Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

HP Aims for the Suits with New ProBook, HP Mini

By
HP Aims for the Suits with New ProBook, HP Mini

Hewlett-Packard is the world’s leading PC maker, and that means in its arsenal of products, something is bound to be a little staid, boring, conservative, and almot anonymous to fit into broader corporate cultures without raising eyebrows or engendering discrimination suits. To that end, HP has just introduced its new HP MIni 5101 and HP ProBook 4310S, with the former being a 10.1-inch netbook aimed at executives while the latter looks like it will be a flexible, portable workhorse for mobile workers.

The Mini 5101 features a 1.66 Intel Atom processor, a 10.1-inch display, 1 to 2 GB of RAM, and either an SSD or traditional hard drive for up to 128 GB or 320 GB of storage, respectively. Unlike many netbooks, the 5101 ships with Windows Home Basic, but is also available with FreeDOS; the unit also packs 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, an SD card slot, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, and optional mobile broadband from Sprint or Verizon. Expect to see the Mini 5101 this July at prices starting at $449; HP will also be offering docking stations and other peripherals.

Recommended Videos

The ProBook 4310S, on the otherhand, looks to be a flexible and even vaguely stylish workhorse: users can choose a glassy noir or merlot finish, and despite the 13.3-inch screen, the system offers a full sized keyboard. But the 4310S’s strength is probably the sheer number of configuration options HP is offering for the unit: users can choose anything from a selection of Core 2 Duo processors, 1 to 4 GB of RAM, 160 to 500 GB of hard drive storage, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 or Intel GMA graphics, DVD and Blu-ray optical drives, ExpressCard and SD slots, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth wireless networking, 3 USB 2.0 ports, plus VGA and HDMI output. The systems will be available with Vista, XP downgrades, or FreeDOS, and the 4310S has a starting weight of just 4.19 pounds.

The ProBook 4310S notebooks will go on sale in the United States on July 20 with a starting price of $799.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
The new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro are finally living up to their potential
The new Surface Pro on a table.

Copilot+ represents a new era for Windows laptops, and it's a fresh reimagining for Surface as well. You'll notice that the generational number in the name is gone with this new era -- one that comes with a new design, higher performance, and AI features.

Both the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro come exclusively with up to a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, which brings massive leaps in performance, battery life, and AI capabilities over the previous generation of Surface devices.

Read more
Why Samsung’s answer to the MacBook Pro can’t quite compete
The Galaxy Book4 Ultra open on a wooden suruface.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the king of the creator laptops, and it's been that way for several years.

But there have been a wave of new Windows laptops attempting to challenge the MacBook Pro on its own terms. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra is certainly a contender, packing some impressive specs in a portable chassis. When you compare the two straight up, the MacBook Pro 16-inch clearly comes away with the upper hand, even when considering its higher price.
Specs and pricing

Read more
iPad Pro M4 vs. MacBook Air M3: a harder choice than ever
iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard.

The line between the iPad Pro and the MacBook Air has always been slim. Despite being very different devices, they're the two 13-inch devices in Apple's lineup -- and with the updated M4 iPad Pro, they are more competitive with each other than ever.

There's a lot we still don't know about the M4 iPad Pro, but here's a preliminary look at how the two devices stack up against each other.
Specs

Read more