New HP Dynamic Duo

By David Cohn

This year’s newest mobile workstations combine Intel’s new dual-coreCentrino CPU with the newest PCI Express graphics processors from ATIand NVIDIA. No sooner had we finished reviewing the latest systems fromDell (see “Power to Go” in the June 2006 issue of DE) than HP sent ustwo of their latest systems.

Like the two Dell notebook computers, the new HP nw8440 and nw9440 varya great deal in size, but have a lot in common. Both are powered byIntel’s T2600 Core Duo mobile CPU backed by the Intel 945M Expresschipset. The processors run at 2.16GHz and have a 2MB L2 cache and a667MHz front-side bus. And while both systems can accommodate up to 4GBof memory, our evaluation units each came with 2GB of DDR2 memoryinstalled as two 1GB memory cards.

Both systems are also housed in beautiful dark gray slim profile cases.But the nw9440 is much bigger, more than a pound heavier, and containsa number of more powerful components than its smaller sibling.HP nw8440

The HP nw8440 mobile workstation looks nearly identical to itspredecessor, the nw8240, which we reviewed last year (see DE July2005). The system measures 14.1 inches x 10.2 inches x 1.1 inches andweighs 6.2 pounds plus 12 ounces for its power supply. Raising the lidreveals a very responsive keyboard with 61 full-size keys and 23smaller function keys, a pointing stick, and a three-button touchpadwith two sets of buttons. Like other HP notebooks, the touchpad has adedicated scroll zone that duplicates the roller wheel on a mouse. Newon the nw8440 is a fingerprint sensor, located to the right, below thekeyboard.
Speakers to either side of the keyboard provide decent sound. An LEDadjacent to the silver power button above the keyboard glows green whenthe computer is turned on. Small buttons to its right activate HP’sQuick Launch application, toggle the built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetoothmodules, control presentation settings, and adjust speaker volume.Individual LEDs along the left-front edge of the computer show Wi-Fi,power, battery charging, and hard-drive activity, and remain visibleeven when the case is closed. A small ambient light sensor located atthe bottom of the LCD bezel adjusts the display for optimal viewing.

Like last year’s nw8240 and the Dell M65, the nw8440 has a beautiful15.4 in. LCD. HP offers three different displays ranging from 1280 x1024 to the 1920 x 1200 WUXGA display in our top-of-the-line model, butpowers all three with the same ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 graphicscontroller with 256MB of memory. The ATI controller can also power anexternal monitor at up to 2048 x 1536, both at 32-bit color. HPequipped our nw8440 with a 100GB 7200rpm hard drive.

One of the things I really like about HP notebook computers is thelogical and consistent layout of its expansion options, which arenearly identical on all nw-series computers. In addition, HP clearlyidentifies the location and purpose of each port both on the side ofthe computer and along the top edge around the keyboard. This makes itextremely easy to plug in accessories without having to tip the systemup on its edge.

On the right side are headphone and microphone jacks, two USB ports, amodular bay containing the optical drive, and a 9-pin serial port.Although HP offers numerous options, our evaluation came with an HPLightScribe DVD +/- RW double layer drive.

Along the left side of the case are the RJ45 network port, RJ11 modemport, S-video out, FireWire connector, another USB port, a single TypeI/II PC card slot, and a memory card reader that accepts both SecureDigital and Smart Cards.

The only sockets along the back of the nw8440 are a 15-pin VGAconnector and power input. The nw8440’s battery slides in from the rearof the system and extends across nearly the entire width of thecomputer. That lithium ion battery powered the system for nearly 3.5hours. HP also sells a $129 U-shaped 8-cell secondary travel batterythat provides nearly four additional hours of battery life, and awedge-shaped 12-cell ultra-capacity battery that adds up to 10additional hours. Both of these batteries clip to the bottom of thecomputer.

While very similar in appearance to the nw8440, the nw9440 issignificantly larger. At 15.5 in. x 10.8 in. x 1.3 in., it’s nearly 1.5inches longer and 0.5 in. wider. It’s also heavier, tipping the scalesat 7.5 pounds, plus 1.5 pounds for its larger power supply. When youraise the lid on the nw9440, you see immediately where the extra weightcomes from. The nw9440 has a full-size keyboard and a full-size numerickeypad. Like the nw8440, there’s also a pointing stick, a touchpad, anda fingerprint sensor, but on the nw9440, the sensor takes the place ofthe middle mouse button on the second set of touchpad buttons below thetouchpad.

Because the keyboard takes up nearly the entire length of the system,the speakers on the nw9440 are located along the front edge of thesystem, compromising sound quality just a bit. Otherwise, the controlsare nearly identical to those on the nw8440 except for the inclusion ofone additional button above the numeric keypad that immediately opensthe Windows Calculator.
While the numeric keypad is a nice bonus, the real reason for thelarger size of the nw9440 is the inclusion of a 17-inch wide-aspectdisplay. HP offers three different display options ranging from 1440 x900 to the 1920 x 1200 WUXGA display in our evaluation unit. In achange from past systems, however, HP has switched from ATI to theNVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M to power the display in this system. The FX1500M comes with 256MB of graphics memory and can also power anexternal monitor at up to 2048 x 1536. Like the nw8440, an ambientlight sensor can automatically adjust the LCD backlight for optimalviewing in different lighting conditions. While HP offers severaldifferent hard-drive options, our evaluation unit came with an 80GB7200rpm drive.

The expansion options on the nw9440 follow the same logical arrangementas found on other HP mobile workstations, but are just a bit differentfrom earlier systems. Along the right side of the case, you’ll stillfind headphone and microphone jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, and a modularbay containing the optical drive. As on the nw8440, our nw9440 cameequipped with an HP LightScribe DVD +/- RW double layer drive. The lastport on this side of the case, however, is the RJ45 network connector.HP no longer provides a 9-pin serial port.

Along the left side of the case are the power input connector, 15-pinVGA connector, S-video out, two more USB ports, FireWire connector, anda single Type I/II PC card slot. The front of the case houses a 7-in-1media reader that handles Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick,Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Dua, Smart Media, and xD memory cards.Unfortunately, it does not accept the Compact Flash cards used in mostdigital SLR cameras.

The only port on the back of the computer is the RJ11 modem. The restof the rear is dedicated to the battery and two large exhaust fangrilles. In spite of its larger size, the nw9440 uses the samebatteries as the nw8440, but the higher power demands of the nw9440reduces battery life by a full hour. Those needing extra compute timein the field or on long flights should definitely consider one of thesecondary travel batteries.

Both the nw9440 and nw8440 also use the same docking port options,which connect via a socket on the bottom of the computer. Optionsinclude a $159 standard docking station that adds more USB ports and aDVI connector and a $229 advanced docking station that adds extraexpansion options. HP backs both systems with a three-year warranty.

Both HP mobile workstations are certified by most major MCAD and DCCsoftware vendors and, as is our standard procedure, we loaded up all ofour CAD applications and ran both systems through their paces. We alsomeasured system performance using a variety of benchmarks, includingSPEC viewperf to measure graphics performance and the SPECapc benchmarkfor SolidWorks to gauge how the computer performs running a typicalMCAD application. While these are synthetic benchmarks, they do providea reliable indication of how well a system performs relative to anotherrunning the same application, and systems that do well in a particularaspect of the SPEC viewperf test should also do well running thecorresponding application.

While the nw8440 performed better than the fastest of last year’smobile workstations, and even outscored the Dell M65 on all of theviewperf tests, it didn’t come close to those of the nw9440, with itsmore powerful graphics chipset. On the four datasets mostrepresentative of CAD performance—those from CATIA, Pro/E, SolidWorks,and UGS—the HP nw9440 yielded scores of 37.32, 70.50, 41.72, and 52.53.But while those were quite good, they fell just short of the benchmarkset by the Dell M90, which even beat last year’s fastest workstation.

On the SPECapc benchmark, the results were more in line with what we’dexpect from a notebook computer when compared to a top-of-the-lineworkstation. But here the nw9440 proved quite impressive, approachingworkstation performance and even coming out on top in terms of puregraphics performance.

For comparison purposes, the charts (click here for an XLS) include previous resultsfrom several other systems, including the two Dell mobile workstationswe recently reviewed and the HP xw9300 workstation, which remains thefastest system we’ve tested to date.

The HP nw9440 easily surpasses the nw8440 in terms of performance, butat a significant price premium. Prices for the nw8440 start at $2,099while the configuration we tested currently sells for $3,449. But whileprices for the nw9440 start at $2,299 for a system equipped with lessmemory, a smaller hard drive, lower-resolution graphics, and a slowerCPU, as equipped our evaluation unit would have set us back $3,699.

One thing is certain. The latest mobile workstations truly deliverperformance that supports their workstation pedigree. And for thoselooking for great performance in a well-designed system that’s easy totake with you, there are now lots of excellent choices from two majormanufacturers.

David Cohn is a computer consultant and technical writer based inBellingham, WA. He’s a Contributing Editor to Desktop Engineering, theEditor-in-Chief of Engineering Automation Report and CADCAMNet published by Cyon Research, and the author of more than a dozen books. You can contact David through his website or click here to send him an e-mail about this article.

Hewlett-Packard
Palo Alto, CA

HP Compaq nw8440

> Price: $3,449 as tested ($2,099 base price)
> Size: 14.1 in. x 10.4 in. x 1.1 in. (WxDxH) notebook
> Weight: 6.2 pounds plus power supply (depending on configuration)
> CPU: 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo Centrino w/2MB L2 cache
> Memory: 2GB (4GB max)
> Graphics: ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 PCI Express w/256MB memory
> LCD: 15.4 in. WUXGA 1920 x 1200
> Hard Disk: 100GB, 7200rpm ATA
> Floppy: none
> Optical: LightScribe DVD+/-RW with Double Layer
> Audio: microphone and headphone jacks, built-in microphone and speakers
> Network: integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 102.11 b/g wireless LAN, Bluetooth
> Modem: 56K V.92 Modem
> Other: One 9-pin serial, three USB 2.0, one mini IEEE 1394FireWire, S-Video out,
    SD/SC card reader, one Type I/II PC Card slot,15-pin VGA
> Keyboard: integrated 84-key keyboard
> Pointing device: integrated 3-button touchpad and pointing stick, fingerprint reader



HP Compaq nw9440

> Price: $3,699 as tested ($2,299 base price)
> Size: 15.5 in. x 10.8 in. x 1.3 in. (WxDxH) notebook
> Weight: 7.5 pounds plus power supply (depending on configuration)
> CPU: 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo Centrino with/2MB L2 cache
> Memory: 2GB (4GB max)
> Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M PCI Express with/256MB memory
> LCD: 17.0 in. WUXGA 1920 x 1200
> Hard Disk: 80GB, 7200rpm ATA
> Floppy: none
> Optical: LightScribe DVD+/-RW with Double Layer
> Audio: microphone and headphone jacks, built-in microphone and speakers
> Network: integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 102.11 b/g wireless LAN, Bluetooth
> Modem: 56K V.92 Modem
> Other: four USB 2.0, one mini IEEE 1394 FireWire, S-Video out, 7-in-1 card reader
    (SD, MS/Pro, MMC, SM, XD), one Type I/II PC Card slot, 15-pin VGA
> Keyboard: integrated 101-key keyboard including numeric keypad
> Pointing device: integrated 3-button touchpad and pointing stick, fingerprint reader