HP Offering Redefines Workstation-Class Pricing

With this level of pricing, HP is trying to entice traditional buyers of workstation-class systems to upgrade to systems running Windows 7, which due to some driver issues is not supported on a swath of existing Intel-based workstations.

The HP Z200 workstation is based on dual and quad-core flavors of upcoming Intel Core series processors, or can be configured with Intel Xeon 3400 series processors. The HP workstation series is also certified to be Energy Star 5.0 certified.

HP is also upgrading its a range of desktop systems, including a new HP Compaq 8000 Elite Business PC based on Intel Core 2 Duo and Core Quad processors with pricing that starts at $799, and a slightly higher-end 8100 line with pricing that starts at $849. There’s also a more environmentally friendly line of PCs, called the 8000f Series, which HP says is free of any harmful compounds.

Finally, HP is also releasing a Pavilion Elite HPE system, priced at $729, that can be configured with either AMD Phenom II or Intel Core processors and graphics cards from wither NVidia or AMD's ATI unit.

The HP workstations are available next month, while most of the desktop PCs are available now or in February.