Visit to HP to see the HDX16, HDX18, pretty Mini
One of the good things about being in Houston is that I am close to the giant HP complex. I get to visit their office from time to time and they always roll out the welcome mat and show me mobile device goodness. Today I dropped by and got to play with two of the newest members of the HP line, the HDX16 and HDX18. These two notebooks are HP’s solution to providing hi-def entertainment on a big portable screen. I am impressed by both the 16-inch HDX 16 and the nice and big 18.4-inch screened HDX18. I watched a piece of a Blu-Ray movie on the HDX18 and it was full HD and looked glorious. The Altec Lansing speakers and integrated sub-woofer sounded very nice to go along with that great video and it was a very good entertainment experience.
I also got to see that fashion netbook that HP recently was showing off in New York and while they wouldn’t let me open it (slapped my hand) it was very well constructed. It was smaller than I thought it would be and since they traded the metal case of the Mini-Note for the fancy imprinted plastic case it was much lighter. All in all it was a fun visit to HP. I also got to play with something else I can’t tell you about just yet but I got photos of it that I’ll share soon. You’ll find some photos of the HDX16 & 18 along with a 17-inch MacBook Pro for comparision after the jump. Here’s the high-fashion Mini to hold you over:
HDX18, HDX16
HDX18 playing HD movie
HDX16
L-R: HDX16, 17-inch MacBook Pro, HDX18
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Maybe the “Fashion Netbook” has a 10″ screen.
this will probably be a much more practical offering from HP. the plastic should make it cheaper & light, plus more efficient use of the bezel with a 10″ screen.
it looks sort of rounded & glossy like a Wind.
I like HP and all but why did they have to make their new consumer notebooks so ugly – all that shiny – ack
I’m impressed with the specs of the HDX16 and HDX18, my only complaint (and a big one at that) is the mediocre GPU chosen by HP – a 9600M GT. The previous 20″ HDX had a beefy 8800M inside, which is TWICE AS POWERFUL as the 9600M.
This is HP’s top-of-the-line machine, I cannot understand why HP failed to go with a more powerful GPU. A T9600 alone won’t make up the difference, and many GAMERS looking for a $2000 quality gaming rig are stuck waiting for something else.
Shocking how they dare to place those clunky and much too shiny laptops next to the beautiful Mac! What kind of comparison are they trying to make?
I am very curious about the fashion book though, assuming that there will also be a more masculine version :) Would it feature an atom processor, a bigger screen?
James, did you consider that the reason for them not allowing you to open it is that it, well, isn’t really anything but a plastic shell dummy? All the photos I recall seeing are of the outside — has anyone seen the inside or the thing actually running?
Arghh… I don’t know what I was thinking (blame it on lack of coffee), but the last post wasn’t from James, but rather from me. Sorry ’bout that.
Laptop Mag had a couple of pictures of this spotted in NYC:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hp-shows-off-10-inch-netbook-the-next-mini-note
Channel Sales, the MacBook Pro was mine. I brought it purposely to compare it with the HP notebooks for size. Kudos to HP for letting me pull it out for photo ops.