This isn’t the first MacBook workstation shelf that I’ve come across, but the LapTuk Pro does look like a nice sleek option for elevating your display and hiding away your laptop.
The LapTuk Pro has two compartments allowing you to tuck away your laptop and your keyboard underneath. It’s also got a built-in 4-port USB 2.0 hub. You could also use it with an iMac, and use that middle shelf to store you iPad or drawing tablet. While the aesthetic will match many laptops and monitor combinations, it definitely looks like it’s made for MacBooks and Cinema/Thunderbolt Displays. Keep in mind that the product is described as “Aluminum Color” so it’s probably a powdercoated steel and not actual aluminum.
LapTuk Pro costs $94.99(USD) and there’s a simpler variation available that’s called LapTuk that only has a single compartment for $49.99.
AMD’s advantage these days most often rests in datacenters that thrive on the chip designer’s love of many-core processors, so it was almost surprising that the company brought its Piledriver architecture to the mainstream before turning to the server room. It’s closing that gap now that the Opteron 6300 is here. The sequel to the 6200 fits into the same sockets and consumes the same energy as its ancestor, but speeds ahead through Piledriver’s newer layout and instructions — if you believe AMD, as much as 24 percent faster in one performance test, 40 percent in performance per watt and (naturally) a better deal for the money than Intel’s Xeon. Whether that’s true or just marketing bluster, there’s a wide spread of chips that range from a quad-core, 3.5GHz example to a 16-core, 2.8GHz beast for massively parallel tasks. Cray, Dell, HP and others plan to boost their servers before long, although the surest proof of the 6300’s success from our perspective may be that everything in the bacrkoom runs just as smoothly as it did yesterday.
While my MacBook Pro 17 is off most days, and I’m used to having desktop PC at home to get stuff done, I could definitely use a nice stand to prop up my laptop when I do use it. The Twelve South HiRise for MacBook is a sleek, polished stand that *ahem* stands out in the crowd.
The HiRise will work for MacBooks from 11″ to 15″, so it wouldn’t work for my larger laptop. The stand is adjustable, allowing you to raise or lower your MacBook’s keyboard and display to match the height of your eyes. You can adjust the stand from as low as 2 inches up to 6 inches.
If you’re using an external monitor, the HiRise helps you get the MacBook’s screen to the same level as the Thunderbird display, so you can use them side-by-side without constantly having to move your head up and down. Still, I prefer something that hides away the laptop completely to make room for the external monitor, but for a dual-display setup, it’s kind of cool.
The HiRise sells for $69.99(USD) directly from Twelve South and is available now.
To be honest, I’m never satisfied with my workstation. Most of the time, I say to myself that it will do for now, but there’s always room for improvement. Check out the BendDesk, which merges a desk with a computer workstation in a most efficient manner.
The BendDesk is a working prototype that was designed and created as part of a research project by by Malte Weiss, Simon Voelker, Jan Borchers from the Media Computing Group, and Christine Sutter from the Department of Work and Cognitive Psychology of the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. The whole setup is multi-touch, and allows users to interact with the entire surface. It merges two separate vertical and horizontal work surfaces, enabling continuous interaction between both of them.
This is still a concept, and if you’ve got the money, you can get yourself a Microsoft Surface (PixelSense) Table, but honestly I’d rather like to have a functional touchscreen on a desk than on a coffee or dining table.
This summer HP has brought on a beast of a business machine in the Z1 all-in-one Workstation, complete with an upgradable set of innards and all-in-one style. The display is a massive LED-backlit 27-inch IPS panel at 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and inside you’ve got several configurations available straight from HP, each of them landing in at right around $2,700 USD in the end. You’ll be working with an Intel Core i3 processor, Windows 7 or Linux, and the whole machine is easier to modify than your sub sandwich – fabulous for the tech-friendly business owner.
Setup
This beast is heavier than you’ll ever want to wish to carry at a back-breaking 21.32 kg (47 lbs). You’ve got a beast of a display up on two different hinges, this allowing you to adjust both the angle and the height at which the display sits. Once you’ve got it where you want it, you’ll probably want to leave it alone, though, as the weight of this conglomeration of metal, plastic, and glass is not the easiest thing to move around.
The monitor sits on its two hinges mightily, both of them making sure that this heaving beast does not move even the slightest bit once its set in place. In addition to being able to set this computer up with its “traditional display” setup (on the stand it comes attached to) you can mount it to the wall with industry standard VESA mounts. This unit utilizes a 100×100 VESA mount pattern, making it easy to set up with 3rd party display gear.
HP has done an amazing job of making sure this computer both looks and feels fabulous with a black and silver metal setup both on front and back. While most workstation-aimed computers are made to sit out of the way or under a desk, this all-in-one unit looks great from all sides. The one odd point that appears off as far as aesthetics go is the power cord port which sits under the display – it feels like HP went so far to keep the front and the back clean that they nudged that rather unsightly cord to the underside.
Connectivity
That said, the rest of the computer is indeed rather clean looking. You’ve got your power button up top on the right, a system activity LED below that right near the eject button for your optical drive. The optical drive is always a Slot Load 8X SuperMulti DVDRW no matter what configuration you pick up, and it sits right above a 4-in-1 Media Card Reader as well. Next on the right is a standard Firewire 1394a port above two USB 3.0 ports and ports for Audio in and out. Each of these buttons and ports are super easy to access.
What’s not so easy to access – and perhaps rightfully so – are the ports below the monitor. This collection of ports includes the power port (as mentioned above), one standard DisplayPort in/out, digital audio via a S/PDIF port, audio in/out and subwoofer out, and a set of four more USB 2.0 ports. There’s also a hidden USB 2.0 port under the hood which HP has used up with a dongle that connects with a couple of packaged accessories: keyboard and a mouse – both of which are relatively high quality.
Software
You can work on this system with Windows 7 or HP provided Linux, the Linux builds including drivers from 32 and 64-bit OS versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 Workstation, RHEL 6 Workstation, and 64-bit SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 11 for your convenience. For Windows 7 you’ll either get 32-bit or 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Professional installed right out of the box.
With a computer that’s made to be updated in the hardware universe for years into the future, you’ll also want to be sure you’ve got the software to back it up as well. Windows 8 will of course be able to be loaded here, and with HP Performance Advisor included in the out-of-box experience, you’ll have HP’s own software wizard to help out out along the way as you continue to optimize your system towards its constant full potential.
This machine also includes HP Remote Graphics Software, (loaded standard with every new-age HP workstation,) an environment which allows you to access your setup remotely from other machines connected to the web with ease. Just as it was with each of the other HP workstations we’ve tested over the past year or so, this machine plays nicely with a vast array of machines outside its build – Directory Mode allow you to access workstations throughout your office, RGS functionality works with pixels (as opposed to data) to expand your workspace to a wide variety of 3rd party monitors automatically, and the whole RGS suite works on both Windows and Linux.
This device also comes with ISV certification so you know its up to snuff according to the Independent Software Vendor set of tests – standard stuff! Along those same lines is the fact that this machine is Energy Star certified with 90% efficient power supplies, and each HP Z1 comes with a warranty that includes limited 3-year parts, 3-year labor and 3-year onsite service extendable up to 5 years with HP Care Pack Services – business friendly indeed!
System – Hewlett-Packard HP Z1 Workstation
Manufacturer
Hewlett Packard
Product Type
Desktop
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 3561h
Processor
Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E31280 @ 3.50GHz
Processor ID
GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7
Processor Frequency
3.49 GHz
Processors
1
Threads
8
Cores
4
L1 Instruction Cache
32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache
32.0 KB
L2 Cache
256 KB
L3 Cache
8.00 MB
Memory
16.0 GB DDR3 SDRAM 666MHz
FSB
99.8 MHz
BIOS
Hewlett-Packard J52 v01.04
Above and below you’ll see some additional components listed as well as our standard Geekbench benchmark results. This machine does extremely well for itself, both in benchmarks and in practice with everyday light and heavyweight tasks like video processing. And again, you can switch essentially every piece out and make it more powerful as you deem necessary.
Benchmark Score – Hewlett-Packard HP Z1 Workstation
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
Integer
Processor integer performance
12316
15079
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
23630
Memory
Memory performance
8518
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
7951
Versatility
This machine is fabulous in its ability to be modified. Push the display down horizontal and lift the face up like the hood of a car and poof! Like magic, you’ve got a vast array of plug-n-play pieces at your fingertips. You can change out essentially anything under the hood at your leisure, and several expansion slots and bays are available for your DIY modifications. You’ve got one internal 3.5-inch bay OR 2x 2.5-inch bays, one MXM expansion slot for graphics (requiring NVIDIA custom cards, you may want to note) the base model uses Intel integrated graphics, but Quadro 500M, 1000M, 3000M and 4000M graphics cards are optional. You’ve also got 3 miniPCIe full-length expansion slots as well.
Four zones separate this device’s insides, with the 400w power supply, Quadro graphics card, CPU, and memory sitting behind fans and panels. Your power supply, hard drive chassis, and DVD/Blu-ray drive are easily removable, of course, and up to four 8GB full-sized memory DIMMs can be added as well.
Everything under the hood is able to be clipped in and out with ease using the simple to understand green arrows and hard-plastic holds. The hands-on video earlier in this review shows how simple it is to switch components in and out. Business owners pay attention here: upgrading your whole office will be so easy that you won’t need to hire Nick Burns to do it – for real!
Wrap-Up
This computer is a fabulous choice for an office in need of massive displays and Windows 7 (or Windows 8 later this year). You’ve got a perfectly solid build, HP has made the entire structure out of high-end components, and you’ll be able to modify this beast to your liking well into the future. As long as you’re not planning on lifting this monster up and lugging it around on a regular basis, you’ll be glad this was your business-oriented Windows choice for your next-generation standard workstation situation.
Video editors, web designers, graphic designers, and those working with massive files on the whole will find this machine quite satisfying.
Have a peek below at additional HP Z-series hands-on, review, and news posts we’ve published over the past two years, all the way back to the official launch of the series at an event we attended with HP!
It’s been almost exactly a year since we first heard about NVIDIA’s Maximus technology, and today the firm’s just announced an update. The second generation of the platform is now supported by Kepler-based GPUs. This time around computational tasks get ferried off to the SMX-streaming K20 GPU ($3,199 MSRP,) leaving the 3,840 x 2,160 resolution-supporting Quadro K5000 GPU ($2,249) to tackle the graphical functions. Want to know when you can get your hands on the goods? Well, NVIDIA says starting December, with the Quadro K5000 available as a standalone in October. Head down to the PR for the full spin and forthcoming workstation / OEM details.
Dell has outed a range of new Precision mobile workstations, billed as the world’s most powerful and yet delivering all-day battery life and slotting into the 17-inch segment which Apple recently abandoned. The new Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 pack 15- and 17-inch displays respectively and use Intel Core i5, i7 and Extreme Edition processors paired with a choice of NVIDIA Quadro K-series and AMD FirePro graphics. Down the line there’ll be optional multitouch, too.
The Precision M6700 uses its extra bulk to accommodate an optional AMD FirePro M6000 with PCIe x16 Gen 3 for even more graphical crunching abilities, while the special Covet Edition optionally adds in a Phoenix Red casing and edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass 2. Both models get the option of NVIDIA Optimus graphics, and RAID 0/1/5 storage with up to 1.8TB of total capacity (spread across three bays) in the M4700 and up to 2.8TB (spread across four bays) in the M6700.
Up to 32GB of 1600MHz DDR3 memory or 16GB of 1866MHz memory can be specified, as well as up to 512GB of SSD storage. Ports include two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and one eSATA / USB combo, along with VGA, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2. There’s also power for up to three simultaneous displays when undocked, or five when docked in a Latitude E-family station.
Screen options include a choice of WLED and IPS RBG LED displays, including some with more than 100 percent Adobe color gamut. The M6700 will also be offered with optional 10+ finger multitouch, though that SKU won’t arrive until a few months time. NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro can be specified for the M6700 as well.
The magnesium alloy and aluminum chassis meet MIL-STD 810G standards, and can be paired with an optional slice-battery for extended runtimes.
The Dell Precision M4700 is priced from $1,649, while the company is asking from $2,199 for the M6700 and from $3,579 for the M6700 Covet. Orders are being taken from today.
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