Laptop Thoughts: Sandy Bridge for HP EliteBook and ProBook Laptops

"Two weeks ago "consumers" got totally redesigned HP Pavilion dv and g-series laptops, leaving those poor guys in the conference room with nothing but their "old" Calpella-based machines and sad Excel spreadsheets. Well, it's their turn now alright -- HP's been stirring up brand new EliteBook and ProBooks for the guys and gals in suits (though, we're really of the mind that these laptops are for anyone looking for some tough and powerful hardware). All ten of the new machines (yep, 10!) have been given new metal designs, Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors, facial recognition software, and an easy-access latch to get to the hard drive and RAM."

Expect Sandy Bridge product announcements to dominate over the coming weeks, and HP is right there with a refresh of their EliteBook and ProBook "business" product lines. Of course, Sandy Bridge is the centerpiece, with Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, up to 8GB of RAM, easy SSD capability, USB 3.0, AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics, and some configurations claiming 32-hours of battery life using an "ultra capacity" configuration. From mainstream business users starting at $799 to users needing a "business rugged" solution, starting at $999, to more basic business-class machines starting at $579, HP is serious about office computers. Anyone care to guess what a laptop with 32-hours of battery life will cost?