Z workstation series packs in some neat conveniences, including internal USB ports
ANAHEIM, CA (SIGGRAPH 2013) July 22, 2013 - You might think all workstations are more or less the same. HP is trying to convince me otherwise. In a private meeting, they are unveiling their new Z workstations. Starting at $999 for the quad-core configuration, it's priced and targeted for the AutoCAD and SolidWorks user.
"It's very quiet," they say.
Is that why it's called the Z? ZZZ for sleeping. Ha ha. They laugh politely. I think companies as trained to tolerate lame editor jokes.
Settling down to the serious business of trying to distinguish one black box from another, I note what is actually new and different.
Several convenience features
- Handles built in, front and back. Not big stick-out look-at-me handles, but just enough of a lip in the back to not require a fingernail grip and a very discreet ergonomic handle on the front near the optical bay.
- Green touch points inside the units (exposed when you pop off the cover) that will let you access internal devices without any tools.
- It can power up to 3 displays off the integrted graphics on the eprocessor, and up to 6 displays off the two video boards.
- Drive bays for 2.5 inch drives, a popular size for SSDs. So you won't need an adaptor.
- In the front, one is a charging port, something laptops have had for some time, and now HP recognizes that workstation users also have smart phones that need charging.
And last but not least:
- 14 USB ports! Some USB ports are internal. Isn't that perfect for hiding that annoying hardware dongle some software vendors insist you have! Why hasn't someone thought of this before? This by itself may be worth the price of admission for a CAD manager sick of dongles gone missing, or getting knocked off the back, or running out of USB ports. Dongle management -- that should not even exist on a job description. Here's HP to provide a solution.
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