock with Thunderbolt 3. Users can link up to 10 devices at once through ports that include Thunderbolt 3 (supporting DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.1 Gen 2, and PCIe), four USB 3.0, RJ-45, VGA, combo audio, and two additional DisplayPorts.
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“HP ZBook products have significant reliability advantages and are designed to pass military standards testing and endure 120,000 hours in HP’s test process,” said Ron Rogers, vice president and head of engineering, Workstations and Thin Clients, HP Inc. “HP practices physics of failure techniques to predict reliability and improve product performance. This engineering approach has provided end-users our most reliable workstations available.”
Price and Availability
- The HP ZBook Studio is planned for availability in December starting at $1699.
- HP ZBook 15u is planned for availability in January starting at $1099.
- HP ZBook 15 and ZBook 17 are planned for availability in January – pricing not yet available.
- HP ZBook Dock with Thunderbolt 3 is planned for availability in December starting at $229.
The hits kept coming, too, as HP announced innovative storage and cooling solutions.
If the mobile workstations sounded impressive, there was one announcement that set HP apart in a big way. How about a storage solution that is 16 times faster than a SATA SSD at a similar cost?
“As the workstation industry leader, HP Inc. looks to take its commitment to the professional a step further with every new product and innovation,” said Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager, Workstations and Thin Clients, HP Inc. “HP Workstations’ engineering DNA is our special sauce – driven by over three decades in the business and a true understanding of our customers’ needs that helps them solve business problems our competition isn’t addressing to the same extent.”
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The HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro is the latest storage solution out of the HP magic factory, offering insane performance and reliability for large data storage challenges and high-speed, high-capacity workflows. The HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro resolves practically any storage bottleneck by allowing users to power through large data storage challenges with performance speeds previously unattainable.
How fast, you say? Would sequential performance of up to 9.0GB/s do the trick? We thought so.
The top Z Workstation solution can run up to four super-fast HP Z Turbo Drive G2 modules into one PCIe x16 card, which can delivers that incredible sequential performance speed. Also, the HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro uniquely enhances data integrity from power loss protection circuitry to correctly save work in the event of a power failure.
Another cool innovation from HP is the HP Z Cooler, an ultra-quiet cooling solution designed to reduce system noise in HP Z Workstation environments — even under extremely heavy workloads. The solution helps lower CPU fan speed and it delivers up to a 8.5 dBA acoustic level reduction — which we sense as being 40 percent quieter to the human ear — versus previous generations. The noise reduction benefits come from a unique heat-transfer solution that combines 3D vapor chamber technology and HP’s innovative staggered, hex-fin design.
The HP Z Cooler will be available with the HP Z440 and Z840 Workstations.
“HP led the industry, introducing liquid cooling solutions for workstations years ago,” said Ron Rogers, vice president and head of engineering, Workstations and Thin Clients, HP Inc. ”As other vendors are just now catching up to that solution, HP once again is leading the way in delivering a new, advanced cooling technology with fewer moving parts resulting in quieter systems and increased reliability, ultimately enabling a more productive workplace experience.”
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Was there more? Oh yes. HP also announced all-new Z professional displays.
The HP Z22n and HP Z23n Narrow Bezel IPS Displays represent the narrowest three-sided displays from HP, appearing nearly borderless on three sides and featuring factory color calibration.
Users will benefit from the virtually seamless views provided by the 178-degree viewing angle IPS technology. The color gamut (calibrated 95 percent and 96 percent sRGB respectively) delivers optimal color quality.[image:blog_post:58550]
Price and Availability
- HP Z Turbo Drive Quad Pro is planned for availability in November and priced at $1376 for a fully loaded card with four 256GB modules.
- HP Z Cooler is available now starting at $120.
- The HP Z22n and Z23n are available now and priced at $209 and $229 respectively.
