Product overview
Mobile workstations are specialised and expensive computers designed to provide high-end functionality in a relatively compact format. HP introduced the ZBook to take over from its popular ProBook and EliteBook series.
This notebook’s chassis construction is near-faultless — solid, tough and resilient. It’s made from aluminium alloy that’s thick enough to ensure almost no flex at all in the lid section, which is a rarity on most notebooks. The hinges feel robust, and the screen pushes back all the way to 180 degrees if needed.
The 8-cell 83Wh battery is released by a single catch, while a second catch releases a large plate that gives tool-free access to key components for maintenance and upgrades. There’s a SIM slot underneath the battery for the integrated mobile broadband (HSPA+ or LTE) module.
Our Laptop comes with the top-end GPU option, Nvidia’s Quadro K2100M with 2GB of dedicated GDDR5 video RAM. Other options are the Quadro K610M with 1GB, Quadro K1100M with 2GB and AMD’s FirePro W5170M with 2GB.
The backlit keyboard, which has a separate number pad, exhibits a small amount of flex, but not enough to worry about. Key travel is minimal, though, and we found the keyboard a bit too light-touch for our liking. The backlight has two intensity settings that you can vary via a Fn key combination.
The ZBook 15 G2 has plenty of ports and connectors, although there are still some notable absences. On the back you’ll find a USB 3.0 port and an RJ-45 Ethernet connector, along with the power input. The right edge houses the optical drive, a VGA port at the back on this edge, plus a second USB 3.0 port, an audio jack and an SD card slot.
