Pro/EliteBooks with Carrizo

Hi,

does anyone have any information about probooks or elitebooks with Carrizo APU? I'm looking forward to buy one, if in good price and with good screen, but there are almost any notebooks with carrizo on a market.

 

AMD just released Carrizo Pro APUs today or yesterday so professional notebooks may start appearing soon.

 

Ok, HP has shown new EB 7x5 G3 and they look really interesting: http://anandtech.com/show/9674/hp-announces-new-elitebook-with-amd-pro-aseries-apus

 

If you look on www.shop.amd.com you'll see that they're available for pre order already from CDW and PC Connection websites. There's very little information in the specifications but they are the Smart Buy models, available with Windows 7 Pro, or 10 Pro. The 12.5", 14" and 15.6" models are shown and with A12, and the lower level APUs. Prices are $1,000 and up so they're quite expensive, more so than when the Kaveri EliteBooks released last year.

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The Elitebook 725 G3, Elitebook 745 G3, Elitebook 755 G3 are now also listed on HP.com (work or business). There is a caveat: "Product not carried in stock and will have a shipping lead time. Add to Cart for details."

Differences I found between the two Elitebook 7 55 models with A12-8800B: one has Windows 7 Pro 64 and an FHD SVA anti-glare non-touch screen, and the other has Windows 10 Pro.64 and an FHD SVA anti-glare touch screen. (Both come with 256GB SSD, and with only one of the two SODIMM slots filled.)

The specs of the two Elitebook 7 45 models with A12-8800B seem to differ only in operating system at this time: the screen specs are the same FHD UWVA anti-glare, they do not mention touch. The specs say there is a difference in weight between non-touch and touch models, so maybe they differ similarly to the 755 models and the specs are incomplete.

The specs of the one Elitebook 7 25 model with A12-8800B has Windows 7 with the FHD UWVA anti-glare screen, so it is presumably non-touch.

(I think the SVA standard viewing angle are likely to be TN LCDs;
and the UWVA ultra-wide viewing angle may well be an IPS LCD.
All these top A12-8800B models have FHD 1920×1080 pixel LCDs.)

 

I really want to buy another EliteBook 725 (last year I purchased and sold the Kaveri 725) as it has everything I want and need from a portable laptop. Carrizo EliteBooks seemed to have improved quite a bit in terms of battery life alone. I do think this is due to the SoC design and integration of the south bridge into the APU.

I've been researching the 725 G3 model with A12-8800B, particularly the one with the FHD UWVA display. Yesterday I tried inquiring to HP Chat about when the FHD UWVA touch screen option will be available. I also asked about the optional 256 GB M.2 PCIe SSD (725 G3 pdf states "planned to be available December 2015") and if they have any current update on its availability as well. The representative could not confirm either of these two concerns of mine but did record them and would send this over to their engineering and marketing teams. I'm hoping that this will help, even a little, in speeding up those two upgrades so that they release a Smart Buy model with these two options. That would be the model I would buy for sure!

Call me crazy but I want the FHD UWVA touch screen and a true PCIe M.2 SSD, not just SATA M.2 SSD! I find touch handy, pun intended, at times and a PCIe M.2 SSD is much more future proof and faster than SATA.

Lastly, as it turns out the 256 GB M.2 SATA MLC SE-SSD equipped in some of these EliteBooks are actually SanDisk X300(s) SSDs. These look identical to the consumer Extreme Pro except with onboard hardware encryption from what I understand. Those are excellent drives so that's definitely a great thing for an OEM SSD, and its compatible with SanDisk SSD Dashboard software.

I want to buy a Carrizo EliteBook 725 G3 ASAP so I'm keeping an eye out for those last two upgrade options I'm highly interested in. C'mon HP, just do it already!

 

TechRadar has an upbeat review of an Elitebook 745 G3 (configured with A12-8800B, SVA FHD display, M.2 SATA III SSD), highlighting benefits compared to the Elitebook Folio 1020, Latitude E7450, and ThinkPad T450s. The reviewer even preferred the keyboard stroke over the Thinkpad, though reported a few more typos on the G/H/B keys which have cutouts for the trackpoint.

Maybe the first time I've read a reviewer miss a touch screen.

 

I read that 745 G3 review a couple days ago, it was very positive to say the least. I'm still keeping an eye out for the 15W A12-8800B 725 G3 but a user over semiaccurate already purchased the exact model I was considering so that gave me some better insight into it. Right now with holiday spending going on, I'm finding it hard to justify the $1k+ expenditure so I'll be checking for any price drops.

My next best bet is going to be a 35W A12-8800B HP EliteDesk 705 G2 Desktop Mini PC for ~$640. Granted it's not a laptop, but its half the cost and hopefully actually 35W as stated by HP configuration page for the 705 G2 DM! I've looked over the maintenance manual over at HP support for pictures of the internals and the heatsink and cooling fan appear much larger than anything out of a laptop. The fan in the 705 G2 DM looks even bigger than the 35W Lenovo IdeaPad Y700-15ACZ! Another dead giveaway that's its actually a 35W Carrizo is the fact that it comes with a 65W PSU versus the 45W PSU for most 15W configs!




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I snipped these from the HP Hardware Reference Guide and the Maintenance and Service Guide. Here are my concerns, you guys have any input?

Two different Carrizo motherboards = Any ideas why?
DisplayPorts = 4K, FreeSync enabled?
65W PSU (vs 45W PSU from 15W Carrizo) = 35W Carrizo clue?
Very large fan and heatsink = 35W Carrizo clue?
HP configuration page states "35W" = 35W Carrizo clue?
35W Carrizo? = 2133 MHz RAM?
M.2 NVME/PCIe SSD port = M.2 NVME/PCIe SSD?

Carrizo board 1


Carrizo board 2


Large fan


Large fan again


Intel only HDD fan (for 65W Intel models maybe?)


Intel only HDD fan again (for 65W Intel models maybe?)


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Looks like Brinks (secure logistics) was involved in the beta-testing, helping fine-tune HP Elitebooks with AMD APUs before launch last summer.

[I wonder if Brinks was involved in security design, or if they have their own security firmware.]

 

Some of the statements being said in that video are simply hilarious. It's nice to see these AMD EliteBooks being used by major players but the marketing made me chuckle a bit.

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An Elitebook 745 with 2560×1440 IPS display and 256GB SSD was reviewed and
is currently listed at #9 in the NotebookCheck Top 10 Premium Office/Business Notebook list.

(A less expensive version with the 1920×1080 TN display and 256GB SSD was also reviewed and
found to have better battery life, in exchange for a less colorful screen with 200Hz PWM flicker below 90% brightness.)

 

(BTW, regarding that Elitedesk 705 G2 mini, it looks like some variants of the predecessor Elitedesk 705 G1 mini sold in large numbers last summer. That might be an indication that some largish enterprises evaluated the Kaveri version and liked it.)

 

That is fantastic! I'm glad to see this HP Carrizo laptop getting some recognition it deserves. Those optional IPS and FHD displays are most needed on starving AMD laptops. In real world use, I'm sure many users wouldn't be able to distinguish an Intel EliteBook from an AMD EliteBook. I think AMD should start putting some restrictions on OEMs in order to produce more attractive AMD based units. Things like mandatory dual-channel RAM, user accessible cTDP, IPS displays, backlit keyboards, Radeon gamer "edition" models, costs of around $600-800, user customization like Motorola Moto Maker but for laptops, higher quality webcams (4k quality on smartphones is standard now), and a Google Android like software program where AMD hardware gets top priority. AMD needs to play to their strengths and with Zen around the corner there needs to be a departure from the old model of just settling for cheap, bottom of the barrel laptops these OEMs have decided to produce for the last decade. AMD needs to step in a dictate how their products are perceived and not let OEMs tarnish the quality of their product by producing craptops. HP is doing it to a certain extent but more needs to be done.

These little PCs are awesome. I still would like to try one but the lowest price I've been able to find is around $600. Still not bad if really 35W Carrizo with 3 displays from a small form factor, dual storage, and easily serviceable. I keep checking stock and they do move and sell but price hasn't dropped much, yet.

 

Forbes has review of the Elitebook 725 G3 by an analyst (with no equity in HP or AMD) who generally liked using it, praised its ethernet port, and just wished for more digital video outputs (for more external screens, sacrificing analog VGA) and a larger touchpad.

 

Anyone have any feedback on these 1 year and a half later? I've seen the 725 g3 a12-8800b sell highly discounted for 500$ (USD). I'm looking to add in an m.2 ssd and dual boot linux if possible.

I already have an elitebook 820 g1 (i5-4200u) and it's one of the best laptops I've ever had. I love the legacy connectors like VGA and ethernet. They are so easy to open up, upgrade and clean out the dust.