HP ZBook 14 Review: Mobile Workstation Meets Ultrabook
by Jarred Walton on June 20, 2014 2:30 AM ESTConclusion: An Actual Ultrabook Workstation
I admit to being a bit skeptical of the potential for the ZBook to function as a mobile workstation while fitting into an Ultrabook form factor. While there are certainly some compromises made to get there – the use of a dual-core ULV CPU being the biggest compromise – depending on your needs the ZBook 14 could be exactly what you're after. I know personally that having switched to carrying around an Ultrabook the past few years at trade shows and during other trips, I'm pretty much done with toting around anything more than four pounds. But then I'm not a workstation user; I'm a writer, and for me the core performance takes a backseat compared to things like the keyboard, touchpad, and display.
Thankfully, the ZBook 14 doesn't suffer in any of those areas. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a beauty pageant contestant, but the core design is reasonably attractive and outside of the odd cursor key arrangement I have no issues with the typing action. The touchpad is a bit smaller than I would like and doesn't work as a "clickpad", but that's mostly a personal preference. If you happen to really like TrackPoint solutions, and many enterprise users seem to fall into that category, HP has you covered. And finally, the display is great as far as I'm concerned; 1080p with a 14" panel is still usable for me, even at 100% scaling, so I don't have to deal with any high-DPI wonkiness. Unfortunately, I can't say how the other LCD panel options compare, but the upgrade price for the 1080p UWVA panel isn't too bad so I'm just going to recommend that anyone who cares at all about display quality should make sure they purchase that upgrade.
Considering the workstation trappings, it's really quite impressive just how much stuff HP manages to cram into the ZBook 14. Besides all of the typical accoutrements, HP includes both an M.2 SSD option along with a full-size 2.5" drive bay, a Smartcard reader, full-size Gigabit Ethernet port, fingerprint scanner, full-size DisplayPort, four USB 3.0 ports, and even a docking option on the right side. A slice battery is also an option if you need improved battery life. What's more, you get all of these features and it's still amazingly simple to pop off the bottom cover for any service or upgrade needs. As someone who worked in an IT department for close to a decade, I can definitely appreciate the serviceability aspect.
I'm actually fond of the idea of Ultrabooks (or at least thin and light laptops) that still pack a moderate GPU, and as someone that doesn't need an Enterprise grade laptop – or a professional GPU – I'd love to see HP trim the cost down a bit and provide a consumer-level GPU. The new Razer Blade 14 (Anand is working on that review) basically ends up being a sleeker, faster consumer alternative to the ZBook 14 if that's what you're after, and when you can actually pick up the Blade 14 with decent specs (e.g. at least a 256GB SSD) for about the same price as the ZBook 14 (with a similar 256GB SSD), you know you're looking at enterprise profit margins. Another alternative that's worth a mention is the Dell Precision M3800; it has a 15.6" display so it's a bit larger and heavier, but otherwise it's definitely a thin mobile workstation.
Ultimately, what it boils down to is a question of priorities. If you want the thinnest, lightest, and most aesthetically pleasing Ultrabook on the market, that's not going to be the ZBook 14. It just barely squeaks under the maximum thickness requirement for an Ultrabook (and some models actually fall short), and at 14" it's larger than a lot of other options. But try finding a 14" or smaller Ultrabook with a Quadro or FirePro GPU, not to mention the other extra features, and you're going to come up with only one option: HP's ZBook 14. If that's what you're after – and you're willing to pay for it – there's no other choice (other than to buy a larger, heavier, etc. non-Ultrabook). It certainly fills a market niche, and while not for everyone, for those that are looking for a thin and light mobile workstation the ZBook 14 is a great option to have.
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MonkeyPaw - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
I can wait a little while for the Surface 3 review, provided it is as thorough as an iDevice review. If we've waited a month to get a 2 pager, then I might share your disappointment.The only thing I can think that may be causing the delay is that preview Surface 3s had some power management and pen bugs that MS promised to address, and Surface 3 just saw a significant Firmware update this week. Technically speaking, the retail Surface 3 just became officially available, so I'm willing to wait for the actual OOBE review.
nerd1 - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
So I ended up having the SP3 in my hand, BEFORE reading *any* worthwhile review. It is downright absurd.... The power management issue is with connected stay, and shouldn't affect the battery test at all. I think anand just doesn't care too much for any non-apple products nowadays.dabk - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
What ultrabooks actually have dedicated graphics? I've been looking for a decent one for ages now.JarredWalton - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
ASUS has the UX302, Acer has had a couple versions of the M5 and now the V7-482PG -- I'm not sure if the V7 is technically an Ultrabook, but close enough. Lenovo also has the U430/U430P that I believe qualifies as an Ultrabook. There are some other "close enough" options including the ASUS UX51VZ, Razer Blade 14 (and the Pro), Gigabyte P34G/U24F, and I think Sony might have something with a dGPU as well. We could also toss in a few AMD-based offerings with APUs that can at least handle moderate gaming, but they're not generally as fast as discrete GPUs.Of the above, I'd say probably the Acer V7-482PG wins my pick for a current gaming Ultrabook. Dell's XPS 15 and the Razer Blade 14 are in the mix as well, if you don't mind going larger than 14", and the Blade 14 is clearly going to be faster than the others. Personally, I wish Razer had used a Maxwell 860M instead of the Kepler 870M, but whatever.
skiboysteve - Saturday, June 21, 2014 - link
Really informative comment. Thanks for posting this!dabk - Monday, June 23, 2014 - link
This is very nice, thank you.My main problem I guess is buying a computer for around/over $1000 which has a last generation graphics card though I have no idea if Acer is ever going to update to the 800 series. Would you know anything about this?
I would also point out that the current gen Lenovo U4XX no longer have dGPU and that Sony no longer has anything with a dGPU (if only the Vaio Z were still around).
The Blade and P34Gv2 are amazing though with prices to match.
quorm - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
Please review the Gigabyte P34G v2.Tikcus9666 - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
If the AMD A10 PRO - 7350B and others in this range had the graphics branded fire pro (will relevant features unlocked), I'd be interested to see if HP or Lenovo (or Dell if they ever made an AMD based system again) launched any entry level AMD based workstation laptop, at a fraction of the cost, as GPU features (granted not memory bandwidth) would be in-line with what is in this workstation, and i imagine the AMD A10 PRO - 7350B would be less expensive that the AMD FirePro M1400 (granted have not checked)artk2219 - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
I believe you mean the fx-7500:http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare_CPUs/AMD_AM735BEC...
I kid though, honestly the only difference would be in the drivers for the GPU since the hardware is literally identical, maybe the "pro" is better binned and has slightly less leakage and slightly better thermals? I would be curious to see how much of a premium they would charge for the "pro" over the FX-7500. I'm really looking forward to those benchies, it should perform about like an A10-4600M on the CPU side, maybe a bit faster thanks to steamroller. Graphically I honestly dont know, different architectures and such with GCN being much more efficient, but the VLIW4 based GPU in the A10 has a 132 MHZ max boost advantage. Either way, bringing the performance of an older 35 watt chip down to 19 watts is pretty nice. We will see how those ULV I3's and I5's fare in comparison.
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare_CPUs/AMD_AM4600DE...
JarredWalton - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
We actually asked AMD if the Pro APUs would have any OpenGL enhanced drivers, and the answer is sadly, "No, they will not." Maybe AMD will pursue that with a future part, but honestly: professional OpenGL drivers are a huge upsell on pricing, and the last thing AMD/NVIDIA want to do is to give people a $100 part that kills the sale of a $500+ part. I'd love to see some other competitor disrupt the industry, but so far it hasn't happened. Intel might be our best bet, as they have no existing market in professional graphics to protect, but first they need to create hardware that can handle the task.