HP’s new ZBook mobile workstations: 4K displays, hexa-core CPUs, compact designs

Consumer laptops have gotten thinner and lighter in recent years, but so have high-performance notebooks. It’s not hard to find a gaming laptop that weighs less than 5 pounds these days. And the same is true of mobile workstation PCs.

Sure, that’s a far cry from consumer notebooks, which sometimes weigh less than 2 pounds. But it’s still kind of nifty to see high-power mobile workstations like the HP ZBook Studio G5, HP ZBook 15v, HP ZBook Studio x360 that weigh between 4.5 and 5 pounds while offering up to an Intel Core i7 or Xeon hexa-core Coffee Lake-H processor, optional NVIDIA Quadro Pro graphics, and up to a 4K display on some models.

Those are three of HP’s newest mobile workstations, which the company is introducing today. There are a few other models that pack even more powerful specs, like the ZBook 15 and ZBook 17, but they weigh more than 5 pounds and this website is called Liliputing, so I have to draw the line somewhere, right?

Anyway, here’s an overview of some of HP’s new mobile workstations. The company is also updating the ZBook x2 detachable tablet-style workstation it launched last year by offering new models with 8th-gen Intel chips.

HP ZBook Studio x360

This convertible laptop has a touchscreen display, a 360 degree hinge, and a Wacom AES digital pen with support for 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity.

It should be available in May or June for $1499 and up and the notebook measures about 14.2″ x 9.7″ x 0.8″ and weighs just under 4 pounds when equipped with a 4 cell, 64 Whr battery. There’s also support for an optional 6-cell, 95.6 Whr battery.

Processor options range from Intel Core i5-8300H to a Core i7-8850H hexa-core chips, or you can opt for Xeon E2176M vPro or Xeon E-2186M vPro chips.

The laptop features Intel UHD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA Quadro P1000 discrete graphics, and it’s available with up to 32GB of DDR4-2667 RAM, up to a 4K display with 100% Adobe RGB color gamut, and up to 4TB of PCIe NVMe solid state storage.

Other featurs include Thunderbolt 3, a fingerprint sensor, a  Windows Hello-compatible camer, HDMI 2.0, 802.11ac WiFi, bluetooth 5.0, and optional 4G LTE.

HP ZBook Studio G5

HP describes this model as its “brightest 4K laptop” thanks to its 600-nit display. For the most part the spec sheet looks similar to the one for the Studio x360, but this model isn’t a convertible, which makes it a bit slimmer and lighter.

The HP ZBook Studio G5 measures about 0.7 inches thick and weighs about 4.5 pounds.

It should be available in may or June for $1299 and up.

HP ZBook 15V

This model is the most affordable of the bunch, with a starting price of $949. Like the others, it will ship in May or June.

HP basically describes this as an entry-level workstation, or a step up from a typical business laptop for students, small business customers, or other folks who need a bit more performance than you can get from a mainstream laptop.

It’s available with up to Intel Core i7-8750H or Xeon E-2176M vPro processors, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 1TB of PCIe NVMe storage (and up to 4TB of total storage), and a choice of 1080p or 4K displays with optional touchscreen support.

The computer is available with up to NVIIDA Quadro Pro P600 graphics, features 802.11ac WiFI and Bluetooth 5.0, Thunderbolt 3, and HDMI 2.0 support. And the laptop measures about 14.4″ x 10.1″ x 1″ and weighs 4.7 pounds.