The HP ZBook Laptops: Power and Mobility

HP is already established as a manufacturer of high-end workstations that rival the Mac Pro and offer some of the most powerful processors, highest RAM loadouts, and most flexible video options. These desktop workstations are made specifically for professionals looking to maximize video, audio, and digital workloads that demand something more than standard PCs have to offer.

But not everyone can remain shackled to their desk. To help integrate their concept of high-level computing to a more mobile-centric world, HP offers its Z Book line of mobile professional systems. These systems are not gaming computers or web-surfing universal laptops—although they can be used for those purposes—they are workstations built on the edict that form follows function. Made with professional high-end applications in mind—video editing and streaming, digital design and illustration, and photography editing—they are some of the best in class when it comes to portable workhorses.

What sets them apart from other laptops? The HP Z Mobile laptops are designed for heavy workloads and usually include dedicated graphics cards and higher RAM counts than standard laptops. Some models also feature Blu-ray optical drives and hard drives with additional solid-state drive backups or caches. All feature new Haswell 4th-generation processors.

If you are a video editor, digital artist, or photographer who needs the flexibility of taking your work into the field, the HP Z book series are designed with the creative professional in mind. They take the mix of power and portability very seriously.

The HP ZBook 14 series, for instance, features 4th-generation Intel® Core™ i5 or i7 Haswell™ dual-core processors running from 1.6 to 2.1GHz (non-OC), 4-16GB of DDR3L 1600MHZ RAM, and hard-drive configurations that include a 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 750GB 7200 rpm hard drive, or a 240GB solid-state drive.

They are available with multi-touch and non-touch 14" antiglare (enabled for webcam) LED backlit screens at resolutions from 1600 x 900 to 1920 x 1080. The images onscreen are powered by an AMD FirePro M4100 graphics card with 1GB of dedicated RAM.

All include a 720p webcam, integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth LE WW 4.0 connectivity and DualPoint backlit keyboards. All of the 14" models are configured with the Windows 7 professional 64-bit operating system, except for the multi-touch laptops, which ship with Windows 8 Professional 64-bit OS.

Moving up a notch, the HP ZBook 15 Series features 4th-generation Intel Core i7 quad core processors running at 2.4 or 2.7GHz (non-OC), and also may include anywhere from 4 to 16GB of DDR3L 1600MHz RAM, depending on the model. The hard-drive setups for the 15 Series also step it up a notch with much-needed cache drives. Select models include 500GB hard drives, 500GB hard drives with a 128GB solid-state drive, 750GB hard drives with a 32MB solid-state cache, or 750GB hard drive with 128GB solid-state drives. All hard drives max out at 7200 rpm (solid-state drives do not have a spindle speed, but they are all SATA III interfaces with a 6Gb/s sustained rate).

All 15 series models sport 15.6" antiglare-enabled-for-webcam LED backlit displays (non-touch) with a native Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080. Displays are powered by an NVIDIA Quadro K610M, Quadro K2100M or Quadro K1100M with either 1 or 2GB of GDDR5 dedicated RAM.

Although these include a 720p webcam, integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth LE WW 4.0 connectivity, and DualPoint backlit keyboards, they also include a throwback to pre-Ultrabook days—an integrated optical drive. Some models will include a SuperMulti dual layer DVD +/- RW drive, and others opt for a higher-end Blu-ray R/RE DVD +/- RW drive. All of the 15" models are configured with the Windows 7 professional 64-bit operating system.

Finally, for professionals who need every inch of screen space to work for them, there are the HP Zbook 17 series. These behemoths are configured with 4th-generation Intel Core i7 quad-core Haswell processors running at 2.4 or 2.7GHz (non-OC), 8, 16, or 32GB of DDR3L 1600 MHz RAM, and hard drive configurations that include 500GB, or 500GB and 180GB solid-state drive combos, 750GB hard drives with a 32GB solid-state drive cache, and a 750GB hard drive with a voluminous 512GB solid-state drive.

Another feature that sets these apart from the 14 series is the inclusion of Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 ports on select models. Thunderbolt offers 10Gb/s of bi-directional speed, while Thunderbolt 2 offers 20Gb/s of bi-directional speed. That’s four times faster than USB 3.0. Some models also include an ExpressCard/54 slot for added peripheral flexibility.

The 17 series also features a 17.3" backlit LED antiglare (for webcam) Full HD display with a native resolution of 1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080. One of the models even has an IPS display for better viewing angles. The screens use the graphics processing power of NVIDA Quadro K610M with 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 RAM or K3100M or K4100M graphics cards with 4GB of GDDR5 dedicated RAM.

Some models will include a webcam and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity, but the addition of Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 ports sets these apart as well. You may also find optical drives—from standard dual layer Super Multi DVD +/-RW drives to Blu-ray R/RE DVD +/- RW drives—integrated into this series of mobile workstations. Select models will also include an ExpressCard/54 slot. All of the 17 series models include Windows 7 Professional 64-bit operating systems.

No matter which version you choose, each is ready to participate in the resource-heavy tasks you have waiting for it. Professional video editing and photo retouching used to be limited to bulky desktop workstations, but HP’s mobile line has set you free with Z!

HP ZBook  14" Mobile Workstation	HP ZBook 15" Mobile Workstation	HP ZBook 17" Mobile Workstation
PROCESSORS
1.6GHz Intel Core i5-4200U Dual Core 1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U Dual Core 2.1GHz Intel Core i7-4600U Dual Core	2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ Quad Core 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ (Haswell) 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ Quad-Core 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ (Haswell)	2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ (Haswell) 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ Quad Core 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ Quad Core
RAM
4GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L RAM 8GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L RAM 16GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L RAM	4GB 1600MHz DDR3L RAM 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L RAM 16GB at 1600MHz of DDR3L 2DM RAM	8GB 1600MHz DDR3L RAM 16GB 1600MHz DDR3L RAM 32GB 1600MHz DDR3L RAM
HARD DRIVES
500GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive 240GB Solid-State Drive	500GB 7200rpm HDD 500GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive and 128GB SSD 750GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive 750GB 7200rpm HDD, 32GB SSD Flash Cache 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive and 128GB SSD	500GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive 750GB 7200rpm HDD, 32GB SSD Cache 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive and 512GB SSD 500GB 7200rpm Hard Drive and 180GB SSD
GRAPHICS
AMD FirePro M4100 Graphics (1GB)	NVIDIA Quadro K1100M with 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA Quadro K2100M Graphics (2GB) NVIDIA Quadro K610M with 1GB GDDR5	NVIDIA Quadro K3100M with 4GB GDDR5 RAM NVIDIA Quadro K610M with 1GB GDDR5 RAM NVIDIA Quadro K4100M with 4GB GDDR5 RAM
DISPLAY
14" Antiglare LED-Backlit Display, touchscreen 14" Antiglare LED-Backlit Display, non-touch	15.6" Antiglare LED backlit	17.3" Anti-Glare Display 17.3" IPS Display
RESOLUTION
1600 x 900 Native Resolution 1920 x 1080 Native Resolution	1920 x 1080 Native Resolution	1920 x 1080 Native Resolution 1600 x 900 HD Resolution
OPTICAL DRIVE
None	DVD +/-RW SuperMulti DL Drive Blu-ray R/RE DVD+/- RW Drive	Blu-ray R/RE DVD+/-RW SuperMulti Drive SuperMulti DVD±RW Dual Layer Drive
NETWORK
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0	802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0	802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0
PORTS
USB 3.0, DisplayPort, VGA	Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt 2, USB 3.0, ExpressCard/54	Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt 2, USB 3.0, ExpressCard/54
OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows 7 Professional	Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit)	Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit)