Topic: Laptops

HP's new laptop lineup: Will consumerization kick in?

Summary: The wild-card for HP's new PCs is whether they have the designs and enough sex appeal to entice workers to tote them to their corporations.

By Larry Dignan for Between the Lines | May 9, 2012 -- 03:42 GMT (20:42 PDT)

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HP has launched a new armada of consumer and business laptops, ultrabooks and "fauxtrabooks" along with a dose of new printers. The product launches are among the first since HP split divided its units into two sides---enterprise and consumer.

The wild-card for HP's new PCs is whether they have the designs and enough sex appeal to entice workers to tote them to their corporations.

CNET: HP updates Pavilion laptops, including new m6 fauxtrabook | HP announces Envy ultrabooks, 'sleekbooks,' business-targeted EliteBook Folio | Mobile all-in-one stands out among trio of new HP printers | ZDNet UK: HP delivers EliteBook Folio ultrabook for business

Let's face it: We're entering a bring your own device world. Companies just aren't into PC upgrades. For instance, I have a crappy Lenovo T61 with Windows XP from CBS. The thing barely works and was used in 2006 when it showed up. But here's the catch: This laptop clunker is not old enough to be replaced. Sure, I could lobby the executives above (I was told to pitch the CTO), but frankly I'd rather bring my own laptop and blog about it.

I digress.

The point for HP is that its fancy laptops---Envy ultrabooks, "sleekbooks" and the Elitebook Folio---are designed to straddle the line between courting consumers who covet MacBook Airs and the corporate warriors.

Also: HP's reorg: Enterprise carries the team

Overall, the prices appear to be right. CNET's Scott Stein notes that HP's ultrabook starts at $749. An AMD sleekbook hits $599. Those price points will appeal to most corporate types.

For HP's PC unit to keep its lead and inspire some Apple-ish Envy it needs two upgrade cycles---consumer and corporate---to fall its way. Increasingly, those two upgrade cycles are intertwined. HP's real competition may be tablets and Apple's iPad going forward.

Bottom line: Now that HP has split its businesses into two camps it'll become clear how these PC designs play out and the need to entice corporations.

Topics: Laptops, Hardware, Hewlett-Packard, Mobility

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Talkback

26 comments

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I would never buy another HP laptop

not after the millions of defective "dv" series they put out.
How are they even still in business?

zmud
9 May, 2012 05:55

Reply Vote
- Millions? Really?
  
  Would you be able to cite some sources for us?
  
  My personal experience, having 3 owned by my in-laws, is that they [b]aren't[/b] defective. Two of them were identical, the 3rd a model with a slightly smaller screen, but all 3 were HP Pavilion "dv" models... yet after a couple of years they're still going strong. And my one brother-in-law had even brought it with him on his last Iraq tour so that he could talk to his kids via Skype.
  
  spdragoo@...
  9 May, 2012 07:19
  
  Reply Vote
  - millions, yes
    
    Source: anecdotal.
    I've got a dv8 and the top set of touch buttons flicker on/off/on/off (such as WiFi) which is caused by the wires not being properly shielded. There are THOUSANDS of people on their forum complaining about this and HP WILL NOT talk to you unless you have a Support package of some sort. I just gave you ??900 HP and you're ignoring me? Oh look a new line up of laptops that I will make sure nobody I know gets. Screw you HP.
    
    intellix
    9 May, 2012 08:27
    
    Reply Vote
  - Unsure about millions, but ...
    
    I don't know how many DV laptops were defective. Here's what I do know: I spent about ten years working in professional IT, and during that time, HP and Dell laptops were by far the biggest problems for clients and customers. They overheated, were poorly constructed and built from cheap parts.
    
    On the plus side, HP and Dell really kept my business going for a long time, due to the serious issues that plagued their consumer lines.
    
    lapland_lapin
    9 May, 2012 12:39
    
    Reply Vote
  - @lapland_lapin
    
    So, you work in IT support then. And you're wondering why your biggest complaints were the most popular models from the two companies with the majority of the market share.
    
    Bright lad aren't you.
    
    Bozzer
    10 May, 2012 06:06
    
    Reply Vote
- HP Laptop
  
  Every month I always get a couple HP laptops in from the DV range that need video issues repairing, DV 2000 being the most common.
  
  FixComputers
  9 May, 2012 09:08
  
  Reply Vote
They've been through a bad time

A few years ago I was telling everybody to stay clear of HP laptops because they broke just by looking at them.

But now I own one a "Pavilion dm1" series and I have nothing bad to say.

Almost all companies go through a bad time at some point in their existence, even Apple did.

I'm trusting HP laptops again but they still have some work to do for the "sexyness" of their laptops compared to some others.

lepoete73
9 May, 2012 06:07

Reply Vote
Not so much.

Who comes up with this "fauxtrabook" ?

Did someone write a program that just spits out random names??

I had a bad experience with a HP Pavilion one time. A Windows Vista Laptop to top it off. Sent it to HP 3 times in the first year for failed hardware issues. Their service was decent.

Then the whole "we are pulling out of the PC business" pretty much killed any hope of ever considering them again for me.

JeveSobs
9 May, 2012 06:10

Reply Vote
I'll test before I judge

By the looks of it, they look nice but I'll judge once I see all the specs and see them in the wild.

Cagny
9 May, 2012 06:43

Reply Vote
What's the point of the article again?

HP is the #1 PC manfacturer in the world and does so fairly consistently quarter over quarter. Are you stating that they need to work harder to remain #1? How is this news?

Your Non Advocate
9 May, 2012 07:26

Reply Vote
- Because ZDNet loves to peddle the post-PC era, over and over again.
  
  Although lately it has started to harp on about bringing your own.
  
  As though everyone in the company is going to bring their own computer. Even down to the telesales staff and the customer service staff.
  
  ZDNet sometimes forgets that companies have actual procedures and work to do, and it's not all about the shiny shiny.
  
  (Actually, the real reason as we all know is that ZDNet has to maintain a SLA with regards to clicks and page impressions... So if the forecast is coming up short, just spout any old story.
  
  You can usually tell when they are really short of meeting the SLA, as they'll throw up a flame bait article...
  
  ;)
  
  Bozzer
  10 May, 2012 06:10
  
  Reply Vote
HP laptops?

I have two, a DV2000 series and a DV7 from 2010 with a Q9000 Core 2 Quad. I got the DV2000 for free from a friend who had it, and the machine would get so hot that it literally melted itself. The case is warped and at first the video had major issues, but I cleaned it up, put it on a stand which uses forced-air to keep it cool, and it works fine. The DV7 has been fine and rock solid. It's now my video server for my HDTV in my bedroom, but I used it daily until about a month ago.

I have mixed views on their products, but I can't complain about the ones I have, even the DV2000 that has the badly warped case. After cleaning and reassembling, it has been just fine, if a bit on the ugly side now.

notinkeys
9 May, 2012 10:59

Reply Vote
6 year old isn't ready to be replaced

What person or company thinks that a 6yo notebook is still too new to replace?

typical reader
9 May, 2012 11:54

Reply Vote
No more HP

Never again! I have an HP dv series that came with Vista, and a year later would not support Windows 7.

Marzell
9 May, 2012 12:06

Reply Vote
- exactly why you don't buy a HP laptop
  
  This is exactly the reason you do not buy a HP. I know what you mean. You think you've bought the latest and greatest thing and then there are 20 new models released a few weeks later and you're thrown into the keep-net.
  
  intellix
  10 May, 2012 00:13
  
  Reply Vote
- Here is how you get around that..
  
  Download HWmonitor or SIW portable and make a note of what hardware you have and then just go directly to the chip maker and bypass the OEM. Frankly I have yet to see an OEM whose software support wasn't p*ss poor, from Asus to Dell they ALL are lousy when it comes to support.
  
  I had to upgrade a ton of laptops from different OEMs from Vista to 7 when it came out and I don't think a single one that was over 6 months old actually got Win 7 drivers from the OEM. Even my EEE netbook which I just adore hasn't had a single driver update since the unit came out a year and a half ago, even though there have been a dozen GPU driver updates and nearly as many audio in that time and those GPU updates made a BIG difference when it came to battery life thanks to hardware acceleration.
  
  So just bypass the OEM friend and if you buy only based on driver support frankly you'll probably never own a laptop again as they ALL blow chunks in that area.
  
  PC builder
  10 August, 2012 21:35
  
  Reply Vote
The "new" HP...

I'm the first person to admit that HP laptops, and ESPECIALLY ones powered by Always Melting Devices have had absolutely deplorable quality and assembly problems over the past several years. Not to mention the piss poor materials quality that hasn't been able to come anywhere near Apple products and Thinkpads.

*But*... The other day I was so impressed by a new Pavilion DM4-3099se "beats" model that I saw at Wal-Mart of all places, that I actually felt compelled to tell my FB friends about it. The build quality seemed phenomenal compared to previous HPs with a smooth matte finished case, some RED backlighting for the keyboard that is easy on the eyes, great audio (it IS the Beats model after all) for a laptop and so on. What really caught my attention was the MATTE finished high res (1600x900) 14 inch display and the cheap price... 798 bucks with an i5-2450, 600+ GB HD, 6GB of RAM, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, Intel Wi-Di and Bluetooth.

I made sure to let my friend's know that I had no way of telling what long term reliability the thing would have given past HP disasters, but at least the on-die Intel video minimizes the risk of separate video controller overheating problems HP has had so much trouble with.

Playdrv4me
9 May, 2012 12:21

Reply Vote
It's funny, BYOD

Right now they encourage people to buy it and bring it...

Eventually it will be mandatory...

As wages go down...

Being able to stay updated with job requirements becomes harder...

Still, if one needs a 4-year Bachelor's degree and x years' of experience to land a cool $10/hr job and all... just for the honor of also having to pay for the tools to make someone else prosper... Robbing Peter to pay Paul? Only if you're the employee, in which case you're being "petered"...

via dictionary.reference.com/browse/petered
(but if you have another definition, chances are that'll fit, too...)

HypnoToad72
9 May, 2012 13:50

Reply Vote
Love my T60

My T60 is what I do all my typing and editing on. I resent it being refered to as a clunker.

Level-headed
9 May, 2012 18:22

Reply Vote
So, this is the "era of bring your own device". Really???

Just because there are people who do bring in their own devices, and there are companies who take advantage of those people and their devices, it doesn't mean that, the BYOD era is here.

Why do people keep inventing such nonsense? It's the same as the "post-PC" world, where, the PC is supposed to be outdated and the new era of mobile devices is supposed to take over. But, the PC is as alive as ever, even if they've had to evolve.

With the era of data theft, and the era of ID theft, and the era of online terrorism, the BYOD era won't be lasting too long, if it ever really does get started.

adornoe
9 May, 2012 19:45

Reply Vote