HP Business Desktop PC First to Earn EPEAT-Gold Status

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HP (NYSE: HPQ) and the Green Electronics Council today announced that the HP rp5700 Business Desktop PC is the first product to meet the stringent requirements that comprise the “gold” status of the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

EPEAT-registered products are designated as “bronze,” “silver” or “gold” depending on the number of environmental features they possess, such as reduced levels of hazardous materials, improved energy efficiency, and ease of upgrade and recycle. In January, U.S. President George W. Bush mandated through executive order that EPEAT-registered electronic products comprise 95 percent of all federal agency purchases.

“Customers increasingly value environmental aspects of products, such as energy efficiency, provisions for reuse and recycling, and materials innovation,” said Jeff Omelchuck, executive director of the Green Electronics Council, which manages the EPEAT program. “HP is clearly differentiating itself by integrating such features into their products as evidenced by the rp5700 PC.”

The HP rp5700 Long Lifecycle Business Desktop PC was created with the environment in mind inside and out. Built with 95 percent recyclable components and a tool-less chassis design for quick and easy disassembly by hand, both the system and the packaging it comes in are easier to recycle. Plastic components in the system are made on average of at least 10 percent post-consumer recycled plastics, and the outer packaging contains at least 25 percent post-consumer recycled cardboard.

Also designed for improved energy efficiency, the rp5700 desktop features a standard, “80 percent efficient” power supply that is up to 15 percent more efficient than standard power supplies – reducing both overall energy usage and the amount of waste heat released into the environment.

HP lab tests have found that the rp5700 desktop PC, in its maximum energy-efficient configuration and paired with an HP flat panel monitor, may help customers save as much as 80 percent in power consumption over previous generation systems using CRT monitors.⁽¹⁾ The system is also available with an optional solar renewable energy source as an alternative power choice for customers.

“HP has been a pioneer of designing products with the goal of reducing environmental impact while maximizing overall value for our customers for more than 15 years,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “We believe, in the long term, what’s right for the environment is what’s good for business.”

In addition to the EPEAT-Gold registration, the rp5700 platform meets or exceeds several other environmental standards, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for post-consumer recycled content in packaging; and the European Union’s RoHS. It also joins the HP portfolio of business desktops introduced in January that meet both the ENERGYSTAR® 4.0 and 80 Plus® energy-efficiency requirements. Moreover, as with all HP PCs, an IT ECO Declaration – the European Nordic country IT environmental declaration scheme – is readily available.

Built on the HP rp5700 Point of Sale platform, the new HP rp5700 business desktop features a five-year lifecycle – the longest of any business PC in the industry. Longer lifecycles help customers avoid frequent platform transitions and image rebuilds, resulting in fewer costly software and hardware configurations to manage.

The HP rp5700 business desktop was designed for general business users in such industries as retail, healthcare, banking, manufacturing and distribution where long-term stability is paramount. The system features a small form factor design and was engineered to run in higher temperatures -- up to 40 C ambient versus the current industry standard of 35 C ambient – making it ideal for use in enclosures or kiosks.

Availability and pricing

Available in the United States direct from HP or authorized resellers beginning June 4, the HP rp5700 desktop may be configured with a broad choice of technology features, such as Intel® Core™ 2 Duo^(2,3) processors up to 2.13 GHz, up to 4 gigabytes⁽⁴⁾ DDR2 Synch DRAM memory, SATA hard drives as large as 250 GB,⁽⁵⁾ factory-configured RAID factory 1 for real-time data backup and choice of Microsoft Windows Vista™ Business,⁽⁶⁾ Microsoft Windows XP or FreeDOS operating systems.⁽⁷⁾

An introductory-level system meeting the EPEAT-Gold criteria, includes an Intel Celeron® 440 processor, 512 MB memory and Microsoft Windows XP Pro and is available for an estimated U.S. list price of $817.⁽⁷⁾ Additional configurations start as low as $648.^(7,8) More information about HP rp5700 business desktop is available at www.hp.com/go/rp5700desktop.

About EPEAT and the EPEAT Standard

The Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) is an easy-to-use tool to rank computer desktops, laptops and monitors based on their environmental attributes. The three-tiered EPEAT rating system includes 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria. The optional criteria are used to determine if the equipment receives EPEAT Bronze, Silver, or Gold recognition. Visit www.epeat.net for additional information.

About Green Electronics Council

The Green Electronics Council partners with environmental organizations, government agencies, manufacturers and other interested stakeholders to improve the environmental and social performance of electronic products. In January 2006, it received a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promote and implement the EPEAT green computer standard. Visit www.greenelectronicscouncil.org for additional information.

About HP

HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $97.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2007. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.

Note to editors: More news from HP, including links to RSS feeds, is available at www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/.

⁽¹⁾ This is not intended to represent actual savings a customer may expect to see. The following illustration of possible savings calculations are based on PCMark 05 benchmark testing results. The PCMark 05 benchmark testing results are available at http://futuremark.com/products/pcmark05/. HP internal testing and customer results will vary. Variables include customer determined percentage of sleep state, idle state, productivity state, and peak usage state. Also, manufacturing variability and actual customer usage patterns, including applications or solutions currently operating in customer environment, will affect any savings a customer may see. HP strongly encourages customers to test a system with an 80 percent efficient power supply in their environment to better determine any potential savings. No tool can adequately recreate customer’s usage pattern and environment. The use of this tool is solely intended as an illustration potential savings based on the PCMark 05 benchmarking.

⁽²⁾ To take advantage of the 64-bit processing capabilities of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, this system requires a separately purchased 64-bit operating system and 64-bit software products. Given the wide range of software applications available, performance of a system including a 64-bit operating system will vary.

⁽³⁾ The Hyper-Threading feature is a new technology designed to improve performance of multi-threaded software products; please contact your software provider to determine software compatibility. Not all customers or software applications will benefit from the use of Hyper-Threading technology. Visit www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading/ for more information.

⁽⁴⁾ Above 3 GB, all memory may not be available due to system resource requirements.

⁽⁵⁾ 1 GB = 1 billion bytes. Actual formatted capacity is less. Up to 8 GB (for XP and XP Pro) and up to 12 GB (for Vista) is reserved for system recovery software.

⁽⁶⁾ Certain Windows Vista product features require advanced or additional hardware. See www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/hardwarereqs.mspx and www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx for details. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help determine which features of Windows Vista will run on a computer. To download the tool, visit www.windowsvista.com/upgradeadvisor.

⁽⁷⁾ Not all components and/or configurations will meet the EPEAT-Gold standard. Visit the HP website or contact a local reseller for details.

⁽⁸⁾ Estimated retail price, actual prices may vary.

Energy Star is a U.S. registered mark of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Intel, Intel Core and Celeron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, Windows and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the achievement of expected results and other risks that are described from time to time in HP’s Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the risks described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 2007. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.