HP Ships USB 3.0 Laptop
With the announcement that certain configurations of its
Envy 15 laptops will come
with the new USB 3.0 spec, HP is now one of the first computer companies to
offer the fast new technology on its machines.
Although USB 3.0 has been talked about for quite some time, it hasn't been a reality for that long. As you may recall, USB 3.0 promises speeds that are more than ten times as fast as USB 2.0. To put this another way, USB 3.0 offers speeds up to 5Gbps, compared to USB 2.0’s 480Mbps. With these types of speed increases, transferring files (especially large video files) will be completed much more quickly—1GB of data can be transferred in 3.3 seconds, compared to at least 33 seconds with USB 2.0.
Last week at CES, there were a number of devices announced that promised USB 3.0, including offerings from companies such as ASUS, Fujitsu, and Western Digital. Storage manufacturers seem especially on-board with USB 3.0: LaCie, Super Talent, Seagate, and many others have already announced USB 3.0 products.
Although numerous USB 3.0 products have been announced, HP is actually the first company to get a USB 3.0 computer to market, shipping USB 3.0 on Envy 15 laptops that are configured with ATI 5380 graphics and a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor. HP plans to offer additional models such as the business-geared EliteBook with USB 3.0 in the coming weeks.
Although USB 3.0 has been talked about for quite some time, it hasn't been a reality for that long. As you may recall, USB 3.0 promises speeds that are more than ten times as fast as USB 2.0. To put this another way, USB 3.0 offers speeds up to 5Gbps, compared to USB 2.0’s 480Mbps. With these types of speed increases, transferring files (especially large video files) will be completed much more quickly—1GB of data can be transferred in 3.3 seconds, compared to at least 33 seconds with USB 2.0.
Last week at CES, there were a number of devices announced that promised USB 3.0, including offerings from companies such as ASUS, Fujitsu, and Western Digital. Storage manufacturers seem especially on-board with USB 3.0: LaCie, Super Talent, Seagate, and many others have already announced USB 3.0 products.
Although numerous USB 3.0 products have been announced, HP is actually the first company to get a USB 3.0 computer to market, shipping USB 3.0 on Envy 15 laptops that are configured with ATI 5380 graphics and a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor. HP plans to offer additional models such as the business-geared EliteBook with USB 3.0 in the coming weeks.
