HP breaks new battery life ground with EliteBook notebook

Apple's new MacBook Pro line-up might be grabbing all the headlines with its new Thunderbolt port, but the claimed battery life pales into insignificance when compared to that offered by HP. When running on the company's new Ultra-Capacity Notebook battery, the HP EliteBook 8460p is said to be capable of running for up to 32 hours between charges. It's one of a number of business notebook releases announced by HP, so let's take a closer look...

The HP EliteBook 8460p is available in 3-, 6- or 9-cell battery options, but is also compatible with new HP Extended Life Notebook Battery and HP Ultra-Capacity Notebook Battery. It's with the latter installed that HP claims an industry-leading battery life of a quite extraordinary 32 hours.

Power for this marathon performer comes courtesy of second generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processors and Core i7, i5 and i3 dual-core processors supported by up to 16GB of DDR3 memory. There's a 14-inch, 1366 x 768 or 1600 x 900 resolution LED-backlit display with a choice of integrated Intel HD or discrete AMD Radeon HD 6470M discrete graphics. The notebook also supports up to four concurrent displays with AMD Eyefinity Technology.

The 8460p is available in various HDD or SSD storage configurations, and there's USB 3.0 connectivity, a USB 2.0 charging port (which allows users to use the notebook as a power source for attached devices) and an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port. 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and the soon to be available HP un2430 EV-DO/HSPA Mobile Broadband as an optional addition take care of the wireless options, with Gigabit Ethernet also being on offer.

HP has also unveiled another member of the p-series business notebooks - the 8560p - which shares much of the same feature set as its cousin but sports a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 or 1600 x 900 resolution LED-backlit display.

They're both also rugged mobile business solutions, their DuraCase housing, aluminum-alloy hinges, cast titanium-alloy display latches and HP DisplaySafe frame being tough enough to meet MIL-STD 810G drop, vibration, dust, humidity, altitude, and high temperature military-standard testing specifications.

Bring on the ProBooks

All of the new HP ProBook b-series additions have LED-backlit displays, benefit from a smudge-resistant design and a magnesium-reinforced ABS chassis with a bottom-case drain that helps protect against accidental minor spills on the keyboard. Processing power options take the form of second-generation Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 dual-core processors or an Intel Celeron processor and there's up to 16GB DDR3 RAM to back them up.

Storage of up to 500GB HDD or 160GB SSD is available and wired connectivity includes Gigabit Ethernet, three USB 2.0 ports and one eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port. Ditching the wires is made possible with 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and optional HP un2430 EV-DO/HSPA Mobile Broadband when it's available.

The HP ProBook 6360b has a 13.3-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution display and comes with integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000.

In the middle is the 14-inch, 1366 x 768 or 1600 x 900 resolution display 6460b, with integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000/discrete AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics with 512MB onboard video memory.

The last of the new ProBooks is the 6560b, with a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 or 1600 x 900 resolution display and integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000/discrete AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics. This model also gets an extra USB 2.0 port, making four in total.

Wait, there are more ProBooks incoming

There are five models to choose from in the ProBook s-series, ranging in screen sizes from 12.1- to 17.3-inches and coming with a choice of second-generation Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 processors or an Intel Celeron processor. Up to 8GB DDR3 memory is available, 5400RPM hard disk storage up to 640GB or 750GB at 7200RPM and integrated Intel HD 3000/AMD Radeon HD 6740M discrete graphics.

The 4230s, 4330s, 4430s, 4530s and 4730s notebooks also benefit from a spill-resistant keyboard, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, Wireless-N options and HP un2430 EV-DO/HSPA Mobile Broadband as an additional option when available. There's a 6-in1 media card and fingerprint reader and HDMI-out.

All of the new releases from HP benefit from high definition SRS premium sound - which optimizes audio settings depending on the application being used - and stereo speakers. There's also the option to add an HD webcam with dual array microphones and they all come with Windows and Linux configuration support.

Penciled in for March availability, the HP EliteBook 8460p and 8560p start at US$999 and US$1,099, respectively. The HP ProBook b-series starts at US$799 and the HP ProBook s-series starts at US$579.