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HP expands high-end notebooks

The PC maker bolsters the high end of two notebook lines with MMX Pentium models and adds software to make them more manageable.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
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Hewlett-Packard (HWP) has bolstered the high end of its desktop-replacement and ultraportable notebook lines with MMX Pentium models and added software to make them more manageable.

The HP OmniBook 5700 is designed to be a true desktop replacement while a new model in the HP OmniBook 800 series is targeted at users looking for an ultralight notebook. Both of the new models integrate Intel's 166-MHz Pentium processor with MMX multimedia technology.

Estimated prices for the OmniBook 5700 notebook are expected to begin at $4,400, while prices for the new model in the 3.9-pound OmniBook 800 notebook line are expected to begin at $4,500.

HP said it is also providing HP TopTOOLS PC-management software, preloaded on both models, at no additional cost.

HP TopTOOLS is a PC-management software application that automates tasks that previously required visits by information system staff. Chores such as inventory management and discovering notebook PC configuration information now can be done remotely.

HP is also providing additional support for companies that elect to use Windows NT 4.0 on a notebook. Most notebooks shipped in the last two years use Windows 95 because it has built-in support for notebook PCs, including power management and PC Card support. Windows NT has not offered this level of support.

HP will provide new software from SystemSoft, which performs functions similar to those of Microsoft Windows 95.

Some of the new features for the OmniBook 5700 include a 12.1-inch active-matrix LCD screen supporting 1024-by-768-pixel resolution with 65,000 colors, improved 64-bit graphics, and user-upgradeable 3GB hard disk drives.

The new model in the HP OmniBook 800 line uses a 10.4-inch active-matrix LCD screen, improved graphics performance with new 128-bit NeoMagic MagicGraph video controller, and an upgradeable 2.5-inch 2.1GB hard drive.