April 09, 2007, 3:44 PM — Listen to the column HP's Small Business Products Good for Corporate, or visit our Podcast Center to hear more by James Gaskin.
On March 28th, HP released a batch of new products aimed specifically at small businesses with 1 to 99 employees. But the label on the ads doesn't keep smart enterprises from buying the products. Most interesting and appropriate are the new laptops and the new small server.
New laptop models 6515B (14.1 inch screen) and 6715B (15.4 inch screen) are identical AMD-based systems except for the screen size. In a nice marketing move, HP sells them both for the same starting price of $649, letting you choose the size you want on something other than price. And they have some features your executives will be clamoring for when they see the laptops.
Check this list: Full automatic disk encryption. Biometric Fingerprint sensor. WiFi, EVDO, and Bluetooth. Motion sensitive hard disk head parking. TPM Embedded Security chip version 1.2.
The biometric reader checks deeper than the surface of the finger and verifies it's reading living tissue. It said my finger was alive, but still didn't let me into the computer. This, along with the embedded wireless and hard disk motion sensor, have only been found on much more expensive models until now. Don't tell your mid-level executives the laptop price, and they'll guess it cost twice as much as it does. And of course it comes with a DVD drive and optional extra batteries so executives can watch movies during their flights after they lose at Solitaire.
Chances are you have a batch of HP servers already. The new HP ProLiant ML115 Server starts at $499 with an AMD Opteron processor, 512MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard disk in one of four non-hot plug slots. RAID software comes free, so adding more disks gives you great flexibility. No operating system comes at the entry level price, but HP will pre-install Windows, Red Hat, or Novell SuSE Linux for you. Best of all, HP's optional Lights-Out 100c Remote Management tools work on this server, so you don't have to let the branch office employees near the box.
Last but not least, the new ProCurve gigabit Ethernet hubs and switches dropped in price. Now you can see why HP's second in the switch business and growing fast. And you can see while paying small business prices for big company equipment.
