New HP 3115m Notebook: the dm1z Goes Pro

HP unveiled their new 3115m notebook this morning, which takes the dm1 and dresses it up ever so slightly for the business section of the market. The 3115m is most interesting for its Beats Audio branding, showing that HP is starting to push their 'premium audio' solution outside of the consumer space.

The audio isn't the only consumer twist on a laptop that will be targeted straight at the small and home office segment of the market; the new machine comes with HP's soft-touch Imprint finish, which looks chic while helping to hide fingerprints. I spent some time tapping around on the 3115m at a recent HP press event, and the look is a nice respite from many business laptop offerings.

Check out the rest of our 3115m image gallery!

Running on the AMD platform, the 3115m starts at $429.99, which will nab you a dual-core AMD E-450 CPU, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD spinning at 5,400 RPM. Graphics are handled by the CPU/APU in the forum of an AMD Radeon HD 6320 GPU. Like the dm1z, the 3115m comes with an 11.6-inch screen, with an acceptable 1366x768 resolution. If you're feeling the urge to spend, you can upgrade the memory to a maximum of 8GB, while bumping up the storage to either a 500GB 5400RPM HDD or 160GB Intel SSD.

One of the more business-oriented features offered by the 3115m is a Computrace Pro installation, which ships turned off; users or companies can turn it on by picking up a subscription (which lasts anywhere from 1 to 5 years). Other standard accoutrements include 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, Beats Audio, an integrated mic, an HD webcam and an SD card slot.

Ports available on the 3115m include 3x USB2.0 ports, HDMI- and VGA-out ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack.

The new notebook weighs in at 3.52 pounds and tapers from 1.25 inches thick at the rear to just 0.83 inches thick at the front edge. A 6-cell, 55Whr battery promises users 11.5 hours of use. If you or your business is interested, you'll be able to pick one up in North America on November 11th.