HP claims laptop with 24-hour battery life

HP has launched its EliteBook 6930p with claims that it can work for a full day without charging.

But the 24-hour battery life does not come standard. To get the long working time, the EliteBook must be configured with optional features at additional cost, including an ultra-capacity battery, special graphics driver, Intel SSD drive and Illumi-Lite LED display as well as be running Microsoft Windows XP operating system, and rather intriguingly not the newer Vista.

Indeed, HP said the staying power is not just down to the awesome battery, but due to the energy-efficient components that go into the laptop. The laptop's solid-state hard drive (SSD) adds seven per cent to the battery life, HP claimed, while the also-optional Illumi-Lite LED display adds as much as four hours to the battery time.

"All-day computing has been the holy grail of notebook computing," said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager of HP's global notebook business unit, in a statement. "With the HP EliteBook 6930p, customers no longer have to worry about their notebook battery running out before their work day is over."

The EliteBook's aesthetic is apparently inspired by aircraft construction, and features spill-resistant keyboard and shock-ready hard drive designed to meet military standards. It weighs 2.1 kilograms.

EliteBooks featuring the Intel SSDs will be available in October, when the 6930p is due at a cost of 876 excluding VAT and all those energy-efficient extras.