HP Announces: We Broke the 24 Hour Battery Life Barrier

We posted about this a couple of weeks or so ago, and now one seemed too excited back then, but HP is trumpeting it to the winds now. They are proudly proclaiming that they broke the 24 hour battery life barrier. Now before you get too excited make sure you understand that this is on the HP Elitebook 6930p, using a Illumi-Lite LED display, and Intel’s new SSD technology, and running Windows XP. That means this isn’t mainstream yet, but it is certainly a new benchmark that others will try to hit.

Here’s the fine print:

Requires separately purchased Ultra Capacity Battery and customer download of the latest Intel graphics driver and HP BIOS. Notebook must be configured with optional Intel 80 GB SSD drive and HP Illumi-Lite LED Display (planned to be available October 2008) and requires Microsoft Windows ® XP operating system. Battery life will vary depending on the product model, configuration, loaded applications, features, and power management settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will decrease with time and usage.

Look for this to be available to customers in October.

HP Breaks the 24-hour Battery Life Barrier

Customizable HP EliteBook delivers all-day power

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 8, 2008 — HP today announced an unprecedented milestone in mobile computing: up to 24 hours of continuous notebook operation on a single battery charge.

As measured by an industry-standard benchmark, the new HP EliteBook 6930p configured with an optional ultra-capacity battery delivered up to 24 hours of battery runtime.⁽¹⁾

““All-day computing has been the holy grail of notebook computing,” said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Notebook Global Business Unit, HP. ““With the HP EliteBook 6930p, customers no longer have to worry about their notebook battery running out before their work day is over.”

Designed and tested to last, HP batteries benefit from a combination of HP engineering and energy-efficient notebook components such as Intel ® solid-state hard drives (SSD) and mercury-free LED displays. For example, the highly efficient HP Illumi-Lite LED display boosts battery run time by up to 4 hours compared to traditional LCD displays, while the Intel SSD provides up to a 7 percent increase in battery life compared to traditional hard drives.

With up to 24 hours of battery life, business travelers can easily:

Use an HP EliteBook 6930p continuously on the world’s longest scheduled commercial airline flight — linking Newark Liberty International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport — approximately 18 hours, 40 minutes.

Take more than 10 trips on the EuroStar train between London and Paris — approximately 2 hours, 15 minutes each direction — before recharging the battery.

Travel as a passenger by car from Maine to Florida using a notebook during the entire journey.

Solid state for mobile professionals

Inspired by aircraft construction and designed for style-conscious mobile professionals, HP EliteBook notebooks feature the latest mobile technologies.

In October, customers will be able to purchase an HP EliteBook with the new Intel high-performance SSDs — HP is a launch customer for new Intel X25-M and X18-M Mainstream SATA SSDs.

In addition to helping achieve outstanding battery life, these new Intel SSDs provide greater durability and reliability as well as faster system responsiveness. Internal HP benchmarks show overall performance boosts of up to 57 percent on industry benchmarks, and data transfer rates almost six times faster than traditional hard disks.

““Intel architected its new line of high-performance solid-state drives specifically to bring a new level of performance and reliability to the computing platform and make significant impact to the way people use their PCs,” said Randy Wilhelm, vice president and general manager, NAND Products Group, Intel. ““The HP milestone is an example of the impact of this new level of performance that specifically delivers on lower power consumption for longer battery life.”

EliteBook 6930 for mobile professionals

The initial ENERGY STAR ®-qualified HP EliteBook 6930p configuration starts at only 4.7 pounds (2.1 kilograms). It features a 14.1-inch diagonal widescreen display and is available with an optional, mercury-free Illumi-Lite LED display.

The HP EliteBook 6930p is built for the corporate road warrior as it features a shock-resistant hard drive, enhanced display panel and spill-resistant keyboard to help defend data against bumps, drops and spills. It was designed to meet the tough MIL-STD 810F military-standard tests⁽²⁾ that measure levels of environmental reliability and operation at extreme temperatures, while withstanding vibration and high humidity.

The inner magnesium shell of the notebook’s HP DuraCase is equipped with a honeycomb pattern that is thermally bonded to anodized aluminum for a solid construction.

All HP notebooks are designed with the environment in mind, with energy-efficient features and select materials for easier recycling. For example, HP has set a goal to remove all mercury — a material commonly found in notebook screens — from its entire notebook line by the end of 2010.