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OmniBook

OmniBook X (2024)
Developer	Hewlett-Packard (1993–2002) HP Inc. (2024–present)
Type	Laptop
Lifespan	1993–2002 (original) 2024–present (revival)
Operating system	Windows
CPU	i386SX i486 Pentium Pentium II Pentium III Snapdragon X Ryzen Intel Core Ultra 5/7/9
Marketing target	Business purpose (1993–2002) Consumer/Home purpose (2024–present)
Predecessor	1993 (original): HP Vectra LS 2024 (revival): HP Essential HP Pavilion HP Envy HP Spectre
Related	HP OmniDesk, HP OmniStudio

OmniBook is a brand for a line of laptop computers originally produced by Hewlett-Packard and currently marketed by its successor, HP Inc. HP first introduced the brand as a line of business-oriented laptops and notebooks produced between 1993 and 2002.

Following a rebranding of its product lines in 2024, HP inc., the successor company of the original Hewlett-Packard, reintroduced the brand name as part of the "Omni" brand of computers that year, being a line of consumer-oriented laptops with AI technology. It coexists with (and succeeds) the previous Spectre, Envy, Pavilion and Essential lines, becoming the sole brand for all consumer-oriented laptops produced by the company.

History

OmniBook was introduced in 1993 as a line of business-oriented laptops and subnotebooks produced by Hewlett-Packard. It succeeded the prior HP Vectra LS models of computers. Following the acquisition of Compaq in 2002, the OmniBook line was discontinued in favor of the Compaq Presario, HP Compaq, and HP Pavilion laptops.

In 2024, HP (as HP Inc.) announced its rebranding of their consumer line of PCs, with the new "Omni" branding being used for all consumer PCs (aside from Omen), with OmniBook for laptops, OmniDesk for desktop computers, and OmniStudio for all-in-one PCs. It would coexist (and replace) the long-running Pavilion brand in use since 1995 among other brands. The new "Omni" brand tailors for the next generation of computers powered by artificial intelligence, featuring AI-powered hardware and software.

As part of the new "Omni" branding, HP repurposed the old OmniBook name that had been used for its former line of business-oriented laptops in the 1990s, reviving the historic nameplate that had been absent for 22 years for a new line of next generation AI-powered laptops manufactured by HP.

Models

The former OmniBook line from 1993 to 2002 consisted of various models of business notebooks and laptops of various sizes, configurations, and the like. Many different generations of Intel Pentium processors were also available throughout the lifetime of the original OmniBook brand, ranging from the original Pentium to the Pentium 4. Some OmniBook models from the early-to-mid 1990s also contained a pop-up mouse on the right-hand side of the computer.

The current OmniBook line as of 2024 is made up of five different grades: 3, 5, 7, X, and Ultra. Ultra represents the highest-grade model of the OmniBook while the 3 represents the lowest-grade OmniBook model. Other HP computers under the "Omni" branding (OmniStudio and OmniDesk) followed the same format. Currently, only the X and Ultra models have been produced as of 2024. All models of the OmniBook line (as well as the OmniDesk and OmniStudio lines) are AI-powered computers, featuring processors with AI technology and dedicated NPUs for accelerating AI applications as well as featuring the Copilot chatbot software.

List of models

NOTE: This list includes the previous business-oriented models produced from 1993–2002, as well as the current consumer-oriented AI-powered models from 2024–present.

OmniBook 300

The HP OmniBook 300 (OB300) is a subnotebook released in June 1993 as one of the first models of the original OmniBook line. It weighed only 2.9 pounds and measured 1.4 × 6.4 × 11.1 inches. It is powered by an AMD 386SX-LV processor, featured a full-size keyboard, a pop-up computer mouse (This same pop-up mouse would later be used in the OmniBook 800CT; see the image above), and a 9-inch VGA screen. It had two PCMCIA slots for additional memory, modem, network cards or other peripherals. It was sold in three storage configurations: no mass storage (F1030A at US$1,515), 10 MB flash memory disk (F1031A at US$2,375), or 40 MB hard drive (F1032A at US$1,950). Compared to the hard drive, the flash memory disk reduced the weight and storage capacity of the notebook with increased battery life. One of its outstanding features was a technology known as "Instant On".

The OmniBook 300 came with slimmed-down copies of MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1. Due to storage limitations, the OmniBook 300 included both Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word pre-installed in ROM, a practice that remains unusual even to this day. The "International English" version of the OmniBook 300 used code page 850 (rather than the more common code page 437) as hardware code page.

OmniBook X

The HP OmniBook X (14-fe000) is a notebook computer that was announced in May 2024 as the first model of the revived OmniBook line. Introduced as a next-generation AI-powered PC, the laptop weighs at about 2.97 pounds and measures 12.32 × 8.8 × 0.56 inches in the front and 12.32 × 8.8 × 0.57 inches in the rear. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor with a dedicated NPU (Neural processing unit) powered by the Snapdragon processor for accelerating AI applications, a Qualcomm Adreno GPU, a 14" OLED IPS touchscreen display with a 2240 × 1400 display resolution, 16 GB or 32 GB memory, and either a 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB solid-state drive. It also features a built-in 5MP webcam, as well as a Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 wireless card. Battery life of the OmniBook X is rated at about 26 hours.

The laptop came preinstalled with Windows 11 and includes the Copilot AI chatbot, Windows Studio Effects, and Poly Studio audio tuning. It is compliant with Microsoft's Copilot+ PC platform marketing brand, with includes the addition of a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard replacing the menu key found in previous keyboards.

Notes

1. Badge-engineered Mitsubishi Pedion

See also

• HP OmniGo

References

1. ^ Harding, Scharon (May 20, 2024). "HP resurrects '90s OmniBook branding, kills Spectre, Dragonfly". Ars Technica. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
2. "The new HP: You are what you eat". CNET. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
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35. HP OmniBook Sojourn Troubleshooting Guide (PDF). Hewlett-Packard. 1998. p. 1-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2008.
36. Staff writer (September 9, 1998). "Raft of 300 MHz PII Notebooks Hits Market". Newsbytes. The Washington Post Company: NEW09090036 – via Gale.
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55. ^ Wilson, Ben; published, Cale Hunt (May 20, 2024). "The new OmniBook X AI PC powered by Snapdragon X represents a whole new era for HP laptops". Windows Central. Retrieved November 20, 2024.

External links

Official HP pages

• OmniBook search results on HP's website
• OmniBook support page, with more extensive list of models here
• HP OmniBook X landing page
• HP OmniBook Ultra landing page

Others

• HP OmniBook Information Archived September 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine by Kieran Garbutt
• HP OmniBook site by Sean McCreary

v t e Hewlett-Packard
HP Inc. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Founders	Bill Hewlett David Packard
Directors	Marc Andreessen Mohamed M. Atalla Shumeet Banerji Raj Gupta Raymond J. Lane Ann Livermore Gary M. Reiner Patricia F. Russo (Chairwoman) Jim Skinner
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HP CEOs	List of HP executives Co-founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard John A. Young Lewis E. Platt Carly Fiorina Mark Hurd Léo Apotheker Meg Whitman
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See also	Acquisitions HP spying scandal HP Inc. assets Products Mission: SPACE Steve Wozniak

• Computer-related introductions in 1993
• Computer-related introductions in 2024
• HP subnotebooks
• HP laptops