Hewlett-Packard is launching a connected laptop that holds no data locally -- using technology from thin-client specialist Neoware, that it acquired only weeks ago.
"The HP Compaq 6720t mobile thin client is a laptop with no local data residing on it, so it is immune to data loss," said Andrew Gee, sales manager for HP remote client solutions.
The HP device could mark the coming of age of laptop thin clients, said Gee. Although Neoware announced one in 2006 and Wyse launched one in 2007, they have only had a small niche because they have needed special hardware and relied on connections that have not been reliable.
"This looks very much like a normal HP laptop, and is part of HP's standard offering, with a PC card reader, USB sockets and an expansion slot that can take 3G cards, as well as accessories such as extended batteries and port replicators," said Gee. The device won't work unless a network is present, but it has Wi-Fi and Ethernet, he said. "There is no trade-off from a customer point of view. Network connectivity is becoming more prevalent and cheaper."
The laptop runs embedded XP, has a 15.4-inch wide screen display and a solid-state disk, so it will run silently and have good battery life. It also has a spill-resistant keyboard, said Gee.
No price has been announced for the laptop yet, but it will be available in the second quarter of this year, said Gee.
HP also launched two thin clients for the desktop -- the t5730 and the t5730, which run XP embedded and Linux, and cost $810 and $615, respectively. Both have AMD chips with ATI graphics cards and include two-screen support: "We're seeing a lot of requirements around multimedia," said Gee. The Windows version has integrated Wi-Fi and can be mounted on the back of HP monitors to save desk space.
The products will not replace the existing HP and Neoware thin clients, said Gee; after all, product longevity is one of the promised benefits of thin-client computing.
