The HP EliteBook 8730w laptop. All images courtesy of Bryan Hoff.

The HP EliteBook 8730w may be big and may weigh more than your average laptop, but that's the point. This is not a laptop meant for word processing, sending emails and surfing the web (that would just be plain overkill). It's a mobile workstation, equipped with an Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor Q9300 (2.5GHz, 6MB L2 cache, 1333MHz Front Side Bus), 4GB RAM, 250GB SATA 2 7200RPM hard drive and an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M video card with 1GB video memory and it's the most power-packed laptop I've ever laid my hands on.

Where Do You Get Those Wonderful Toys?
I'll be honest with you -- I'm a technology and gadget freak. So when I saw all the bells and whistles on the 8730w, I was duly impressed. The first thing I noticed was the full numeric keypad. If you work with such software as Autodesk's Toxik and spend time on location, you're going to be set. No pun intended. Of course, the DreamColor LCD and color management software are icing on the cake. However, the thing that initially caught my attention the most was the built-in fingerprint scanner. Cool little extras will do that for me. Connection-wise, the system also includes a webcam, HDMI and VGA output, a memory card reader, four USB ports, an E-SATA port, Firewire 1394a, Express Card/54 slot, Ethernet and even a modem port, in case you're working in the middle of nowhere.

As if that wasn't enough, it has a touch pad, pointing stick and two sets of mouse buttons, including middle mouse buttons for Max, Maya and other mouse-centric applications. In case you were wondering, the system is very solid and well-built, with brushed aluminum adorning the top of the case. Accents like a touch-sensitive control bar for Wi-Fi, volume and calculator are a nice finishing touch.

[Figure 1] The HP Mobile Display Assistant with Native color space. 

Color Correction
In 2006, DreamWorks Animation and HP collaborated and came up with DreamColor technology, which DreamWorks uses for color correcting its animated features. The new LCDs from HP cost a fraction of CRTs they replace. The EliteBook 8730w boasts a 17" LCD at 1920x1200 resolution. I'm used to that kind of resolution on my 24" display, not a 17" laptop display. The LCD has 30-bit color, and is capable of displaying over 1 billion colors. Right out of the box, I noticed this was no ordinary LCD. The colors were deep, rich and well-balanced, not washed out or over-bright.

The HP Mobile Display Assistant software is where you calibrate the display. With its software wizard, calibration is quick and easy. Of course, you can also load color presets to ensure color accuracy across projects. Looking at Figures 1 and 2, it's easy to see how broad the LCD's color gamut truly is.