HP today made a range of announcements regarding its business PC lineup. Along with new mobile workstations, it refreshed its EliteBook 800 series, which is now on its fifth generation, or as HP brands it, G5.
HP"s business strategy focuses on what it calls "one life", meaning that if your job gives you one of these machines, you"re probably going to be using it at home as well. Therefore, these commercial PCs also have to be good at being consumer PCs. One of the things that this means is that they have to be stylish, so the company is using an aluminum design, which was previously exclusive to the EliteBook 1000 series.
They"re also durable, tested at MIL-STD-810G conditions. That means that it should be able to withstand a drop, vibration, humidity, an explosive atmosphere, and more.
The firm also says that these new PCs are the first to include noise-canceling, world-facing microphones. It removes unwanted sound in individual mode, and can pick up 360-degree voice in conference mode.
All of these machines offer eighth-generation Intel vPro processors, and the biggest difference is screen size. The EliteBook 830 G5 comes with a 13.3-inch FHD display and integrated graphics, the 840 G5 comes with a 14-inch FHD screen with optional AMD Radeon RX 540 (4GB) graphics, and the 850 G5 comes with a 15.6-inch FHD or 4K screen and AMD Radeon RX 540 (4GB) graphics.
Most importantly, all of these machines contain the EliteBook features that users have come to know and love, as well as some that were introduced earlier this year in the 1000 series. PhoneWise is included, which is a utility that pairs with your phone, allowing you to send and receive texts, and make and receive calls.
They also come with an option for a Sure View display. These are only available on FHD screens, but Sure View prevents visual hacking, which is pretty much when someone is looking over your shoulder spying on what you"re working on. If someone is viewing the screen from more than 30 or 40 degrees, they won"t be able to see it.
Other security features include Sure Start, which checks the BIOS against a master copy to see if it"s corrupted, and now offers better encryption. Sure Click prevents attacks through the browser, and Sure Recovery allows for network-based recovery.
With Thunderbolt 3, a technology that"s becoming standard across all of HP"s commercial and consumer PCs, you can use the company"s new Elite Thunderbolt Dock G2, which was also announced today. It supports up to two 4K displays, and it"s the world"s first Thunderbolt dock with an audio conferencing module.
The EliteBook 830, 840, and 850 will all be available this month, starting at $1,049, $1,029, and $1,039, respectively. The Elite Thunderbolt Dock G2 is expected to be available in May, and pricing hasn"t been announced yet.