HP Unveils Ultralight 12.1-inch EliteBooks

At a hair over three pounds, HP's newest EliteBooks are ready to compete with the current crop of popular ultralights from other companies.

Apple has the MacBook Air, Lenovo has the X301, Toshiba has the Portege, and now, HP has the EliteBook 2530p. HP unveiled its latest ultralight notebook on Tuesday, along with its tablet equivalent, the EliteBook 2730p, and the chunker Compaq version, the 2230s.

The $1,499 notebook version comes close to Air territory with a weight of 3.19 pounds (to the Air’s 3.0), but has a screen size of only 12.1 inches, putting it more on par, from a size perspective, with Lenovo’s X200.  On the hardware side, though, it uses Intel’s newest Core 2 Duo ULV processor, the same one Lenovo just dropped into the X301 on Monday. It can be optioned with either a 1.8-inch hard drive that includes a built-in optical drive, or a more capacious 2.5-inch hard drive that nixes the optical drive, and the display is LED backlit for energy savings.

The pricier $1,670 EliteBook 2730p tablet features many of the same stats, but tips the scales a little more at 3.7 pounds. Its 12.1-inch screen can rotate flat, turning it into a pen-based tablet that’s 1.11 inches thick. HP also claims that it will deliver up to 12 hours of battery life when equipped with an optional ultraslim battery extension.

The Compaq 2230s sacrifices some weight saving materials and hits 4.07 pounds, but costs only $999 as a result, making it one of the least expensive 12.1-inch notebooks out there, even if it has no frills.

The new EliteBooks will arrive in early September, while the Compaq 2230s is available immediately.