For Pros Who Need Power, The ZBook Is Tops

Professional users will pay a premium for certain features such as a 
sharper-than-normal screen or workstation-class graphics. The HP 
ZBook 14 has these features, packed within a highly mobile design 
that’s thinner and lighter than we’ve yet seen on a system of this type. 
Add in performance, battery life, and a terrific display, and you have 
an Editors’ Choice–winning professional-grade mobile workstation.

DESIGN AND FEATURES

The ZBook 14 looks very much like a 14-inch ultrabook, and that’s the point. It 
measures about 0.83 by 13.5 by 9.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.88 pounds, so 
it will blend in with other business ultrabooks rather than stand out like 
previous chunkier mobile workstations we’ve seen. It’s also much lighter than 
full-size business desktop replacement laptops such as the Dell Latitude E6540.
Metal is the finish of choice on the ZBook 14’s top lid
and keyboard deck, but the bottom lid is polycarbonate.

This is one of the ZBook 14’s strengths: The light,
removable lid provides tool-less access to the internal
components, primarily the system’s hard drive bay,
memory slots, and slots for accessories such as the
optional WWAN/4G mobile broadband module, which
is the only way to get GPS functionality. (Dual-band
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 come
standard.) You can also remove the system’s 50Wh
battery, a feature that you won’t find in most ultrabooks
but that’s important if you regularly compute far away
from a power outlet or car charger.

The system’s components include an Intel
Core i7-4600U processor, 16GB of DDR3L memory (maxed
out), a 256GB SATA SSD (240GB usable), and an AMD
FirePro M4100 GPU. The system uses AMD Switchable
Graphics technology, so it can operate on the
processor’s HD Graphics 4400 integrated GPU when
you don’t need discrete-level performance.
One of the ZBook 14’s greatest strengths is its screen.
It’s a 14-inch 1,920-by-1,080 display, though some
competitors (such as the Retina display–
equipped 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro and
Toshiba Kirabook) feature higher-resolution
screens. Though the ZBook 14 is limited to
1080p, it trounces the other systems by
offering a matte-finish antiglare screen.


Users who need to perform scientific
tasks, do edits, and create content full
time may prefer the larger, more
pixel-dense screens for their day-today work,
but everyone else will be
fine with HP’s choice here. 
The ZBook 14 has ample external ports as well: four
USB 3.0 (one is a stay-awake charging port), a full-sized
DisplayPort, Ethernet (vital for business users), VGA,
Kensington lock, SmartCard and SD card slots, and a
docking port like those you’ll see on other HP EliteBook
laptops. DisplayPort enables multiple monitors
regardless, but the optional dock lets the ZBook 14
support up to five external displays.
The ZBook 14’s comfortable backlit chiclet-style
keyboard has a multitouch touchpad and a pointing
stick, each with its own set of physical mouse buttons
(though you can also use tap-to-click on the touchpad).
There’s no numeric keypad, however—if you need one,
look at larger laptops, such as HP’s ZBook 15 or the
Asus Zenbook VX51VZ-XB71.

Our review unit came with Windows 7 Professional
preinstalled, and includes discs for installing Windows
8 Pro. Because Windows 8 presently has few business
adherents, it’s not a huge deal that there’s no touch
screen, though you can configure your ZBook 14 with
one (something you can’t do with the ZBook 15). The
ZBook 14 comes with a three-year parts and
labor warranty.

PERFORMANCE

The ZBook 14 is, as you’d expect, quite
capable of creating multimedia
projects, but its best attribute is that
it is ISV certified and can work fine
as a supervisor’s machine in the
field. The 13-inch Apple MacBook
Pro was a smidge faster than the
ZBook 14 on Photoshop CS6 (4
minutes 27 seconds versus 6:28) and
Handbrake (1:09 versus 1:11), most
likely due to the MacBook’s slightly fasterclocked processor and speedier PCIe-based flash storage.

On 3D tasks, the ZBook 14 is closer to its peers. Its performance is on par with
that of the Dell Precision M4700 with its 2GB Nvidia Quadro K2000M GPU on
the 3DMark 11 test and our two game tests. True gaming cards, such as the
Nvidia GeForce GT 765M you’ll find in the Digital Storm Veloce, give the best
performance on 3D games and game tests, but the ZBook 14 is certainly capable
of displaying 3D CAD designs in real time as well as working in entertainment
development and testing.

One of the ZBook 14’s main strengths is its battery life. It lasted 6 hours 28
minutes on our battery rundown test, matching the larger Dell Precision M4700
to the minute. The ZBook 14’s big brother, the ZBook 15, only lasted 3:48.
If you’re looking for a nicely priced, full–Windows 7 mobile workstation and
value portability, the HP ZBook 14 should be at the top of your list. It has the
clear and glare-free studio-ready display that you’d expect from a professional
workstation, combined with an ultrabook’s portability and battery life. IT
serviceability is a big plus, especially if you have time-sensitive users who need
to get back to work right now. Any director, manager, or vice president in the
entertainment or engineering industries will be quite happy with the ZBook 14,
especially if they travel.