Review: HP ZBook 17 G2

Introduction and design

The best mobile workstations on the market combine incredible graphics rendering with top-notch processing speed and superior displays. Unfortunately, they also cost and weigh twice as much as most traditional consumer laptops. In other words: you're paying top dollar for what's under the hood and not for your ability to easily transport the device from location to location.

The mobile workstation market is led by machines like the Lenovo ThinkPad W540 ($2,573, £1,606, AU$2,946), a 4.4 pound, 15.6-inch, 2880x1620 (3K) resolution laptop with a 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ processor and a Nvidia Quadro K2100M graphics card.

Also at the top of the food chain is the Dell Precision M3800 ($1699, £1299, AU$2138), a 15.6-inch powerhouse that was recently updated to include a 4K monitor, an additional terabyte of data, Thunderbolt 2.0 docking and the option of installing Ubuntu. Like the previous model, the 4.4 pound Precision M3800 comes fully-loaded with NVIDIA Quadro K1100M graphics and an Intel Haswell Core i7 processor.

If you're looking for something brawnier and more powerful, Dell also has the Precision M6800 ($3,490, £2,075, AU$3,750), which will cost significantly more, and crack your back at a gigantic 8.8 pounds.

Not to be outdone by its competitors, HP has updated its ZBook 17 mobile workstation ($1900, £1250, AU$2400), a ferocious laptop built to withstand any task you throw its way.

Design

This 17.3-inch mobile workstation is built with a three-spindle wedge design that shifts most of its hefty 7.42 pound weight toward its thick backside (1.57 inches). The ZBook features a dark grey plastic chassis that is surrounded by aluminum that covers the top of the display and houses the keyboard.

The first things you'll notice as you sit down to work at the HP ZBook 17 G2 is its chiclet-style keyboard, left-set touchpad and three point buttons. The keyboard includes a number pad for easier data entry, which should please those of you in financial services.

However, the left-set touchpad always takes some getting used to after working on traditional centered devices, and three point buttons are a horrible idea that I can't ever seem to get used to. For example: the middle button closes tabs in Internet Explorer. So any time you accidentally click the second button, instead of the traditional left click or right click buttons, your current internet tab goes bye-bye. And when you're not closing out of your tab, you're simply clicking and clicking without any response, which is annoying. I realize this middle button can be disabled, but I don't want to create a dead area on my already-extensive keyboard.

The HP ZBook 17 G2 only goes up to Quad Hd resolution, so if you're looking for maximum pixel power, don't look here. However, if you're more concerned with what happens on the screen than how it looks, keep reading.

Specs and performance

Here is the HP ZBook 17 G2 given to TechRadar Pro:

Spec Sheet

• CPU: 3.10 and 3.30 GHz Intel Core i7-4940MX


• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro K5100M


• RAM: 16 GB


• Screen: 1920x1080


• Storage: 1TB 7200 RPM SATA, 256 PCIe SSD


• Optical drive: DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL


• Ports: 2 USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 charging, 1 USB 2.0, DP 1.2, 1 Thunderbolt 2, 1 RJ45, 1 docking connector, 1 secondary battery connector, 1 VGA, 1 Express Card/54, 1 SD, 1 SmartCard reader


• Connectivity: WLAN: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 802.11 a/b/g/n (2x2)


• Camera: 720p HD


• Weight: 7.42 pounds


• Size: 16.37 x 10.7 x 1.33 in


• Operating system: Windows 7

You know that you're getting a lot when you purchase a laptop that starts at $1900 and weighs more than 7 pounds. But you can also rest easy that you'll be able to fit all of your data on this device. Configurable up to 3.25TB of data, the HP ZBook 17 G2 is more desktop than it is laptop. For example: Dell's new M3800 only goes up to 2TB of data, is two inches smaller and costs just $200 less.

Although this laptop isn't the most portable on the market, if you do find yourself travelling with it, you won't lack for connection options. The addition of the Thunderbolt 2 port means you can get excellent 3K resolution when you dock the device to 3K compatible displays. Still not up to snuff with the Lenovo ThinkPad W540's built-in 3K standard, but a nice touch nonetheless.

Performance

Performance is really where this machine shines (when not bogged down by viruses - more on this later). I ran a dozen cloud-based spreadsheets while simultaneously downloading WarThunder (which looked and played superbly) and FutureMark benchmarks. I had no issue whatsoever until I went into that twelfth spreadsheet and then the FutureMark download crashed. This is on-par with the cloud-based workload I run my 2010 MacBook Pro through each day, but I would never even think of downloading that second program on the MacBook, lest all hell break loose.

Benchmarks

Here's how the HP ZBook 17 G2 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

• 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 18213; Sky Diver: 139343; Fire Strike: 4385


• Cinebench CPU: 727 points; Graphics: 118 fps,


• PCMark 8 (Home Test): 4048 points


• PCMark 8 Battery Life: 2 hours and 15 minutes

It should come as no surprise that the ZBook G2 crushed last year's model in these benchmarking tests. In Cinebench the ZBook 17 G2 managed a frame rate of 118 frames per second, compared with 83.24 FPS last year. Last year's model scored 616 points in the CPU test, which measures a computer's ability to manage storage, computation, image and video manipulation, and web browsing, among other tests. This year's model scored 727 points.

Last year's model cranked out an impressive 3123 points in 3DMark's Fire Strike test, which measures graphics rendering. This year's model improved more than 1200 points to 4385.

On PCMark's home test, which measures your laptop's ability to handle common tasks like web browsing, writing, gaming, photo editing, and video chat, among other tasks, this model scored 4048 points, a whopping 400 points higher than last year's model.

"Okay, but how does this stack up against its competitors from other brands?" you're likely asking.

Lenovo's ThinkPad W540 gets crushed in every category. It's dramatically worse than the new ZBook on Cloud Gate's graphics and physics tests, it's nowhere even close to the ZBook on SkyDiver and FireStrike, and if you're concerned about frames per second, the new ZBook delivers 48 more frames per second than the Lenovo. Keep in mind that the Lenovo is one of the best devices on the market - that's how good the new ZBook is.

When compared to Dell's Precision M6800, the ZBook gets somewhat humbled. Although the ZBook performed better on graphics rendering and physics tests, the M6800 was better at graphical complexity. In terms of frames per second, the ZBook crushes the Dell as well, which performed more in line with the Lenovo W540.

Battery life, flaws and verdict

So herein lies the rub: the HP ZBook 17 G2 is only going to give you two hours and 15 minutes of battery life, according to PCMark 8 testing. I was able to squeak out three hours and one minute of WarThunder gameplay with no other programs running, but even that pales in comparison to the ZBook's competitors.

The Lenovo W540's battery last three hours and seven minutes during the PCMark 8 battery test, and our reviewer was able to run the machine for four hours and nine minutes without over-exerting it.

The Dell M6800 was able to crank out two hours and 35 minutes of battery life during PC Mark 8 testing, which is just slightly better than the ZBook.

So the moral of the story is: if you're planning on being away from a power outlet on regular occasions, you may want to consider a different device (or a different class of devices, for that matter).

Other major flaws

The ZBook 17 G2 comes bundled with a wide variety of HP and Intel security and performance management tools, including HP's Performance Advisor. Despite the protection, I found myself bogged down by a ton of pop-ups and redirects. I ultimately wound up having to restore the machine to an earlier version in order to get it working properly again.

Running Performance Advisor didn't help, which was really disappointing and frustrating. For such a steep price, I expect these issues to be proactively defended against rather than retroactively removed from my system. Purchasers with dedicated IT departments won't have to worry about these issues. However, individual users who want a laptop that can kick butt for personal projects will have to be careful.

We've already discussed battery life and weight ad nauseum, so keep those in mind when making your purchase decision.

We liked

The HP ZBook 17 G2 is capable of more than any other workstation on the market. Its ability to process and render graphics, manage multiple programs, edit video and photos is second-to-none. It tests incredibly well compared to the leading competitors, and it's plastic and aluminum design is easy on the eyes.

We disliked

Unlike some of the other mobile workstations we've reviewed, the HP ZBook 17 G2 doesn't offer more than a QHD display. It weighs as much as or more than every other business-class workstation in its class, and its ability to defend against viruses out-of-the-box is atrocious. Not to mention you won't even be able to watch a long movie without having to recharge.

Verdict

The HP ZBook is one of the best laptops on the market. If you need to accomplish a task with precision and speed, there is no better device. Unfortunately, its heft, its FHD display, its awkward touchpad buttons and a susceptibility to viruses kept this machine from achieving perfection. Despite all that, compared to its top competitors, the HP ZBook 17 G2 is well-priced and well-positioned to lead the industry.

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