HP goes wooden with Envy at Computex 2019

Among HP's blizzard of announcements at Computex 2019, a handful stand out from the run-of-the-mill refreshes.

For sheer novelty, there's the new Wood series option for its Envy laptops and convertibles, with wood veneers on the palm rests and touchpad. They definitely add a little pizzazz to a metal body, though I'm not sure the touchpad is a good place for veneer. HP plans to start offering it in the fall but hasn't announced pricing.

And following up the splashy launch of the consumer Spectre Folio at the end of 2018, HP's adapted the leather-clad design for its Microsoft Surface-competitor business detachable, the Elite x2 G4. The x2 also incorporates HP's Sure View privacy screen technology.

The Elite x2 G4 is slated to ship in August starting at $1,500.

Less pretty but more practical, HP has updated its ZBook 15 and 17 mobile workstations with an option for a new 4K Dreamcolor display capable of the DCI-P3 gamut (Dreamcolor is HP's color-controlled display system and has traditionally been Adobe RGB) as well as a configuration option for the new Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics processor. While the new mobile processor is in designed to fit in thinner systems, hopefully it will allow big systems like these ZBooks to attain improved battery life.

And if you needed another sign that there's more enthusiasm for VR among commercial users than consumers, HP has rejiggered its VR backpack strategy: There's no more Omen X Compact Desktop. Instead HP is merging its commercial line with the consumer line, dispensing with the "Omen X" gaming branding and going with the "HP VR Backpack" name and a lower-key design.

It's been refreshed with slight improvements to the harness -- the battery packs sit higher now near the kidneys rather than on the hips -- and battery swapping is a little quicker. You can use it with the new HP Reverb VR headset.

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