HP EliteBook 8440w: On-the-Go Workstation

HP's business-centric EliteBooks have been around since 2008 in name, but in reality, EliteBook is just a new name for the old HP Compaq business notebook line. With HP releasing a flood of popular entry level and mainstream consumer notebooks with both HP and Compaq labels, this understandably created a marketing issue for the costlier and higher end business and workstation class machines. Since the HP Compaq brand didn't have the name cachet of the iconic IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads or even Dell's Latitude business notebooks, HP's marketing team decided to scrap the confusing "HP Compaq" tag entirely and rebrand their business notebooks as EliteBooks.

We have one of the newest EliteBooks here today, the EliteBook 8440w mobile workstation. For a 14" notebook, it's quite the powerhouse, with a Core i7-620M processor and Nvidia's Quadro FX 380M discrete graphics chip to go along with 4GB of memory, a 320GB SATA hard drive, integrated DVD burner, and a high resolution 14" 1600x900 screen—it's even got a matte finish! But for the $1649 pricetag, the 8440w could have used a bit more power on either the CPU or GPU side, with a quad-core Core i7 (which is an optional extra) or faster Quadro graphics card at the top of our wishlist.

HP EliteBook 8440w Specifications
Processor	Intel Core i7-620M (2.66GHz, 32nm, 4MB L3, 35W)
Chipset	Intel QM57 Express
Memory	2x2048MB DDR3-1333 Max 2x4GB DDR3-1333
Graphics	NVIDIA Quadro FX 380M (512MB GDDR3 VRAM)
Display	14.0" LED Backlit Matte WXGA+ (1600x900)
Hard Drive	2.5" 320GB 7200RPM SATA (Seagate ST9320423AS)
Networking	Intel 82577LM PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3) 802.11a/b/g/n
Audio	Realtek AL269 2-Channel HD Audio (2.0 Speakers with headphone/microphone jacks)
Battery	9-cell Li-Ion, 100 Wh
Front Side	SD/MMC card reader
Left Side	3 x USB 2.0 1 x Firewire 1394a
Right Side	RJ-11 Gigabit Ethernet eSATA/USB combination
Back Side	VGA DisplayPort AC Power Connection Kensington Lock
Operating System	Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Dimensions	13.21" x 9.30" x 1.23" (WxDxH)
Weight	Starting at 4.9 lbs (with 6-cell battery)
Extras	Bluetooth 2.0 2.0MP Webcam Integrated TrackPoint Multitouch Touchpad SD/MMC/MS Pro Flash reader
Warranty	3-year warranty, onsite repairs 1-year battery warranty
Pricing	8440w-FN093UT for $1649 from HP Business

But even without a quad-core or a high end GPU, the 8440w is a pretty formidable beast, boasting enough computing horsepower to acquit itself well for mobile CAD work and most reasonable tasks. Obviously, it won't replace the power of a workstation-class desktop or anything like that, but is it good enough for on-the-go design work? Let's find out.