Everybody likes to be right now and again. Sometimes it’s easy to do too.
It really came as no surprise when I heard that industry research firm IDC reported that, for the first time, HP both leads U.S. market share in the desktop workstation category and was the global share leader during the second quarter of 2012.
You see, I’ve been keeping my eye on HP’s workstation line for some time. No surprise there either, as I’ve used PCs in my work for years. Over that time I’ve witnessed how HP’s engineering department consistently turns up with designs that I feel create the most powerful, user-friendly machines in the pro production and post market.
I’ve written about how much I like the Z820. That’s not too hard, since it offers a mix of potent dual eight core liquid-cooled Xeon processors, PCI 3.0, and a thoughtfully designed architecture that won’t, for example, destroy your knuckles when you need to change a graphics card or two.
The HP Performance Advisor application is another good move, as having an easy, graphical way to configure your workstation BIOS is a plus. The program also interfaces with an HP database to check driver certification and BIOS settings for your desired applications so you’re always up-to-date. Finally, on site warranty repairs–unlike what Apple offers–also make HP workstations key to a work-a-day pro.
If you require a workstation to handle high-end production and post–whether it’s animation, editing, compositing or color correction—I really can’t think of a machine I’d rather use.
There are some larger factors at work here too beyond cool hardware. For one thing, if you’re running a Mac Pro tower, you might be growing increasingly envious of your PC brethren who easily benefit from the latest processors and graphics cards. Mac Pro towers have only been incrementally upgraded over the past few years, which causes some people to wonder if Apple is in the midst of abandoning their efforts in the pro space altogether.
Meanwhile, HP’s alliances with Adobe, RED and NVIDIA to produce the screamingly powerful Z820 RED Edition (we wrote about it here towards the middle of the page) shows how useful a committed hardware manufacturer can be. The resulting effort gives you everything you need for a complete RED workflow as well as a powerful editing solution in Premiere Pro CS6.
This is just the sort of effort that’s needed if hard-working professionals are to benefit from today’s tech cornucopia. And it’s what HP alone is doing to cement its central role in the pro app workstation market.
That effort at turning out top-of-the-line gear turns up too in once unassuming all-in-one PCs. HP’s innovative all in one Z1 workstation wowed this tech hound when it took this humble form factor to new heights.
Now, space-conscious facility owners can have real workstation power in a small, convenient footprint. Even HP’s line of mobile workstations, which includes the Elitebook 8760w, stand out for the thorough thinking that blends the best of mobile technology with rugged design that won’t disappoint with cheap, penny-counting choices.
According to the IDC report, HP’s share showed significant growth during past quarters, culminating with a 47.6 percent share in desktop workstations in the U.S. HP continues to lead the mobile workstation category worldwide with 41.8 percent share. Heck, the Palo Alto-based company leads the combined workstation category with 46.2 percent share, according to the Q2’12 IDC Worldwide Workstation Tracker, Aug. 8, 2012.
I’ve pointed out before that no other workstation I could find matches the power, performance and the thoughtfully designed architecture of HP’s Z series. I’m happy to report that a lot of other people seem to agree.
