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HP's EliteBook 800 G6 Notebook Series Adds Convenience, Privacy Features (pcworld.com)

HP today announced its latest Elitebook 800 G6 line of business notebooks, boasting additional privacy options and a security software agent that HP says will make them more capable against zero-day attacks. From a report: HP's new models -- the EliteBook 830 G6, HP EliteBook 840 G6, and HP EliteBook 850 G6, plus the HP EliteBook x360 830 G6 -- offer up to 18 hours of battery life, a behind-the-glass privacy shutter, and options for a 1,000-nit screen that can be used outdoors. HP said it will ship most of the models in May, while the x360 model is expected to ship in June. Prices have not been announced. According to specifications provided to PCWorld, all four notebooks will share common Core i5-8265U and Core i7-8565 Whiskey Lake processors from Intel, while the Elitebook 830 G6 and EliteBook x360 830 G6 will offer a Core i3-8145U option as well. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 also appear for the first time in this generation, HP said.

The members of the EliteBook lineup differ by screen size. The EliteBook 830 G6 and x360 830 G6 offer 13.3-inch displays. The 840 G6 is a 14-inch laptop, and the 850 G6 is a 15-inch machine. As many business notebooks do, HP has innovated on two axes: improving the hardware, as well as building in additional software and services. The company seems especially proud of the latter, specifically what it calls Sure Sense. The technology will be included on all of the newly announced EliteBook PCs. With Sure Sense, the company believes the lightweight software agent can react in real time to unknown threats, intelligently deciding whether they represent a risk to the system. The idea, HP said, is to provide an additional layer of security against so-called "zero-day" attacks that may come out of the blue and install ransomware or worse on corporate machines.

53 comments

  1. including slashvertisements! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    what a wonderful world

    1. Re: including slashvertisements! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bought in BizX bucks!

      At least they aren't being paid to libel Ajit Pai every other story this week. I love the character assassination SEO. Use "Ajit Pai" twice per sentence with some negative qualifier. It's like sticking the prybar up Google's stateful bum.

  2. God... the slashvertisement BS hour continues... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "and a security software agent that HP says will make them more capable against zero-day attacks.... that it opens them up to..." FTFY

  3. and payola to sucker sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that "cover" it.

  4. I like the option for a super bright screen by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Never really thought about it before, but a very bright screen meant for outdoor use is a great niche to produce a laptop for.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re: I like the option for a super bright screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure sense was demoed a long time ago. Seems odd to wait to release software.

  5. Privacy != Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If HP cared about privacy, they would go to bat for their customers against Microsoft's forced telemetry, advertising, and data profiling in Windows 10.

    They don't.

    This is lip service.

    1. Re:Privacy != Windows 10 by Penguinisto · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If HP cared about privacy, they would go to bat for their customers against Microsoft's forced telemetry, advertising, and data profiling in Windows 10.

      If they really cared about privacy, they'd offer a barebones version of this model that you can put your own OS on, with downloadable modules for whatever hardware that the mainline RH/Debian distros don't already support. *shrug*

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    2. Re: Privacy != Windows 10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If HP cared about privacy, they would go to bat for their customers against Microsoft's forced telemetry, advertising, and data profiling in Windows 10.

      If they really cared about privacy, they'd offer a barebones version of this model that you can put your own OS on, with downloadable modules for whatever hardware that the mainline RH/Debian distros don't already support. *shrug* ... in rats

    3. Re:Privacy != Windows 10 by planarian · · Score: 0

      HP does offer elitebooks without Windows pre-installed, at least they did last year when I picked up an 850 G5 with DOS only and no Windows. In previous years they also offered SUSE Linux pre-installed. I'm typing this on an elitebook running opensuse tumbleweed. Everything worked out of the box.

  6. Slashvertisement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Next story, please.

  7. what's the difference? by mschaffer · · Score: 1

    What's the difference between this laptop any any other Windows laptop running Bromium's secure platform and a $1. webcam cover?

    1. Re:what's the difference? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HP paid Slashdot to shill this one for them.

  8. Sure Sense? by boristdog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, how long until it's discovered that SureSense has an administrative back door password that is the same on every machine?

  9. No Windows OS installed by grumpy-cowboy · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's the only Privacy feature I need when I buy a new computer.

    --
    Will $CURRENT_YEAR be the year of the Linux Desktop?
  10. Umm, okay... by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    So, we have a (relatively) cheap webcam cover gimmick, a bunch of additional software that threatens to add more bloat than usefulness**, and one neat thing (the bright-enough-to-read-outdoors bit.)

    ** Lets face it - unless you're upper tech/R&D or upper management/CxO for a Fortune 50 corp or you work for a DoD contractor? Who really cares what someone else can sort-of-maybe see on your laptop screen? As long as you practice basic security hygiene, it's going to be pretty worthless to the casual shoulder-surfer, and most of us don't rate a dedicated super-spy eyeballing over our shoulder while trying to glean access to sensitive tech...

    I get it, sometimes shoulder-surfing can get some pretty neat access to stuff, but people who open/display sensitive crap like that in public aren't going to have the presence of mind to make sure their electro-shutter-privacy-thingy is on.

    I dunno - maybe it's just me, but the whole thing reeks of gimmicks that are either physical, or that add bloatware drivers to an OS ('doze) with more than enough stuff to disable/remove as it is (save for the screen brightness - that's kinda cool.)

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    1. Re:Umm, okay... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?

      WTF? You may as well complain to a goat as a cloud.

  11. WTF Editors? How much did they pay? by apoc.famine · · Score: 4, Funny

    And for a limited time, slashdotters can get an extra 10% off, or a free external hard drive. Just use the code SLASHVERTIZEMENT at checkout!

    --
    Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    1. Re:WTF Editors? How much did they pay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No shit! It's just another damned x86 based laptop with HP home-brew of anti-malware software installed. Why is this even fucking new-worthy!!!??

    2. Re:WTF Editors? How much did they pay? by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      No one in their right mind would pay for advertisements disguised as articles *here*.

  12. Ugh.. HP? by alaskana98 · · Score: 2

    All HP laptops that I've come across have been utter crap. At least on these models, the internal GPU chips fail due to crap internal airflow designs and crap thermal pads. I've revived a few of them but they almost always die again even after re-pasting and blowing the suckers out (after a complete disassembly). Even the HP printers I've owned have all died early. The only decent HP product I own is a Proliant G7 server, but that *should* be good given its target use and audience. These laptops are utterly boring, the only thing that interests me is the ability to use the screens outdoors, but that is such a seldom use-case that I wouldn't buy a laptop just for that. Next.

    1. Re:Ugh.. HP? by alaskana98 · · Score: 1

      Edit: By 'these models' I mean the ones I've owned in the past, not the ones discussed in this post.

    2. Re: Ugh.. HP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? My HP Pavillion laptop with i7 and nVidia Geforce uses liquid filled copper heat pipes. Never had a problem even when mining cryptocurrency using both CPU and GPU simultaneously. The battery that came with it was total garbage though. Rather than RMAing it I replaced it with a LiPo and it's been rock solid ever since. I was getting random hangs before that due to voltage dropping under load. Unfortunately removing it and using a voltmeter won't tell you much. If you have Ubuntu 18.04 try running inxi -Bxx (inxi in 16.04 doesn't show extra voltage info.)

      Oh, and 9-11 was a controlled demolition. That's a scientific fact not a theory. AE911Truth Org

    3. Re:Ugh.. HP? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      My job bought me a HP Spectre, maxed out with 32gb of ram and a 4k display. It died in two months. During compiles I had to raise it off the desk or the cpu would hit 100C!

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    4. Re:Ugh.. HP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I loathe the trackpad on Lenovo's, and Dell is meh. HP is by far the best when it comes to non-Apple laptops that you can get used for a decent price.

    5. Re:Ugh.. HP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a HP Pavilion dv7 from like 2010. Good airflow. Still running. (Knock on Wood. I really don't want Win10.) Hitting high temps of 74C (discrete graphics) & 78C (CPU cores & package) as measured with CPUID Hardware Monitor after running Guild Wars 2 for hours.

      The trick was HP CoolSense, and switching to "Coolest Mode" rather than Performance Optimized or Quietest Modes. Unfortunately it switches back every so often. ("Windows"...)

      Now granted, modern chips run hotter. Still, nice job HP.

      Oh, and this was the computer that arrived with a problematic harddrive. Win7 swore everything was perfect. Linux showed 10k errors in the SMART log and large chunks unreadable with media errors. HP was nice enough to send me a replacement, and let me replace it myself. Sweet of them.

    6. Re: Ugh.. HP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really? My HP Pavillion laptop with i7 and nVidia Geforce uses liquid filled copper heat pipes. Never had a problem even when mining cryptocurrency using both CPU and GPU simultaneously. The battery that came with it was total garbage though. Rather than RMAing it I replaced it with a LiPo and it's been rock solid ever since. I was getting random hangs before that due to voltage dropping under load. Unfortunately removing it and using a voltmeter won't tell you much. If you have Ubuntu 18.04 try running inxi -Bxx (inxi in 16.04 doesn't show extra voltage info.)

      Oh, and 9-11 was a controlled demolition. That's a scientific fact not a theory. AE911Truth Org

      America was fatally 0wned when it turned out that Bin Laden had a copy of Loose Change on his PC when he was shot. You might as well just start your next civil war early, because there's no recovering from that.

  13. Advertising for HP? smdh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why are you guys providing free (or is it?) advertisements for HP products? There's absolutely nothing innovative, interesting, or even controversial about this product. This is not news-worthy. Post news, not this drivel. Or are you that strapped for content?

    1. Re:Advertising for HP? smdh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The new Slashdot: News for shills, stuff that doesn't matter.

  14. AMD Ryzen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Make it a Ryzen CPU + Vega GPU and have it shipped without Winblows and you got a customer.

  15. Re: God... the slashvertisement BS hour continues. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Believe an advertisement over your very own eyes.

  16. Another component to uninstall. by TheHawke · · Score: 1

    That thing will not be used by any of my clients if IT has any say in the matter.

    --
    First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
  17. Wow I am excited for HP Elitebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It sounds like a great value proposition for both business and home and I cant wait to buy one and recommend it to my friends and colleagues and spam my affilliate links on slash dut

  18. These mods are corrupt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whoever is modding this topic is heavily slanted, downvoting any criticism towards the obvious ad-like nature of this post. How about you stop modding down legitimate criticism and go find some news worth posting?

  19. Wow, ads are getting blatant by Wulf2k · · Score: 1

    Where's the story here?

    Am I wrong in assuming this article boils down to "Next model HP laptop will include standard hardware, and some software that will be immediately wiped by everyone who purchases it"?

    1. Re:Wow, ads are getting blatant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what I thought back in March when Slashdot ran the headline "Apple Announces 10.5-inch iPad Air and Refreshed iPad Mini", but there wasn't a single comment about it being a blatant advertisement even though it reads like an ad too:

      The new iPad mini starts at $399 for the Wi-Fi model and $529 for the variant that includes cellular support. The new iPad Air starts at $499 for Wi-Fi, and $629 for Wi-Fi and cellular model.

      Why is it an ad when it's about HP but it's not an ad when it's about Apple? Legitimate question looking for a legitimate answer.

    2. Re:Wow, ads are getting blatant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I definitely agree that all of these posts, be it about HP or Apple, are blatant advertisements, not news. I hope others see the light, too. But how can they when the mods downvote any critical comments of these posts? Slashdot is dyin'.

  20. Low screen res, storage by Vadim+Makarov · · Score: 1

    No option for a high-res screen, no option for larger than 1 TB SSD. Apple was there 7 years ago. Next.

    --
    17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
  21. Hey HP You Wanna Make a Product? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about instead of infesting your Asian made Mobo, with Israeli designed closed source AMT/ME/Etc backfoored Intel CPUs, and third party OEM'd Anti-Ware, and that total fuckbox of closed source NSA_KEY exploit and spyware known as MICROSOFT WINDOWS.... lol.

    Instead you startup an opensource openly audited open Chip Fabrication Plant run by the community, to print opensource openly audited community Chips, assemble it all into an opensource audited laptop, load it with opensource Unix.

    Millions of people will pay $2500 for that,
    and you get to reap the PR reward for being first to do it.

    But no, you're a douchebag company that doesn't have the BALLS to do it.

    So we're doing it ourselves, now with moar cryptocurrency and libertarian, lol.

    And now, you can Fuck off and Die ;)

    1. Re:Hey HP You Wanna Make a Product? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Millions of people will pay $2500 for that,

      I sincerely doubt that. Especially if it doesn't have an Apple logo on it.

  22. Never buy HP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for the ad, slashdot. I will never buy HP again after the last machine was broken in so many ways (bad keyboard, bad accelerometer, bad battery life, and unusable 3D graphics). I guess that as long as you only run Windows on them, they may work.

  23. ditto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Our organization will not purchase any more HP laptops.

  24. Obligatory Windows 'Security' comment. by AUX4Ever · · Score: 1

    Obligatory, "How can it be secure/private/etc. when it runs Windows 10" comment that I know will be downvoted....

    1. Re:Obligatory Windows 'Security' comment. by mschaffer · · Score: 1

      Not even it if had APK?

  25. Bull. Give me some decent AMD laptops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We all know that eventually Intel will fix Meltdown, etc, and then suddenly exploits will appear and Microsoft will declare it can't support the old Intel CPUs anymore and you have to buy a new Windows box (and MS license). Screw that con job. Give me a decent Ryzen configuration.

  26. Bloatware by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    two axes: improving the hardware, as well as building in additional software and services. The company seems especially proud of the latter, specifically what it calls Sure Sense

    They are proud of their bloatware

    1. Re:Bloatware by mschaffer · · Score: 1

      Did not not get the part about the two axes? Sure, anyone can add bloatware to Windows, but I think they are hinting that they have added bloatware to the hardware as well.

  27. Marketing Wank by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love that this "professional" laptop's marketing department is using the image of some sticky-finger'd woman flicking through photos on a touchscreen as a way to sell the product. I'm so sick of this stupid marketing angle.

  28. u don't trust g-d's chosen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    u r hitler!

  29. hp software by sad_ · · Score: 1

    are we really going to put our trust in HP written software?
    your only hope is that it is removable, as long as it's not something that is running on a chip like the T2 'security' cpu from Apple.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.