CES 2008

HP announced a CES revamp of its ubersize desktop replacement late last week. Now that Intel has unveiled its new line of laptop chips, we bring you more details and hands-on observations of this high-end laptop.

While some PC makers endeavor to make ever smaller and lighter machines, HP gets credit for going the other way, creating one of the largest laptops ever seen--the massive HDX. With a huge 20-inch display and weighing more than 15 pounds, the HDX is a glorious example of conspicuous consumption. Even better, unlike Dell's similar XPS M2010, HP continues to update the system regularly--the latest version (still just called the HDX) is the third model we've seen since last spring.

The new HDX debuting at CES offers 512 MB Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTS graphics and the latest Intel Penryn processors, and offers a choice of either HD DVD or Blu-ray drives--although the recent Warner/Blu-ray deal makes that less exciting than it was a week or so ago.

Getting a chance to run some benchmarks on a Penryn HDX with the Nvidia GeForce 8800 just before CES, we didn't really see more than a modest performance boost from the new parts--but as with any prerelease hardware, new drivers are often required to unlock the real potential, so it may be a few days or weeks before useful updates are available.

The HDX may be so big that it's a laptop in name only, but the original model from last year was a constant conversation piece around the CNET office. Look for the revamped HDX to be available online sometime in January, starting at $1,999.

The HP Pavilion tx2000

(Credit: HP)

HP isn't waiting until the streaming masses descend on Las Vegas for CES to unveil new additions to the company's laptop lineup. Thursday, HP announced the HP Pavilion tx2000 and a slightly revamped version of the HP Pavilion HDX. If those sound familiar, that's because the convertible tablet tx2000 is an update of the tx1000 we first saw last year at CES 2007, and the new HDX has some updated parts, but exactly the same name as the 2007 version of the HDX, itself released just this past July. Overall, there are a handful of minor tweaks, but nothing radically new.

We liked the original tx1000, as it was one of the few consumer-focused tablet PCs we'd ever seen (most tablets are aimed at industrial or medical workers). The new version looks nearly identical from the outside, and inside it offers AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core CPUs, 802.11n Wi-Fi and adds Wacom digitizer support to the finger-sensitive 12.1-inch touch screen, something missing from the previous tx1000 model.

HP's updated 20-inch HDX

(Credit: HP)

We said the massive 20-inch HDX was a laptop in name only when we first saw it, and the same is true of the latest version. Despite some new hardware, HP isn't changing the name, but inside you'll find updated Intel Core 2 Duo processors and Nvidia's GeForce 8800M video card, along with HD DVD or Blu-ray optical drives (no combo drives yet). A previous update added a 1,920x1,200 display, which is an improvement over the original's 1,680x1,050 screen, and the four Altec Lansing speakers plus subwoofer remain the same.

The tx2000 starts at $1,299 and will be available online on January 8 and in retail outlets in March, while the updated HDX starts at $1,999 and should be available later in January.

We'll have more in-depth looks at both of these systems next week during CES.