HP has launched an ultra-powerful detachable tablet for graphic designers and artists. Dubbed as HP ZBook x2, the tablet boasts specifications of a workstation PC such as the quad-core i7 processor, a Nvidia Quadro M620 graphics card and 32 GB RAM along with 2TB SSD. The tablet aims to provide a powerful workstation feel to imaging professionals, who need to work on Adobe Creative Cloud and various other applications.
HP ZBook x2 comes with a 14-inch diagonal, 4k multi-touch display and optional 10-bit, one billion colors HP DreamColor display. HP claims that the tablet comes with the most advanced detachable PC display along with the anti-glare touchscreen. This will allow the users to work comfortably irrespective of the lighting condition. Further, the company says the battery power would last for 10 hours straight.
According to vice president and general manager of HP Z Workstations, Xavier Garcia, the ZBook x2 is the “world’s most powerful and first detachable PC workstation,” and “there is no device better suited to turn the vision of artists and designers into reality.”
HP Zbook can render dual 4k display with Thunderbolt 3, and the driver storage is around six times faster than SATA SSD and 21 times faster compared to HDD storage. On the storage front, Zbook offers up to 2 TB of local PCIe storage, and there is a full-sized SD card slot also, keeping in mind the photographers. With the help of dock or Thunderbolt 3 ports, users can transfer large files from cameras, external storage, peripherals and phones.
In addition, this detachable tablet from HP offers a smooth drawing experience and comes with a stylus, which the company claims to be the “most accurate and expressive” pen yet. The digitizer, made in collaboration with Wacom, can recognize 4,096 levels of pressure, along with the angle at which the user is tilting it. A rather useful feature is the eraser button on the top, making it actually work as an eraser, notes Engadget.
Further, HP Zbook x2 comes with all the security features present in any other HP product, such as HP Sure Start Gen 3 for BIOS protection, Smart card reader for secure authentication, TPM 2.0 for hardware-based encryption and HP’s client security suite Gen 3 for data and identity protection. Other than these, the tablet also includes a fingerprint reader and facial recognition.
HP Zbook x2 will be available in December with the entry-level version priced at $1,749. Although, the price point is slightly high, getting a tablet with workstation grade features in this price range is not easy.
Separately, for the third-quarter of 2017, HP retained its top position in worldwide PC shipments outperforming Lenovo. In terms of PC shipments, HP grabbed 21.8% share, while Lenovo was close behind at 21.4%, according to research firm Gartner. HP has experienced an upward trend over the past five consecutive quarters at a time when PC growth was dropping. Lenovo, on the other hand, has witnessed a drop in shipment in eight out of the past ten quarters. Global PC shipments for the third-quarter were down 3.6% from the third-quarter of 2016.
