As part of the launch of a broad range of commercial PC systems today at the HP Discover 2013 conference, Hewlett-Packard is trying to redefine the desktop PC.
Instead of being housed in a box that takes up a lot of space, the HP EliteDesk 800 G1 and HP ProDesk 600 GI Desktop Mini systems make uses of energy-efficient Intel 4th Generation Core processors, codenamed Haswell, and solid-state drives that comply with the new M.2 form factor to drive the size of a desktop PC down to a format that resembles more of traditional cable modem than a PC.
According to Martha Rost, HP Americas desktop manager, the new offerings look a lot more like thin clients than traditional desktop PCs. But because they only consume 8 watts of power at idle, Rost says HP is able to package a complete desktop PC in a relatively small amount of physical space.
Scheduled to be available in April of 2014, the price points for the new EliteDesk and ProDesk systems start at $699 and $489, respectively.
In addition to trying to redefine the desktop PC, HP today also unveiled new notebook systems, including an HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 notebook priced at $1,299 that is only 15.9 millimeters wide and weighs just over three pounds.
HP also added an HP EliteBook Revolve G2 convertible notebook that adds support for 4G wireless networks, an HP Classmate Notebook PC running Intel Celeron processors that is aimed at the education market, a 7-in HP Slate Extreme tablet based on NVIDIA Tegra 4 Quad Core processors priced at $229 and three new Windows 8 certified multi-touch displays.
In sum, HP is extending the range of PCs it offers commercial customers as part of an ongoing bid to increase the appeal of the PC in an era when there are more viable computing options in the enterprise than ever. A big part of that strategy is not only bringing down price points, but also creating new form factors that will incentivize IT organizations to want to upgrade to systems that are much easier to deploy and manage much sooner than later.
