HP launches ZBook Ultra G3a workstation laptop in India, priced from Rs 2,89,990 before tax

HP has launched its new ZBook Ultra G3a laptop in India. The company is described as calling it its most powerful laptop so far. It is not meant for everyday use but has been built for professionals such as people working on AI, senior engineers, designers and video editors.

The starting price is Rs 2,89,990, excluding tax, which means the actual price will go past Rs 3 lakh once tax is added. The laptop will not be sold on Amazon or Flipkart. Buyers will have to approach HP's authorised commercial partners, who sell laptops to large companies.

Its biggest highlight is that AI models can be run without the cloud. Large AI models normally need big servers, but according to HP, models of up to 300 billion parameters can be run directly on this laptop, with no external server required.

It is powered by AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 processor, which is built specifically for AI. Up to 192GB of RAM can be fitted, which is very high for a laptop, and 160GB of VRAM is also available. It also has an NPU that delivers 55 TOPS of AI performance.

The laptop has a 16-inch 2.8K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The colours look true to life, which matters greatly for creators.

Despite its power, the laptop is not bulky. It weighs only 1.9 kg and is just 17.9mm thick. The company has built a new cooling system that performs 81.8% better than that of the older model, so the laptop does not heat up or make noise even under sustained work at 100W.

It has a 96Wh battery, which the company says will last 14 hours on a single charge. Two fast chargers, of 140W and 180W, both USB-C, come with it. A 5G option is also available, and HP Wolf Security is provided to keep data safe.

The laptop is aimed at those who train AI models daily, do heavy coding, 4K video editing or 3D modelling.